Author: Robin Edgar

The Samsung Galaxy S10’s Fingerprint Lock works for everyone if you put a piece of transparent plastic on the sensor

Posted on by Robin Edgar

It was recently discovered that the Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10+ have a major security flaw that makes it easy to bypass their fingerprint locks. On a scale of “one” to “not good,” we are definitely towards the right on this one. To be fair, fingerprint sensors and other biometric security features aren’t ironclad; hackers Read more about The Samsung Galaxy S10’s Fingerprint Lock works for everyone if you put a piece of transparent plastic on the sensor[…]

Germany’s cyber-security agency recommends Firefox as most secure browser

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Firefox is the only browser that received top marks in a recent audit carried out by Germany’s cyber-security agency — the German Federal Office for Information Security (or the Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik — BSI). The BSI tested Mozilla Firefox 68 (ESR), Google Chrome 76, Microsoft Internet Explorer 11, and Microsoft Edge 44. Read more about Germany’s cyber-security agency recommends Firefox as most secure browser[…]

DoNotPay app waits on hold for you, cancels subscriptions, helps you out of parking tickets

Posted on by Robin Edgar

DoNotPay helps you get out of parking tickets and cancel forgotten subscriptions, and now it can call you when it’s your turn in a customer service phone queue. The app today is launching “Skip Waiting On Hold.” Just type in the company you need to talk to, and DoNotPay calls for you using tricks to Read more about DoNotPay app waits on hold for you, cancels subscriptions, helps you out of parking tickets[…]

The Creators Of Pokémon Go Mapped The World. Now They’re Mapping You – how companies are monetising your location data

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Today, when you use Wizards Unite or Pokémon Go or any of Niantic’s other apps, your every move is getting documented and stored—up to 13 times a minute, according to the results of a Kotaku investigation. Even players who know that the apps record their location data are usually astonished once they look at just Read more about The Creators Of Pokémon Go Mapped The World. Now They’re Mapping You – how companies are monetising your location data[…]

“BriansClub” Hack finds 26M Stolen Cards

Posted on by Robin Edgar

“BriansClub,” one of the largest underground stores for buying stolen credit card data, has itself been hacked. The data stolen from BriansClub encompasses more than 26 million credit and debit card records taken from hacked online and brick-and-mortar retailers over the past four years, including almost eight million records uploaded to the shop in 2019 Read more about “BriansClub” Hack finds 26M Stolen Cards[…]

International Space Station Crew 3D-Prints Meat In Space For The First Time!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

For the first time ever, meat was created in space — but no animals were harmed in the making of this 3D bioprinted “space beef.” Aleph Farms, an Israeli food company, announced today (Oct. 7) that its experiment aboard the International Space Station resulted in the first-ever lab-grown meat in space. The company focuses on Read more about International Space Station Crew 3D-Prints Meat In Space For The First Time![…]

Warren runs a false Facebook ad to protest false Facebook ads – Politicians can lie on social media ads

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Elizabeth Warren has taken an attention-getting approach to attacking Facebook’s recent announcement that it won’t fact-check politicians’ posts. She’s running an ad on the social network that deliberately contains a falsehood. “Breaking news: Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook just endorsed Donald Trump for re-election,” reads the ad, which Warren also tweeted out Saturday. The ad immediately Read more about Warren runs a false Facebook ad to protest false Facebook ads – Politicians can lie on social media ads[…]

White-hat hacks Muhstik ransomware gang and releases decryption keys

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A user got his revenge on the ransomware gang who encrypted his files by hacking their server and releasing the decryption keys for all other victims. This happened earlier today and involved the Muhstik gang. Muhstik is a recent strain of ransomware that has been active since late September, according to reports [1, 2, 3]. Read more about White-hat hacks Muhstik ransomware gang and releases decryption keys[…]

Apple Safari browser sends some user IP addresses to Chinese conglomerate Tencent by default

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Apple admits that it sends some user IP addresses to Tencent in the “About Safari & Privacy” section of its Safari settings which can be accessed on an iOS device by opening the Settings app and then selecting “Safari > About Privacy & Security.” Under the title “Fraudulent Website Warning,” Apple says: “Before visiting a Read more about Apple Safari browser sends some user IP addresses to Chinese conglomerate Tencent by default[…]

An AI Pioneer Wants His Algorithms to Understand the ‘Why’

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In March, Yoshua Bengio received a share of the Turing Award, the highest accolade in computer science, for contributions to the development of deep learning—the technique that triggered a renaissance in artificial intelligence, leading to advances in self-driving cars, real-time speech translation, and facial recognition. Now, Bengio says deep learning needs to be fixed. He Read more about An AI Pioneer Wants His Algorithms to Understand the ‘Why’[…]

Human Employees Are Viewing Clips from Amazon’s Home Surveillance Service

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Citing sources familiar with the program, Bloomberg reported Thursday that “dozens” of workers for the e-commerce giant who are based in Romania and India are tasked with reviewing footage collected by Cloud Cams—Amazon’s app-controlled, Alexa-compatible indoor security devices—to help improve AI functionality and better determine potential threats. Bloomberg reported that at one point, these human Read more about Human Employees Are Viewing Clips from Amazon’s Home Surveillance Service[…]

System76 Will Begin Shipping 2 Linux Laptops With Coreboot-Based Open Source Firmware

Posted on by Robin Edgar

System76, the Denver-based Linux PC manufacturer and developer of Pop OS, has some stellar news for those of us who prefer our laptops a little more open. Later this month the company will begin shipping two of their laptop models with its Coreboot-powered open source firmware. The Darter Pro laptop System76 Beginning today, System76 will Read more about System76 Will Begin Shipping 2 Linux Laptops With Coreboot-Based Open Source Firmware[…]

Managed Retreat Buyout Efforts Have Relocated 40,000 Households to avoid rising seawater: Study

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The U.S. is slowly being gripped by a flooding crisis as seas rise and waterways overflow with ever more alarming frequency. An idea at the forefront for how to help Americans cope is so-called managed retreat, a process of moving away from affected areas and letting former neighborhoods return to nature. It’s an idea increasingly Read more about Managed Retreat Buyout Efforts Have Relocated 40,000 Households to avoid rising seawater: Study[…]

Meet the Money Behind The Climate Denial Movement

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Nearly a billion dollars a year is flowing into the organized climate change counter-movement The overwhelming majority of climate scientists, international governmental bodies, relevant research institutes and scientific societies are in unison in saying that climate change is real, that it’s a problem, and that we should probably do something about it now, not later. Read more about Meet the Money Behind The Climate Denial Movement[…]

Twitter: No, really, we’re very sorry we sold your security info for a boatload of cash

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Twitter says it was just an accident that caused the microblogging giant to let advertisers use private information to better target their marketing materials at users. The social networking giant on Tuesday admitted to an “error” that let advertisers have access to the private information customers had given Twitter in order to place additional security Read more about Twitter: No, really, we’re very sorry we sold your security info for a boatload of cash[…]

Remember the FBI’s promise it wasn’t abusing the NSA’s data on US citizens? Well, guess what… It was worse than the privacy advocates dreamt

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The FBI routinely misused a database, gathered by the NSA with the specific purpose of searching for foreign intelligence threats, by searching it for everything from vetting to spying on relatives. In doing so, it not only violated the law and the US constitution but knowingly lied to the faces of congressmen who were asking Read more about Remember the FBI’s promise it wasn’t abusing the NSA’s data on US citizens? Well, guess what… It was worse than the privacy advocates dreamt[…]

FBI warns about attacks that bypass multi-factor authentication (MFA)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Basically sim swapping, man in the middle attacks and poor URL protections FBI warns about SIM swapping and tools like Muraen and NecroBrowser. “The FBI has observed cyber actors circumventing multi-factor authentication through common social engineering and technical attacks,” the FBI wrote in a Private Industry Notification (PIN) sent out on September 17. Past incidents Read more about FBI warns about attacks that bypass multi-factor authentication (MFA)[…]

Saturn surpasses Jupiter after the discovery of 20 new moons and you can help name them!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A team led by Carnegie’s Scott S. Sheppard has found 20 new moons orbiting Saturn.  This brings the ringed planet’s total number of moons to 82, surpassing Jupiter, which has 79. The discovery was announced Monday by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center. Each of the newly discovered moons is about five kilometers, or Read more about Saturn surpasses Jupiter after the discovery of 20 new moons and you can help name them![…]

Rodents With Part-Human Brains Pose a New Challenge for Bioethics

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Rapid progress in research involving miniature human brains grown in a dish has led to a host of ethical concerns, particularly when these human brain cells are transplanted into nonhuman animals. A new paper evaluates the potential risks of creating “humanized” animals, while providing a pathway for scientists to move forward in this important area. Read more about Rodents With Part-Human Brains Pose a New Challenge for Bioethics[…]

To find the best parking spot, do the math

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The next time you’re hunting for a parking spot, mathematics could help you identify the most efficient strategy, according to a recent paper in the Journal of Statistical Mechanics. It’s basically an optimization problem: weighing different variables and crunching the numbers to find the optimal combination of those factors. In the case of where to Read more about To find the best parking spot, do the math[…]

US, UK and Australia want Zuckerberg To Halt Plans For End-To-End Encryption Across Facebook’s Apps – because they want to be able to spy on you. As will other criminals. What happened to the “Free world”?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Attorney General Bill Barr, along with officials from the United Kingdom and Australia, is set to publish an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking the company to delay plans for end-to-end encryption across its messaging services until it can guarantee the added privacy does not reduce public safety. A draft of the letter, Read more about US, UK and Australia want Zuckerberg To Halt Plans For End-To-End Encryption Across Facebook’s Apps – because they want to be able to spy on you. As will other criminals. What happened to the “Free world”?[…]

Bitcoin Isn’t the World’s Most-Used Cryptocurrency – it’s a centralised one run by some private company in Hong Kong

Posted on by Robin Edgar

With Tether’s monthly trading volume about 18% higher than that of Bitcoin, it’s arguably the most important coin in the crypto ecosystem. Tether’s also one of the main reasons why regulators regard cryptocurrencies with a wary eye, and have put the breaks on crypto exchange-traded funds amid concern of market manipulation. “If there is no Read more about Bitcoin Isn’t the World’s Most-Used Cryptocurrency – it’s a centralised one run by some private company in Hong Kong[…]

Egypt caught spying on journalists and human rights activists through malware and phishing

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Back in March 2019, Amnesty International published a report that uncovered a targeted attack against journalists and human rights activists in Egypt. The victims even received an e-mail from Google warning them that government-backed attackers attempted to steal their passwords. According to the report, the attackers did not rely on traditional phishing methods or credential-stealing Read more about Egypt caught spying on journalists and human rights activists through malware and phishing[…]