Author: Robin Edgar

Organisational Structures | Technology and Science | Military, IT and Lifestyle consultancy | Social, Broadcast & Cross Media | Flying aircraft

Another Exploit Hits WD My Book Live Owners – wipes could be rival hacker groups fighting for botnet control

Posted on by Robin Edgar

While it will come as no comfort to those who had their Western Digital My Book Live NAS drives wiped last week, it seems they were attacked by a combination of two exploits, and possibly caught in the fallout of a rivalry between two different teams of hackers. (Image credit: Western Digital) Initially, after the Read more about Another Exploit Hits WD My Book Live Owners – wipes could be rival hacker groups fighting for botnet control[…]

700 Million LinkedIn Records Leaked June 2021 – again

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Things are not looking good for LinkedIn right now. Just two months after a jaw-dropping 500 million profiles from the networking site were put up for sale on a popular hacker forum, a new posting with 700 million LinkedIn records has appeared. The seller, “GOD User” TomLiner, stated they were in possession of the 700 Read more about 700 Million LinkedIn Records Leaked June 2021 – again[…]

Microsoft exec: Targeting of Americans’ records ‘routine’

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Federal law enforcement agencies secretly seek the data of Microsoft customers thousands of times a year, according to congressional testimony Wednesday by a senior executive at the technology company. Tom Burt, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for customer security and trust, told members of the House Judiciary Committee that federal law enforcement in recent years has Read more about Microsoft exec: Targeting of Americans’ records ‘routine’[…]

Virgin Orbit successfully launches its first commercial payloads to space

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Virgin Orbit had a successful first commercial launch, meaning there’s now officially another small satellite launch provider in operation with a track record of delivering payloads to space. Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket took off from its carrier aircraft at around 11:45 AM EDT today, and the spacecraft had a successful series of engine fires and Read more about Virgin Orbit successfully launches its first commercial payloads to space[…]

High Court disallows Dutch Filmworks forcing ISPs to give out personal details of potential movie downloaders

Posted on by Robin Edgar

As expected, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal in cassation by Dutch FilmWorks. The highest judicial body follows the motivation of the Prosecutor General, who previously issued advice on this. DFW announced in 2015 that it would take enforcement action against people who illegally download films. The matter was widely publicized. DFW wanted to address Read more about High Court disallows Dutch Filmworks forcing ISPs to give out personal details of potential movie downloaders[…]

Russian Jets Armed With Anti-Ship Missiles “Harassed” Dutch Frigate In The Black Sea

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Royal Netherlands Navy has now confirmed that its De Zeven Provincien class frigate HNLMS Evertsen, which has been sailing in the Black Sea together with the U.K. Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender, was harassed by Russian fighter jets last week. The announcement comes after Russia and the United Kingdom entered something of a war Read more about Russian Jets Armed With Anti-Ship Missiles “Harassed” Dutch Frigate In The Black Sea[…]

Draken Becomes The Next Red Air Private Contractor To Acquire F-16 Fighter Jets from the Netherlands

Posted on by Robin Edgar

one of the world’s largest private tactical jet air forces, is now set to add F-16A/B fighters to its roster after the Dutch government announced it had agreed to transfer 12 of the jets to the North American company. Draken will join fellow private contractor Top Aces in operating F-16s for “red air” adversary support, Read more about Draken Becomes The Next Red Air Private Contractor To Acquire F-16 Fighter Jets from the Netherlands[…]

Skyborg AI Computer “Brain” Successfully Flew A General Atomics Avenger Drone

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has announced that its Skyborg autonomy core system, or ACS, successfully completed a flight aboard a General Atomics Avenger unmanned vehicle at Edwards Air Force Base. The Skyborg ACS is a hardware and software suite that acts as the “brain” of autonomous aircraft equipped with the system. The tests Read more about Skyborg AI Computer “Brain” Successfully Flew A General Atomics Avenger Drone[…]

Flying car completes test flight between airports

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A prototype flying car has completed a 35-minute flight between international airports in Nitra and Bratislava, Slovakia. The hybrid car-aircraft, AirCar, is equipped with a BMW engine and runs on regular petrol-pump fuel. Its creator, Prof Stefan Klein, said it could fly about 1,000km (600 miles), at a height of 8,200ft (2,500m), and had clocked Read more about Flying car completes test flight between airports[…]

Who Are the Dividend Aristocrats in 2021?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

  The Dividend Aristocrats in 2021 Legendary investor George Soros once said, “Good investing should be boring”. But an increase in volatile themes today suggests this maxim has gone ignored by at least some market participants. From a high level, we can view investments on a spectrum. Volatile assets like cryptocurrencies and SPACs are more Read more about Who Are the Dividend Aristocrats in 2021?[…]

What Is a ‘TPM’ and Why Do You Need One to Run Windows 11?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Windows 11 was officially unveiled this week, and many eager users are checking to see if their PCs can run the upcoming OS with Microsoft’s Windows Health Check app. However, some are surprised to learn that their PCs aren’t “Windows 11 ready,” despite having new, high-end hardware. What’s a TPM? The main source of confusion Read more about What Is a ‘TPM’ and Why Do You Need One to Run Windows 11?[…]

China releases video and audio footage from its Mars rover

Posted on by Robin Edgar

China’s National Space Administration has released footage recorded by the country’s Mars probe. The videos and photos taken by the camera installed on the Zhurong rover of the Tianwen-1 spacecraft show the lander deploying a parachute before touching down on the surface of Mars and the rover driving away from its landing platform. State broadcaster Read more about China releases video and audio footage from its Mars rover[…]

Western Digital Confirms ‘My Book Live’ Drives Are Being Deleted Remotely

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Western Digital’s popular My Book Live hard drives are being deleted remotely by an unknown attacker, according to the company. And there’s not much anyone can do at this point but unplug their drives from the internet. “We have determined that some My Book Live devices have been compromised by a threat actor,” Western Digital’s Read more about Western Digital Confirms ‘My Book Live’ Drives Are Being Deleted Remotely[…]

Microsoft says new breach via customer service discovered in probe of suspected SolarWinds hackers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Microsoft (MSFT.O) said on Friday an attacker had won access to one of its customer-service agents and then used information from that to launch hacking attempts against customers. The company said it had found the compromise during its response to hacks by a team it identifies as responsible for earlier major breaches at SolarWinds (SWI.N) Read more about Microsoft says new breach via customer service discovered in probe of suspected SolarWinds hackers[…]

Windows Users Surprised by Windows 11’s Short List of Supported CPUs – and front facing camera requirements

Posted on by Robin Edgar

While a lot of focus has been on the TPM requirements for Windows 11, Microsoft has since updated its documentation to provide a complete list of supported processors. At present the list includes only Intel 8th Generation Core processors or newer, and AMD Ryzen Zen+ processors or newer, effectively limiting Windows 11 to PC less Read more about Windows Users Surprised by Windows 11’s Short List of Supported CPUs – and front facing camera requirements[…]

Lord of the Roths: How Tech Mogul Peter Thiel Turned a Retirement Account for the Middle Class Into a $5 Billion Tax-Free Piggy Bank

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Billionaire Peter Thiel, a founder of PayPal, has publicly condemned “confiscatory taxes.” He’s been a major funder of one of the most prominent anti-tax political action committees in the country. And he’s bankrolled a group that promotes building floating nations that would impose no compulsory income taxes. But Thiel doesn’t need a man-made island to Read more about Lord of the Roths: How Tech Mogul Peter Thiel Turned a Retirement Account for the Middle Class Into a $5 Billion Tax-Free Piggy Bank[…]

Regulators Crack Down on Crypto Exchange Binance in UK, Japan, Germany, and Ontario, Canada

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Wall Street Journal reports: Authorities in the U.K. and Japan took aim at affiliates of Binance Holdings Ltd., the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange network, in the latest regulatory crackdown on the wildly popular trade in bitcoin and other digital assets. The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, the country’s lead financial regulator, told consumers Saturday that Read more about Regulators Crack Down on Crypto Exchange Binance in UK, Japan, Germany, and Ontario, Canada[…]

Ubisoft Takes Down Fan’s Incredible Far Cry 5 ‘GoldenEye’ Maps

Posted on by Robin Edgar

For the past few years, a YouTuber known as Krollywood has painstakingly recreated every level from GoldenEye 007 inside the level editor of Far Cry 5. This week, Ubisoft removed all of those levels from Far Cry 5 due to a copyright infringement claim. Kotaku first reported on Krollywood’s efforts earlier this month. Over the Read more about Ubisoft Takes Down Fan’s Incredible Far Cry 5 ‘GoldenEye’ Maps[…]

Russia spoofed AIS data to fake British warship’s course days before firing at them from a huge distance in Crimea

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Russia was back up to its age-old spoofing of GPS tracks earlier this week before a showdown between British destroyer HMS Defender and coastguard ships near occupied Crimea in the Black Sea. Yesterday Defender briefly sailed through Ukrainian waters, triggering the Russian Navy and coastguard into sending patrol boats and anti-shipping aircraft to buzz the Read more about Russia spoofed AIS data to fake British warship’s course days before firing at them from a huge distance in Crimea[…]

You Don’t Own What You’ve Bought: Peloton Treadmill Edition

Posted on by Robin Edgar

We’ve written so many stories about how you don’t own what you’ve bought any more due to software controls, DRM, and ridiculous contracts, and it keeps getting worse. The latest such example involves Peloton, which is most known for its extremely expensive stationary bikes with video screens, so that you can take classes (usually on Read more about You Don’t Own What You’ve Bought: Peloton Treadmill Edition[…]

Russian Video Proves Patrol Boat Was Far From British Destroyer When It Fired Warning Shots by Crimea

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The fallout from yesterday’s incident in the Black Sea involving the U.K. Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender and elements of Russia’s military and internal security forces has taken its next turn, with the release of a video showing some of the events from the perspective of a Russian Border Guard patrol ship. The Read more about Russian Video Proves Patrol Boat Was Far From British Destroyer When It Fired Warning Shots by Crimea[…]

South Africa Africrypt Bitcoin Scam? Cajee Brothers Missing Along With Billions – second huge scam in SA

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A pair of South African brothers have vanished, along with Bitcoin worth $3.6 billion from their cryptocurrency investment platform. A Cape Town law firm hired by investors says they can’t locate the brothers and has reported the matter to the Hawks, an elite unit of the national police force. It’s also told crypto exchanges across Read more about South Africa Africrypt Bitcoin Scam? Cajee Brothers Missing Along With Billions – second huge scam in SA[…]

Hyundai completes deal for controlling interest in Boston Dynamics (walking robodog maker)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Hyundai this morning announced that it has completed its acquisition of Boston Dynamics. The deal, which values the innovative robotics company at $1.1 billion, was announced in late-2020. The companies have not disclosed any future financial details. The South Korean automotive giant now owns a controlling interest in Boston Dynamics, previously belonging to SoftBank. The Read more about Hyundai completes deal for controlling interest in Boston Dynamics (walking robodog maker)[…]