Author: Robin Edgar

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

Come on, Amazon: If you’re going to copy open-source code for a new product, at least credit the creator – FOSS problems

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On Thursday, Amazon Web Services launched CloudWatch Synthetics Recorder, a Chrome browser extension for recording browser interactions that it copied from the Headless Recorder project created by developer Tim Nolet. It broke no law in doing so – the software is published under the permissive Apache License v2 – and developers expect such open-source projects Read more about Come on, Amazon: If you’re going to copy open-source code for a new product, at least credit the creator – FOSS problems[…]

Confirmed: Barnes & Noble hacked, systems taken offline for days, miscreants may have swiped personal info

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Barnes and Noble tonight confirmed it was hacked, and that its customers’ personal information may have been accessed by the intruders. The cyber-break-in forced the bookseller to take its systems offline this week to clean up the mess. See our update at the end of this piece. Our original report follows. Bookseller Barnes and Noble’s Read more about Confirmed: Barnes & Noble hacked, systems taken offline for days, miscreants may have swiped personal info[…]

Physicists successfully carry out controlled transport of stored light

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A team of physicists led by Professor Patrick Windpassinger at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has successfully transported light stored in a quantum memory over a distance of 1.2 millimeters. They have demonstrated that the controlled transport process and its dynamics has only little impact on the properties of the stored light. The researchers used Read more about Physicists successfully carry out controlled transport of stored light[…]

Remember when Zoom was rumbled for lousy crypto? Six months later it says end-to-end is ready – but it’s not

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The world’s plague-time video meeting tool of choice, Zoom, says it’s figured out how to do end-to-end encryption sufficiently well to offer users a tech preview. News of the trial comes after April 2020 awkwardness that followed the revelation that Zoom was fibbing about its service using end-to-end encryption. As we reported at the time, Read more about Remember when Zoom was rumbled for lousy crypto? Six months later it says end-to-end is ready – but it’s not[…]

Your Edge Browser Installed Microsoft Office Without Asking. NO!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Edge Chromium started out as a respectable alternative to Google Chrome on Windows, but it didn’t take long for Microsoft to turn it into a nuisance. To top it off, it looks like Edge is now a vector for installing (even more) Microsoft stuff on your PC—without you asking for it, of course. We don’t Read more about Your Edge Browser Installed Microsoft Office Without Asking. NO![…]

German Hospital Hacked, Patient Taken to Another City Dies- First documented cyberattack fatality?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

German authorities said Thursday that what appears to have been a misdirected hacker attack caused the failure of IT systems at a major hospital in Duesseldorf, and a woman who needed urgent admission died after she had to be taken to another city for treatment. The Duesseldorf University Clinic’s systems have been disrupted since last Read more about German Hospital Hacked, Patient Taken to Another City Dies- First documented cyberattack fatality?[…]

Attack on The EMV Smartcard Standard: man in the middle exploit with 2 smartphones

Posted on by Robin Edgar

EMV is the international protocol standard for smartcard payment and is used in over 9 billion cards worldwide. Despite the standard’s advertised security, various issues have been previously uncovered, deriving from logical flaws that are hard to spot in EMV’s lengthy and complex specification, running over 2,000 pages. We formalize a comprehensive symbolic model of Read more about Attack on The EMV Smartcard Standard: man in the middle exploit with 2 smartphones[…]

Researchers Create a Single-Molecule Switch – a Step Toward Ever-Smaller Electronics

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A team of researchers has demonstrated for the first time a single-molecule electret – a device that could be one of the keys to molecular computers. Smaller electronics are crucial to developing more advanced computers and other devices. This has led to a push in the field toward finding a way to replace silicon chips Read more about Researchers Create a Single-Molecule Switch – a Step Toward Ever-Smaller Electronics[…]

Five Eyes governments, India, and Japan make new call for encryption backdoors – insist that democracy is an insecure police state

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Members of the intelligence-sharing alliance Five Eyes, along with government representatives for Japan and India, have published a statement over the weekend calling on tech companies to come up with a solution for law enforcement to access end-to-end encrypted communications. The statement is the alliance’s latest effort to get tech companies to agree to encryption backdoors. Read more about Five Eyes governments, India, and Japan make new call for encryption backdoors – insist that democracy is an insecure police state[…]

Backdoorer the Xplora: Kids’ smart-watches can secretly take pics, record audio on command by encrypted texts

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Xplora 4 smartwatch, made by Chinese outfit Qihoo 360 Technology Co, and marketed to children under the Xplora brand in the US and Europe, can covertly take photos and record audio when activated by an encrypted SMS message, says Norwegian security firm Mnemonic. This backdoor is not a bug, the finders insist, but a Read more about Backdoorer the Xplora: Kids’ smart-watches can secretly take pics, record audio on command by encrypted texts[…]

RAF Uses Autonomous Drone Swarm Loaded With Decoys To Overwhelm Mock Enemy Air Defenses

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Italian defense contractor Leonardo says that it has conducted a successful demonstration in cooperation with the U.K. Royal Air Force of an autonomous swarm of unmanned aircraft, each carrying a variant of its BriteCloud expendable active decoy as an electronic warfare payload. Using the BriteClouds, which contain electronic warfare jammers, the drones were able to Read more about RAF Uses Autonomous Drone Swarm Loaded With Decoys To Overwhelm Mock Enemy Air Defenses[…]

Robinhood Users Says There’s No One To Call When Accounts Are Hacked

Posted on by Robin Edgar

It took Soraya Bagheri a day to learn that 450 shares of Moderna Inc. had been liquidated in her Robinhood account and that $10,000 in withdrawals were pending. But after alerting the online brokerage to what she believed was a theft in progress, she received a frustrating email. The firm wrote it would investigate and Read more about Robinhood Users Says There’s No One To Call When Accounts Are Hacked[…]

AI Created a Detailed 3D Map of Stars, Galaxies, and Quasars. Largest universe map so far.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A team of astronomers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Institute for Astronomy (IfA) has produced the most comprehensive astronomical imaging catalog of stars, galaxies, and quasars ever created with help from an artificially intelligent neural network. The group of astronomers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Institute for Astronomy (IfA) released a catalog Read more about AI Created a Detailed 3D Map of Stars, Galaxies, and Quasars. Largest universe map so far.[…]

“World’s fastest electrodes” triple the density of lithium batteries

Posted on by Robin Edgar

French company Nawa technologies says it’s already in production on a new electrode design that can radically boost the performance of existing and future battery chemistries, delivering up to 3x the energy density, 10x the power, vastly faster charging and battery lifespans up to five times as long. Nawa is already known for its work Read more about “World’s fastest electrodes” triple the density of lithium batteries[…]

Apple’s T2 custom secure boot chip is not only insecure, it cannot be fixed without replacing the silicon

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Apple’s T2 security chip is insecure and cannot be fixed, a group of security researchers report. Over the past three years, a handful of hackers have delved into the inner workings of the custom silicon, fitted inside recent Macs, and found that they can use an exploit developed for iPhone jailbreaking, checkm8, in conjunction with Read more about Apple’s T2 custom secure boot chip is not only insecure, it cannot be fixed without replacing the silicon[…]

Ex-Tesla exec Straubel aims to build world’s top battery recycler – still nowhere near enough to compensate for the trash electric cars are putting out, but a start

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Tesla co-founder J.B. Straubel wants to build his startup Redwood Materials into the world’s top battery recycling company and one of the largest battery materials companies, he said at a technology conference Wednesday. Straubel aims to leverage two partnerships, one with Panasonic Corp 6752.T, the Japanese battery manufacturer that is teamed with Tesla TSLA.O at Read more about Ex-Tesla exec Straubel aims to build world’s top battery recycler – still nowhere near enough to compensate for the trash electric cars are putting out, but a start[…]

Apple made ProtonMail add in-app purchases, even though it had been free for years – this App store shakedown has a long scared list of victims

Posted on by Robin Edgar

one app developer revealed to Congress that it — just like WordPress — had been forced to monetize a largely free app. That developer testified that Apple had demanded in-app purchases (IAP), even though Apple had approved its app without them two years earlier — and that when the dev dared send an email to Read more about Apple made ProtonMail add in-app purchases, even though it had been free for years – this App store shakedown has a long scared list of victims[…]

Google is giving data to police based on search keywords: IPs of everyone who searched a certain thing. No warrant required.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

There are few things as revealing as a person’s search history, and police typically need a warrant on a known suspect to demand that sensitive information. But a recently unsealed court document found that investigators can request such data in reverse order by asking Google to disclose everyone who searched a keyword rather than for Read more about Google is giving data to police based on search keywords: IPs of everyone who searched a certain thing. No warrant required.[…]

Facebook Just Forced Its Most Powerful Critics Offline

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Facebook is using its vast legal muscle to silence one of its most prominent critics. The Real Facebook Oversight Board, a group established last month in response to the tech giant’s failure to get its actual Oversight Board up and running before the presidential election, was forced offline on Wednesday night after Facebook wrote to Read more about Facebook Just Forced Its Most Powerful Critics Offline[…]

Leap Motion brings out TouchFree software – Add Touchless Gesture Control

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Touchless, hygienic interaction TouchFree is a software application that runs on an interactive kiosk or advertising totem. It detects a user’s hand in mid-air and converts it to an on-screen cursor. Easy to integrate, deploy, and use • Runs invisibly on top of existing user interfaces • Add touchless interaction without writing a single line Read more about Leap Motion brings out TouchFree software – Add Touchless Gesture Control[…]

NVIDIA Uses AI to Slash Bandwidth on Video Calls

Posted on by Robin Edgar

NVIDIA Research has invented a way to use AI to dramatically reduce video call bandwidth while simultaneously improving quality. What the researchers have achieved has remarkable results: by replacing the traditional h.264 video codec with a neural network, they have managed to reduce the required bandwidth for a video call by an order of magnitude. Read more about NVIDIA Uses AI to Slash Bandwidth on Video Calls[…]

Boom unveils the XB-1, supersonic testbed for Overture, supersonic airliner

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The “Baby Boom” is finally here. After six years of development, Boom Supersonic is unveiling its XB-1 demonstrator. The craft is the company’s first supersonic plane, designed to prove the technology ahead of a full-size airliner, Overture. […] As we reported on back in August, Boom is looking to build the first supersonic civilian airliner Read more about Boom unveils the XB-1, supersonic testbed for Overture, supersonic airliner[…]

UK privacy watchdog wraps up probe into Cambridge Analytica and… it was all a little bit overblown, no?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The UK’s privacy watchdog has wrapped up its probe into Cambridge Analytica, saying it found no hard evidence to support claims the controversial biz used data scrapped from people’s Facebook profiles to influence the Brexit referendum nor the US 2016 presidential election. There was no clear evidence of Russian involvement, either. However, the UK’s privacy Read more about UK privacy watchdog wraps up probe into Cambridge Analytica and… it was all a little bit overblown, no?[…]

Cars, planes, trains: where do CO2 emissions from transport come from?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In the chart here we see global transport emissions in 2018. This data is sourced from the International Energy Agency (IEA). Road travel accounts for three-quarters of transport emissions. Most of this comes from passenger vehicles – cars and buses – which contribute 45.1%. The other 29.4% comes from trucks carrying freight. Since the entire Read more about Cars, planes, trains: where do CO2 emissions from transport come from?[…]

Listening in on your XR11 remote from 20m away

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Guardicore discovered a new attack vector on Comcast’s XR11 voice remote that would have allowed attackers to turn it into a listening device – potentially invading your privacy in your living room. Prior to its remediation by Comcast, the attack, dubbed WarezTheRemote, was a very real security threat: with more than 18 million units deployed Read more about Listening in on your XR11 remote from 20m away[…]