Author: Robin Edgar

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

A Chinese Satellite Just Grappled Another And Pulled It Out Of Orbit

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Chinese satellite was observed grabbing another satellite and pulling it out of its normal geosynchronous orbit and into a “super-graveyard drift orbit.” The maneuver raises questions about the potential applications of these types of satellites designed to maneuver close to other satellites for inspection or manipulation and adds to growing concerns about China’s space program Read more about A Chinese Satellite Just Grappled Another And Pulled It Out Of Orbit[…]

Stackable artificial leaf uses less power than lightbulb to capture 100 times more carbon than other systems

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Engineers at the University of Illinois Chicago have built a cost-effective artificial leaf that can capture carbon dioxide at rates 100 times better than current systems. Unlike other carbon capture systems, which work in labs with pure carbon dioxide from pressurized tanks, this artificial leaf works in the real world. It captures carbon dioxide from Read more about Stackable artificial leaf uses less power than lightbulb to capture 100 times more carbon than other systems[…]

polkit has been allowing root for 12+ years

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…]Polkit, previously known as PolicyKit, is a tool for setting up policies governing how unprivileged processes interact with privileged ones. The vulnerability resides within polkit’s pkexec, a SUID-root program that’s installed by default on all major Linux distributions. Designated CVE-2021-4034, the vulnerability has been given a CVSS score of 7.8. Bharat Jogi, director of vulnerability Read more about polkit has been allowing root for 12+ years[…]

Google Drive flags single-digit files over copyright

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A funny thing happened on Google Drive overnight. Seemingly innocuous files started being flagged as violating the search behemoth’s terms of service over copyright infringement. Dr Emily Dolson, assistant professor at Michigan State University, was one of those affected after she attempted to upload a file containing a single digit, “1”. Uh, @googledrive, are you Read more about Google Drive flags single-digit files over copyright[…]

Flying car wins airworthiness certification – BBC News

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A flying car capable of hitting speeds over 100mph (160kmh) and altitudes above 8,000ft (2,500m) has been issued with a certificate of airworthiness by the Slovak Transport Authority. The hybrid car-aircraft, AirCar, is equipped with a BMW engine and runs on regular petrol-pump fuel. It takes two minutes and 15 seconds to transform from car Read more about Flying car wins airworthiness certification – BBC News[…]

How to Download Everything Amazon Knows About You (It’s a Lot)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…]To be clear, data collection is far from an Amazon-specific problem; it’s pretty much par for the course when it comes to tech companies. Even Apple, a company vocal about user privacy, has faced criticism in the past for recording Siri interactions and sharing them with third-party contractors. The issue with Amazon, however, is the Read more about How to Download Everything Amazon Knows About You (It’s a Lot)[…]

MoonBounce Malware Hides In Your BIOS Chip, Persists After Drive Formats

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A new type of malware takes a decidedly more stealthy and hard-to-remove path into your OS — it hides in your BIOS chip and thus remains even after you reinstall your OS or format your hard drive. Kaspersky has observed the growth of Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware malware threats since 2019, with most Read more about MoonBounce Malware Hides In Your BIOS Chip, Persists After Drive Formats[…]

‘Dark Souls 3’ security hole lets attackers hijack your PC

Posted on by Robin Edgar

You might not want to play a Dark Souls game online for a while — not that you necessarily can. As Dexerto and The Verge report, attackers have discovered a security exploit in Dark Souls 3 (and potentially Elden Ring) for Windows that lets attackers remotely execute control and effectively hijack your PC. Streamers like Read more about ‘Dark Souls 3’ security hole lets attackers hijack your PC[…]

The IEA wants to make their data available to the public – now it is on governments of the world’s rich countries to make this happen

Posted on by Robin Edgar

To tackle climate change we need good data. This data exists; it is published by the International Energy Agency (IEA). But despite being an institution that is largely publicly funded, most IEA data is locked behind paywalls. […] In 2020 we launched a campaign to unlock this data; we started on Twitter (one example), last Read more about The IEA wants to make their data available to the public – now it is on governments of the world’s rich countries to make this happen[…]

Totally Bogus DMCA Takedowns From Giant Publishers Completely Nuke Book Review Blog Off The Internet

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Just as we’re in the midst of a Greenhouse series all about SOPA, copyright industry lobbyists, and former copyright industry lawyers now running the Copyright Office are conspiring to make copyright law worse and to favor Hollywood and give the big giant legacy copyright companies more control and power over the internet. And, yet, we Read more about Totally Bogus DMCA Takedowns From Giant Publishers Completely Nuke Book Review Blog Off The Internet[…]

Safari 15 could leak Google account info to malicious sites

Posted on by Robin Edgar

An improperly implemented API that stores data on browsers has caused a vulnerability in Safari 15 that leaks user internet activity and personal identifiers. The vulnerability was discovered by fraud detection service Fingerprint JS, which has contacted the WebKit maintainers and provided a public source code repository. As of 28 November last year, the issue Read more about Safari 15 could leak Google account info to malicious sites[…]

Security Holes Found in My2022 App for Beijing Winter Olympics

Posted on by Robin Edgar

An app that visitors to the 2022 Olympics Games in Beijing are obligated to download is also a cybersecurity nightmare that threatens to expose much of the data that it collects, according to a new report. MY2022, the mandatory app for visitors at this year’s Winter Games, offers a variety of services—including tourism recommendations, Covid-related Read more about Security Holes Found in My2022 App for Beijing Winter Olympics[…]

WhatsApp Ordered To Help US Agents Spy On Chinese Phones using 1986 pen register act

Posted on by Robin Edgar

U.S. federal agencies have been using a 35-year-old American surveillance law to secretly track WhatsApp users with no explanation as to why and without knowing whom they are targeting. In Ohio, a just-unsealed government surveillance application reveals that in November 2021, DEA investigators demanded the Facebook-owned messaging company track seven users based in China and Read more about WhatsApp Ordered To Help US Agents Spy On Chinese Phones using 1986 pen register act[…]

OpenSubtitles Hacked, 7 Million Subscribers’ Details Leaked Online

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[…] “In August 2021 we received message on Telegram from a hacker, who showed us proof that he could gain access to the user table of opensubtitles.org, and downloaded a SQL dump from it. He asked for a BTC ransom to not disclose this to public and promise to delete the data,” the post reads. Read more about OpenSubtitles Hacked, 7 Million Subscribers’ Details Leaked Online[…]

Crypto.com Finally Acknowledges $34 Million Stolen by Hackers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Trading platform Crypto.com lost about $34 million worth of cryptocurrency in a hack on Monday, according to a new blog post by the company published overnight. The company had previously declined to say much about the hack, which forced users to stop withdrawals for most of the day, and only reassured customers they wouldn’t lose Read more about Crypto.com Finally Acknowledges $34 Million Stolen by Hackers[…]

The Worst Passwords in the Last Decade (And New Ones You Shouldn’t Use)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Have you immortalized your beloved dog, Charlie, in all of your online passwords? While he may be tasked to protect your home (or at least his food bowl), your heartfelt dedication might actually be compromising your digital safety. Many passwords believed to be deeply personal to you are, in fact, quite common – making them Read more about The Worst Passwords in the Last Decade (And New Ones You Shouldn’t Use)[…]

Massive rugby ball-shaped exoplanet spotted 1,500 ly away

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Just over 1,500 light-years away in the constellation of Hercules there’s a rugby ball-shaped exoplanet orbiting a star. It’s the first time astronomers have been able to detect such an unusual shape of an alien world. Most planets are more or less spherical due to gravitational forces that pull matter equally in from all sides, Read more about Massive rugby ball-shaped exoplanet spotted 1,500 ly away[…]

The AI software that could turn you in to a music star

Posted on by Robin Edgar

If you have ever dreamed of earning money from a stellar music career but were concerned you had little talent, don’t let that put you off – a man called Alex Mitchell might be able to help. Mr Mitchell is the founder and boss of a website and app called Boomy, which helps its users Read more about The AI software that could turn you in to a music star[…]

Microsoft warns of destructive cyberattack on Ukrainian computer networks

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Microsoft warned Saturday evening that it had detected a highly destructive form of malware in dozens of government and private computer networks in Ukraine that appeared to be waiting to be triggered by an unknown actor. In a blog post, the company said that Thursday — around the same time that government agencies in Ukraine Read more about Microsoft warns of destructive cyberattack on Ukrainian computer networks[…]

Canon can’t get enough toner chips, so it’s telling customers how to defeat its DRM

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[.,..]To enforce the use of first-party cartridges, manufacturers typically embed chips inside the consumables for the printers to “authenticate.” But when chips are in short supply, like today, manufacturers can find themselves in a bind. So Canon is now telling German customers how to defeat its printers’ warnings about third-party cartridges. “Due to the worldwide Read more about Canon can’t get enough toner chips, so it’s telling customers how to defeat its DRM[…]

Developer Bricks Open-Source Apps Colors and Faker – used in 20k projects – no reason given, world of crazy

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The eccentric developer behind two immensely popular open-source NPM coding libraries recently corrupted them both with a series of bizarre updates—a decision that has led to the bricking of droves of projects that relied upon them for support. Marak Squires is the creator behind the popular JavaScript libraries Faker and Colors—the likes of which are Read more about Developer Bricks Open-Source Apps Colors and Faker – used in 20k projects – no reason given, world of crazy[…]

Did you always want to hack an ESA satellite? Now’s your chance

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The European Space Agency (ESA) is inviting applications from attackers who fancy having a crack at its OPS-SAT spacecraft. It’s all in the name of ethical hacking, of course. The plan is to improve the resilience and security of space assets by understanding the threats dreamed up by security professionals and members of the public Read more about Did you always want to hack an ESA satellite? Now’s your chance[…]