The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

Shopped online at Macy’s last month? Might want to toss, or at least check, that card

A notice (PDF) posted by the long-operating department store chain said that, between October 7 and October 15 of this year, a Magecart script was running on the checkout page of its retail website. The script was able to capture payment card details in two different ways: as it was being entered through the checkout Read more about Shopped online at Macy’s last month? Might want to toss, or at least check, that card[…]

Half of Oracle E-Business customers open to months-old bank fraud flaw

Security company Onapsis estimates that roughly half of all companies using the Oracle EBS software have not yet patched CVE-2019-2648 and CVE-2019-2633, despite Big Red having pushed out fixes for both bugs back in April. The two vulnerabilities are found in the Thin Client Framework API and are described as reflected SQL injections. An attacker Read more about Half of Oracle E-Business customers open to months-old bank fraud flaw[…]

Elon Musk’s Starlink Satellites Are Already Causing a Headache for Astronomers

Astronomers at a Chilean observatory were rudely interrupted earlier this week when a SpaceX satellite train consisting of 60 Starlink satellites drifted overhead, in what scientists are apparently going to have to accept as the new normal. Launched into orbit on November 11, the Starlink smallsat train took five minutes to pass over the Cerro Read more about Elon Musk’s Starlink Satellites Are Already Causing a Headache for Astronomers[…]

SpaceX Starship Mk1 explodes during cryogenic loading test

SpaceX’s first full-scale Starship prototype – Mk1 – has experienced a failure at its Boca Chica test site in southern Texas. The failure occurred late in the afternoon on Wednesday, midway through a test of the vehicle’s propellant tanks. As of a few weeks ago, the Mk1 Starship – which was shown off to the Read more about SpaceX Starship Mk1 explodes during cryogenic loading test[…]

Windows will go DNS over HTTPS – Take over your DNS queries, grab more of your browsing behaviour

we are making plans to adopt DNS over HTTPS (or DoH) in the Windows DNS client. As a platform, Windows Core Networking seeks to enable users to use whatever protocols they need, so we’re open to having other options such as DNS over TLS (DoT) in the future. For now, we’re prioritizing DoH support as Read more about Windows will go DNS over HTTPS – Take over your DNS queries, grab more of your browsing behaviour[…]

Cayman Bank Targeted By Phineas Fisher Confirms it Was Hacked – 2 TB of data can be searched through now, find the money launderers

On Sunday, Motherboard reported that the hacker or hackers known as Phineas Fisher targeted a bank, stole money and documents, and is offering other hackers $100,000 to carry out politically motivated hacks. Now, the bank Phineas Fisher targeted, Cayman National Bank from the Isle of Man, confirmed it has suffered a data breach. “It is Read more about Cayman Bank Targeted By Phineas Fisher Confirms it Was Hacked – 2 TB of data can be searched through now, find the money launderers[…]

‘Royalty-Free’ Music Supplied By YouTube Audio Library Results in Mass Copyright claims to all YouTube income by Sony – for using a sample from a 1956(!!!!) song

A YouTuber who used a royalty-free track supplied by YouTube itself has had all of his videos copyright claimed by companies including SonyATV and Warner Chappell. According to the music outfits, Matt Lownes’ use the use of the track ‘Dreams’ by Joakim Karud means that they are now entitled to all of his revenue. […] Read more about ‘Royalty-Free’ Music Supplied By YouTube Audio Library Results in Mass Copyright claims to all YouTube income by Sony – for using a sample from a 1956(!!!!) song[…]

China now launches more rockets than anyone in the world: Russia 2nd, US 3rd

In recent weeks, China’s space program has made news by revealing some of its long-term ambitions for spaceflight. These include establishing an Earth-Moon space economic zone by 2050, which, if successful, could allow the country to begin to dictate the rules of behavior for future space exploration. Some have questioned whether China, which has flown six Read more about China now launches more rockets than anyone in the world: Russia 2nd, US 3rd[…]

The USPTO wants to know if artificial intelligence can own the content it creates

The US office responsible for patents and trademarks is trying to figure out how AI might call for changes to copyright law, and it’s asking the public for opinions on the topic. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register last month saying it’s seeking comments, as spotted Read more about The USPTO wants to know if artificial intelligence can own the content it creates[…]

Boffins harnessed the brain power of mice to build AI models that can’t be fooled

researchers recorded the brain activity of mice staring at images and used the data to help make computer vision models more robust against adversarial attacks. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) used for object recognition in images are all susceptible to adversarial examples. These inputs have been tweaked in some way, whether its adding random noise or Read more about Boffins harnessed the brain power of mice to build AI models that can’t be fooled[…]

White Screen of Death: Admins up in arms after experimental Google emission borks Chrome – yay auto updates

An experimental feature silently rolled out to the stable Chrome release on Tuesday caused chaos for IT admins this week after users complained of facing white, featureless tabs on Google’s massively popular browser. The issue affected thousands of businesses’ terminal servers, with multiple users on the same server experiencing “white screen of death” at the Read more about White Screen of Death: Admins up in arms after experimental Google emission borks Chrome – yay auto updates[…]

Germany forces Apple to allow use of iPhone’s NFC chip to other payment providers, breaks some little part of the monopoly

A new German law passed yesterday requires Apple to allow other mobile payments services access to the iPhone’s NFC chip for payments to allow them to fully compete with Apple Pay. Apple initially completely locked down the NFC chip so that it could be used only by Apple Pay. It later allowed some third-party apps Read more about Germany forces Apple to allow use of iPhone’s NFC chip to other payment providers, breaks some little part of the monopoly[…]

Americans and Privacy: Concerned, Confused and Feeling Lack of Control Over Their Personal Information

A majority of Americans believe their online and offline activities are being tracked and monitored by companies and the government with some regularity. It is such a common condition of modern life that roughly six-in-ten U.S. adults say they do not think it is possible to go through daily life without having data collected about Read more about Americans and Privacy: Concerned, Confused and Feeling Lack of Control Over Their Personal Information[…]

Lessons from the cyberattack on India’s largest nuclear power plant – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Indian officials acknowledged on October 30th that a cyberattack occurred at the country’s Kudankulam nuclear power plant. An Indian private cybersecurity researcher had tweeted about the breach three days earlier, prompting Indian authorities to initially deny that it had occurred before admitting that the intrusion had been discovered in early September and that efforts were Read more about Lessons from the cyberattack on India’s largest nuclear power plant – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists[…]

Ancestry Taps AI To Sift Through Millions of Obituaries

Algorithms identified death notices in old newspaper pages, then another set of algorithms pulled names and other key details into a searchable database. From a report: Ancestry used artificial intelligence to extract obituary details hidden in a half-billion digitized newspaper pages dating back to 1690, data invaluable for customers building their family trees. The family Read more about Ancestry Taps AI To Sift Through Millions of Obituaries[…]

Thousands of hacked Disney+ accounts are already for sale on hacking forums, technical problems, people driven to bittorrenting again.

Hackers didn’t waste any time and have started hijacking Disney+ user accounts hours after the service launched. Many of these accounts are now being offered for free on hacking forums, or available for sale for prices varying from $3 to $11, a ZDNet investigation has discovered. A stream of user complaints The Disney+ video streaming Read more about Thousands of hacked Disney+ accounts are already for sale on hacking forums, technical problems, people driven to bittorrenting again.[…]

Intels’ Trusted Platform Module can’t be trusted. TPM-FAIL

Trusted Platform Module (TPM) serves as a root of trust for the operating system. TPM is supposed to protect our security keys from malicious adversaries like malware and rootkits. Most laptop and desktop computers nowadays come with a dedicated TPM chip, or they use the Intel firmware-based TPM (fTPM) which runs on a separate microprocessor Read more about Intels’ Trusted Platform Module can’t be trusted. TPM-FAIL[…]

PayPal Pulls Out of Pornhub, Hurting ‘Hundreds of Thousands’ of Performers, because American companies are prudish? What happened to the US of Woodstock, hippies and free love?

Late Wednesday night, Pornhub announced that PayPal is no longer supporting payments for Pornhub—a decision that will impact thousands of performers using the site as a source of income. Most visitors to Pornhub likely think of it as a website that simply provides access to an endless supply of free porn, but Pornhub also allows Read more about PayPal Pulls Out of Pornhub, Hurting ‘Hundreds of Thousands’ of Performers, because American companies are prudish? What happened to the US of Woodstock, hippies and free love?[…]

3D volumetric display creates hologram-like tactile animated objects with sound using a polystyrene bead thrown around at high pace

Researchers in Sussex have built a device that displays 3D animated objects that can talk and interact with onlookers. A demonstration of the display showed a butterfly flapping its wings, a countdown spelled out by numbers hanging in the air, and a rotating, multicoloured planet Earth. Beyond interactive digital signs and animations, scientists want to Read more about 3D volumetric display creates hologram-like tactile animated objects with sound using a polystyrene bead thrown around at high pace[…]

Climate Change Is Already Making Us Sick

The fossil fuels driving climate change make people sick, and so do impacts like extreme heat, wildfires, and more extreme storms, according to research published on Wednesday. In short, the climate crisis is a public health crisis. A new report from premiere medical journal the Lancet tallies the medical toll of climate change and finds Read more about Climate Change Is Already Making Us Sick[…]

All the tech companies are into finance now – so Google is going into banking. They want to know what you spend your money on.

Google will soon offer checking accounts to consumers, becoming the latest Silicon Valley heavyweight to push into finance. The Wall Street Journal: The project, code-named Cache, is expected to launch next year with accounts run by Citigroup and a credit union at Stanford University, a tiny lender in Google’s backyard. Big tech companies see financial Read more about All the tech companies are into finance now – so Google is going into banking. They want to know what you spend your money on.[…]

Health websites are sharing sensitive medical data with Google, Facebook, and Amazon

Popular health websites are sharing private, personal medical data with big tech companies, according to an investigation by the Financial Times. The data, including medical diagnoses, symptoms, prescriptions, and menstrual and fertility information, are being sold to companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Oracle and smaller data brokers and advertising technology firms, like Scorecard and Read more about Health websites are sharing sensitive medical data with Google, Facebook, and Amazon[…]

Facebook says government demands for user data are at a record high, most by US govt

The social media giant said the number of government demands for user data increased by 16% to 128,617 demands during the first half of this year compared to the second half of last year. That’s the highest number of government demands it has received in any reporting period since it published its first transparency report Read more about Facebook says government demands for user data are at a record high, most by US govt[…]

The effects of speed on traffic flow – also with a quick look at emissions and fuel consumption

Right now, in the Netherlands there is talk about reducing the speed limit from 130kph to 100kph in order to comply to emissions goals set by the EU (and supported by NL) years ago. Because NL didn’t put into effect any necessary legislation years ago, this is now coming to bite NL in the arse Read more about The effects of speed on traffic flow – also with a quick look at emissions and fuel consumption[…]

Motorola Is Bringing Back the Flip Phone With a Folding All-Display Razr Device

According to a Verizon press release, the new Motorola Razr will clock in at the eye-popping price of $1,500 retail (still less than foldable competitors Samsung Galaxy Fold at $1,980 or more and Huawei Mate X at $2,420). Its 6.2-inch screen is ultrawide and the device packs a 16-megapixel main camera; Verizon added that when Read more about Motorola Is Bringing Back the Flip Phone With a Folding All-Display Razr Device[…]