The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

US immigration uses Google Translate to scan people’s social media for bad posts – Er, don’t do that, says everyone else, including Google

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google recommends that anyone using its translation technology add a disclaimer that translated text may not be accurate. The US government’s Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) nonetheless has been relying on online translation services offered by Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo to read refugees’ non-English social media posts and judge whether or not they should be Read more about US immigration uses Google Translate to scan people’s social media for bad posts – Er, don’t do that, says everyone else, including Google[…]

Card stealing MageCart infection swipes customers details and payment cards from fragrancedirect.co.uk

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Online merchant fragrancedirect.co.uk has confirmed a miscreant broke into its systems and made off with a raft of customers’ personal data, including payment card details. The e-retailer, based in Macclesfield, England, wrote to punters this week to inform them of the digital burglary and the subsequent data leakage. “We recently discovered that some of our Read more about Card stealing MageCart infection swipes customers details and payment cards from fragrancedirect.co.uk[…]

Doordash  Food delivery services Latest Data Breach – 4.9m people have their physical addresses floating around the internet now

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Doordash is the latest of the “services you probably use, or at least have an account with” companies to suffer a large data breach. And while your passwords likely haven’t been compromised, it’s possible that your physical address is floating around in the Internet somewhere, among other identifying information. As Doordash wrote yesterday, an unknown Read more about Doordash  Food delivery services Latest Data Breach – 4.9m people have their physical addresses floating around the internet now[…]

AI equal with human experts in medical diagnosis with images, study finds

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Artificial intelligence is on a par with human experts when it comes to making medical diagnoses based on images, a review has found. The potential for artificial intelligence in healthcare has caused excitement, with advocates saying it will ease the strain on resources, free up time for doctor-patient interactions and even aid the development of Read more about AI equal with human experts in medical diagnosis with images, study finds[…]

Darknet cybercrime servers hosted in former NATO bunker in Germany busted in 600 policemen operation

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A cybercrime data center that was shut down by German authorities was housed inside a former NATO bunker in a sleepy riverside town, police revealed on Friday. More than 600 law enforcement personnel including Germany’s elite federal police unit, the GSG 9, were involved in an anti-cybercrime operation that took place in the town of Read more about Darknet cybercrime servers hosted in former NATO bunker in Germany busted in 600 policemen operation[…]

GNOME is Being Sued Because Shotwell Photo Manager can wirelessly transfer images. The US Patent Office really gave a patent to transfer images and label them to a patent troll.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The GNOME Foundation is facing a lawsuit from Rothschild Patent Imaging, LLC. Rothschild allege that Shotwell, a free and open source personal photo manager infringes its patent. Neil McGovern, Executive Director for the GNOME Foundation says “We have retained legal counsel and intend to vigorously defend against this baseless suit. Due to the ongoing litigation, Read more about GNOME is Being Sued Because Shotwell Photo Manager can wirelessly transfer images. The US Patent Office really gave a patent to transfer images and label them to a patent troll.[…]

The US Air Force Is Deploying PHASER Microwave Weapon to kill drones

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Yesterday afternoon, the Pentagon notified Congress of its purchase of a microwave weapon system designed to knock down swarms of enemy drones with pulses of energy. The purchase comes with an intent to deploy the PHASER system overseas for a year-long assessment, making it the first directed energy defense weapon to ever be fielded. […] Read more about The US Air Force Is Deploying PHASER Microwave Weapon to kill drones[…]

This Guy Made an Ad Blocker That Works on Podcasts and Radio

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Meet AdBlock Radio, an adblocker for live radio streams and podcasts. Its creator, Alexandre Storelli, told Motherboard he hopes to help companies “develop alternative business models for radio and podcast lovers that do not want ads.” “Ads exploit the weaknesses of many defenseless souls,” Storelli told Motherboard. “Ads dishonestly tempt people, steal their time and Read more about This Guy Made an Ad Blocker That Works on Podcasts and Radio[…]

Xiaomi’s Mi Mix Alpha is almost entirely made of screen

Posted on by Robin Edgar

As for the phone’s more traditional specs, there’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ processor, 5G connectivity, 12GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, 40W wired fast-charging, and a 4,050mAh battery. That last spec would perhaps suggest that Xiaomi doesn’t imagine you having the whole screen turned on all the time. Xiaomi describes the Mix Alpha as a Read more about Xiaomi’s Mi Mix Alpha is almost entirely made of screen[…]

DNA is held together by hydrophobic forces

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have disproved the prevailing theory of how DNA binds itself. It is not, as is generally believed, hydrogen bonds which bind together the two sides of the DNA structure. Instead, water is the key. The discovery opens doors for new understanding in research in medicine and life sciences. Read more about DNA is held together by hydrophobic forces[…]

The Game of Life: Visualizing China’s Social Credit System

Posted on by Robin Edgar

This infographic explores how China’s proposed social credit system will monitor and surveil citizens, and how it’ll be used to reward or punish them. Source: The Game of Life: Visualizing China’s Social Credit System How scary is this? If you don’t get along well with your horrible parents you may end up not being eligible Read more about The Game of Life: Visualizing China’s Social Credit System[…]

Several months after the fact, and after public reporting, CafePress finally acknowledges huge data theft to its customers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

T-shirt flogger CafePress has finally informed its customers about a serious data loss dating back to February and first reported last month. Several CafePress punters told us they had received an email this morning warning them the company had lost customer names, emails, physical addresses, phone numbers and unencrypted passwords. Some customers have also had Read more about Several months after the fact, and after public reporting, CafePress finally acknowledges huge data theft to its customers[…]

Football Leaks: Possible Interest Conflict Dogs Probe

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Eurojust, the European Union agency that facilitates cooperation between EU prosectuors, had extended the invitation for a working meeting, the focus of which was on the probes into findings from Football Leaks, the largest data leak in history. But the meeting produced more controversy than expected. Ten countries have expressed interest in the gigantic trove Read more about Football Leaks: Possible Interest Conflict Dogs Probe[…]

Facebook suspends apps belonging to 400 developers for slurping user data

Posted on by Robin Edgar

We initially identified apps for investigation based on how many users they had and how much data they could access. Now, we also identify apps based on signals associated with an app’s potential to abuse our policies. Where we have concerns, we conduct a more intensive examination. This includes a background investigation of the developer Read more about Facebook suspends apps belonging to 400 developers for slurping user data[…]

Critical Vulnerability in Harbor (container security!) Enables Privilege Escalation from Zero to Admin (CVE-2019-16097)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Aviv Sasson, a security researcher from the cloud division of Unit 42, has identified a critical vulnerability in a widespread cloud native registry called Harbor. The vulnerability allows attackers to take over Harbor registries by sending them a malicious request. The maintainers of Harbor released a patch that closes this critical security hole. Versions 1.7.6 Read more about Critical Vulnerability in Harbor (container security!) Enables Privilege Escalation from Zero to Admin (CVE-2019-16097)[…]

When were you at Tesco? Let’s have a look. parking app hauled offline after exposing 10s of millions of Automatic Number Plate Recognition images by Ranger Services and NCP

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Tesco has shuttered its parking validation web app after The Register uncovered tens of millions of unsecured ANPR images sitting in a Microsoft Azure blob. The images consisted of photos of cars taken as they entered and left 19 Tesco car parks spread across Britain. Visible and highlighted were the cars’ numberplates, though drivers were Read more about When were you at Tesco? Let’s have a look. parking app hauled offline after exposing 10s of millions of Automatic Number Plate Recognition images by Ranger Services and NCP[…]

FBI Served Valve, Symantec, 120 companies with secret surveillance National Security Letters

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The names of more than 120 companies secretly served FBI subpoenas for their customers’ personal data were revealed on Friday, including a slew of U.S. banks, cellphone providers, and a leading antivirus software maker. Known as national security letters (NSL), the subpoenas are a tool commonly used by FBI counterterrorism agents when seeking individuals’ communication Read more about FBI Served Valve, Symantec, 120 companies with secret surveillance National Security Letters[…]

The world’s most-surveilled cities – China, US, UK, UAE, Australia and India: you are being spied on!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Cities in China are under the heaviest CCTV surveillance in the world, according to a new analysis by Comparitech. However, some residents living in cities across the US, UK, UAE, Australia, and India will also find themselves surrounded by a large number of watchful eyes, as our look at the number of public CCTV cameras Read more about The world’s most-surveilled cities – China, US, UK, UAE, Australia and India: you are being spied on![…]

Smart TVs, smart-home devices found to be leaking sensitive user data to all kinds of companies

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Smart-home devices, such as televisions and streaming boxes, are collecting reams of data — including sensitive information such as device locations — that is then being sent to third parties like advertisers and major tech companies, researchers said Tuesday. As the findings show, even as privacy concerns have become a part of the discussion around Read more about Smart TVs, smart-home devices found to be leaking sensitive user data to all kinds of companies[…]

A Moon Space Elevator Is Actually Feasible and Inexpensive: Study

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In a paper published on the online research archive arXiv in August, Columbia astronomy students Zephyr Penoyre and Emily Sandford proposed the idea of a “lunar space elevator,” which is exactly what it sounds like—a very long elevator connecting the moon and our planet. The concept of a moon elevator isn’t new. In the 1970s, Read more about A Moon Space Elevator Is Actually Feasible and Inexpensive: Study[…]

Scotiabank slammed for ‘muppet-grade security’ after internal source code and credentials spill onto open internet

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Scotiabank leaked online a trove of its internal source code, as well as some of its private login keys to backend systems, The Register can reveal. Over the past 24 hours, the Canadian financial giant has torn down GitHub repositories, inadvertently left open to the public, that contained this sensitive information, after The Register raised Read more about Scotiabank slammed for ‘muppet-grade security’ after internal source code and credentials spill onto open internet[…]

Spotify wants to know where you are and will be checking in

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Spotify knows a lot about its users — their musical tastes, their most listened-to artists and their summer anthems. Spotify will also want to know where you live or to obtain your location data. It’s part of an effort to detect fraud and abuse of its Premium Family program. Premium Family is a $15-a-month plan Read more about Spotify wants to know where you are and will be checking in[…]

Windows 7’s July 2019 Security Patch Includes Telemetry – but you can disable it in task scheduler

Posted on by Robin Edgar

To the surprise of Windows watchers, the latest Windows 7 “security-only” update includes telemetry. The telemetry in question is Microsoft’s “Compatibility Appraiser,” which checks PCs for problems that could prevent upgrading to Windows 10. As Woody Leonhard points out on Computerworld, this is pretty odd on Microsoft’s part—the telemetry code was previously available and is Read more about Windows 7’s July 2019 Security Patch Includes Telemetry – but you can disable it in task scheduler[…]