Linking ideas with the world
On Monday, the question and answer site Quora announced that a third-party was able to gain access to virtually every data point the company keeps on 100 million users. Even if you don’t recall having a Quora account, you might want to make sure. In a blog post, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo explained that the Read more about Hack of 100 Million Quora Users Could Be Worse Than it Sounds[…]
Early in the New Year, if all goes well, the Chinese spacecraft Chang’e-4 will arrive where no craft has been before: the far side of the Moon. The mission is scheduled to launch from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan province on December 8. The craft, comprising a lander and a rover, will then enter the Read more about China Set to Launch First-Ever Spacecraft to the Far Side of the Moon, try to grow plants there and listen to radio waves blocked off by the moon[…]
Three academics from Northeastern University and three researchers from IBM Research have discovered a new variation of the Spectre CPU vulnerability that can be exploited via browser-based code. The research team says this new CPU vulnerability is, too, a design flaw in the microarchitecture of modern processors that can be exploited by attacking the process Read more about Researchers discover SplitSpectre, a new Spectre-like CPU attack via Javascript[…]
A Twitter user using the pseudonym of @TheHackerGiraffe has hacked over 50,000 printers to print out flyers telling people to subscribe to PewDiePie’s YouTube channel. The messages have been sent out yesterday, November 29, and have caused quite the stirr among the users who received them, as they ended up on a bunch of places, Read more about Twitter user hacks 50,000 printers to tell people to subscribe to PewDiePie[…]
Under the new rules, traders will not be able to discriminate between customers with regard to the general terms and conditions – including prices – in three cases: for goods that are either delivered in a member state to which the trader offers delivery or are collected at a location agreed with the customer for Read more about EU anti Geo-blocking comes into force: unlocking e-commerce in the EU[…]
Twin girls born earlier this month had their DNA altered to prevent them from contracting HIV, according to an Associated Press report. If confirmed, the births would signify the first gene-edited babies in human history—a stunning development that’s sparking an outcry from scientists and ethicists. Professor He Jiankui of Shenzhen, China, made the announcement earlier Read more about Reports of First Genetically Enhanced Babies Spark Outrage[…]
: No, your phone is not “listening” to you in the strictest sense of the word. But, yes, all your likes, dislikes and preferences are clearly being heard by apps in your phone which you oh-so-easily clicked “agree” to the terms of which while installing. How so? If you are in India, the answer to Read more about Your phone indeed has ears that you may not know about – the companies that listen to noise in the background while apps that contain their software are open[…]
According to Chinese media, Qing Tao Energy Development Co, a startup out of the technical Tsinghua University, has deployed a solid-state battery production line in Kunshan, East China. Reports claim the line has a capacity of 100MWh per year — which is planned to increase to 700MWh by 2020 — and that the company has Read more about A Chinese startup may have cracked solid-state batteries[…]
Dong Mingzhu, chairwoman of China’s biggest maker of air conditioners Gree Electric Appliances, who found her face splashed on a huge screen erected along a street in the port city of Ningbo that displays images of people caught jaywalking by surveillance cameras. That artificial intelligence-backed surveillance system, however, erred in capturing Dong’s image on Wednesday Read more about Creepy Chinese AI shames CEO for jaywalking on public displays throughout city – but detected the CEO on an ad on a bus[…]
Next time you’re chatting with a customer service agent online, be warned that the person on the other side of your conversation might see what you’re typing in real time. A reader sent us the following transcript from a conversation he had with a mattress company after the agent responded to a message he hadn’t Read more about Be Warned: Customer Service Agents Can See What You’re Typing in Real Time on their website forms[…]
UK authorities should not be granted access to data held by American companies because British laws don’t meet human rights obligations, nine nonprofits have said. In a letter to the US Department of Justice, organisations including Human Rights Watch and the Electronic Frontier Foundation set out their concerns about the UK’s surveillance and data retention Read more about US told to quit sharing data with human rights-violating surveillance regime. Which one, you ask? That’d be the UK[…]
Telecomaanbieders moeten stoppen met het laten vervallen van ongebruikte data en belminuten. Dat schrijft de Consumentenbond in een brief aan de tien grootste aanbieders. Consumenten met een mobiel abonnement verliezen nu aan het einde van iedere maand hun ongebruikte belminuten en data binnen hun bundel. Tegelijkertijd betalen ze extra voor iedere minuut of MB die Read more about mobile providers in NL urged to stop killing unused data and phone minutes, as technically the user has paid for it and if they exceed the maximum they are fined[…]
Oh, you tease It is OneDrive’s turn to get a beating with the stick of fail as the service took a tumble this morning. Issues first began appearing at around 08:00 GMT as users around Europe logged in, expecting to find their files, and found instead a picture of a bicycle with a flat tyre Read more about OneDrive is broken: Microsoft’s cloudy storage drops from the sky for EU users[…]
On the same day that certain types of British state-backed hacking now need a judge-issued warrant to carry out, GCHQ has lifted the veil and given the infosec world a glimpse inside its vuln-hoarding policies. The spying agency’s internal Equities Process is the way by which it decides whether or not to tell tech vendors Read more about GCHQ vulnerability disclosure process and cops hacking you now need a judge to decide if it’s legal in the UK[…]
More than 45,000 Internet routers have been compromised by a newly discovered campaign that’s designed to open networks to attacks by EternalBlue, the potent exploit that was developed by, and then stolen from, the National Security Agency and leaked to the Internet at large, researchers said Wednesday. The new attack exploits routers with vulnerable implementations Read more about Mass router hack exposes millions of devices to potent NSA exploit through UPNP[…]
When the Internet Archive Forgets On the internet, there are certain institutions we have come to rely on daily to keep truth from becoming nebulous or elastic. Not necessarily in the way that something stupid like Verrit aspired to, but at least in confirming that you aren’t losing your mind, that an old post or Read more about When the Internet Archive Forgets[…]
When Shan Junhua bought his white Tesla Model X, he knew it was a fast, beautiful car. What he didn’t know is that Tesla constantly sends information about the precise location of his car to the Chinese government. Tesla is not alone. China has called upon all electric vehicle manufacturers in China to make the Read more about In China, your car could be talking to the government[…]
Businesses using fingerprint scanners to monitor their workforce can legally sack employees who refuse to hand over biometric information on privacy grounds, the Fair Work Commission has ruled. The ruling, which will be appealed, was made in the case of Jeremy Lee, a Queensland sawmill worker who refused to comply with a new fingerprint scanning Read more about Companies ‘can sack workers for refusing to use fingerprint scanners’ in Australia[…]
US hotel chain Marriott has admitted that a breach of its Starwood subsidiary’s guest reservation network has exposed the entire database – all 500 million guest bookings over four years, making this one of the biggest hacks of an individual org ever. “On September 8, 2018, Marriott received an alert from an internal security tool Read more about Marriott’s Starwood hotels mega-hack: Half a BILLION guests’ deets exposed over 4 years[…]
suggesting, automatically implementing, or both suggesting and automatically implementing, one or more household policies to be implemented within a household environment. The household policies include one or more input criteria that is derivable from at least one smart device within the household environment, the one or more input criteria relating to a characteristic of the Read more about Google wants to spy on you and then report on you[…]
In some embodiments, the private network may include at least one first device that captures information about its surrounding environment, such as data about the people and/or objects in the environment. The first device may receive a set of potential content sent from a server external to the private network. The first device may select Read more about Google patents a way for your smart devices to spy on you, serve you ads, even if your privacy settings says no[…]
One user played Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” on an Android tablet piano app and later bought some groceries online. Another sent a few texts and then checked the weather forecast. A third browsed through some videos before firing up Stevie Nicks on Pandora. They didn’t use their fingers to type commands or their voices to Read more about Paralyzed Individuals Operate Tablet with Brain Implant[…]
The first ever “solid state” plane, with no moving parts in its propulsion system, has successfully flown for a distance of 60 metres, proving that heavier-than-air flight is possible without jets or propellers. The flight represents a breakthrough in “ionic wind” technology, which uses a powerful electric field to generate charged nitrogen ions, which are Read more about First ever plane with no moving parts takes flight[…]
Machine learning is everywhere now, including recruiting. Take CV Compiler, a new product by Andrew Stetsenko and Alexandra Dosii. This web app uses machine learning to analyze and repair your technical resume, allowing you to shine to recruiters at Google, Yahoo and Facebook. The founders are marketing and HR experts who have a combined 15 Read more about CV Compiler is a robot that fixes your resume to make you more competitive[…]
There’s just something about this phone. From the moment I laid eyes on this thing, it just kind of made me happy. It’s small and adorable like a newborn puppy, and despite how petite it appears it photos, it looks and feels even smaller in person. And I’m not the only one that had this Read more about Palm’s Ultra Tiny Phone Is an Absolute Snack[…]