The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

Azure, Office 365 go super-secure: Multi-factor auth borked in Europe, Asia, USA – > 6 hour outage from MS – yay!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Happy Monday, everyone! Azure Multi-Factor Authentication is struggling, meaning that some users with the functionality enabled are now super secure. And, er, locked out. Microsoft confirmed that there were problems from 04:39 UTC with a subset of customers in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific experiencing “difficulties signing into Azure resources” such as the, er, little Read more about Azure, Office 365 go super-secure: Multi-factor auth borked in Europe, Asia, USA – > 6 hour outage from MS – yay![…]

Dutch Gov sees Office 365 spying on you, sending your texts to US servers without recourse or knowledge

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Uit het rapport van de Nederlandse overheid blijkt dat de telemetrie-functie van alle Office 365 en Office ProPlus-applicaties onder andere e-mail-onderwerpen en woorden/zinnen die met behulp van de spellingschecker of vertaalfunctie zijn geschreven worden doorgestuurd naar systemen in de Verenigde Staten. Dit gaat zelfs zo ver dat, als een gebruiker meerdere keren achter elkaar op Read more about Dutch Gov sees Office 365 spying on you, sending your texts to US servers without recourse or knowledge[…]

LastPass Five-hour outage drives netizens bonkers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

LastPass’s cloud service suffered a five-hour outage today that left some people unable to use the password manager to log into their internet accounts. Its makers said offline mode wasn’t affected – and that only its cloud-based password storage fell offline – although some Twitter folks disagreed. One claimed to be unable to log into Read more about LastPass Five-hour outage drives netizens bonkers[…]

Human images from world’s first total-body scanner unveiled

Posted on by Robin Edgar

EXPLORER, the world’s first medical imaging scanner that can capture a 3-D picture of the whole human body at once, has produced its first scans. The brainchild of UC Davis scientists Simon Cherry and Ramsey Badawi, EXPLORER is a combined positron emission tomography (PET) and X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanner that can image the entire Read more about Human images from world’s first total-body scanner unveiled[…]

Talk about a cache flow problem: This JavaScript can snoop on other browser tabs to work out what you’re visiting

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Computer science boffins have demonstrated a side-channel attack technique that bypasses recently-introduced privacy defenses, and makes even the Tor browser subject to tracking. The result: it is possible for malicious JavaScript in one web browser tab to spy on other open tabs, and work out which websites you’re visiting. This information can be used to Read more about Talk about a cache flow problem: This JavaScript can snoop on other browser tabs to work out what you’re visiting[…]

Facebook files patent to find out more about you by looking at the background items in your pictures and pictures you are tagged in

Posted on by Robin Edgar

An online system predicts household features of a user, e.g., household size and demographic composition, based on image data of the user, e.g., profile photos, photos posted by the user and photos posted by other users socially connected with the user, and textual data in the user’s profile that suggests relationships among individuals shown in Read more about Facebook files patent to find out more about you by looking at the background items in your pictures and pictures you are tagged in[…]

Most ATMs can be hacked in under 20 minutes

Posted on by Robin Edgar

An extensive testing session carried out by bank security experts at Positive Technologies has revealed that most ATMs can be hacked in under 20 minutes, and even less, in certain types of attacks. Experts tested ATMs from NCR, Diebold Nixdorf, and GRGBanking, and detailed their findings in a 22-page report published this week. The attacks Read more about Most ATMs can be hacked in under 20 minutes[…]

Microsoft slips ads into Windows 10 Mail client – then U-turns so hard, it warps fabric of reality – Windows is an OS, not a service!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Microsoft was, and maybe still is, considering injecting targeted adverts into the Windows 10 Mail app. The ads would appear at the top of inboxes of folks using the client without a paid-for Office 365 subscription, and the advertising would be tailored to their interests. Revenues from the banners were hoped to help keep Microsoft Read more about Microsoft slips ads into Windows 10 Mail client – then U-turns so hard, it warps fabric of reality – Windows is an OS, not a service![…]

A 100,000-router botnet is feeding on a 5-year-old UPnP bug in Broadcom chips (lots of different routers have this chip!)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A recently discovered botnet has taken control of an eye-popping 100,000 home and small-office routers made from a range of manufacturers, mainly by exploiting a critical vulnerability that has remained unaddressed on infected devices more than five years after it came to light. Researchers from Netlab 360, who reported the mass infection late last week, Read more about A 100,000-router botnet is feeding on a 5-year-old UPnP bug in Broadcom chips (lots of different routers have this chip!)[…]

Can AI Create True Art?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

just last month, AI-generated art arrived on the world auction stage under the auspices of Christie’s, proving that artificial intelligence can not only be creative but also produce world class works of art—another profound AI milestone blurring the line between human and machine. Naturally, the news sparked debates about whether the work produced by Paris-based Read more about Can AI Create True Art?[…]

AIs Are Getting Better At Playing Video Games…By Cheating

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Earlier this year, researchers tried teaching an AI to play the original Sonic the Hedgehog as part of the The OpenAI Retro Contest. The AI was told to prioritize increasing its score, which in Sonic means doing stuff like defeating enemies and collecting rings while also trying to beat a level as fast as possible. Read more about AIs Are Getting Better At Playing Video Games…By Cheating[…]

Couple Who Ran retro ROM Site (with games you can’t buy any more) to Pay Nintendo $12 Million

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Nintendo has won a lawsuit seeking to take two large retro-game ROM sites offline, on charges of copyright infringement. The judgement, made public today, ruled in Nintendo’s favour and states that the owners of the sites LoveROMS.com and LoveRETRO.co, will have to pay a total settlement of $12 million to Nintendo. The complaint was originally Read more about Couple Who Ran retro ROM Site (with games you can’t buy any more) to Pay Nintendo $12 Million[…]

Rocket Lab’s Modest Launch Is Giant Leap for Small Rocket Business: BTW it didn’t blow up, Elon!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A small rocket from a little-known company lifted off Sunday from the east coast of New Zealand, carrying a clutch of tiny satellites. That modest event — the first commercial launch by a U.S.-New Zealand company known as Rocket Lab — could mark the beginning of a new era in the space business, where countless Read more about Rocket Lab’s Modest Launch Is Giant Leap for Small Rocket Business: BTW it didn’t blow up, Elon![…]

Study opens route to ultra-low-power microchips

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A new approach to controlling magnetism in a microchip could open the doors to memory, computing, and sensing devices that consume drastically less power than existing versions. The approach could also overcome some of the inherent physical limitations that have been slowing progress in this area until now. Researchers at MIT and at Brookhaven National Read more about Study opens route to ultra-low-power microchips[…]

HTTP-over-QUIC to be renamed HTTP/3

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The HTTP-over-QUIC experimental protocol will be renamed to HTTP/3 and is expected to become the third official version of the HTTP protocol, officials at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) have revealed. This will become the second Google-developed experimental technology to become an official HTTP protocol upgrade after Google’s SPDY technology became the base of Read more about HTTP-over-QUIC to be renamed HTTP/3[…]

Google traffic routed to Russian and Chinese servers in BGP attack

Posted on by Robin Edgar

People’s connections in the US to Google – including its cloud, YouTube, and other websites – were suddenly rerouted through Russia and into China in a textbook Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) hijacking attack. That means folks in Texas, California, Ohio, and so on, firing up their browsers and software and connecting to Google and its Read more about Google traffic routed to Russian and Chinese servers in BGP attack[…]

How to Quit Google Completely

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Despite all the convenience and quality of Google’s sprawling ecosystem, some users are fed up with the fishy privacy policies the company has recently implemented in Gmail, Chrome, and other services. To its credit, Google has made good changes in response to user feedback, but that doesn’t diminish the company’s looming shadow over the internet Read more about How to Quit Google Completely[…]

Windows 10 Pro goes Home as Microsoft fires up downgrade server

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Microsoft’s activation servers appear to be on the blink this morning – some Windows 10 users woke up to find their Pro systems have, er, gone Home. Twitter user Matt Wadley was one of the first out of the gate, complaining that following an update to the freshly released Insider build of next year’s Windows, Read more about Windows 10 Pro goes Home as Microsoft fires up downgrade server[…]

Google is using AI to help The New York Times digitize 5 million historical photos

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The New York Times doesn’t keep bodies in its “morgue” — it keeps pictures. In a basement under its Times Square office, stuffed into cabinets and drawers, the Times stores between 5 million and 7 million images, along with information about when they were published and why. Now, the paper is working with Google to Read more about Google is using AI to help The New York Times digitize 5 million historical photos[…]

The US Military Just Publicly Dumped Russian Government Malware Online

Posted on by Robin Edgar

This week, US Cyber Command (CYBERCOM), a part of the military tasked with hacking and cybersecurity focused missions, started publicly releasing unclassified samples of adversaries’ malware it has discovered. CYBERCOM says the move is to improve information sharing among the cybersecurity community, but in some ways it could be seen as a signal to those Read more about The US Military Just Publicly Dumped Russian Government Malware Online[…]

OpenAI releases learning site for Reinforcement Learning: Spinning Up in Deep RL!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Welcome to Spinning Up in Deep RL! This is an educational resource produced by OpenAI that makes it easier to learn about deep reinforcement learning (deep RL). For the unfamiliar: reinforcement learning (RL) is a machine learning approach for teaching agents how to solve tasks by trial and error. Deep RL refers to the combination Read more about OpenAI releases learning site for Reinforcement Learning: Spinning Up in Deep RL![…]

Artificial intelligence predicts Alzheimer’s years before diagnosis

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Timely diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is extremely important, as treatments and interventions are more effective early in the course of the disease. However, early diagnosis has proven to be challenging. Research has linked the disease process to changes in metabolism, as shown by glucose uptake in certain regions of the brain, but these changes can Read more about Artificial intelligence predicts Alzheimer’s years before diagnosis[…]

Apple Blocks Linux From Booting and makes Windows hard to boot On New Hardware With T2 Security Chip

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Apple’s new-generation Macs come with a new so-called Apple T2 security chip that’s supposed to provide a secure enclave co-processor responsible for powering a series of security features, including Touch ID. At the same time, this security chip enables the secure boot feature on Apple’s computers, and by the looks of things, it’s also responsible Read more about Apple Blocks Linux From Booting and makes Windows hard to boot On New Hardware With T2 Security Chip[…]

Virtualbox 0-day posted because Oracle won’t update, allows you to execute on the underlying server

Posted on by Robin Edgar

I like VirtualBox and it has nothing to do with why I publish a 0day vulnerability. The reason is my disagreement with contemporary state of infosec, especially of security research and bug bounty: Wait half a year until a vulnerability is patched is considered fine. In the bug bounty field these are considered fine: Wait Read more about Virtualbox 0-day posted because Oracle won’t update, allows you to execute on the underlying server[…]