Slashdot Mirror
Domain: thestack.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to thestack.com.
Stories · 460
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UK PM Wants To Speed Up Controversial Internet Bill After Paris Attacks (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Less than three days after the attacks in Paris, UK prime minister David Cameron has suggested that the process of review for the controversial Draft Investigatory Powers Bill should be accelerated. The controversial proposal, which would require British ISPs to retain a subset of a user's internet history for a year and in effect outlaw zero-knowledge encryption in the UK, was intended for parliamentary review and ratification by the end of 2016, but at the weekend ex-terrorist watchdog Lord Carlile was in the vanguard of demands to speed the bill into law by the end of this year, implicitly criticizing ex-NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden for having 'shown terrorists ways to hide their electronic footprints'. -
China To Spend $47 Billion In Bid To Become 3rd-Largest Global Chip Manufacturer (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader writes: In an interview with Reuters, the head of China's Tsinghua Unigroup has revealed they will invest 300 billion yuan ($47bn) over the next five years with the ambition of becoming the world's third largest chip-maker. The state-backed company, also the technological investment arm of Tsinghua University, is in talks with an unnamed U.S. company (most likely Micron) though Zhao discounts the possibility of buying a controlling share as politically insensitive. -
An Algorithm To Facilitate Uber-Style Dynamic Phone Tariffs (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A new paper proposes an algorithm to help network providers furnish 'surge' pricing for mobile data and other network communications, citing a 50% shortfall between demand and capacity over the next five years as an indicator that consumers may have to be shepherded out of the congested times and areas in order for normal service to continue to be maintained. Just don't tell any of the people in charge of airport wireless networks. -
Microsoft Open Sources Its Machine Learning Toolkit (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Microsoft has this week made its Distributed Machine Learning Toolkit (DMTK) openly available to the developer community. Researchers at the Microsoft Asia lab have released the toolkit on GitHub under an MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) license, to encourage the use of multiple computers in parallel to solve complex problems. Its design builds on a parameter server-based programming framework, which allows big data machine learning tasks to be easily scaled, and flexibly and efficiently executed. The toolkit also contains two distributed machine learning algorithms, which can be used to train the world's fastest and largest topic model, as well as the largest word-embedding model.
This is a welcome move, especially after Google did something broadly similar. -
Mac App Store Apps 'Damaged' Following Security Certificate Bug (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A slew of complaints are emerging against Apple after users were forced to delete and re-install Mac App Store apps in the wake of a major security management error. The problem manifested with the apparent expiry of security certificates which validated the apps, but even after the certificates were updated yesterday to expire in 2035, the problems were not resolved; some users were unable to verify the new certificates, and others could not even connect to the internet. In some cases the programs had to be reinstalled from scratch, deleting the user's existing settings. -
Apple Apparently Planning Mobile Peer-To-Peer Payment Service (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is planning peer-to-peer services (paywalled) as an adjunct to its Apple Pay system. The company is said to be in talks with major banks including JP Morgan and Wells Fargo to develop a new framework that could be in place as early as 2016, and which would facilitate payment transfers directly between Apple devices such as the iPhone and the Apple Watch. -
Bluetooth 2016 Roadmap Brings Fourfold Range Increase and Mesh Networking (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has announced its roadmap for Bluetooth Smart in 2016, promising a fourfold range increase in the low-energy, IoT-oriented version of the protocol, along with dedicated mesh networking, a 100% increase in speed and no extra consumption of energy. The last set of upgrades to the protocol offered direct access to the internet and security enhancements. Since Bluetooth must currently contend with attacks on everything from cars to toilets, the increased range means that developers may not be able to rely on 'fleeting contact' as a security feature quite as much. -
New Algorithm Recognizes Both Good and Bad Fake Reviews (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers from the university of Sao Paolo have developed an algorithm able to identify both good and bad online reviews in the massive daily chatter of millions of peer-community posts, and in lateral mendacities at social network sites such as Google+ and Facebook reposts and 'likes'. Two of the datasets tested in the research were from Amazon, which has a vested interest in restoring the reputation of its community reviews, and has recently taken action on the matter. -
Baidu Data Research Reveals China's Ghost Cities (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Chinese web services giant, Baidu, has embarked on a new study in which it uses location information from users' mobile devices, as well as mapping and building data, to identify areas with high volumes of construction with relatively low population densities — known as 'ghost cities.' The researchers, in the published findings Ghost Cities: Analysis Based on Positioning Data in China, were able to discount areas which experienced high levels of tourism which skew the figures in peak seasons. The Baidu Big Data team discovered 50 ghost cities, although only 20 of these were revealed in the report to avoid potential harm to the real estate market in these areas. -
LA's Smart LED Street Lights Boost Wireless Connectivity (philips.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Los Angeles will introduce a smart street lighting system, featuring connected LEDs and fully-integrated 4G LTE wireless technology. In a collaboration between Dutch tech firm Philips and Swedish telco Ericsson, the SmartPole project aims to deliver LA citizens public lighting which is energy efficient and improves network performance in urban areas. By the close of this week, a total of 24 SmartPoles will be installed across the Hollywood area. The city plans to place 100 poles over the coming year, with a further 500 to follow. -
Android App Mutates Source Code, Spreads Virally and Enables Mesh Networks (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers from the Delft University of Technology have developed a self-replicating, mutating Android app which can create on-the-fly mesh networks in the event of an infrastructural disaster, or the enabling of internet kill switches by oppressive regimes. The app's source is available at GitHub, and the app itself requires no root privileges to propagate. It can self-compile while it mutates — for example, from a game to a calculator — in transit from one Android device to another, and compatibility with iOS and Windows phones is anticipated. -
Ocean-Mapping Robots Could Help Uncover Mysteries of the Deep Blue (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A swarm of pumpkin-shaped robots is being developed to map oceans, gathering maritime data for use in tourism, reef monitoring and anti-terrorism among other applications. The Eve robot – or Ellipsodial Vehicle for Exploration – was created by Sampriti Bhattacharyya, a robotics engineer at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT). Inspired by the loss of the Malaysia Airlines plane, the scientist envisions her yellow robots travelling below the water's surface, using their sensors to detect and monitor underwater happenings – both individually and collaboratively. -
BBC Lets Viewers Buy Shows and Episodes Permanently, But No 'Extras' (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The BBC has opened a new online store which lets viewers purchase TV programs that do not expire in its iPlayer streaming outlet after thirty days, but which apparently remain stored for streaming in the same style as Amazon's video purchases. The BBC claims the extensive archive inventory is available only to UK-based viewers, though its VPN-blocking attempts do not currently seem to prevent purchases from outside the country. Additionally the BBC's high-quality disc extras do not seem to have made the jump from disc to digital, signifying possible further decline for 'value added' features such as commentaries and documentaries in the future. -
Controversial New UK Internet Powers Bill Makes No Mention of VPNs (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The Draft Investigatory Powers Bill presented by the UK Home Secretary Theresa May to Parliament today has caused controversy because it proposes new legislation to force UK ISPs to retain an abbreviated version of a user's internet history for a year, and would also oblige vendors such as Apple not to provide consumer-level encryption that the vendor cannot access itself in accordance with a court order. But perhaps the most surprising aspect of DIPA is that Virtual Private Networks are mentioned nowhere in its 299 pages, even though VPNs are a subject of great interest to Europe, Russia, Iran, China and the United States. -
TV Networks Open Neuroscience Labs To Improve Their Shows and Ads (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader writes: NBCUniversal's recently-opened Orlando neuroscience lab is trying to develop methods of delivering advertisements related to the scene in the show preceding them, such as delivering a food advertisement directly after a scene which has been shown to make test-subjects hungry. Viacom is building a lab right now to take electroencephalagrams of viewers while they watch. "And ratings firm Nielsen Holdings, which just bought neuroscience firm Innerscope Research earlier this year, is adding facial coding and biometrics to its labs, which currently conduct eye tracking and perform EEGs." NBC doesn't trust what viewers say when asked for their opinion on shows. They want to use science to determine which scenes trigger an emotional response, whether the viewer acknowledges it or not. -
Self-Driving Delivery Robots To Hit Sidewalks of London In 2016 (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Estonian start-up Starship Technologies is taking a different approach to automated delivery with a ground-based self-driving robot. Headquartered in London and launched by two ex-Skype founders, the robotics company has unveiled its suburban pavement-strolling bot which can travel at a speedy 4mph. Starship claims that the 40-pound machine could deliver packages in 5 to 30 minutes from local retailers and restaurants. The company argues that a grounded approach to automated delivery will remove some of the safety concerns linked to flying drone systems, as the robot is much less likely to cause harm. -
App To Hold Police Instantly Accountable In Stop and Search (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A collective of London-based youth clubs and organizations has released an app called Y-Stop to help encourage those involved in unfair police encounters to instantly record and report their experiences. The idea is to 'encourage police accountability' by making it easier for anyone to have a say about what they think may be unjustified or illegal police action. The app allows its user to immediately send audio and video footage of harassment for secure holding with the charities themselves, or with the police directly. It also enables easier communication with lawyers for assistance and advice. -
Tor Releases Messenger Beta For Secure Chat (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The anonymous community Tor Project has released a beta version of its Tor Messenger app – a chat platform which it intends to promote among users concerned with digital privacy and security. Like the onion routing Tor Browser, the app has been designed to protect the location and the routing data of the user, and transferred information via the open source Off-The-Record (OTR) protocol. -
Walmart Applies To Test Drone Use For Delivery and Inventory Checking (faa.gov)
An anonymous reader writes: Retailing giant Walmart has submitted an application to the Federal Aviation Administration requesting permission to run drone trials. The tests are to include not only home delivery — with the permission of residents within the 'flight path' — but also inventory-checking procedures at Walmart parking lots. It only costs $5 to make an application of this nature to the FAA, and until some hint of concrete legislation comes to light from the newly-formed UAS task force on November 20th, that's probably about as much as any company would want to spend on speculative drone-delivery research. -
NY To Probe Broadband Providers Over Internet Speeds (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader writes with a report from The Stack that New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman has begun a probe into the state's three dominant ISPs to assess whether they are actually delivering the service they advertise at the levels promised. From the article: According to leaked documents, sent to Verizon Communications, Cablevision Systems and Time Warner Cable, the New York attorney general asked each firm to hand over copies of the advertising and copy they have provided to consumers regarding internet speeds, along with any testing documents which studied the speed of their service. ... The probe plans to focus on the exchange of data through contractual partnerships between the ISPs and other networks. The AG office suspects that customers who are paying a premium fee for higher internet speeds could be experiencing a disruption to their service due to technical issues brought about by business disputes in these interconnection deals. -
EU Rules Bitcoin Is a Currency, Exchanges Are VAT-Exempt (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes with this snippet from The Stack: The European Union's Court of Justice (ECJ) has today ruled that Bitcoin is a currency, detailing exchanges that transfer traditional currencies into the crypto-coins for a fee are to be exempt from consumption taxes. Under the EU rule against value added taxes (VAT) on transfers of "currency, bank notes and coins used as legal tender," the new call presents an important boost for Bitcoin, erasing related costs for buying and using the virtual funds in Europe – one of the world's leading trading zones. That decision overrides other approaches previously taken by some of the member countries, which treated Bitcoin like an exchangeble commodity itself, rather than a medium of exchange. -
3D-Printed Teeth Can Kill 99% of Dental Bacteria (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A research group in the Netherlands has developed a new plastic resin that can destroy most dental bacteria when used for the creation of dental appliances via 3D-printing. The process involves embedding antimicrobial quaternary ammonium salts inside extant dental resin polymers. Since the salts are positively charged, these disrupt negatively-charged bacterial membranes. The process is also being mooted for use in the creation of knee arthroplasties, and in the manufacture of children's toys and food packaging. -
Google Wants Online Ad Improvement Within Months, Not Years (wsj.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Speaking at the Wall Street Journal's WSJD Live Conference, Google's senior vice president of adverts and commerce Sridhar Ramaswamy has said (paywalled) that advertisers need to address the shortcomings of online ads within 'months'. "This is essential to our survival" said Ramaswamy. "We're talking about getting this in a time frame of months rather than years. We need to get going on this." Ramaswamy was referring to recent commitment from the advertising industry to halt the rise of adblocking services by addressing common reader annoyances such as autoplay video, overly complex and slow-loading content, and excessive tracking. -
Facebook Launches Initiative To Attract More Minorities and Women To Coding (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Facebook has launched TechPrep, a new initiative to attract more minorities and women into coding. The project draws a very strong analogy between the learning of computer coding skills and the learning of spoken languages, a field which is important to people whose first language is not English, and which engages with the popular understanding that women are better at learning languages. TechPrep is seeking to engage with parents and guardians to get its target audience into coding earlier in life. -
UK Government Proposes 'License To Hack' As Encryption Proves Hard To Defeat (thetimes.co.uk)
An anonymous reader writes: The Times reports (paywalled) that the Investigatory Powers Bill promised by the UK government over the summer is likely to be presented to parliament next month, and that it will contain 'dizzying' powers for MI5, MI6 and GCHQ to hack the devices of individuals under investigation, with the permission of the home secretary. An implementation of the Wilson Doctrine will mean that British MPs will not be subject to these powers in the same way as other citizens. According to a digital evidence expert that the Times interviewed, the bill addresses the difficulty that the UK government is sharing with other nations in defeating encryption effectively. "Hacking is different from interception because it allows hackers to take control of the device, using it for surveillance and accessing data from the source, rather than simply intercepting them, which is becoming increasingly difficult." -
eFast Malware Hijacks Browser With Chrome Clone (malwarebytes.org)
An anonymous reader writes with a report at The Stack that: eFast Browser, a new malicious adware which disguises itself as Google Chrome, has hijacked internet users' systems in an apparent effort to serve its own ads and harvest user activity to sell to third-party advertisers. It is able to mirror the aesthetics of Chrome as it uses the same source code, available across the open-source project Chromium. Once installed, eFast places ads across existing web pages, linking to third-party e-commerce sites or other malicious platforms. -
Replacing Humans With CGI Animations To Protect Anonymity In Video Footage (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: New research (PDF) from the University of Zagreb proposes the de-identification of innocent individuals in closed circuit footage by replacing them with CGI animations which either guess their skeletal motion or impose the animation via Kinect-style movement sensors. In order to preserve the raw footage, the original frames are then re-encoded via steganographic techniques into the final amended output. -
Facebook Notifies Users of Potential Nation-State Attacks (facebook.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Facebook has announced its plans to notify users if they are under threat from state-sponsored cyberattacks. The social media giant proposes a notification system triggered when its algorithms suspect nation-state activity. The alert will pop up on the user's Facebook page, warning them of the danger and advising them to switch on login approvals, which require the individual to enter a security code sent to them from Facebook. -
Yahoo Mail Moves From Passwords To Push Notification Sign-Ins (tumblr.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A revamp of Yahoo Mail includes a new feature which eliminates the password from the sign-in process on mobile platforms, instead relying on the user's phone number as a token of authenticity. Notification-based sign-ins are a network-heavy commitment used with less frequency during some online banking authentication procedures, and by Google and others in specific events such as the need for a password reset. But Yahoo is well-motivated to improve security after a 2014 data breach led to a mass-reset of passwords for affected users. -
US Identifies ISIL Hacker Linked To Military Breaches (justice.gov)
An anonymous reader writes: The Islamic State hacker detained at Bukit Aman in Kuala Lumpur, has been identified as 20-year-old Kosovo student name Ardit Ferizi. The U.S. arrest warrant alleges that the Kosovo hacker executed computer attacks and committed theft violations, stealing the personally identifiable information of members of the U.S. military and federal employees. The Department of Justice warned that the leaked data was intended for the "purpose of encouraging terrorist attacks against those individuals." -
Machine Learning Generates Clickbait Headlines That Will Shock You! (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Norwegian developer and blogger Lars Eidnes has designed a clickbait generator using a neural network, which is able to create sensationalist headlines that play on human readers' curiosity. Eidnes trained his neural network by scanning around two million clickbait titles from online media sites such as Buzzfeed, Jezebel and Upworthy. When asked to form a sentence, the system can now output a single word and continues the prediction process to find related words, in a pattern known as Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs). -
Why Paywalls Need To Be So Fragile (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Despite the ferment that occurs when yet another digital publisher paywalls a news-site, most paywalls are absurdly easy to circumvent, even using no other software than a web-browser, because of the need to present unrestricted content to the search engines that publicise it. None of the parties involved are considering anyone else's point of view: Google wants free flow of information funded by merit-based advertising revenue; publishers want to restore consumer lock-in in a network environment of story-led consumers who have completely abandoned the concept; and Apple is fine with content-blocking, since it just wants to sell hardware. -
Big Data Attempts To Find Meaning In 40 Years of UK Political Debate (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: International researchers have analyzed 40 years of political speeches from the UK Parliament in an effort to move the study of political theory from social science towards the quantitative analysis offered by Big Data analytics techniques. The group used Python to crunch publicly available data from theyworkforyou.com, comprising 3.7 million individual speeches. A few strange trends emerged in this initial experiment, such as the decline of 'health care' as a trending Parliamentary topic, with 'welfare' consistently on the rise, and the decrease of fervent interest in any particular topic during the more pacific years under Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. -
German Police Warn Parents To Stop Posting Photos of Kids On Facebook (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A post on Facebook by German police advising parents not to post pictures of their children on the social media site has been shared more than 100,000 times and viewed by over seven million people. The Hagen Police left its warnings about paedophile interest with the suggestion that kids might not appreciate the early publicity after they have grown up a little. -
FBI and Join UK Against Forces Against Spread of Dridex Banking Malware (nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk)
An anonymous reader writes: The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) has issued a warning to UK online banking consumers to guard against the possibility of having been infected by the Dridex malware, which spreads via macros in infected Microsoft documents and is currently estimated to have cost £20mn to UK consumers. The NCA says that it is working with the FBI and several European authorities in a concerted campaign to take down the botnet behind the current crop of infections. Dridex is a derivative of the Cridex strain of banking malware, which itself stole many techniques from the GameOver Zeus malware package. -
German Publisher Axel Springer Bans Adblocking Users From Bild Website (axelspringer.de)
An anonymous reader writes: Major European publishing house Axel Springer has instituted countermeasures against users who employ adblocking software on its Bild news outlet, which represents a daily publication with a print circulation of 2.5 million. The website now presents readers with a request to either turn off the adblocking or pay a €2.99 monthly subscription fee. In a statement the company insists that online journalism must be funded by one of the 'two known revenue pillars' — advertising or sales. -
Japan Leads Push For AI-Based Anti-Cyberattack Solutions (nikkei.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Japanese firms NTT Communications and SoftBank are working to develop new artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, offering cyber-attack protection services to their customers. Up until recently, AI-based security systems were only used for certain scenarios, in online fraud detection for example. The new offerings will be the first commercially-available platforms of their type for use in a wide range of applications. -
Ion-Based Data Allows Atom-Sized Storage Cells Similar To Brain Structure (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers in Germany have developed a method of writing data with ions and retrieving it with electrons that opens the path for atom-sized storage devices which are similar to structures found in the human brain. The Nanoelectronic group at Kiel University joined the Ruhr Universitat Bochum to seek alternatives to conventional memory technologies, which involve the displacement of electrons by applying voltage, but which promise little more advance in terms of capacity or form-factor. The new technique is based on electrical resistance using a solid ion conductor. -
The Pepsi P1 Smartphone Takes Consumer Lock-In Beyond the App (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: On the 20th of October Pepsi will launch its own smartphone in China. The P1 is not just a cowling brand, but a custom-made device running Android 5.1 and costing approximately $205. At that price it's almost a burner, but even so it represents new possibilities for a brand to truly control the digital space for its eager consumers in a period where mobile content-blocking is becoming a marketing obstruction, and where there is increasing resistance on Google's part to allow publishers to push web-users from the internet to 'the app'. -
The Pepsi P1 Smartphone Takes Consumer Lock-In Beyond the App (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: On the 20th of October Pepsi will launch its own smartphone in China. The P1 is not just a cowling brand, but a custom-made device running Android 5.1 and costing approximately $205. At that price it's almost a burner, but even so it represents new possibilities for a brand to truly control the digital space for its eager consumers in a period where mobile content-blocking is becoming a marketing obstruction, and where there is increasing resistance on Google's part to allow publishers to push web-users from the internet to 'the app'. -
Wordpress Brute Force Attacks Using Multiple Passwords Per Login Via XML-RPC (sucuri.net)
An anonymous reader writes: Online security firm Sicuri note a vertical rise in brute force attacks against WordPress websites using Brute Force Amplification, where a thousand passwords can be submitted within the scope of a single login attempt. The company notes that disabling the protocol is likely to interfere with the functionality of many plugins which rely on it. The Stack reports: "Sicuri note that most of the BFA calls are targeting the WordPress category enumerating hook wp.getCategories, and are targeting the ‘admin’ username, along with predictable default usernames. Sicuri recommend blocking system.multicall requests via a Web Access Firewall if available, but note that so many WordPress plugins depend on the point of vulnerability xmlrpc.php that blocking access to that functionality may interfere with normal operation of the site. The iThemes security system offers functionality to specifically disable XML-RPC as well, but this also requires a check against normal functioning of the site." -
Iran-Based Hacking Crew Uses Fake LinkedIn Profiles In Espionage Attacks (secureworks.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The Iranian hacker group Cleaver has been directing a cyber spying campaign at bodies in the Middle East across a network of fake LinkedIn accounts. It is thought that the threat actors were using the professional platform to gather intelligence using six 'leader' profiles, each with over 500 connections, and a collection of 'supporter' accounts. According to Dell researchers, recruitment advertisements and skill endorsements from 'supporter' accounts were used to boost credibility. Perhaps they're after the New Yorker crowd, too. -
IP Address May Associate Lyft CTO With Uber Data Breach (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader writes: According to two unnamed Reuters sources the IP address of Lyft CTO Chris Lambert has been revealed by Uber's investigations to be associated with the accessing of a security key that was accidentally deposited on GitHub in 2014 and used to access 50,000 database records of Uber drivers later that year. However, bearing in mind that the breach was carried out through a fiercely protectionist Scandinavian VPN, and that Lambert was a Google software engineer before become CTO of a major technology company, it does seem surprising that he would have accessed such sensitive data with his own domestic IP address. -
Rookie Dongle Warns Parents When Their Kids Are Driving Too Fast (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Dongle Apps, a Belgian tech company, has introduced a new system which alerts a car owner if the vehicle's driver is breaking the speed limit. Initially designed for parents and guardians to keep an eye on their young ones behind the wheel, the 'Rookie Dongle', connects to the vehicle's on-board diagnostics (OBD II) port, internal GPS and mobile technologies to push real-time data to the cloud and send notifications to car owners via email or text when the driver is speeding, suddenly accelerates, brakes hard or has high RPM levels. -
Boarding Pass Barcodes Can Reveal Personal Data, Future Flights
An anonymous reader writes: Security experts have warned that barcodes contained on airplane boarding passes could offer a detailed stream of information to malicious individuals, including data on travel habits and future flight plans. Brian Krebs explained yesterday that by using an easily available online barcode reader, attackers can retrieve a person's name, frequent flyer number, and record locator — information needed to access an individual's account and details of past and upcoming flights, phone numbers, and billing information, along with options to change seats and cancel flights. -
Windows Phone Store Increasingly Targeted With Fake Mobile Apps
An anonymous reader writes: A post by security company Avast says not only are a large amount of fake apps available from the third-party marketplace of the Windows Phone Store, but they also remain available for quite a while despite negative comments and other flags from end-users. Avast speculates that improved security and auditing procedures at rival stores such as Google Play account for the increasing attention that fake app-publishers are giving to the Windows phone app market. -
International Exploit Kit Angler Thwarted By Cisco Security Team
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers at a Cisco security unit have successfully interrupted the spread of a massive international exploit kit which is commonly used in ransomware attacks. The scientists discovered that around 50% of computers infected with Angler were connecting with servers based at a Dallas facility, owned by provider Limestone Networks. Once informed, Limestone cut the servers from its network and handed over the data to the researchers who were able to recover Angler authentication protocols, information needed to disrupt future diffusion. -
Software Defined Smart Battery Arrays Extend Laptop Life
An anonymous reader writes: A Microsoft research paper, titled 'Software Defined Batteries', outlines a radical charging alternative which uses a smart battery system to keep consumer-grade gadgets going for much longer than the current norm, by monitoring user habits. Making use of existing technologies, the engineers place multiple battery control under the duties of the operating system to create a software-defined approach optimized for different scenarios, such as word processing, email or video streaming. -
London Mayor Boris Johnson Condemns Random Uber Pick-Ups
An anonymous reader writes: The mayor of London Boris Johnson has written a column in the Daily Telegraph condemning the way that Uber drivers in the UK capital can effectively circumvent black cabs' legal monopoly on being hailed by random passengers. Whilst supporting the principle of free enterprise, Johnson has no solution to the legal quandary, except to hobble Uber's business model in an absurdly Luddite move, or else level the playing field and condemn the well-outfitted but expensive black cab trade to extinction. Johnson is reluctant to ask such a thing of Parliament, noting that many people there don't 'have apps'. -
On-Chip Liquid Cooling Permits Smaller Devices With No Heatsinks Or Fans
An anonymous reader writes: DARPA-funded research into on-chip liquid cooling has resulted in a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) liquid-cooled device that can operate at 24 degrees Celsius, versus 60 degrees Celsius for an equivalent air-cooled device. The cooling fluid resides only nanometers from the heat it must address, and operates so efficiently as to offer potential to stack CPUs and GPUs using copper columns, as well as dispensing with heat-sinks and fan systems. With those components removed, the system can facilitate far more compact designs than are currently feasible.