Casey Chin A spate of hacked Instagram accounts. A $220 million lawsuit against AT&T. A bustling underground crime ring . They all have roots in an old problem that has lately found new urgency: SIM card swaps , a scam in which hackers steal your mobile identity—and use it to upend your life . At its most basic level, a SIM swap is when someone convinces your carrier to switch your phone number over to a SIM card they own. They’re not doing it for prank call cover, or to rack up long-distance charges. By diverting your incoming messages, […] […]
Smart irrigation systems vulnerable to attacks, warn researchers
Security researchers have warned of a potential attack that – using a “piping botnet ” of internet-connected irrigation systems that water simultaneously – could impact a city’s water system to the point of actually draining its reserves. A team of six academics from Ben-Gurion University of Negev, Israel, identified and analyzed security flaws in the firmware of several commercial irrigation systems that are connected to the internet. They focused on three commonly sold smart irrigation systems – GreenIQ, BlueSpray, and RainMachine – and found that they suffer from vulnerabilities that enable attackers to remotely turn watering systems on and […] […]
Eng: Facebook volgt je op nóg veel meer manieren dan je denkt
Dat we op de voet gevolgd worden door Facebook is inmiddels alom bekend, maar nu dat de social media-gigant antwoord heeft gegeven op vragen die in het Amerikaanse congres zijn gesteld blijkt dat het allemaal nog veel verder gaat dan we allemaal dachten. Dit zijn een aantal van de manieren waarop Mark Zuckerberg & Co. ons volgen op het internet, allemaal gehaald uit het document van 222 pagina’s dat is doorgestuurd naar het Congres. Een gedeelte van deze tracking-methodes kenden we al, maar als je het allemaal achter elkaar zet zul je zien dat er heel weinig geheim blijft […] […]
Een film die je kunt sturen met je brein
Aan de universiteit van Nottingham hebben ze iets voor elkaar gekregen wat in eerste instantie lijkt op een goed science fiction verhaal. Waar je normaal gesproken in de bioscoopzaal of op de bank een film kijkt waarvan de slotscène al lang en breed vastligt, kun je nu ook een film kijken die nog alle kanten op kan gaan. De film ‘The Moment’ vormt zich naar de toestand van je brein. Dit zit zo. De activiteit in je brein wordt gemeten met EEG, middels een headset die het hoofd is bevestigd. Hiermee kan gekeken worden of je bijvoorbeeld slaapt, ontspannen […] […]
Signature Validation Bug Let Malware Bypass Several Mac Security Products
A years-old vulnerability has been discovered in the way several security products for Mac implement Apple’s code-signing API that could make it easier for malicious programs to bypass the security check, potentially leaving millions of Apple users vulnerable to hackers. Josh Pitts, a researcher from security firm Okta, discovered that several third-party security products for Mac—including Little Snitch, F-Secure xFence, VirusTotal, Google Santa, and Facebook OSQuery—could be tricked into believing that an unsigned malicious code is signed by Apple. Code-signing mechanism is a vital weapon in the fight against malware, which helps users identify who has signed the app […] […]
MIT’s New AI Can See Through Walls
MIT has given a computer x-ray vision, but it didn’t need x-rays to do it. The system, known as RF-Pose, uses a neural network and radio signals to track people through an environment and generate wireframe models in real time. It doesn’t even need to have a direct line of sight to know how someone is walking, sitting, or waving their arms on the other side of a wall . Neural networks have shown up in a lot of research lately when researchers need to create a better speech synthesis model, smarter computer vision, or an AI psychopath . […] […]
Robots Won’t Take Your Job—But They Might Make It Boring
Robert Deyrail/Getty Images Whether they believe robots are going to create or destroy jobs, most experts say that robots are particularly useful for handling “dirty, dangerous and dull” work. They point to jobs like shutting down a leaky nuclear reactor , cleaning sewers , or inspecting electronic components to really drive the point home. Robots don’t get offended, they are cheap to repair when they get “hurt,” and they don’t get bored. It’s hard to disagree: What could possibly be wrong about automating jobs that are disgusting, mangle people, or make them act like robots? The problem is that […] […]
Cognitive diversity and marketing: How AI is improving innovation
NASA employee George Washington handles clerical work more quickly and efficiently than ever before. He never complains about working late hours and he never needs to stop for a coffee break. Washington is a bot who takes in information from emails and identifies job candidate suitability — something formerly completed by human resources personnel. He represents a new type of diversity within organizations, cognitive diversity. Cognitive diversity, simply put, includes different ways of thinking. It consists of both humans (cognitive thinking) and machines (cognitive technologies). Today, automation is pouring into the workplace at an accelerating rate. Cognitive technologies involve: […] […]
With its new in-car operating system, BMW slowly breaks with tradition
When you spend time with a lot of BMW folks, as I did during a trip to Germany earlier this month, you’ll regularly hear the word “ heritage .” Maybe that’s no surprise, given that the company is now well over 100 years old. But in a time of rapid transformation that’s hitting every car manufacturer, engineers and designers have to strike a balance between honoring that history and looking forward. With the latest version of its BMW OS in-car operating system and its accompanying design language, BMW is breaking with some traditions to allow it to look into […] […]
A machine has figured out Rubik’s Cube all by itself
Unlike chess moves, changes to a Rubik’s Cube are hard to evaluate, which is why deep-learning machines haven’t been able to solve the puzzle on their own. Until now. Yet another bastion of human skill and intelligence has fallen to the onslaught of the machines. A new kind of deep-learning machine has taught itself to solve a Rubik’s Cube without any human assistance. The milestone is significant because the new approach tackles an important problem in computer science—how to solve complex problems with when help is minimal. First some background. The Rubik’s Cube is a three-dimensional puzzle developed in […] […]
Apple is closing a loophole that lets police hack into iPhones
It’s a win for privacy advocates, but it’s sure to enrage law enforcement officials by making it harder than ever for them to get information out of locked phones. The news: Apple plans to send out a software update to iPhone users that will make the smartphone’s charging and data port inoperative an hour after the phone has been locked. Though you’ll still be able to charge a phone without tapping in a password, you’ll now need one to pull data off it via that port. Why it matters: Apple has a history of fighting law enforcement efforts to […] […]
China’s ambition to power the world’s electric cars took a huge leap forward this week
China’s grand designs to dominate the future of clean energy paid off spectacularly this week. In a public offering on June 11 in Shenzhen, battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. (CATL) raised nearly $1 billion to fund ambitious expansion plans, and its stock has been shooting up every day since. Thanks largely to the company’s new plants, China will be making 70 percent of the world’s electric-vehicle batteries by 2021, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). The rapid rise of CATL is arguably the clearest, though certainly not the only , payoff from China’s calculated efforts to bolster […] […]
A few big players may have been behind Bitcoin’s huge surge last year
New research (PDF) suggests that a price manipulation scheme may have been behind the cryptocurrency’s extraordinary rally in 2017. The study: Researchers at the University of Texas analyzed blockchain data and found that large purchases of cryptocurrency from multiple trading platforms in exchange for Tether, a crypto-token that’s supposedly pegged to the US dollar , were “timed following market downturns” and, since cryptocurrency prices tend to move as one, resulted in “sizable increases in Bitcoin prices.” This suggests, according to the New York Times , that a few players may have been propping up the price of Bitcoin and […] […]
University of Leeds project is developing tarmac 3D printing robots to repair roads
The University of Leeds is pioneering a £4.2 million national infrastructure research project that will use tarmac 3D printing robots to repair potholes and cracks. These robots will be both aerial and ground-based in order to thoroughly inspect and identify damaged areas on roads in the UK. As part of a visionary project to create “ Self Repairing Cities ”, the University of Leeds has formed a research consortium for the project which includes engineers and faculty from University College London (UCL), the University of Southampton and the University of Birmingham . The project’s teams are currently halfway through […] […]
3D printing in construction, architecture and the built-environment
The use of 3D printing for construction and architecture is a rapidly developing area. Additive manufacturing is used not only in the design stages of construction projects, but is also bringing remarkable full-scale structures to life. This article highlights some of the possibilities that 3D printing brings to the built-environment. These include 3D printed houses, buildings, bridges and infrastructure. The 3D printed Housing 05 Project by CLS Architetti The 3D Housing 05 project from CLS Architetti , an Italian architecture firm, is a sustainable, 3D printed house. The project was showcased at Milan Design Week 2018 . Massimiliano Locatelli, […] […]
WhatsApp Group Video Call and Instagram Video Chat Are Coming Soon
Facebook announced a whole lot of new features at its 2018 Facebook F8 developers conference, including Dating on Facebook, letting users clear their web browsing history, real-time language translation within Messenger, and many more. Besides announcing exciting features for its social media platform, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also gave us a quick look at the features Facebook introduced for companies that it owns, like WhatsApp and Instagram. During Facebook’s F8 conference on Tuesday, Zuckerberg announced a long-awaited feature for WhatsApp— Group Video Calling . AdChoices Dating Whatsapp Videochat Instagram Spy Whatsapp Yes, you heard that right. WhatsApp would soon […] […]
Microsoft Issues Emergency Patch For Critical Flaw In Windows Containers
Just a few days prior to its monthly patch release, Microsoft released an emergency patch for a critical vulnerability in the Windows Host Compute Service Shim (hcsshim) library that could allow remote attackers to run malicious code on Windows computers. Windows Host Compute Service Shim (hcsshim) is an open source library that helps “Docker for Windows” execute Windows Server containers using a low-level container management API in Hyper-V. Discovered by Swiss developer and security researcher Michael Hanselmann , the critical vulnerability (tracked as CVE-2018-8115) is the result of the failure of the hcsshim library to properly validate input when […] […]
Mercedes-Benz’s Plan for Surviving the Auto Revolution
“Who’s afraid of defining the future?” asks Wilko Stark, the man tasked with pulling Daimler and its flagship brand, Mercedes-Benz, into the future. If you’re the guy in charge of leading Daimler —you know, the world’s largest luxury carmaker, one of Europe’s most important tech companies, and the inventor […] .
World’s biggest DDoS marketplace taken down, six suspected admins nabbed
An international law enforcement operation has shut down a website widely thought to be the world’s biggest marketplace for hiring distributed denial-of-service ( DDoS ) attacks, according to an announcement by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA). The website, webstresser.org, was taken down on Wednesday, April 25, following […] .
Oprichter WhatsApp vertrekt bij Facebook vanwege huidige koers
Jan Koum is een naam die je misschien niet kent, maar de miljardair is de CEO en mede-oprichter van WhatsApp . Hij is bij de overname van het bedrijf in 2014 opgenomen in de raad van comissarissen van Facebook, maar volgens de Washington Post is hij alleszins van plan […] .