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Submission + - US Attorney General says US, allies should invest in Nokia & Ericsson (reuters.com)

Submitted by mikeebbbd
mikeebbbd writes: According to Reuters, US Attorney General William Barr, in a speech on February 6, 2020, said that the US and its allies should invest in Nokia and Ericsson to counter the Huawei threat.

One wonders: where and by what subsidiary/affiliate are those companies' equipment produced? "Nokia" retail cell phones, for instance, are produced in China (like early all cell phones) by HMD.

Submission + - Coronavirus Contains "HIV Insertions", Stoking Fears Over ManMade Bioweapon (zerohedge.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Over the past few days, the mainstream press has vigorously pushed back against a theory about the origins of the coronavirus that has now infected as many as 70,000+ people in Wuhan alone (depending on whom you believe). The theory is that China obtained the coronavirus via a Canadian research program, and started molding it into a bioweapon at the Institute of Virology in Wuhan. Politifact pointed the finger at Zero Hedge, in particular, though the story was widely shared across independent-leaning media.

The theory is that the virus, which was developed by infectious disease experts to function as a bio-weapon, originated in the Wuhan-based lab of Dr. Peng Zhou, China's preeminent researcher of bat immune systems, specifically in how their immune systems adapt to the presence of viruses like coronavirus and other destructive viruses. Somehow, the virus escaped from the lab, and the Hunan fish market where the virus supposedly originated is merely a ruse.

Now, a respected epidemiologist who recently caught flack for claiming in a twitter threat that the virus appeared to be much more contagious than initially believed is pointing out irregularities in the virus's genome that suggests it might have been genetically engineered for the purposes of a weapon, and not just any weapon but the deadliest one of all.

In "Uncanny similarity of unique inserts in the 2019-nCoV spike protein to HIV-1 gp120 and Gag", Indian researchers are baffled by segments of the virus's RNA that have no relation to other coronaviruses like SARS, and instead appear to be closer to HIV. The virus even responds to treatment by HIV medications.

Submission + - Coronavirus confirmed in Silicon Valley.

Submitted by Ungrounded Lightning
Ungrounded Lightning writes: The seventh confirmed US case of 2019-nCoV coronavirus has been in Silicon Valley for a week.

The traveller from Wuhan China arrived at Mineta San Jose International Airport on Jan 24 and first showed symptoms after arriving at home.

He "fortunately" was not sick enough to require hospitalization and "self-isolated" at home (with an unreported number of family members), "leaving only to seek outpatient medical treatment on two occasions".

Submission + - SPAM: Is a vegan diet killing your IQ? 11

Submitted by omfglearntoplay
omfglearntoplay writes: The vegan diet is low in â" or, in some cases, entirely devoid of â" several important brain nutrients. Could these shortcomings be affecting vegans' abilities to think?

To see how crucial B12 is for the brain, take what happens when we donâ(TM)t get enough of it. In children, the consequences of B12 deficiency can be life-altering. âoeThere are some tragic cases of children whose brains failed to develop because of their parents being ill-informed vegans,â says Benton. In one example, the child was unable to sit or smile. In another, they slipped into a coma.

Later in life, the amount of B12 in a personâ(TM)s blood has been directly correlated with their IQ. In the elderly, one study found that the brains of those with lower B12 were six times more likely to be shrinking.

Even so, low B12 is widespread in vegans. One British study found that half of the vegans in their sample were deficient. In some parts of India, the problem is endemic â" possibly as a consequence of the popularity of meat-free diets.

For example, one 2007 study found that giving young women iron supplements led to significant intellectual gains.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - Chrome Web Store Flooded With Fraudulent Transactions (zdnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Google security team has indefinitely suspended the publishing or updating of any commercial Chrome extensions on the official Chrome Web Store following a spike in the number of paid extensions engaging in fraudulent transactions. Google said the wave of fraudulent transactions began earlier this month. Google engineers described the fraudulent transactions as happening "at scale."

"This is a temporary measure meant to stem this influx as we look for long-term solutions to address the broader pattern of abuse," said Simeon Vincent, Developer Advocate for Chrome Extensions at Google.

The ban on publishing or updating impacts all paid extensions. This includes Chrome extensions that require paying a fee before installing, extensions that work based on monthly subscriptions, or Chrome extensions that use one-time in-app purchases to get access to various features. Existing commercial extensions are still available for download via the official Chrome Web Store, however, extension developers can't push new updates.

Submission + - Intel Is Patching Its 'Zombieload' CPU Security Flaw For the Third Time (engadget.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: For the third time in less than a year, Intel has disclosed a new set of vulnerabilities related to the speculative functionality of its processors. On Monday, the company said it will issue a software update "in the coming weeks" that will fix two more microarchitectural data sampling (MDS) or Zombieload flaws. This latest update comes after the company released two separate patches in May and November of last year.

Compared to the MDS flaws Intel addressed in those two previous patches, these latest ones have a couple of limitations. To start, one of the vulnerabilities, L1DES, doesn't work on Intel's more recent chips. Moreover, a hacker can't execute the attack using a web browser. Intel also says it's "not aware" of anyone taking advantage of the flaws outside of the lab.

Submission + - More than a third of U.S. healthcare costs go to bureaucracy (reuters.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: There’s a distinct bias in favor of government-controlled healthcare in this Reuters analysis but it still manages to provide a clear description of how bureaucracy and code manipulation drive spiraling medical bills higher. What’s left unsaid, of course, is that the federal government is the original healthcare code maker.

Submission + - New Plundervolt Attack Impacts Intel Desktop, Server, and Mobile CPUs (zdnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Academics from three universities across Europe have disclosed today a new attack that impacts the integrity of data stored inside Intel SGX, a highly-secured area of Intel CPUs. The attack, which researchers have named Plundervolt, exploits the interface through which an operating system can control an Intel processor's voltage and frequency — the same interface that allows gamers to overclock their CPUs. Academics say they discovered that by tinkering with the amount of voltage and frequency a CPU receives, they can alter bits inside SGX to cause errors that can be exploited at a later point after the data has left the security of the SGX enclave.

They say Plundervolt can be used to recover encryption keys or introduce bugs in previously secure software. Intel desktop, server, and mobile CPUs are impacted. A full list of vulnerable CPUs is available here. Intel has also released microcode (CPU firmware) and BIOS updates today that address the Plundervolt attack by allowing users to disable the energy management interface at the source of the attack, if not needed.

Submission + - Moscow Cops Sell Access to the City's CCTV System and Facial Recognition Data (meduza.io)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: As of the beginning of 2019, there were more than 170,000 surveillance cameras installed in Moscow. They are posted in courtyards, lobbies, parks, schools, clinics, malls, construction sites, and, of course, government buildings. About 3,000 of those cameras are connected to a facial recognition system that is integrated with Russia’s police databases. The Moscow government plans to enable facial recognition in the rest of its video surveillance system in the foreseeable future.

Andrey Kaganskikh, a journalist for MBK Media, has found that access to Moscow’s surveillance cameras — and their new facial recognition technology — is being sold on the black market. For several thousand rubles, the officials typically send buyers a link to the live feed from a given camera and the footage that camera has captured for the previous five days. Those links are generated automatically by the YTKD; Kaganskikh reported that the vulnerability that allows them to be copied has existed since 2016 at least. Buyers willing to pay at least 30,000 rubles ($471) can also receive a login and password that gives them unlimited access to the YTKD system, including all of Moscow’s cameras.

Submission + - 20 Low-End VPS Providers Shutting Down in a 'Deadpooling' Scam (zdnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: At least 20 web hosting providers have hastily notified customers today, Saturday, December 7, that they plan to shut down on Monday, giving their clients two days to download data from their accounts before servers are shut down and wiped clean. No refunds are being provided. As several users have pointed out, the VPS providers don't list physical addresses, don't list proper business registration information, and have no references to their ownership.

A source in the web hosting industry who wanted to remain anonymous told ZDNet that what happened this weekend is referred to as "deadpooling" — namely, the practice of setting up a small web hosting company, providing ultra-cheap VPS servers for a few dollars a month, and then shutting down a few months later, without refunding customers. "This is a systemic issue within the low-end market, we call it deadpooling," the source told us. "It doesn't happen often at this scale, however."

The 20 companies are: ArkaHosting, Bigfoot Servers, DCNHost, HostBRZ, HostedSimply, Hosting73, KudoHosting, LQHosting, MegaZoneHosting, n3Servers, ServerStrong, SnowVPS, SparkVPS, StrongHosting, SuperbVPS, SupremeVPS, TCNHosting, UMaxHosting, WelcomeHosting, X4Servers

Submission + - U.S. Government's Polygraph Test for Espionage and Sabotage Administration Guide

Submitted by George Maschke
George Maschke writes: The U.S. Departments of Defense and Energy use a counterintelligence-scope polygraph screening format called the "Test for Espionage and Sabotage." Many DoD personnel and contractors are subjected to this invalid (per the National Academy of Sciences) procedure each year. The administration guide (1.2 MB PDF) for this procedure, which is marked "For Official Use Only" and has not previously been published, is now publicly available and will be of interest to anyone who faces polygraph screening.

Submission + - VPN Breaking Zero Day Effective Against Many *nix Systems Discovered

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A vulnerability that affects many VPN implementations across a variety of *nix systems had been documented. Linux, Android, OSX/iOS, and OpenBSD are all affected while the vulnerability affects even hardened VPN implementations like WireGuard and IKEv2/IPSec. Mitigating the vulnerability appears especially difficult on IPv6 and mobile data connections.

Submission + - Volkswagen headquarters raided again over diesel scandal (reuters.com)

Submitted by McGruber
McGruber writes: Reuters is reporting that German public prosecutors have again raided the Wolfsburg headquarters of Volkswagen in the latest investigation into the carmaker’s diesel emissions scandal.

Volkswagen, which admitted in 2015 to cheating U.S. emissions tests on diesel engines, said it was fully cooperating with the authorities, but viewed the investigation as unfounded. Volkswagen said the raids were linked to an investigation into diesel cars with engine type EA 288, a successor model to the EA 189 which was at the heart of the test cheating scandal. In simulations, vehicles with the EA 288 engine did not indicate a failure of the diesel filter, while still complying with emissions limits, Volkswagen said, adding the engine did not have an illegal defeat device.

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