Feed Ars Technica: US airport screeners missed 95% of weapons, explosives in undercover tests (arstechnica.com)
According to a report, secret test operation uncovers widespread security failures.
Ransomware Creator Apologizes For "Sleeper" Attack, Releases Decryption Keys 45
colinneagle writes: Last week, a new strain of ransomware called Locker was activated after having been sitting silently on infected PCs. Security firm KnowBe4 called Locker a "sleeper" campaign that, when the malware's creator "woke it up," encrypted the infected devices' files and charged roughly $24 in exchange for the decryption keys. This week, an internet user claiming to be the creator of Locker publicly apologized for the campaign and appears to have released the decryption keys for all the devices that fell victim to it, KnowBe4 reported in an alert issued today. Locker's creator released this message in a PasteBin post, along with a link to a file hosted on Mega.co containing the decryption keys. The malware creator also said that an automatic decryption process for all devices that were affected by Locker will begin June 2nd.
However, the post did not mention anything about providing a refund to victims who paid the 0.1 bitcoin (equal to $22.88 at the time this was posted and about $24 last week) required for the decryption keys since last week. KnowBe4 CEO Stu Sjouwerman says the files released do not appear to be malicious after brief analysis, and that "it does contain a large quantity of RSA keys and Bitcoin addresses." But he warned those interested to only open these files "at your own risk until further analyses are performed." Sjouwerman speculated that the malware creator may have been spooked by attention from law enforcement or Eastern European organized crime syndicates that are behind most ransomware campaigns.
However, the post did not mention anything about providing a refund to victims who paid the 0.1 bitcoin (equal to $22.88 at the time this was posted and about $24 last week) required for the decryption keys since last week. KnowBe4 CEO Stu Sjouwerman says the files released do not appear to be malicious after brief analysis, and that "it does contain a large quantity of RSA keys and Bitcoin addresses." But he warned those interested to only open these files "at your own risk until further analyses are performed." Sjouwerman speculated that the malware creator may have been spooked by attention from law enforcement or Eastern European organized crime syndicates that are behind most ransomware campaigns.
Comment Re:Destroy the mirrors (Score 1) 384
You know github can also host the binaries, right?
Comment Re: RAND PAUL REVOLUTION (Score 1) 500
Ahh, so you want to force people to make the goods and service you think are important, rather than leaving it up to individual producers and consumers. Will your central committee produce a five-year plan? Will you blame 70 consecutive years of poor harvests on "a cold winter", as Obama just did for America's GDP this year?
Historical technological peacetime advancement was driven almost entirely by capitalism. So many inventions languished for centuries before the industrial revolution simply because there wasn't sufficient reward for doing something useful with them (except where there was a wartime use).
LEGO Launches a Minecraft Competitor On Steam 108
An anonymous reader writes: There's been plenty of rumors that LEGO was developing a competitor to Minecraft, and today they released it on Steam. "Lego Worlds enables you to populate your worlds with many weird and wonderful characters, creatures, models, and driveable vehicles, and then play out your own unique adventures," the game's Steam page explains. Unlike "Minecraft," LEGO's new game won't have multiplayer gameplay yet.
LEGO Launches a Minecraft Competitor On Steam 108
An anonymous reader writes: There's been plenty of rumors that LEGO was developing a competitor to Minecraft, and today they released it on Steam. "Lego Worlds enables you to populate your worlds with many weird and wonderful characters, creatures, models, and driveable vehicles, and then play out your own unique adventures," the game's Steam page explains. Unlike "Minecraft," LEGO's new game won't have multiplayer gameplay yet.
Submission + - Lego launches a Minecraft competitor on Steam
An anonymous reader writes: There's been plenty of rumors that LEGO was developing a competitor to Minecraft, and today they released it on Steam. "Lego Worlds enables you to populate your worlds with many weird and wonderful characters, creatures, models, and driveable vehicles, and then play out your own unique adventures," the game's Steam page explains. Unlike "Minecraft," LEGO's new game won't have multiplayer gameplay yet.
Submission + - U.S. Top Court Throws Out Pennsylvania Man's Conviction for Facebook Threats
An anonymous reader writes: With a 8 to 1 vote, The U.S. Supreme Court threw out the conviction of a Pennsylvania man found guilty of making threatening statements to his estranged wife, and others on social media. With the dissenting opinion in the Anthony Elonis case, Justice Samuel Alito says that he would have sent the case back to the appeals court for it to decide. The decision may make it harder to prosecute people for violent outbursts on social media. "We're pleased that the Supreme Court saw the case for what it was: an unprecedented criminal conviction for a 'crime' of pure speech based on only a showing of negligence," said Elonis' lawyer, John Elwood.
Comment Re:Destroy the mirrors (Score 1) 384
Any reason you're not using GitHub?
MIT Physicists Build World's First Fermion Microscope 31
Zothecula writes: Researchers working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) claim to have created a method to better observe fermions – the sub-atomic building blocks of matter – by constructing a microscope capable of viewing them in groups of a thousand at a time. A laser technique is used to herd the fermions into a viewing area and then freeze them in place so all of the captured particles can be imaged simultaneously.
MIT Physicists Build World's First Fermion Microscope 31
Zothecula writes: Researchers working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) claim to have created a method to better observe fermions – the sub-atomic building blocks of matter – by constructing a microscope capable of viewing them in groups of a thousand at a time. A laser technique is used to herd the fermions into a viewing area and then freeze them in place so all of the captured particles can be imaged simultaneously.
Ask Slashdot: What Do You Wish You'd Known Starting Your First "Real" Job? 583
itwbennett writes: ITworld's Josh Fruhlinger asked seasoned (and some not-so-seasoned) tech professionals what they wished they knew back when they were newly minted graduates entering the workforce. Perhaps not surprisingly, some of the best advice has more to do with soft skills than with tech skills. To wit: 'When [managers] say they are suggesting you do something, it's not really a suggestion — it is an order disguised as a suggestion. Plain-speaking is a lost art at big companies and corporate double talk is the name of the game.' What's your best piece of advice for the newest among you?
Submission + - Netflix Is Experimenting with Advertising (vice.com)
derekmead writes: Netflix is experimenting with advertisements that run both before and after users watch a video. It's unclear whether or not the company will eventually push ads to everyone.
For now, the company is primarily experimenting with the HBO model of pitching its own original programming to viewers. The company is only showing trailers for shows like Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards—it has not attempted to sell third party ads, and the company told me that, for the moment, only specific users in specific markets are seeing ads.
For now, the company is primarily experimenting with the HBO model of pitching its own original programming to viewers. The company is only showing trailers for shows like Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards—it has not attempted to sell third party ads, and the company told me that, for the moment, only specific users in specific markets are seeing ads.
Comment Re:Seems to Be a Pattern of Behavior (Score 1) 384
Y'know, a "tl;dr" line for every single story would be interesting -- good idea. I'm going to put that is as a feature request. I think that would be a cool thing on many sites, actually; it would be a cool thing if more newsy/texty sites had a checkbox to turn on that feature.
And I wish idiotic clickbait image ads (the "You'll never believe which naked celebrity said you should eat this one weird vegetable
The Artificial Pancreas For Diabetics Is Nearly Here 95
the_newsbeagle writes: It's the tech that type 1 diabetics have long been waiting for: An implanted "closed-loop" system that monitors a person's blood-sugar level and adjusts injections from an insulin pump. Such a system would liberate diabetics from constant self-monitoring and give parents of diabetic children peace of mind. Thanks to improvements in glucose sensors and control algorithms, the first artificial pancreas systems are now in clinical trials.
