Comment Re:Life imitates SciFi (Score 1) 160
This book is amazing. It a shame that, at the end, the author implies that humanity can only be saved by an Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent
Comment Re: Celtic and Babylonian lore... (Score 1) 94
Don't forget the Minecraft Red Stone.
Spring Cyberattack on US Power Grid 'Probably Just Some Script Kiddie' (eenews.net) 62
The electric utility non-profit NERC has posted a "Lessons Learned" document detailing a March 5th incident that Environment & Energy News calls "a first-of-its-kind cyberattack on the U.S. grid". While it didn't cause any blackouts -- it was at a "low-impact" control center -- NERC is now warning power utilities to "have as few internet facing devices as possible" and to use more than just a firewall for defense.
puddingebola shared this report from Environment & Energy News: The cyberthreat appears to have been simpler and far less dangerous than the hacks in Ukraine. The March 5 attack hit web portals for firewalls in use at the undisclosed utility. The hacker or hackers may not have even realized that the online interface was linked to parts of the power grid in California, Utah and Wyoming. "So far, I don't see any evidence that this was really targeted," said Reid Wightman, senior vulnerability analyst at industrial cybersecurity firm Dragos Inc. "This was probably just an automated bot that was scanning the internet for vulnerable devices, or some script kiddie," he said, using a term for an unskilled hacker...
In the March episode, a flaw in the victim utility's firewalls allowed "an unauthenticated attacker" to reboot them over and over again, effectively breaking them. The firewalls served as traffic cops for data flowing between generation sites and the utility's control center, so operators lost contact with those parts of the grid each time the devices winked off and on. The glitches persisted for about 10 hours, according to NERC, and the fact that there were issues at multiple sites "raised suspicion." After an initial investigation, the utility decided to ask its firewall manufacturer to review what happened, according to NERC, which led to the discovery of "an external entity" -- a hacker or hackers -- interfering with the devices. NERC stressed that "there was no impact to generation...."
Wightman said the "biggest problem" was the fact that hackers were able to successfully take advantage of a known flaw in the firewall's interface. "The advisory even goes on to say that there were public exploits available for the particular bug involved," he said. "Why didn't somebody say, 'Hey, we have these firewalls and they're exposed to the internet -- we should be patching?'"
Large power utilities are required to check for and apply fixes to sensitive grid software that could offer an entry point for hackers.
puddingebola shared this report from Environment & Energy News: The cyberthreat appears to have been simpler and far less dangerous than the hacks in Ukraine. The March 5 attack hit web portals for firewalls in use at the undisclosed utility. The hacker or hackers may not have even realized that the online interface was linked to parts of the power grid in California, Utah and Wyoming. "So far, I don't see any evidence that this was really targeted," said Reid Wightman, senior vulnerability analyst at industrial cybersecurity firm Dragos Inc. "This was probably just an automated bot that was scanning the internet for vulnerable devices, or some script kiddie," he said, using a term for an unskilled hacker...
In the March episode, a flaw in the victim utility's firewalls allowed "an unauthenticated attacker" to reboot them over and over again, effectively breaking them. The firewalls served as traffic cops for data flowing between generation sites and the utility's control center, so operators lost contact with those parts of the grid each time the devices winked off and on. The glitches persisted for about 10 hours, according to NERC, and the fact that there were issues at multiple sites "raised suspicion." After an initial investigation, the utility decided to ask its firewall manufacturer to review what happened, according to NERC, which led to the discovery of "an external entity" -- a hacker or hackers -- interfering with the devices. NERC stressed that "there was no impact to generation...."
Wightman said the "biggest problem" was the fact that hackers were able to successfully take advantage of a known flaw in the firewall's interface. "The advisory even goes on to say that there were public exploits available for the particular bug involved," he said. "Why didn't somebody say, 'Hey, we have these firewalls and they're exposed to the internet -- we should be patching?'"
Large power utilities are required to check for and apply fixes to sensitive grid software that could offer an entry point for hackers.
Comment 100 million *SHIPMENTS* (Score 0) 76
While the PS4 is amazing and is obviously poised to achieve 100 million sales soon, this article completely misrepresents Sony statement. Sony said it has SHIPPED 100 million PS4s. The actual number of sales is estimated to be around 92 million.
Comment Re:Waluigi, the rightfully unloved Nintendo charac (Score 5, Informative) 88
Actually, his name is one of the only redeeming characteristics. In japanese, we have MARIO and RUIGI... and we also have the term WARUI, which means "bad person". So in order to create bad Mario and Luigi, we ended up with WArio (which, when translated, has the charm of the inverted M) and WARUIgi (which is actually an even better fit in japanese, but is unfortunately completely lost in translation).
Comment Different kind of boredom. (Score 3, Insightful) 338
I have an 18 year old brother. Looking at him and his friends connected all the time, it's not that they're never bored, but instead what I see is a different kind of boredom, that's borderline anxious. They are bored, but constantly agitated to find a new, exciting thing to connect. People older than me, like my grandfather, display a more peaceful kind of boredom. It might be just an age thing, guess I'll discover this in a few years.
Comment Re:Static Binaries (Score 4, Informative) 66
While I get your (sarcastic?) point of view. Snaps can be considered static binaries 2.0 in a way, and since technology is supposed to advance, this is very welcome indeed (ELF binaries got a bad reputation in some circles, reinventing a.out back in the day)...
Moving beyond the limitation of static binaries, Snaps can better hold non-executable data in directory structures, instead of embedding everything in a huge executable. They are similar to Apple's App packages, but are also mounted and executed in a chroot environment *by default*, improving security. And are much easier to distribute and manage; heck, many "n00b" friends of mine quit linux because it didn't have easy program installers...
Everything old is new again, indeed.
But with a solid promise of improvement!
Those who want more information, https://docs.snapcraft.io/snap...
Comment Re:Host files? (Score 1) 102
Ahahahaha, come on people!
This is funny as hell for anybody who's been here for more than a month!
I wish I had mod points.
+1 Troll is too unfair.
Comment Re:Any evidence... (Score 5, Informative) 286
It doesn't matter if this is the complete list. This list by itself is already bonkers.
At the very least, they admit that they:
- Uniquely identify you, your device, and your location/network.
- Record what you navigate and search on the internet.
- Record what you watch, listen to, and read.
- Record your purchase history.
Not that it matters though. I believe almost everyone does this nowadays.
At least they are being transparent.
Comment Questions, and my best wishes. (Score 5, Interesting) 339
Since you're the creator of LLVM, I'd like to know, in your opinion what's the greatest advantage of LLVM/Clang over the tradicional and established GNU GCC compiler. Also, what's the greatest advantage of GNU GCC (or if you'd prefer, any other compiler) over LLVM/Clang, something that you'd like to "port" someday?
Also, since I work mostly with Linux development, what do you see as the greatest advantages of the Apple developer stack (libraries, xcode, etc) that are sorely lacking in the Linux developing scene, that we should strive to copy/implement?
By the way, and unrelated, congratulations on the Walnut Dining Table you made. It's amazing!
https://twitter.com/clattner_l...
Comment Damn! (Score 1) 94
This is the very definition of Patent Industry. What we hear as a bad thing, is a Very Good Thing for the Patents Office.
And yet, this is such a low investment for these companies in comparison with the idea monopoly they generate... oh boy.
Comment Personality and charisma (Score 3, Interesting) 168
Does anybody here frequently watch Apple product launches? Then give it a try and watch the 10 minute video of Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone. I had never seen that video before. It's such a simple introduction and, nevertheless, with such personality and power... Of course it's just my opinion, but it has humor and it's daring... in a way that it makes the current Apple presentations feel like generic marketing. It's almost a lesson on charisma. Oh boy.
Comment Re: From the 4th floor (Score 4, Funny) 392
20' is 2D6 falling damage. He's badass.
Comment Re:Take a bus in Brazil... (Score 2) 400
Ahahahahaha, so true!
But things are changing, in big cities, buses are already equipped with door brakes (they can't move while doors are open) and GPS speed tracking. People are able to report bad driver behaviour online or by phone, and corrective actions are taken. The reality is that the great majority of people here in Brazil ride buses to go to work, and they can't afford another means of transportation. Buses are not generally used by the middle/upper classes, who usually ride taxis/uber when the need arises.
By the way, this inequality of social class in bus usage creates a problem: the local governments try to improve bus conditions and technology in order to increase security/comfort and incentive bus usage, but obviously this creates an increased fare in order to pay for the extra costs, which are taxing on the lower class population which are the majority of bus users, creating discontent. It's quite a chicken/egg problem.
Source: I work in the area.
Comment Re:I feel like I'm missing something here... (Score 4, Informative) 140
The synopsis is misleading. There is nothing like this in the article. It mentions that Leon Shiman is the current registered owner, but everything else is being kept private for the moment. He being uncooperative is just as likely as he being unreachable for contact for some reason. We'll find out in the next 11 days.
