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Submission + - XP Systems Getting Emergency IE Zero Day Patch (threatpost.com)

Submitted by msm1267
msm1267 writes: Microsoft announced it will release an out-of-band security update today to patch a zero-day vulnerability in Internet Explorer, and that the patch will also be made available for Windows XP machines through Automatic Update. At the same time, researchers said they are now seeing attacks specifically targeting XP users.

Microsoft no longer supports XP as of April 8, and that includes the development and availability of security updates. But the about-face today speaks to the seriousness of the vulnerability, which is being exploited in limited targeted attacks, Microsoft said.

Researchers at FireEye, meanwhile, said multiple attackers are now using the exploit against XP machines, prompting the inclusion of XP systems in the patch.

Submission + - NIST removes Dual_EC_DRBG from random number generator recommendations (techienews.co.uk)

Submitted by hypnosec
hypnosec writes: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has removed the much criticized Dual_EC_DRBG aka Dual Elliptic Curve Deterministic Random Bit Generator from its draft guidance on random number generators following a period of public comment period and review. The revised document retains three of the four previously available options for generating pseudorandom bits required to create secure cryptographic keys for encrypting data. NIST recommends that users using Dual_EC_DRBG should transition to one of the other three recommended algorithms as quickly as possible.

Comment Re:old tech (Score 1) 165

by olsmeister (#46750433) Attached to: Reviving a Commodore 64 Computer Using a Raspberry Pi
Also, because I felt like on the C=64 I really understood what was going on at the hardware level. You knew the machine inside/out, top-to-bottom (at least a lot of people did). It's really hard to get that same kind of feeling these days with high level languages, code libraries and code bloat, and hardware abstraction layers.

It would be naive to think the same kind of system could exist in this day and age of networked computers and malicious hackers, but back then it was nigh impossible to get into something that a simple power cycle wouldn't fix.

Comment Matter, anti-matter... (Score 1) 393

by olsmeister (#46677481) Attached to: Why Are We Made of Matter?
If we were made from anti-matter, we'd call that matter, and call matter anti-matter. TFS summary starts out with the statement that the universe began with equal amounts of matter and anti-matter. Are we sure there were equal amounts? It seems like there must have been more of one than the other. Why that would be is the real question in my mind.

Submission + - Scientists Develop Solar Cell That Can Also Emit Light

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Scientists at the Nanyang Technological University have developed a solar cell that not only converts sunlight into electricity but also emits light as electricity passes through it. Tuning the composition of the solar cell enables it to emit different wavelengths of light, and because it is only about 1 micrometer thick, the material is semi-translucent and therefore could potentially be used in windows. The solar cell is comprised of the semiconducting mineral perovskite, which has been studied as a replacement for silicon in solar panels since 2009. Perovskite solar cells are not yet as efficient at energy conversion as silicon solar cells, but gains in this area of development coupled with cheaper manufacturing costs (10-20 cents per watt projected as opposed to 75 cents per watt with silicon solar panels and 50 cents per watt with fossil fuels) make perovskite a popular subject matter in the solar cell industry.

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