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Feed Google News Sci Tech: NASA rocket lifts off from Wallops Island, Va., facility on way to moon orbit - (google.com)

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Washington Post
NASA rocket lifts off from Wallops Island, Va., facility on way to moon orbit
Washington Post
A spacecraft was launched late Friday night from Virginia to the moon, a first for the state in the history of space exploration. The launch from Wallops Island occurred on schedule at 11:27 p.m., and enthusiastic reports of sightings of the bright track across the...
Nasa's LADEE Moon probe lifts offBBC News
NASA robotic spacecraft lifts off to probe lunar dustReuters
NASA rocket launch to the moon visible to East Coast tonightCNET
NBCNews.com-Space.com-KASA
all 369 news articles

Encryption

Most Tor Keys May Be Vulnerable To NSA Cracking 236

Posted by timothy from the aren't-you-glad-to-be-so-fully-protected? dept.
Ars Technica reports that security researcher Rob Graham of Errata Security, after analyzing nearly 23,000 Tor connections through an exit node that Graham controls, believes that the encryption used by a majority of Tor users could be vulnerable to NSA decryption: "About 76 percent of the 22,920 connections he polled used some form of 1024-bit Diffie-Hellman key," rather than stronger elliptic curve encryption. More from the article: "'Everyone seems to agree that if anything, the NSA can break 1024 RSA/DH keys,' Graham wrote in a blog post published Friday. 'Assuming no "breakthroughs," the NSA can spend $1 billion on custom chips that can break such a key in a few hours. We know the NSA builds custom chips, they've got fairly public deals with IBM foundries to build chips.' He went on to cite official Tor statistics to observe that only 10 percent of Tor servers are using version 2.4 of the software. That's the only Tor release that implements elliptical curve Diffie-Hellman crypto, which cryptographers believe is much harder to break. The remaining versions use keys that are presumed to be weaker."

Submission + - Atlassian Drops Wiki Markup from Confluence, Insists Users Love It (atlassian.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I've been watching this story unfold for a while now. Atlassian has removed wiki markup from their enterprise "wiki" (is it a wiki without wiki markup?). Two versions later and users still can't upgrade because the new markup-less tool can't produce PDF output and has an unusable WYSIWYG text editor.

Atlassian's response to the outraged response, a typical walled garden playground where Atlassian will "listen" to feedback and insist that users still love the downgrade, non-functional software.

Submission + - New Ship Will Remain Stable by Creating its Own Inner Waves (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: When offshore oil drilling rigs are being installed, serviced or dismantled, the workers typically stay in cabins located on adjacent floating platforms. These semi-submersible platforms are towed into place (or travel under their own power) and then their hulls are partially filled with water, allowing them to remain somewhat stable in the pitching seas. Now, a ship is being built to serve the same purpose, but that will be a much more mobile alternative. It will keep from rolling with the waves by generating its own waves, inside its hull.

Submission + - Move over email spoofing there's a new trick in town (itworld.com)

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: Spam filters will catch spoofed emails, but fraudsters are employing a new trick to slip past the filters, says security researcher Markus Jakobsson. The limited screen size of smartphones puts constraints on what is presented to the user. Friendly 'from' names – yes. Email addresses – no. Just slap a friendly from in front of a not-so-friendly email address and smartphone users will be none the wiser — until they open that email message.
The Military

Leaked Documents Detail Al-Qaeda's Efforts To Fight Back Against Drones 234

Posted by samzenpus from the drone-down dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The Washington Post reports, 'Al-Qaeda's leadership has assigned cells of engineers to find ways to shoot down, jam or remotely hijack U.S. drones ... In July 2010, a U.S. spy agency intercepted electronic communications indicating that senior al-Qaeda leaders had distributed a "strategy guide" to operatives around the world advising them how "to anticipate and defeat" unmanned aircraft. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) reported that al-Qaeda was sponsoring simultaneous research projects to develop jammers to interfere with GPS signals and infrared tags that drone operators rely on to pinpoint missile targets. Other projects in the works included the development of observation balloons and small radio-controlled aircraft, or hobby planes, which insurgents apparently saw as having potential for monitoring the flight patterns of U.S. drones... Al-Qaeda has a long history of attracting trained engineers ... Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, holds a mechanical-engineering degree ... In 2010, the CIA noted in a secret report that al-Qaeda was placing special emphasis on the recruitment of technicians and that "the skills most in demand" included expertise in drones and missile technology.'"

Submission + - Researchers hope to protect against another HIV-like outbreak (washington.edu)

Submitted by vinces99
vinces99 writes: Throughout Asia, humans and monkeys live side-by-side in many urban areas. An international research team has been examining transmission of a virus from monkeys to humans in Bangladesh, one of the world’s most densely populated countries.The scientists have found that some people in these urban areas are concurrently infected with multiple strains of simian foamy virus, including recombinant strains — those from more than one source — originally detected in the monkeys. Asian rhesus macaques are very responsive to change, researchers say, and unlike many other species of primates they will continue thriving in human-altered habitats. Simian foamy viruses, which are ubiquitous in nonhuman primates, are retroviruses that exhibit high levels of mutation and recombination – a potentially explosive combination. By analyzing what is happening at the human-primate interface, the researchers hope to protect humans from another deadly outbreak similar to HIV.

Submission + - Fukushima radioactive fallout nears Chernobyl levels (newscientist.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Japan's damaged nuclear plant in Fukushima has been emitting radioactive iodine and caesium at levels approaching those seen in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Austrian researchers have used a worldwide network of radiation detectors – designed to spot clandestine nuclear bomb tests – to show that iodine-131 is being released at daily levels 73 per cent of those seen after the 1986 disaster.

The daily amount of caesium-137 released from Fukushima Daiichi is around 60 per cent of the amount released from Chernobyl.

Submission + - McAfee SiteAdvisor wanted $2,000/year, I said no, now they're blocking my site

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I don't wish to publicize my site, but McAfee is extorting me. They stuck a sales guy on me last week so I would pay a ton for a 'security scan seal'- $2,000 a year because people 'trust' McAfee. I can't afford it. Today alone, I had 5 customers with McAfee SiteAdvisor call to tell me my site is marked as spyware and their browser won't let them view it. Oh, and my sales are down 50%.

What a coincidence!

Submission + - US and Israel Test Missile as Syria War Tensions Rise

Submitted by Hugh Pickens DOT Com
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes: Joshua Mitnick reports in the Christian Science Monitor that Israel and the US carried out a missile test over the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday morning that was detected by Russian surveillance systems. Israel’s defense ministry eventually said that a Sparrow rocket had been fired to simulate a ballistic missile attack on the Jewish state to test the Arrow interceptor system. The Arrow – which wasn’t fired Tuesday – has been developed to defend against long range rockets primarily from Iran, a main patron of the Syrian regime. Arieh Herzog, a former Israeli missile defense director, says that the Sparrow missile is developed to simulate "the worst threats" in the region so Israel can hone the capabilities of the Arrow III missile interceptor and speculated that the launch Tuesday was done at a considerably long range. Another Israeli expert said the incident could be seen as muscle flexing by the US and Israel. "You could say perhaps its show of strength to Syria and its Iranian ally — that Israel has a range of options at its disposal. And to place pressure on Assad and Iran that Israel takes [retaliation threats] seriously," says Meir Javedanfar, a lecturer on Iranian politics at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center. Pentagon press secretary George Little said the U.S. "provided technical assistance and support to the Israeli Missile Defense Organization flight test of a Sparrow target missile over the Mediterranean Sea." "The United States and Israel cooperate on a number of long-term ballistic missile defense development projects to address common challenges in the region," added Little. "This test had nothing to do with United States consideration of military action to respond to Syria's chemical weapons attack."

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