67459801
submission
Hamsterdan writes:
While the new reCAPTCHA API may sound simple, there is a high degree of sophistication behind that modest checkbox. CAPTCHAs have long relied on the inability of robots to solve distorted text. However, our research recently showed that today’s Artificial Intelligence technology can solve even the most difficult variant of distorted text at 99.8% accuracy. Thus distorted text, on its own, is no longer a dependable test.
64115675
submission
Hamsterdan writes:
Apple has released an official statement in response to accusations that its iCloud storage system might be somehow behind the recent leak of a large number of nude or otherwise private celebrity photos, whose victims included Jennifer Lawrence. In the statement Apple denies any breach within its systems, but does concede that celebrity accounts were compromised by attackers using standard phishing techniques to guess user names, passwords and the answers to security questions.
Apple’s statement in full:
CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–We wanted to provide an update to our investigation into the theft of photos of certain celebrities. When we learned of the theft, we were outraged and immediately mobilized Apple’s engineers to discover the source. Our customers’ privacy and security are of utmost importance to us. After more than 40 hours of investigation, we have discovered that certain celebrity accounts were compromised by a very targeted attack on user names, passwords and security questions, a practice that has become all too common on the Internet. None of the cases we have investigated has resulted from any breach in any of Apple’s systems including iCloud® or Find my iPhone. We are continuing to work with law enforcement to help identify the criminals involved.
To protect against this type of attack, we advise all users to always use a strong password and enable two-step verification. Both of these are addressed on our website at http://support.apple.com/kb/ht....
60477593
submission
Hamsterdan writes:
Cinavia's anti-piracy technology has been a thorn in the side of many file-sharers, who are unable to pay pirated files on their DVD-players without being interrupted by a warning message. In a breakthrough development, software vendor DVD-Ranger has cracked the protection, including for popular movies downloaded from pirate sites.
Cinavia’s anti-piracy technology relies on a unique type of watermarking that allows it to remain present in pirated movies despite re-recording, transcoding, compression, or other type of transfer.
57045783
submission
Hamsterdan writes:
Game of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage is in talks to star in the pilot for an HBO series scripted by Sydney-based Justin Monjo and produced by Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Films.
The prolific Monjo is also writing the screenplay for Farscape, a movie spin-off of the sci-fi series that ran on the Nine Network and the Sci-Fi Channel in the US, for Jim Henson Productions, to be directed by Brian Henson.
Dinklage would play a dwarf detective in The Beasts of Valhalla, based on a series of novels by the late George C. Chesbro. Monjo read the books years ago but could not think of an actor who was right for the role of the sleuth named Mongo until he saw Dinklage in Game of Thrones.
“It’s a grounded sci-fi series,” says Monjo, who flies to New York next month to discuss the project with Dinklage, with whom he has corresponded. “HBO and Red Hour think he’s the perfect guy for the part and are very excited about the project.” The intention would be to shoot the one-hour series in 2016 after Dinklage finishes Game of Thrones.
Monjo was one of the writers on Farscape, which ran from 1998-2002, followed by the 2004 miniseries Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, co-produced by Jim Henson Productions and RHI Entertainment.
55812299
submission
Hamsterdan writes:
Right on schedule, OCZ Technology is receiving an injection straight to the heart via Toshiba. After falling into bankruptcy last year and nearly instantly being rescued by Toshiba, the latter has announced today that it has "finalized the purchase of substantially all assets of OCZ Technology Group, making it a wholly owned subsidiary and Toshiba Group Company." Effective immediately, the Group company will operate independently as OCZ Storage Solutions, which means that we'll yet again see OCZ storage products making the rounds and breaking benchmark records.
55793703
submission
Hamsterdan writes:
Backblaze, which open sourced their Storage Pod a few years ago, is now giving drive failure rates. They currently have over 27,000 consumer grade drives spinning in Backblaze storage pods.
Almost 13,000 each are Seagate and Hitachi drives, almost 3000 Western Digital drives and a too small for statistical reporting smattering of Toshiba and Samsung drives.
One cool thing: Backblaze buys drives the way you and I do: they get the cheapest drives that will work. Their workload is almost hundred percent write. Because they spread the incoming writes over several drives their workload isn't very performance intensive either.
52247421
submission
Hamsterdan writes:
The German government's spokesman said it believes Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone may have been monitored by the National Security Agency, Der Spiegel reports.
Obama "assured" Merkel that the U.S. "is not monitoring and will not monitor" her phone calls, but there was no mention of the past.
Merkel said that targeting her phone would be unacceptable.
51254291
submission
Hamsterdan writes:
The time capsule was buried in 1983 during the International Design Conference in Aspen, Colo., and was supposed to be exhumed in 2000, but when the landscape changed, the time capsule was lost. The capsule was uncovered by members of National Geographic Channel's Diggers team who worked closely with one of the former design-team members who buried the capsule, Harry Teague.
43007691
submission
Hamsterdan writes:
Called DropTag, the gadget combines a battery, a low-energy Bluetooth transmitter, an accelerometer and a memory chip. Stuck on a parcel as it leaves an e-commerce warehouse, it logs any g-forces above a set risky shock level that it experiences. The idea is that when the courier puts it in your hands, you turn on Bluetooth on a smartphone running a DropTag app and scan it before you sign for it.
34021281
submission
Hamsterdan writes:
Hey, Windows users — seeing ads in your Skype calls? Fret not, it isn't a rouge version of the software; it's just a new twist on "free" VoIP calling. Skype has today announced the launch of Conversation Ads, finally, a way to make cash off of free calls. These new display ad units will appear within the calling window of users who do not have Skype Credit or subscriptions when they're making 1:1 Skype-to-Skype audio calls using Skype for Windows. Strangely, no other platforms — desktop or mobile — are mentioned; perhaps ads are being ported elsewhere as we speak.
33074845
submission
Hamsterdan writes:
Apple released an update to kill the Flashback malware several weeks ago, in early April. However, until today, Cupertino had yet to issue a patch for users running its older operating system. Apple's Flashback Removal Security Update removes the most common variants of the Flashback malware. If the Flashback malware is found, a dialog will notify the user that the malware was removed. A second update disables versions of Adobe Flash Player that do not include the latest security updates and provides the option to get the current version from Adobe's website. If you're running anything earlier than Mac OS X v10.5.8, you'll also need to update your OS before you can install these two new updates.
28529705
submission
Hamsterdan writes:
Symantec has confirmed that the hacker group Anonymous stole source code from the 2006 versions of several Norton security products and the pcAnywhere remote access tool.
Although Symantec says the theft actually occurred in 2006, the issue did not come to light until this month when hackers related to Anonymous said they had the source code and would release it publicly. Users of the Norton products in question are not at any increased risk of attack because of the age of the source code and security improvements made in the years since the breach, but the vendor acknowledged on Tuesday night that "Customers of Symantec's pcAnywhere have increased risk as a result of this incident."
22091018
submission
Hamsterdan writes:
After idahc successfully discovered vulnerabilities on an Apple business website, a dump of more than two dozen usernames and hashed passwords appeared on Pastebin — though he claims the data was not posted by him. Access appears to have been gained via a flaw in a survey posted on the Apple Consultants network site that was being served from abs.apple.com. That server remains offline for the time being, presumably while Apple attempts to batten down the network hatches.
While idahc admits that the situation is “not yet serious,” the breach still means that Apple could find itself scrutinized by the same people who have recently gained entry into dozens of high-profile sites — from PBS and Citibank to just about every Sony site and service imaginable.
21659662
submission
Hamsterdan writes:
The CIA website at cia.gov is currently inaccessible, having apparently fallen foul of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack by hackers.
Almost inevitably, fingers are pointing towards the notorious LulzSec hacktivist group who have made a name for themselves recently with a series of attacks against corporations, organisations and websites — sometimes forcing them offline, and on other occasions stealing personal information by exploiting security flaws.
A post to LulzSec's Twitter feed appears to confirm their participation in the attack...
21463468
submission
Hamsterdan writes:
RSA Security is to replace virtually every one of the 40 million SecurID tokens currently in use as a result of the hacking attack the company disclosed back in March. The EMC subsidiary issued a letter to customers acknowledging that SecurID failed to protect defense contractor Lockheed Martin, which last month reported a hack attempt.
SecurID tokens are used in two-factor authentication systems. Each user account is linked to a token, and each token generates a pseudo-random number that changes periodically, typically every 30 or 60 seconds. To log in, the user enters a username, password, and the number shown on their token. The authentication server knows what number a particular token should be showing, and so uses this number to prove that the user is in possession of their token.
