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+ - Either everyone is cyber-secure or no one is

Submitted by Presto Vivace
Presto Vivace (882157) writes "Bruce Schneier on The Democratization of Cyberattack

When I was working with the Guardian on the Snowden documents, the one top-secret program the NSA desperately did not want us to expose was QUANTUM. This is the NSA's program for what is called packet injection--basically, a technology that allows the agency to hack into computers.

Turns out, though, that the NSA was not alone in its use of this technology. The Chinese government uses packet injection to attack computers. The cyberweapons manufacturer Hacking Team sells packet injection technology to any government willing to pay for it. Criminals use it. And there are hacker tools that give the capability to individuals as well.

All of these existed before I wrote about QUANTUM. By using its knowledge to attack others rather than to build up the internet's defenses, the NSA has worked to ensure that anyone can use packet injection to hack into computers.

"

+ - Has the Supreme Court made patent reform legislation unnecessary?->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "As Congress gears up again to seriously consider patent litigation abuse—starting with the introduction of H.R. 9 (the "Innovation Act") last month—opponents of reform are arguing that recent Supreme Court cases have addressed concerns. Give the decisions time to work their way through the system, they assert.

A recent hearing on the subject before a US House Judiciary Committee (HJC) Subcommittee shined some light on the matter. And, as HJC Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a long-time leader in Internet and intellectual property issues, put it succinctly in his opening remarks:

"We've heard this before, and though I believe that the Court has taken several positive steps in the right direction, their decisions can't take the place of a clear, updated and modernized statute. In fact, many of the provisions in the Innovation Act do not necessarily lend themselves to being solved by case law, but by actual law—Congressional legislation.""
Link to Original Source

+ - Snowden Reportedly in Talks to Return to YS to Face Trial 1

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com (3830033) writes "The Globe and Mail reports that Edward Snowden's Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena says the fugitive former US spy agency contractor who leaked details of the government’s mass surveillance programs was working with American and German lawyers to return home. “I won’t keep it secret that he wants to return back home. And we are doing everything possible now to solve this issue. There is a group of U.S. lawyers, there is also a group of German lawyers and I’m dealing with it on the Russian side.” Kucherena added that Snowden is ready to return to the States, but on the condition that he is given a guarantee of a legal and impartial trial. The lawyer said Snowden had so far only received a guarantee from the US Attorney General that he will not face the death penalty. Kucherena says that Snowden is able to travel outside Russia since he has a three-year Russian residency permit, but "I suspect that as soon as he leaves Russia, he will be taken to the US embassy.""

+ - Calling all Samba Users: 2015 User Survey->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "What Samba features do you care about most? Do you have problems or
ideas to tell the Samba Team? Which parts of the documentation are
most important to you?

The Samba Team invites all users to participate in the Samba Survey at

https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3...

The survey takes only 5-10 minutes to complete and runs until the end
of March. We don't of course ask for any personal information, and the
results will be shared with the community in a presentation at the
SambaXP conference in May (www.sambaxp.org — come and join us there!)

This survey will help us improve Samba and its documentation by better
understanding your needs and listening to your suggestions. If you are
a Samba user, no matter how you use Samba from just experimenting
through to production deployment, we are really keen to get your
feedback. And please do encourage other Samba users to fill it in as well.

Thanks in advance to all survey participants."
Link to Original Source

+ - $415M Silicon Valley Salary-Fixing Conspiracy Settlement Heads For Approval->

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh (300774) writes "A lawsuit last year argued that the biggest players in Silicon Valley, including Google, Apple, Intel, Adobe, Intuit, Lucasfilm, and Pixar had engaged in a conspiracy to fix and suppress employee salaries; an initial settlement in the suit at over $300 million was deemed by a judge to be too low. Now a $415 million settlement is headed for approval."
Link to Original Source

+ - Mississipppi Attorney General Conspires With MPAA To Revive SOPA->

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh (300774) writes "Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood filed a subpoena last October seeking information about Google’s search and advertising practices in areas related to banned substances, human trafficking and copyrighted material. But a Federal judge has now quashed that investigation — and information from last fall's Sony leak made seemed to indicate that Hood had agreed to work with the MPAA to launch it in the first place, as part of a move to revive the reviled SOPA legislation through other means."
Link to Original Source

+ - Flaw In GoPro Update Mechanism Reveals Users' Wi-Fi Passwords

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "A vulnerability in the update mechanism for the wireless networks operated by GoPro cameras has allowed a security researcher to easily harvest over a 1,000 login credentials (including his own). The popular rugged, wearable cameras can be controlled via an app, but in order to do so the user has to connect to the camera's Wi-Fi network. Israel-based infosec expert Ilya Chernyakov discovered the flaw when he had to access the network of a friend's camera, but the friend forgot the login credentials."

+ - Why Computers Still Struggle To Tell the Time-> 1

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett (1594911) writes "It’s pretty much impossible for a computer to keep exact time, although accuracy can be improved to the extent that users are willing to spend more money on the problem, said George Neville-Neil, a software engineer who helps financial institutions and other time-sensitive organizations maintain ultra-precise measurements of time. To keep internal time, computers use a crystal oscillator that creates an electromagnetic signal, or a vibration that the computer uses to coordinate processor, memory, bus and motherboard operations. But computer makers often use inexpensive crystals costing only a few cents each, which can compromise accuracy. 'If you buy server-class hardware, you will get cheap crystal, and time will wander if you don’t do something about it,' Neville-Neil said."
Link to Original Source

+ - Buzz Aldrin's 1966 selfie sells for almost £6,000->

Submitted by hypnosec
hypnosec (2231454) writes "First ever 'selfie' taken in space by NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin back in November 1966 has fetched almost £6,000 blowing away its estimated minimum selling price by ten times at an auction held in London. The space selfie was part of a collection of 700 vintage NASA photographs that sold for a total of £489,440 at London's Bloomsbury Auction. The selfie was snapped by Aldrin during the Gemini 12 mission in November 1966."
Link to Original Source

+ - What would Minecraft 2 look like under Microsoft?->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft spent billions purchasing Mojang, the studio behind the game Minecraft, and while it's unlikely to start work on a sequel anytime soon, rather than continue development of the game, it's worth considering what a Minecraft 2 will look like. After all, as a public company with revenues to justify, it doesn't seem beyond unreasonable a few years down the line, especially since a Minecraft-like game was one of the stand-out tech demos shown for the software giant's HoloLens augmented reality headset. As the author points out, Microsoft will have to tread carefully, tackling issues like whether greater graphical fidelity is actually what players will want ever — and whether to continue to support Minecraft on PlayStation."
Link to Original Source

+ - First Satellites With All-Electric Propulsion Call Home->

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula (1870348) writes "The launch of two new communications satellites may not seem like news these days, but it is when they're the first satellites with all-electric propulsion. Boeing announced that the two 702SP small platform satellites, called ABS-3A and EUTELSAT 115 West B, that launched on Sunday evening are sending back signals to mission control as they power towards geosynchronous orbit under ion drive."
Link to Original Source

+ - Unique 3D Printed 2-String Violin May Revolutionize the Music Industry->

Submitted by ErnieKey
ErnieKey (3766427) writes "This April, MONAD Studio will unleash 5 new musical instruments which have been 3D printed. They look unlike anything you have seen before, and when combined together will create a massive musical spectacle that could revolutionize the music industry. Created by Eric Goldemberg of FIU, the installment will be on display at the 3D Print Design Show in NY. There are already many musicians lining up to try out these new instruments."
Link to Original Source

UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever things. -- Doug Gwyn

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