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Submission + - DOJ-Collected Information Exposed in Data Breach Affecting 340,000 (securityweek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Economic analysis and litigation support firm Greylock McKinnon Associates, Inc. (GMA) is notifying over 340,000 individuals that their personal and medical information was compromised in a year-old data breach.

The incident was detected on May 30, 2023, but it took the firm roughly eight months to investigate and determine what type of information was compromised and to identify the impacted individuals.

Submission + - Code Execution Flaws in Multiple Adobe Software Products (securityweek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Software maker Adobe on Tuesday rolled out urgent security updates for multiple enterprise-facing products and warned that hackers could exploit these bugs to launch code execution attacks.

Submission + - Boeing whistleblower raises new concerns about the 787, and the FAA investigates (npr.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Federal regulators are investigating a whistleblower's claims about flaws in the assembly of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.

Longtime Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour went public Tuesday with claims that he observed problems with how parts of the plane's fuselage were fastened together. Salehpour warns that production "shortcuts" could significantly shorten the lifespan of the plane, eventually causing the fuselage to fall apart in mid-flight.

"It can cause a catastrophic failure," Salehpour said Tuesday during a press briefing to discuss his claims.

A spokesman for the FAA confirmed that the agency is investigating those allegations, which were first reported by the New York Times, but declined to comment further on them.

Boeing immediately pushed back.

"These claims about the structural integrity of the 787 are inaccurate and do not represent the comprehensive work Boeing has done to ensure the quality and long-term safety of the aircraft," Boeing spokeswoman Jessica Kowal said in a statement. "We are fully confident in the 787 Dreamliner."

Comment Those undecided should sample virtual machines (Score 5, Interesting) 148

by couchslug (#64382226) Attached to: Linux Continues To Be Above 4% On the Desktop

Virtual machines are the most convenient way to sample a variety of Linux distros on your most performant PC. You can download free prebuilt VM from places like osboxes then if a distro interests you roll your own VM to get comfortable with installing then configuring your system for your use case.

I don't "switch" OS, I add them as it's free and easy to do. Converting old Windows installs to virtual machines is typically easy (and even if you don't use Linux a fine way to back up old Windows installs in an easily accessible manner, for example running Windows 7 or 10 on a W11 host).

No need to wait until a Windows version deeply annoys you when you can run any or many OS on your host OS of choice. Give it a go. It's FUN.

Submission + - When #OpenToWork is really #OpenToScam

Submitted by benrothke
benrothke writes: Many job seekers often change their LinkedIn status to #OpenToWork.
Scammers have capitalized on that and reach out to them with scams to trick and swindle them.
They won’t find a new job, but will lose their money in a scam.

https://brothke.medium.com/whe...

Submission + - Scientists hit a 301 Tbps speed over existing fiber networks (zdnet.com)

Submitted by destinyland
destinyland writes: Today, UK Aston University researchers sent data at a 301 terabits per second (Tbps) clip over existing fiber networks.

How fast is that? It's about 1.2 million times faster than the US' medium fixed broadband speed of 242.48 megabits per second (Mbps). Or, it's fast enough to deliver 1,800 4K movies to your home in a second.

Submission + - Fusion reactor with permanent magnets built at Princeton Plasma Physics Lab (gizmodo.com)

Submitted by christoban
christoban writes: A team of physicists and engineers at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory built a twisting fusion reactor known as a stellarator that uses permanent magnets, showcasing a potentially cost-effective way of building the powerful machines. Their experiment, called MUSE, relies on 3D-printed and off-the-shelf parts.

Submission + - Complex Patchwork of US AI Regulation Has Already Arrived

Submitted by snydeq
snydeq writes: AI regulation is evolving apace at nearly every level of government in the US, presenting companies doing business across state lines with a challenging number of laws and mandates to keep track of if they want to make good on the promise of AI, writes CIO.com's Grant Gross. 'Sixteen states had already enacted AI-related legislation as of late January, and state legislatures have already introduced more than 400 AI bills across the US this year, six times the number introduced in 2023. Many of the bills are targeted both at the developers of AI technologies and the organizations putting AI tools to use, says Mahdavi, a lawyer with global law firm BCLP, which has established an AI working group. And with populous states such as California, New York, Texas, and Florida either passing or considering AI legislation, companies doing business across the US won’t be able to avoid the regulations. Enterprises developing and using AI should be ready to answer questions about how their AI tools work, even when deploying automated tools as simple as spam filtering, Mahdavi says. “Those questions will come from consumers, and they will come from regulators,” she adds. “There’s obviously going to be heightened scrutiny here across the board.”'

Submission + - OpenBSD 7.5 Released

Submitted by Mononymous
Mononymous writes: The latest release of OpenBSD, the FOSS Unix-like operating system focused on correctness and security over features and performance, is out today. This version includes newer driver support, performance improvements, stability fixes, and lots of package updates. One highlight is a complete port of KDE Plasma 5.
You can view the announcement and get the bits at OpenBSD.org.

Submission + - FCC Lets SpaceX Expand Testing of Cellular Starlink for Phones (pcmag.com)

Submitted by SonicSpike
SonicSpike writes: The FCC has given SpaceX regulatory clearance to start expanding tests of its cellular Starlink system in the US.

The FCC today issued an experimental license to SpaceX to test cellular Starlink in 10 more US locations; that comes after it granted licenses for two dozen other locations in December.

Originally, the FCC only granted SpaceX permission to test the cellular Starlink system in select cities, such as Mountain View, California; Dallas, Texas; and Pie Town, New Mexico. But now the commission is letting the company test the technology “state-wide” in California, Washington, Texas, and Hawaii.

In addition, SpaceX can conduct testing in Cape Canaveral, Florida; Whitmore Lake, Michigan; and Rock Creek, Colorado, among other locations.

The company is indicating the tests will see how the cellular Starlink system fares across various kinds of terrains. In a filing to the FCC earlier this month, SpaceX said: “Including these additional locations will enable SpaceX to more fully test its direct-to-cellular system, including beam-placement and topology software, in a variety of different geographic circumstances.”

In the meantime, the company’s initial tests have shown that the cellular Starlink satellites can successfully beam internet data to unmodified smartphones on the ground. This includes powering download speeds up to 17Mbps and even sending the internet data while the phone is under tree cover or even indoors. The technology’s goal is to serve cellular dead zones, making it possible for consumers to receive satellite connectivity in remote and rural areas.

Submission + - Roku's New HDMI Tech Could Show Ads When You Pause Your Game (kotaku.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A new patent recently filed by TV and streaming device manufacturer Roku hints toward a possible future where televisions could display ads when you pause a movie or game. For Roku, the time in which the TV is on but users aren’t doing anything is valuable. The company has started leasing out ad space in its popular Roku City screensaver—which appears when your TV is idle—to companies like McDonald’s and movies like Barbie. As tech newsletter Lowpass points out, Roku finds this idle time and its screensaver so valuable that it forbids app developers from overriding the screensaver with their own. But, if you plug in an Xbox or DVD player into the HDMI port on a Roku TV, you bypass the company’s screensaver and other ads. And so, Roku has been figuring out a way to not let that happen.

As reported by Lowpass on April 4, Roku recently filed a patent for a technology that would let it inject ads into third-party content—like an Xbox game or Netflix movie—using an HDMI connection. The patent describes a situation where you are playing a video game and hit pause to go check your phone or grab some food. At this point, Roku would identify that you have paused the content and display a relevant ad until you unpaused the game. Roku’s tech isn’t designed to randomly inject ads as you are playing a game or watching a movie, it knows that would be going too far and anger people. Instead, the patent suggests several ways that Roku could spot when your TV is paused, like comparing frames, to make sure the user has actually paused the content. Roku might also use the HDMI’s audio feed to search for extended moments of silence. The company also proposes using HDMI CEC—a protocol designed to help devices communicate better—to figure out when you pause and unpause content. Similarly, Roku’s patent explains that it will use various methods to detect what people are playing or watching and try to display relevant ads. So if it sees you have an Xbox plugged in, it might try to serve you ads that it thinks an Xbox owner would be interested in.

Submission + - Are Your Solar Eclipse Glasses Fake? Here's How to Check (scientificamerican.com)

Submitted by SonicSpike
SonicSpike writes: Fienberg is project manager of the AAS Solar Eclipse Task Force, which is busy preparing for the total eclipse over North America on April 8. He’s the creator of a list of vetted solar filters and viewers that will protect wearers’ eyes as they watch the moon move in front of the sun. When a solar eclipse last crossed a major swath of the U.S. in 2017, Fienberg and his team spotted some counterfeit glasses entering the marketplace—imitations that distributors claimed were manufactured by vetted companies. Testing at accredited labs indicated that many counterfeits were actually safe to use, however. This led the task force to describe such eclipse glasses as “misleading” but not “dangerous” in a March 11 statement meant to reassure the public.

But then Fienberg’s phone rang. The caller was “a guy who had bought thousands of eclipse glasses from a distributor who had been on our list at one point,” Fienberg says. “Those glasses were not safe. They were no darker than ordinary sunglasses.” Legitimate eclipse glasses are at least 1,000 times darker than the darkest sunglasses you can buy.

Fienberg contacted Cangnan County Qiwei Craft, a Chinese factory that he knew manufactured safe glasses and had—in the past—sold them to the distributor in question. But this time, Fienberg says, factory representatives told him they hadn’t sold to that distributor in a long while. “That’s when we switched from being concerned about only counterfeits to being concerned about actual fakes,” Fienberg says.

The AAS does not have a confident estimate of how many fake or counterfeit glasses are for sale out there. And though Fienberg doesn’t think this is a widespread problem, the situation is an “iceberg kind of concern,” he says, because there are likely more examples than the ones he knows about. While counterfeit glasses may still be safe to use, completely fake glasses could put wearers in serious danger.

If you’re viewing the upcoming eclipse, there are specific indicators you can look for when evaluating products for safety—and ways to test glasses before you stare at the sun.

THE STANDARD FOR SOLAR ECLIPSE VIEWERS
On April 8 viewers within a 115-mile-wide band stretching across Mexico and the U.S. into eastern Canada will experience a total solar eclipse: what happens when the moon passes directly between the sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of our star. Outside of this band, people in much of North America will be able to see a partial eclipse.

Submission + - Missouri County Declares State of Emergency Amid Suspected Ransomware Attack (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Jackson County, Missouri, has declared a state of emergency and closed key offices indefinitely as it responds to what officials believe is a ransomware attack that has made some of its IT systems inoperable. "Jackson County has identified significant disruptions within its IT systems, potentially attributable to a ransomware attack," officials wrote Tuesday. "Early indications suggest operational inconsistencies across its digital infrastructure and certain systems have been rendered inoperative while others continue to function as normal."

The systems confirmed inoperable include tax and online property payments, issuance of marriage licenses, and inmate searches. In response, the Assessment, Collection and Recorder of Deeds offices at all county locations are closed until further notice. The closure occurred the same day that the county was holding a special election to vote on a proposed sales tax to fund a stadium for MLB's Kansas City Royals and the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs. Neither the Jackson County Board of Elections nor the Kansas City Board of Elections have been affected by the attack; both remain open.

The Jackson County website says there are 654,000 residents in the 607-square-mile county, which includes most of Kansas City, the biggest city in Missouri. The response to the attack and the investigation into it have just begun, but so far, officials said they had no evidence that data had been compromised. Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr. has issued (PDF) an executive order declaring a state of emergency. The County has notified law enforcement and retained IT security contractors to help investigate and remediate the attack.

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