Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Submission + - Porsche Macan pulled from the EU market due to cybersecurity regulations (autocar.co.uk)

Submitted by jay age
jay age writes: Porsche will remove the combustion-powered Macan from sale in the EU in spring 2024, as it won't meet new cybersecurity rules.
The Macan has been a hugely important car for them in Europe, with 20,117 examples sold so far in 2023.

Porsche told Autocar: “In the EU, the combustion-powered Macan will not be available indefinitely. The main reason for this is the General Safety Regulation of the European Union, to which the platform will not be converted. Any models that do not meet these requirements will no longer be eligible for new registration in the EU after 1 July 2024.

"In regions outside the EU, the Macan with an internal-combustion engine can remain available for longer.”

The regulations included a separate regulatory framework called UNECE WP.29, which concerns cybersecurity and stipulates that all new cars in the EU must have a cybersecurity certificate and be fitted with electronics to protect them from hackers.

Each car must prove that it's protected against 70 vulnerabilities, including cyber attacks during development, production and post-production.

Manufacturers will face a fine of up to €30,000 (£25,732) per vehicle if they don't comply with the regulation.

Submission + - Company says it is targeting ads based on conversations around phones/speakers (404media.co)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A marketing team within media giant Cox Media Group (CMG) claims it has the capability to listen to ambient conversations of consumers through embedded microphones in smartphones, smart TVs, and other devices to gather data and use it to target ads, according to a review of CMG marketing materials by 404 Media and details from a pitch given to an outside marketing professional. Called “Active Listening,” CMG claims the capability can identify potential customers “based on casual conversations in real time.”
The news signals that what a huge swath of the public has believed for years—that smartphones are listening to people in order to deliver ads—may finally be a reality in certain situations. Until now, there was no evidence that such a capability actually existed, but its myth permeated due to how sophisticated other ad tracking methods have become.

Submission + - Voyager 1 has a communication glitch (cnn.com)

Submitted by quonset
quonset writes: At 15 billion miles away from Earth (and counting), Voyager 1 is the most distant spacecraft sent into space. It takes 22.5 hours to send a signal to the craft which has been operating for 46 years even though it was only designed to last five. However, last month mission controllers noticed a glitch in the aging craft's communication. Instead of sending back data it was still collecting, it was sending a repeating message of ones and zeroes.

The mission team first noticed the issue November 14, when the flight data system’s telecommunications unit began sending back a repeating pattern of ones and zeroes, like it was trapped in a loop.

While the spacecraft can still receive and carry out commands transmitted from the mission team, a problem with that telecommunications unit means no science or engineering data from Voyager 1 is being returned to Earth.

The Voyager team sent commands over the weekend for the spacecraft to restart the flight data system, but no usable data has come back yet, according to NASA.

NASA engineers are currently trying to gather more information about the underlying cause of the issue before determining the next steps to possibly correct it, said Calla Cofield, media relations specialist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which manages the mission. The process could take weeks.

Submission + - People Who Complied with COVID Restrictions Suffer More Mental Health Issues (westernjournal.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A recent study conducted by a university in the United Kingdom found that individuals who fully complied with COVID-19 measures are more likely to suffer from lingering mental health issues than those who resisted government mandates and viewed such orders with skepticism.

The findings might be the least surprising bit of post-pandemic data out there.

But they are nonetheless hard data for individuals who desired to make their own health choices during the madness of the pandemic era and were vilified for doing so.

Meanwhile, that person you might still see today wearing a mask in public — four years after the outbreak began — could need help, according to a study sanctioned by Bangor University in Wales.

Submission + - Bruce Schneier: 'We Are About To Enter the Era of Mass Spying' (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In an editorial for Slate published Monday, renowned security researcher Bruce Schneier warned that AI models may enable a new era of mass spying, allowing companies and governments to automate the process of analyzing and summarizing large volumes of conversation data, fundamentally lowering barriers to spying activities that currently require human labor. In the piece, Schneier notes that the existing landscape of electronic surveillance has already transformed the modern era, becoming the business model of the Internet, where our digital footprints are constantly tracked and analyzed for commercial reasons.

Spying, by contrast, can take that kind of economically inspired monitoring to a completely new level: "Spying and surveillance are different but related things," Schneier writes. "If I hired a private detective to spy on you, that detective could hide a bug in your home or car, tap your phone, and listen to what you said. At the end, I would get a report of all the conversations you had and the contents of those conversations. If I hired that same private detective to put you under surveillance, I would get a different report: where you went, whom you talked to, what you purchased, what you did." Schneier says that current spying methods, like phone tapping or physical surveillance, are labor-intensive, but the advent of AI significantly reduces this constraint. Generative AI systems are increasingly adept at summarizing lengthy conversations and sifting through massive datasets to organize and extract relevant information. This capability, he argues, will not only make spying more accessible but also more comprehensive. "This spying is not limited to conversations on our phones or computers," Schneier writes. "Just as cameras everywhere fueled mass surveillance, microphones everywhere will fuel mass spying. Siri and Alexa and 'Hey, Google' are already always listening; the conversations just aren’t being saved yet." [...]

In his editorial, Schneier raises concerns about the chilling effect that mass spying could have on society, cautioning that the knowledge of being under constant surveillance may lead individuals to alter their behavior, engage in self-censorship, and conform to perceived norms, ultimately stifling free expression and personal privacy. So what can people do about it? Anyone seeking protection from this type of mass spying will likely need to look toward government regulation to keep it in check since commercial pressures often trump technological safety and ethics. [...] Schneier isn't optimistic on that front, however, closing with the line, "We could prohibit mass spying. We could pass strong data-privacy rules. But we haven’t done anything to limit mass surveillance. Why would spying be any different?" It's a thought-provoking piece, and you can read the entire thing on Slate.

Submission + - SPAM: Research finds that renting ages you faster than smoking, obesity

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: No, renters, you are not imagining those grey hairs springing up on your head – your living situation is actually making you older, faster.

A landmark study out of the University of Adelaide and University of Essex has found that living in a private rental property accelerates the biological ageing process by more than two weeks every year.

The research found renting had worse effects on biological age than being unemployed (adding 1.4 weeks per year), obesity (adding 1 week per year), or being a former smoker (adding about 1.1 weeks).

University of Adelaide Professor of Housing Research Emma Baker said private renting added “about two-and-a-half weeks of aging” per year to a person’s biological clock, compared to those who own their homes.

“In fact, private rental is the really interesting thing here, because social renters, for some reason, don’t seem to have that effect,” Professor Baker told the ABC News Daily podcast.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - A Strong Solar Storm Is Inbound With a Full Halo CME (noaa.gov) 1

Submitted by StyleChief
StyleChief writes: The Space Weather Prediction Center is watching this closely. Check out the huge sunspot rotating to face the earth. From the report: With 3 CMEs already inbound, the addition of a 4th, full halo CME has prompted SWPC forecasters to upgrade the G2 Watch on 01 Dec to a G3 Watch. This faster-moving halo CME is progged to merge with 2 of the 3 upstream CMEs, all arriving at Earth on 01 Dec. G3 (Strong) conditions are now likely on 01 Dec. Continue to monitor spaceweather.gov for the latest updates.

Submission + - Iran-Linked Hackers Compromise Control System at Pennsylvania Water Utility (icscybersecurityconference.com)

Submitted by wiredmikey
wiredmikey writes: The Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa in Pennsylvania confirmed that hackers took control of a system associated with a booster station over the weekend. The company provides water and sewer services to more than 6,600 customers.

An alarm quickly alerted the Aliquippa utility of the intrusion and the compromised system was disabled. The water facility’s representative said there was no known risk to the water supply or drinking water.

An Iran-linked hacktivist group calling itself Cyber Av3ngers has taken credit for the attack. The anti-Israel hackers appear to have targeted an industrial control system (ICS) made by Israeli company Unitronics.

Submission + - SPAM: Tesla FSD v12 Rolls Out to Employees With Update 2023.38.10 2

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: FSD v12 is the update that is expected to remove “beta” from the title. The initial rollout to employees appears more limited in scale than previous updates. Considering the magnitude of the changes in this version, it makes sense to start slow.

The internal release could expand in time for the anticipated holiday update. The Christmas update could potentially featuring v12 as a significant addition.

Tesla FSD v12 is eliminating over 300,000 lines of code previously governing FSD functions that controlled the vehicle, replaced by further reliance on neural networks. This transition means the system reduces its dependency on hard-coded programming. Instead, FSD v12 is using neural networks to control steering, acceleration, and braking for the first time.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - Ransomware Gang Reports Victim to the SEC (securityweek.com)

Submitted by wiredmikey
wiredmikey writes: A notorious ransomware group has filed a complaint with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the failure of a victim to disclose an alleged data breach resulting from an attack conducted by the cybercrime gang itself.

In an apparent effort to increase its chances of getting paid, the malicious hackers claim to have filed a complaint with the SEC against California-based MeridianLink, accusing the company of failing to disclose the breach within four business days, as required by rules announced by the agency in July.

Submission + - Max Removes 4k Streaming and Other Perks From Ad-Free Plan (droid-life.com)

Submitted by Shakrai
Shakrai writes: Continuing the seemingly industry wide tread towards enshitification of the SVOD marketplace, Max today announced that it will be making changes to the current Ad-Free plan. To wit, 4K HDR with Dolby Atmos will be removed and concurrent streams will decrease from three to two.

In other words, you are paying the same price for less features. If you wish to keep the features you've had all along, all you have to do is upgrade to Ultimate Ad-Free, at a 33% premium for the annual plan or 25% increase for the monthly. No news yet on a crackdown of password sharing, however, that seems inevitable as the industry races to the bottom.

Meet the new cable boss, same as the old, except, they bring death by several small cuts instead of a single large one.

Submission + - Aussies in uproar over QR codes for restaurant menus (news.com.au)

Submitted by smooth wombat
smooth wombat writes: A recent post by an Aussie received a deluge of replies and comments. His comment? “I’m so f***ing tired of ‘tech’ being used to solve an ‘issue’ but only making everything worse and more inconvenient for everybody,” they wrote.

His comment was in response to going to a restaurant and having only a QR code to order from, including a menu at the table with only the QR code on it. In addition to only having a QR code to order from, the app required to order from "proceeded to charge a 6.5 per cent venue surcharge, a 2 per cent payment processing fee, and then had the audacity to ask for a tip (10, 15, 25 per cent) as the cherry on top".

Hundreds of others enthusiastically agreed and many added they also didn’t like being asked to enter their personal details.

“You’re waiting your own table and paying an extra fee for the privilege. It’s f***ed,” one person responded.

“It’s also a big stinking FU to anyone old or not tech savvy. All just to hoover up your data,” another added.

Some, however, shared they preferred using QR codes to order their food – they removed the need to move to order more and limited engagement with staff.

“I actually like the QR ordering because I don’t like people, but the surcharges and tipping can f*** off,” one said.

“I love the QR codes – don’t need to leave the table to order another beer,” someone else wrote.

Consumer advocate Adam Glezer, from Consumer Champion, argued that unless hospitality staff had provided a service, they shouldn’t be asking for a tip.

“A tip is something you pay for good service and it’s optional,” Mr Glezer told news.com.au.

Submission + - While Schools Debate Banning AI Tools, Companies Put Restriction on Use by Teens (edsurge.com)

Submitted by jyosim
jyosim writes: When OpenAI released a new FAQ for educators in September, one detail surprised some observers. It stated that kids under 13 are not allowed to sign up (which is pretty typical, in compliance with federal privacy laws for young children), but it also went on to state that “users between the ages of 13 and 18 must have parental or guardian permission to use the platform.”

“In my eighteen years of working in education I’ve never encountered a platform that requires such a bizarre consent letter,” wrote Tony DePrato, chief information officer at St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Mississippi, in an essay earlier this year.

Why? One reason is that unlike other tech tools, no one knows what generative chatbots will say to students, and laws and policies protect kids from inappropriate content.

Slashdot Top Deals

The biggest difference between time and space is that you can't reuse time. -- Merrick Furst

Close