Comment Remember when.... (Score 1) 92
Googleâ(TM)s motto was âoeDo No Evilâ and then they quietly swept it under the rug? Pepperidge Farms remembers....
Is Chrome OS Threatening Windows? (arstechnica.com) 312
Ars Technica sees new $600 "premium Chromebooks" Dell, Samsung, HP, and Lenovo as a growing challenge to Windows, proving that Chrome OS is reaching beyond the education market.
These $600 machines aren't aimed at those same students. Lenovo reps told us that its new Chromebook was developed because the company was seeing demand for Chromebooks from users with a bit more disposable income. For example, new college students that had used Chrome OS at high school and families who wanted the robustness Chrome OS offers are looking for machines that are more attractive, use better materials, and are a bit faster and more powerful. The $600 machines fit that role.
And that's why Microsoft should be concerned. This demand shows a few things. Perhaps most significantly of all, it shows that Chrome OS's mix of Web applications, possibly extended with Android applications, is good enough for a growing slice of home and education users. Windows still has the application advantage overall, but the relevance of these applications is diminishing as Web applications continue to improve... Second, this demand makes clear that exposure to Chrome OS in school is creating sustained interest in, and even commitment to, the platform. High school students are wanting to retain that familiar environment as they move on. The ecosystem they're a part of isn't the Windows ecosystem. Finally, it also shows that Chrome OS's relatively clean-slate approach (sure, it's Linux underneath, but it's not really being pushed as a way of running traditional Linux software) has advantages that are appealing even to home users. The locked down, highly secure Chrome OS machines require negligible maintenance while being largely immune to most extant malware.
And that's why Microsoft should be concerned. This demand shows a few things. Perhaps most significantly of all, it shows that Chrome OS's mix of Web applications, possibly extended with Android applications, is good enough for a growing slice of home and education users. Windows still has the application advantage overall, but the relevance of these applications is diminishing as Web applications continue to improve... Second, this demand makes clear that exposure to Chrome OS in school is creating sustained interest in, and even commitment to, the platform. High school students are wanting to retain that familiar environment as they move on. The ecosystem they're a part of isn't the Windows ecosystem. Finally, it also shows that Chrome OS's relatively clean-slate approach (sure, it's Linux underneath, but it's not really being pushed as a way of running traditional Linux software) has advantages that are appealing even to home users. The locked down, highly secure Chrome OS machines require negligible maintenance while being largely immune to most extant malware.
Submission + - The Geography of Governmental Encryption Bans (hackernoon.com)
pfarb writes: A brief overview of ongoing governmental efforts to subvert secure communications in the private sector — what you can't backdoor, you try to ban, right?
“Don’t steal—Government doesn’t like competition” states a famous anonymous quote. Trying to fully secure your communication also seems to be rubbing the various world governments the wrong way. Although the theoretic concepts of banning or getting a backdoor to the E2EE (currently used in many popular messengers) are laughable due to the sorry lack of understanding of the principles of work of E2EE by the officials, numerous attempts are still being made at banning or hijacking the encrypted means of communication on the state level (even though a recent theoretical paper proves that two parties can still create a secure communications channel using a communications system with a backdoor).
Submission + - How America's TSA is watching travellers
PolygamousRanchKid writes: CHANGING your clothes in an airport toilet, inspecting your reflection in a terminal shop window or being the last person to board a flight are not normally thought to be unusual behaviours for travellers in an airport. But America’s law enforcement agencies seem to disagree. The Boston Globe, a newspaper, broke the news last weekend of a secret programme of America’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) called Quiet Skies, under which passengers doing these things are followed, watched and have their actions recorded by air marshals.
The programme, whose existence was only admitted by the TSA after the Globe’s scoop, has been criticised for violating people’s privacy and by people within the agency for wasting their time and diverting them from dealing with genuine threats.
Marshals are not just shadowing anyone in the airport who looks suspicious. Instead, they track people who have been placed on a Quiet Skies list.
Every day, 40 to 50 passengers on the Quiet Skies list take flights, and about 35 of them are shadowed by air marshals. The armed marshals file minute-by-minute reports to the TSA on whether the passengers exhibit any suspicious behaviour such as fidgeting, staring, observing the boarding gate area from afar, boarding last, reversing directions, changing clothes, or shaving. They also note whether these passengers sleep during their flights.
Fidgeting and staring? Ban small children from flying.
Reversing directions? Lost in an unfamiliar airport.
Changing clothes or shaving? Freshening up after a long flight.
Sleeping? Depends if there are screaming babies on the flight.
In 2015, leaked internal newsletters showed that TSA officers were routinely mocking passengers who did not have a good understanding of security procedures (a group that includes less well-off people who fly less frequently). The same year it was also revealed that TSA officers are flagging passengers based simply on suspicious behaviours such as excessive yawning.
Prison talk:
"I'm in for serial rape and murder . . . what are you in for . . . ?"
"Excessive yawning."
The programme, whose existence was only admitted by the TSA after the Globe’s scoop, has been criticised for violating people’s privacy and by people within the agency for wasting their time and diverting them from dealing with genuine threats.
Marshals are not just shadowing anyone in the airport who looks suspicious. Instead, they track people who have been placed on a Quiet Skies list.
Every day, 40 to 50 passengers on the Quiet Skies list take flights, and about 35 of them are shadowed by air marshals. The armed marshals file minute-by-minute reports to the TSA on whether the passengers exhibit any suspicious behaviour such as fidgeting, staring, observing the boarding gate area from afar, boarding last, reversing directions, changing clothes, or shaving. They also note whether these passengers sleep during their flights.
Fidgeting and staring? Ban small children from flying.
Reversing directions? Lost in an unfamiliar airport.
Changing clothes or shaving? Freshening up after a long flight.
Sleeping? Depends if there are screaming babies on the flight.
In 2015, leaked internal newsletters showed that TSA officers were routinely mocking passengers who did not have a good understanding of security procedures (a group that includes less well-off people who fly less frequently). The same year it was also revealed that TSA officers are flagging passengers based simply on suspicious behaviours such as excessive yawning.
Prison talk:
"I'm in for serial rape and murder . . . what are you in for . . . ?"
"Excessive yawning."
Submission + - Senator Feinstein's driver of 20 years was a Chinese spy (cbslocal.com)
mi writes: The Bay Area is a hotbed for Russian and Chinese espionage. Late last year, the feds shut down the Russian consulate in San Francisco.
Now, all eyes are on Chinese intelligence in the Bay Area after the website Politico reported last week that a staffer for Senator Feinstein (D, CA) turned out to be a Chinese spy who reported back to the government officials about local politics.
On Wednesday, the San Francisco Chronicle uncovered additional details: the Chinese spy was Feinstein’s driver who also served as a gofer in her Bay Area office and was a liaison to the Asian-American community. He even attended Chinese consulate functions for the senator.
Feinstein — who was Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee at the time — was reportedly mortified when the FBI told her she’d be infiltrated.
Investigators reportedly concluded the driver hadn’t leaked anything of substance and Feinstein forced him to retire.
Now, all eyes are on Chinese intelligence in the Bay Area after the website Politico reported last week that a staffer for Senator Feinstein (D, CA) turned out to be a Chinese spy who reported back to the government officials about local politics.
On Wednesday, the San Francisco Chronicle uncovered additional details: the Chinese spy was Feinstein’s driver who also served as a gofer in her Bay Area office and was a liaison to the Asian-American community. He even attended Chinese consulate functions for the senator.
Feinstein — who was Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee at the time — was reportedly mortified when the FBI told her she’d be infiltrated.
Investigators reportedly concluded the driver hadn’t leaked anything of substance and Feinstein forced him to retire.
Comment No FT employees so no benefits... (Score 1) 181
But tuition reimbursement?
Comment I use OS X (Score 2, Informative) 175
I can admin Macs with Apple Remote Desktop and terminal, Windows with Microsoft Remote Desktop, terminal and browser for Linux. It's served me well as an admin in a heterogenous environment in higher ed.
Comment Facebook donated to 46 of 55 members of the comtte (Score 1) 165
Comment An Ipad IS a computer (Score 1) 594
That is why the ad sucks. It's like saying if you use an Ipad you are computer illiterate.
Submission + - Searchable DB of 1.4 billion stolen credentials found on dark web (itworldcanada.com) 2
YVRGeek writes: A security vendor has discovered a huge list of easily searchable stolen credentials in cleartext on the dark web which it fears could lead to a new wave of cyber attacks.
Julio Casal, co-founder of identity threat intelligence provider 4iQ, which has offices in Calfornia and Spain, said in a Dec. 8 blog his firm found the database of 1.4 billion username and password pairs while scanning the dark web for stolen, leaked or lost data.
He said the company has verified at least a group of credentials are legitimate.
What is alarming is the file is what he calls “an aggregated, interactive database that allows for fast (one second response) searches and new breach imports.” For example, searching for “admin,” “administrator” and “root” returned 226,631 passwords of admin users in a few seconds. As a result, the database can help attackers automate account hijacking or account takeover.
Julio Casal, co-founder of identity threat intelligence provider 4iQ, which has offices in Calfornia and Spain, said in a Dec. 8 blog his firm found the database of 1.4 billion username and password pairs while scanning the dark web for stolen, leaked or lost data.
He said the company has verified at least a group of credentials are legitimate.
What is alarming is the file is what he calls “an aggregated, interactive database that allows for fast (one second response) searches and new breach imports.” For example, searching for “admin,” “administrator” and “root” returned 226,631 passwords of admin users in a few seconds. As a result, the database can help attackers automate account hijacking or account takeover.
Submission + - The Navy's Much-Hyped Electromagnetic Railgun May End Up Dead In The Water (taskandpurpose.com)
schwit1 writes: After spending more than $500 million, the Department of Defense is moving away from its railgun project and instead leaning towards a mixture of new and existing technologies.
Although the railgun works, it is behind on the number of shots per minute it can fire, firing only 4.8 rounds in one minute instead of the required 10 rounds. The Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office, designed to fast track new technologies critical to keeping America’s technological edge on the battlefield, has also began favoring the hypervelocity projectile, or HVP.
HVP takes the projectile technology from the railgun program and adapts it to fire from existing U.S. navy 5-inch guns. HVP doesn’t get the same speed and distance railguns do—at Mach 3 they travel at about half the speed and at about 30 miles they only travel a third of the range, but they’re still a considerable improvement over existing 5-inch shells. But U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers each have at least one 5-inch Mark 45 gun, meaning the firing platform for the HVP is already in widespread service across the Navy’s surface force.
Although the railgun works, it is behind on the number of shots per minute it can fire, firing only 4.8 rounds in one minute instead of the required 10 rounds. The Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office, designed to fast track new technologies critical to keeping America’s technological edge on the battlefield, has also began favoring the hypervelocity projectile, or HVP.
HVP takes the projectile technology from the railgun program and adapts it to fire from existing U.S. navy 5-inch guns. HVP doesn’t get the same speed and distance railguns do—at Mach 3 they travel at about half the speed and at about 30 miles they only travel a third of the range, but they’re still a considerable improvement over existing 5-inch shells. But U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers each have at least one 5-inch Mark 45 gun, meaning the firing platform for the HVP is already in widespread service across the Navy’s surface force.
Submission + - Former Small ISP Owner Blasts ISP Network Neutrality Claims as a Lie (freezenet.ca)
Dangerous_Minds writes: As the debate over network neutrality heats up, AT&T claimed that nothing will change once network neutrality rules are gutted. Comments like this are not sitting well with one former small ISP owner. As Freezenet reports, Drew Curtis shared his story about how his small Kentucky-based ISP was wiped out after a lobbying effort in 2000. He then went on to blast the claims that nothing will change after network neutrality rules are gutted as "a bald-faced lie"
Submission + - Spy Eye in the Sky: DHS says DJI Drones Gather Data on US Infrastructure (wpengine.com)
chicksdaddy writes: Why are all those DJI Drones so cheap? The Department of Homeland Security has one terrifying explanation: they're being dumped on the US market in part to conduct surveillance on US critical infrastructure and industry for use by the Chinese government — including use in future attacks, The Security Ledger reports.
DHS issued a bulletin in August that commercial drones made by the China-based firm Da Jian Innovations (DJI) may be providing “U.S. critical infrastructure and law enforcement data” to the Chinese government and favored industries in that country, according to a copy of an August, 2017 Intelligence Bulletin (https://info.publicintelligence.net/ICE-DJI-China.pdf) published by the website Public Intelligence.
The report cites an unnamed sources in Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the US Army and local law enforcement, as well as an unnamed “source within the unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry” saying that DJI is providing U.S. critical infrastructure and law enforcement data to the Chinese government. The company is also “selectively targeting government and privately owned entities within these sectors to expand its ability to collect and exploit sensitive U.S. data.” The data could help the Chinese government “coordinate physical or cyber attacks against critical sites” and appears to have been used to aid Chinese companies looking to invest in the US assets like vineyards, DHS warned.
Among the allegations in the report: that, starting in 2015, DJI slashed the prices on its Category One (small) drones by up to 70% and began dumping them on the US market. Drones that previously cost upwards of $3,000 were sold for $900 by DJI, effectively pushing French and US competitors like Parrot and Yuneec of the US out of business. Within a year, DJI drone imports to the US tripled from 2,873 in 2016 to 10,321 in 2017.
At the same time, the company began aggressively targeting executives in industries like electricity and transportation, as well as critical sectors like water. Executives at key firms received invitations to multi-day DJI sponsored symposia and test facilities in Silicon Valley to push commercial applications of the drone technology.
But investing in DJI technology may be a short-term solution with long-term costs. The bulletin related the experience of a large family owned wine producer in California who purchased DJI UAS technology to survey its vineyards and monitor grape production, using a drone-mounted infrared scanner capable of calculating nitrogen levels of plants. “Soon afterwards, Chinese companies began purchasing vineyards in the same
area.
According to the report, Chinese firms purchasing vineyards in California were able to use DJI data to their own benefit and profit. DHS warns that use of the same technology with cash crops “could allow China the opportunity to influence the cash crop market and futures.” The source of that information was an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official.
DHS issued a bulletin in August that commercial drones made by the China-based firm Da Jian Innovations (DJI) may be providing “U.S. critical infrastructure and law enforcement data” to the Chinese government and favored industries in that country, according to a copy of an August, 2017 Intelligence Bulletin (https://info.publicintelligence.net/ICE-DJI-China.pdf) published by the website Public Intelligence.
The report cites an unnamed sources in Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the US Army and local law enforcement, as well as an unnamed “source within the unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry” saying that DJI is providing U.S. critical infrastructure and law enforcement data to the Chinese government. The company is also “selectively targeting government and privately owned entities within these sectors to expand its ability to collect and exploit sensitive U.S. data.” The data could help the Chinese government “coordinate physical or cyber attacks against critical sites” and appears to have been used to aid Chinese companies looking to invest in the US assets like vineyards, DHS warned.
Among the allegations in the report: that, starting in 2015, DJI slashed the prices on its Category One (small) drones by up to 70% and began dumping them on the US market. Drones that previously cost upwards of $3,000 were sold for $900 by DJI, effectively pushing French and US competitors like Parrot and Yuneec of the US out of business. Within a year, DJI drone imports to the US tripled from 2,873 in 2016 to 10,321 in 2017.
At the same time, the company began aggressively targeting executives in industries like electricity and transportation, as well as critical sectors like water. Executives at key firms received invitations to multi-day DJI sponsored symposia and test facilities in Silicon Valley to push commercial applications of the drone technology.
But investing in DJI technology may be a short-term solution with long-term costs. The bulletin related the experience of a large family owned wine producer in California who purchased DJI UAS technology to survey its vineyards and monitor grape production, using a drone-mounted infrared scanner capable of calculating nitrogen levels of plants. “Soon afterwards, Chinese companies began purchasing vineyards in the same
area.
According to the report, Chinese firms purchasing vineyards in California were able to use DJI data to their own benefit and profit. DHS warns that use of the same technology with cash crops “could allow China the opportunity to influence the cash crop market and futures.” The source of that information was an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official.
An Artificial Womb Successfully Grew Baby Sheep -- and Humans Could Be Next (theverge.com) 188
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Inside what look like oversized ziplock bags strewn with tubes of blood and fluid, eight fetal lambs continued to develop -- much like they would have inside their mothers. Over four weeks, their lungs and brains grew, they sprouted wool, opened their eyes, wriggled around, and learned to swallow, according to a new study that takes the first step toward an artificial womb. One day, this device could help to bring premature human babies to term outside the uterus -- but right now, it has only been tested on sheep. The Biobag may not look much like a womb, but it contains the same key parts: a clear plastic bag that encloses the fetal lamb and protects it from the outside world, like the uterus would; an electrolyte solution that bathes the lamb similarly to the amniotic fluid in the uterus; and a way for the fetus to circulate its blood and exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen. Flake and his colleagues published their results today in the journal Nature Communications.
