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Submission + - SPAM: EPA's gasoline efficiency tests are garbage

schwit1 writes: The tests the EPA uses to establish the fuel efficiency of cars are unreliable, and likely provide no valid information at all about the fuel efficiency of the cars tested.

The law requiring cars to meet these fuel efficiency tests was written in the 1970s, and specifically sets standards based on the technology then. Worse,

[T]he EPA doesn’t know exactly how its CAFE testing correlates with actual results, because it has never done a comprehensive study of real-world fuel economy. Nor does anyone else. The best available data comes from consumers who report it to the DOT—hardly a scientific sampling.

Other than that, everything is fine. Companies are forced to spend billions on this regulation, the costs of which they immediately pass on to consumers, all based on fantasy and a badly-written law. Gee, I’m sure glad we never tried this with healthcare!

Submission + - Why Are Hackers Increasingly Targeting The Healthcare Industry? (helpnetsecurity.com)

Orome1 writes: Cyber-attacks in the healthcare environment are on the rise, with recent research suggesting that critical healthcare systems could be vulnerable to attack. Cybercriminals have found medical data to be far more valuable than credit card fraud or other online scams. This is because medical information contains everything from a patient’s medical history to their medical prescriptions, and hackers are able to access this data via network-connected medical devices, now standard in hi-tech hospitals. This is opening up new possibilities for attackers to breach a hospital or a pharmaceutical company’s perimeter defences. If a device is connected to the internet and left vulnerable to attack, an attacker could remotely connect to it and use it as gateways for attacking network security.

Submission + - Visual Studio 2013 Released

jones_supa writes: Final releases of Visual Studio 2013, .NET 4.5.1, and Team Foundation Server 2013 are now available. As part of the new release, the C++ engine implements variadic templates, delegating constructors, non-static data member initializers, uniform initialization and 'using' aliases. The editor has seen new features, C++ improvements and performance optimizations. Support for Windows 8.1 has been enhanced and the new XAML UI Responsiveness tool and Profile Guided Optimization help to analyze responsiveness in Windows Store apps. Graphics debugging has been furthered to have better C++ AMP tools and a new remote debugger (x86, x64, ARM). As before, MSDN and DreamSpark subscribers can obtain the releases from the respective channels, and the Express edition is available free for all.

Submission + - Irish government close Apple's tax loophole (ibtimes.co.uk)

DavidGilbert99 writes: Ireland and particularly its tax system came under some extreme scrutiny earlier this year when it was revealed that Apple funnelled billions of dollars of revenue though three subsidiaries based on the island. Thanks to a loophole none of these subsidiaries were tax-resident in Ireland, meaning they didn't even have to pay Ireland's relatively low 12.5% corporation tax rate. Worryingly for Apple, Ireland's finance minister has just shut this loophole.

Submission + - Italian Man Who Used Infrared Contact Lenses To Cheat At Poker Sentenced (theverge.com)

dmfinn writes: It was back in 2011 when Stefano Ampollini and two other accomplices cheated a French Casino out of over 90,000 euros thanks to the help of Chinese made Infrared Contact Lenses. According to French authorities, Ampollini and two casino workers marked cards using an invisible liquid that would be picked up by the Infrared Lenses, which Ampollini then used to read his competitors cards. Though the contacts themselves cost over 2,000 euros, the crew managed to take 71,000 euros in their first night. However, the trio was finally caught when a lawyer working for the casino became suspicious after Ampollini folded with an unbelievably good hand, which suggested he knew the croupier's cards. This week, a French court sentenced Ampollini to 2 years in prison and a 100,000 euro fine.His main accomplice was handed an even harsher sentence, forced to pay the same fine but spend the next 36 months behind bars. It appears, despite their best efforts and advanced tactics, that the men were still unable to beat the house without raising significant alarms. So, at least for now, it seems modern technology still can't simulate good old "luck".

Submission + - US nuclear commander suspended over gambling (theguardian.com)

mdsolar writes: The No 2 officer at the military command in charge of all US nuclear war-fighting forces has been suspended and is under investigation by the naval criminal investigation command for issues related to gambling, officials said on Saturday.

The highly unusual action against a high-ranking officer at US strategic command was made more than three weeks ago but not publicly announced.

Air force general Robert Kehler, who heads Strategic Command, suspended the deputy commander, navy vice admiral Tim Giardina, from his duties on September 3, according to the command's top spokeswoman, navy captain Pamela Kunze. Giardina is still assigned to the command but is prohibited from performing duties related to nuclear weapons and other issues requiring a security clearance, she said.

Submission + - Long Range RFID Hacking Tool to be Released at Black Hat (threatpost.com)

msm1267 writes: Next week at the Black Hat Briefings in Las Vegas, a security researcher will release a modified RFID reader that can capture data from 125KHz low frequency RFID badges from up to three feet away. Previous RFID hacking tools must be within centimeters of a victim to work properly; this tool would allow an attacker or pen-tester to store the device inside a backpack and it would silently grab card data from anyone walking close enough to it.The researcher said the tool will be the difference between a practical and impractical attack, and that he's had 100 percent success rates in testing the device. Schematics and code will be released at Black Hat as well.

Submission + - First Malicious Apps Targeting Android 'Master Key Vulnerability' Found (securityweek.com)

wiredmikey writes: Earlier this month, researchers from Bluebox Security uncovered a serious vulnerability in Android that allowed for the modification of apps without affecting the cryptographic signature, making it possible for attackers to turn legitimate apps into Trojans. Shortly after the “master key vulnerability” was uncovered, Proof-of-concept code for exploiting it was found on the Internet.

Now, Symantec says it has uncovered the first malicious apps making use of the exploit in the wild. Symantec discovered two mobile applications that were infected by an attacker, which are legitimate applications used to help find and make doctor appointments and distributed on Android marketplaces in China.

“An attacker has taken both of these applications and added code to allow them to remotely control devices, steal sensitive data such as IMEI and phone numbers, send premium SMS messages, and disable a few Chinese mobile security software applications by using root commands, if available,” Symantec explained in a blog post.

While this may be the first instance discovered where attackers have exploited the vulnerability, researchers expect attackers to continue to leverage the vulnerability to infect Android devices, especially as more technical details of the vulnerability emerge. The flaw, discussed here in a podcast with Bluebox co-founder Adam Ely, has been present since at least Android 1.6 – making it roughly four years old.

Google has fixed the security hole in Android, but it is now in the control of handset manufacturers to produce and release the updates for mobile devices to patch the flaws.

Submission + - Former TigerDirect President Indicted in $230 Million Laundering Scheme (wsj.com)

McGruber writes: Carl Fiorentino, known to many slashdotters for his regular hyperbole-filled emails advertising "unbelievable" blowout pricing on memory, storage, other components & overclocker specials, has been indicted in New York federal court on seven counts of fraud and money laundering charges.

Fiorentino allegedly took more than $7 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for steering more than $230 million in business to the Taiwanese and California companies that made the payments.

Submission + - Pirate Bay founder sentenced to jail

An anonymous reader writes: Gottfrid Swartholm Warg — known also as Anakata — was on June 20th sentenced to two years imprisonment for data breaches and aggravated fraud by the District Court of Nacka in his native Sweden.
http://www.thelocal.se/48616/20130620/
It is unclear at this time wether the decision will be appealed to a higher court

Prison time in Sweden is generally served for two thirds of the time sentenced, if the person behaves well and the court finds no reason to abstain from the norm. Also, time spent in pre-trial confinement (swe: "häkte") is deducted from the time sentenced. Warg was arrested in Cambodia in september of 2012, transferred to Sweden and ordered by court to remain in pre-trial confinement from September 14th 2012

Submission + - Stanford, Mozilla, Opera Launch Web Privacy Initiative (stanford.edu)

An anonymous reader writes: Stanford Law School has kicked off a "Cookie Clearinghouse" web privacy initiative that brings together researchers and browsers. The project aims to provide a centralized and trusted repository for whitelist and blacklist data on web tracking, much like StopBadware does for malware. Mozilla and Opera are collaborating on the initiative, and Mozilla plans to integrate it into Firefox's new default third-party cookie blocking. The leader of an advertising trade group has, of course, denounced the participating browsers as "oligopolies."

Submission + - World Press Photo Winner accused of photoshopping (news.com.au)

vikingpower writes: The winner of this year's World Press Photo award, Paul l Hanssen, is under fire for allegedly having photoshopped the winning picture. The Hacker Factor is detailing the reasons and technicalities for the accusations. ExtremeTech also runs an item about the possible faking. Upon questions by Austrailan news site news.com.au, Hanssen answers his photo is not a fake. The whole story, however, is based upon somewhat thin proof: three different times in the file's Adobe XMP block; this does not necessarily mean that more than one file was used in order to obtain a composite image.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: What is the Best Email Encryption Gateway for a Small Business?

Attila Dimedici writes: I am in the process of implementing a Email Encryption Gateway for my company. I checked with my various contacts in the industry and came away with Voltage as the best solution. However, as I have been working with them to implement a solution, I have been sadly disappointed by their lack of professionalism. Every time I think I am one question away from being ready to pull the trigger, I discover something that my contact with them had not mentioned before that has to be ironed out by the various stakeholders on my end. So, my question for Slashdot Users is this, what is your experience with implementing an Email Encryption Gateway for your company and who what solution would you recommend?
Education

Submission + - Degree Hack: US College student earns A.S. degree via transferred credit hours (chronicle.com)

McGruber writes: The Chronicle of Higher Education (http://www.chronicle.com) has a web episode about Richard Linder, a US college student who was determined to do the impossible: earn a US college degree while not taking on any student debt.

Mr. Linder cobbled together an associate degree in liberal arts for a mere $3,000. He did it by transferring academic credits to Excelsior College (http://www.excelsior.edu/), a regionally accredited institution that doesn't require students to take any of its own courses.

Mr. Linder's earned his transferred credit hours from an array of unexpected sources: from high school Advanced Placement courses (http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/about.html) to classes taught by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (http://www.fema.gov/) and the National Fire Academy (http://www.usfa.fema.gov/nfa/). He even managed to get 1 credit hour from Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com).

Space

Submission + - SpaceX gets its first military contract (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Ars reports that commercial space company SpaceX has gotten its first launch contracts from a military organization. The United States Air Force has hired SpaceX to launch the NASA DSCOVR satellite aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, and several other satellites aboard the Falcon Heavy (The Heavy isn't finished yet, and SpaceX currently has no place to launch it, but the contract gives them three years to do so.) 'According to the mission requirements, the Falcon Heavy must carry its payload up to an orbit of 720 km and deploy a COSMIC-2 weather- and atmospheric-monitoring satellite, up to six auxiliary payloads (probably microsats), and up to eight P-POD CubeSat deployers. The rocket should then restart and continue all the way up to a 6,000 x 12,000 km orbit and deploy the ballast, more science experiments and more microsats.'

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