Month: January 2022

Intel’s $1.2bn EU antitrust fine cancelled by court 12 years after Intel didn’t pay up

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Intel Corporation no longer has to pay a €1.06bn ($1.2bn, £890m) fine imposed by the European Commission (EC) in 2009 for abusing its dominance of the chip market. On Wednesday, the General Court of the European Union annulled the EC antitrust penalty [PDF] after previously upholding it in 2014 [PDF]. After rival AMD complained in Read more about Intel’s $1.2bn EU antitrust fine cancelled by court 12 years after Intel didn’t pay up[…]

LG Announces New Ad Targeting Features for TVs – wait, wtf, I bought my TV, not a service!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[… ] there are plenty of cases where you throw down hundreds of dollars for a piece of hardware and then you end up being the product anyway. Case in point: TVs. On Wednesday, the television giant LG announced a new offering to advertisers that promises to be able to reach the company’s millions of Read more about LG Announces New Ad Targeting Features for TVs – wait, wtf, I bought my TV, not a service![…]

More Than 80% of NFTs Created for Free on OpenSea Are Fraud or Spam, Company Says

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] OpenSea has revealed just how much of the NFT activity on its platform is defined by fakery and theft, and it’s a lot. In fact, according to the company, nearly all of the NFTs created for free on its platform are either spam or plagiarized. The revelation began with some drama. On Thursday, popular Read more about More Than 80% of NFTs Created for Free on OpenSea Are Fraud or Spam, Company Says[…]

Finnish diplomats were targeted by NSO Pegasus spyware

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Finland’s government says the mobile devices of its diplomats have been hacked using Pegasus spyware. The Finnish foreign ministry stated on Friday that some of its officials abroad had been targeted by the sophisticated software. “The highly sophisticated malware has infected users’ Apple or Android telephones without their noticing and without any action from the Read more about Finnish diplomats were targeted by NSO Pegasus spyware[…]

A Chinese Satellite Just Grappled Another And Pulled It Out Of Orbit

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Chinese satellite was observed grabbing another satellite and pulling it out of its normal geosynchronous orbit and into a “super-graveyard drift orbit.” The maneuver raises questions about the potential applications of these types of satellites designed to maneuver close to other satellites for inspection or manipulation and adds to growing concerns about China’s space program Read more about A Chinese Satellite Just Grappled Another And Pulled It Out Of Orbit[…]

Stackable artificial leaf uses less power than lightbulb to capture 100 times more carbon than other systems

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Engineers at the University of Illinois Chicago have built a cost-effective artificial leaf that can capture carbon dioxide at rates 100 times better than current systems. Unlike other carbon capture systems, which work in labs with pure carbon dioxide from pressurized tanks, this artificial leaf works in the real world. It captures carbon dioxide from Read more about Stackable artificial leaf uses less power than lightbulb to capture 100 times more carbon than other systems[…]

polkit has been allowing root for 12+ years

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…]Polkit, previously known as PolicyKit, is a tool for setting up policies governing how unprivileged processes interact with privileged ones. The vulnerability resides within polkit’s pkexec, a SUID-root program that’s installed by default on all major Linux distributions. Designated CVE-2021-4034, the vulnerability has been given a CVSS score of 7.8. Bharat Jogi, director of vulnerability Read more about polkit has been allowing root for 12+ years[…]

Google Drive flags single-digit files over copyright

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A funny thing happened on Google Drive overnight. Seemingly innocuous files started being flagged as violating the search behemoth’s terms of service over copyright infringement. Dr Emily Dolson, assistant professor at Michigan State University, was one of those affected after she attempted to upload a file containing a single digit, “1”. Uh, @googledrive, are you Read more about Google Drive flags single-digit files over copyright[…]

Flying car wins airworthiness certification – BBC News

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A flying car capable of hitting speeds over 100mph (160kmh) and altitudes above 8,000ft (2,500m) has been issued with a certificate of airworthiness by the Slovak Transport Authority. The hybrid car-aircraft, AirCar, is equipped with a BMW engine and runs on regular petrol-pump fuel. It takes two minutes and 15 seconds to transform from car Read more about Flying car wins airworthiness certification – BBC News[…]

How to Download Everything Amazon Knows About You (It’s a Lot)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…]To be clear, data collection is far from an Amazon-specific problem; it’s pretty much par for the course when it comes to tech companies. Even Apple, a company vocal about user privacy, has faced criticism in the past for recording Siri interactions and sharing them with third-party contractors. The issue with Amazon, however, is the Read more about How to Download Everything Amazon Knows About You (It’s a Lot)[…]

MoonBounce Malware Hides In Your BIOS Chip, Persists After Drive Formats

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A new type of malware takes a decidedly more stealthy and hard-to-remove path into your OS — it hides in your BIOS chip and thus remains even after you reinstall your OS or format your hard drive. Kaspersky has observed the growth of Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware malware threats since 2019, with most Read more about MoonBounce Malware Hides In Your BIOS Chip, Persists After Drive Formats[…]

‘Dark Souls 3’ security hole lets attackers hijack your PC

Posted on by Robin Edgar

You might not want to play a Dark Souls game online for a while — not that you necessarily can. As Dexerto and The Verge report, attackers have discovered a security exploit in Dark Souls 3 (and potentially Elden Ring) for Windows that lets attackers remotely execute control and effectively hijack your PC. Streamers like Read more about ‘Dark Souls 3’ security hole lets attackers hijack your PC[…]

The IEA wants to make their data available to the public – now it is on governments of the world’s rich countries to make this happen

Posted on by Robin Edgar

To tackle climate change we need good data. This data exists; it is published by the International Energy Agency (IEA). But despite being an institution that is largely publicly funded, most IEA data is locked behind paywalls. […] In 2020 we launched a campaign to unlock this data; we started on Twitter (one example), last Read more about The IEA wants to make their data available to the public – now it is on governments of the world’s rich countries to make this happen[…]

Totally Bogus DMCA Takedowns From Giant Publishers Completely Nuke Book Review Blog Off The Internet

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Just as we’re in the midst of a Greenhouse series all about SOPA, copyright industry lobbyists, and former copyright industry lawyers now running the Copyright Office are conspiring to make copyright law worse and to favor Hollywood and give the big giant legacy copyright companies more control and power over the internet. And, yet, we Read more about Totally Bogus DMCA Takedowns From Giant Publishers Completely Nuke Book Review Blog Off The Internet[…]

Safari 15 could leak Google account info to malicious sites

Posted on by Robin Edgar

An improperly implemented API that stores data on browsers has caused a vulnerability in Safari 15 that leaks user internet activity and personal identifiers. The vulnerability was discovered by fraud detection service Fingerprint JS, which has contacted the WebKit maintainers and provided a public source code repository. As of 28 November last year, the issue Read more about Safari 15 could leak Google account info to malicious sites[…]

Security Holes Found in My2022 App for Beijing Winter Olympics

Posted on by Robin Edgar

An app that visitors to the 2022 Olympics Games in Beijing are obligated to download is also a cybersecurity nightmare that threatens to expose much of the data that it collects, according to a new report. MY2022, the mandatory app for visitors at this year’s Winter Games, offers a variety of services—including tourism recommendations, Covid-related Read more about Security Holes Found in My2022 App for Beijing Winter Olympics[…]

WhatsApp Ordered To Help US Agents Spy On Chinese Phones using 1986 pen register act

Posted on by Robin Edgar

U.S. federal agencies have been using a 35-year-old American surveillance law to secretly track WhatsApp users with no explanation as to why and without knowing whom they are targeting. In Ohio, a just-unsealed government surveillance application reveals that in November 2021, DEA investigators demanded the Facebook-owned messaging company track seven users based in China and Read more about WhatsApp Ordered To Help US Agents Spy On Chinese Phones using 1986 pen register act[…]

OpenSubtitles Hacked, 7 Million Subscribers’ Details Leaked Online

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] “In August 2021 we received message on Telegram from a hacker, who showed us proof that he could gain access to the user table of opensubtitles.org, and downloaded a SQL dump from it. He asked for a BTC ransom to not disclose this to public and promise to delete the data,” the post reads. Read more about OpenSubtitles Hacked, 7 Million Subscribers’ Details Leaked Online[…]

Crypto.com Finally Acknowledges $34 Million Stolen by Hackers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Trading platform Crypto.com lost about $34 million worth of cryptocurrency in a hack on Monday, according to a new blog post by the company published overnight. The company had previously declined to say much about the hack, which forced users to stop withdrawals for most of the day, and only reassured customers they wouldn’t lose Read more about Crypto.com Finally Acknowledges $34 Million Stolen by Hackers[…]

The Worst Passwords in the Last Decade (And New Ones You Shouldn’t Use)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Have you immortalized your beloved dog, Charlie, in all of your online passwords? While he may be tasked to protect your home (or at least his food bowl), your heartfelt dedication might actually be compromising your digital safety. Many passwords believed to be deeply personal to you are, in fact, quite common – making them Read more about The Worst Passwords in the Last Decade (And New Ones You Shouldn’t Use)[…]

Massive rugby ball-shaped exoplanet spotted 1,500 ly away

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Just over 1,500 light-years away in the constellation of Hercules there’s a rugby ball-shaped exoplanet orbiting a star. It’s the first time astronomers have been able to detect such an unusual shape of an alien world. Most planets are more or less spherical due to gravitational forces that pull matter equally in from all sides, Read more about Massive rugby ball-shaped exoplanet spotted 1,500 ly away[…]

The AI software that could turn you in to a music star

Posted on by Robin Edgar

If you have ever dreamed of earning money from a stellar music career but were concerned you had little talent, don’t let that put you off – a man called Alex Mitchell might be able to help. Mr Mitchell is the founder and boss of a website and app called Boomy, which helps its users Read more about The AI software that could turn you in to a music star[…]