Author: Robin Edgar

Organisational Structures | Technology and Science | Military, IT and Lifestyle consultancy | Social, Broadcast & Cross Media | Flying aircraft

Facebook Ordered to Stop German WhatsApp Users’ Data Collection

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Facebook Inc. was ordered to stop collecting German users’ data from its WhatsApp unit, after a regulator in the nation said the company’s attempt to make users agree to the practice in its updated terms isn’t legal. Johannes Caspar, who heads Hamburg’s privacy authority, issued a three-month emergency ban, prohibiting Facebook from continuing with the Read more about Facebook Ordered to Stop German WhatsApp Users’ Data Collection[…]

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Is Racing Back to Earth With a Scoop of Asteroid Bennu

Posted on by Robin Edgar

OSIRIS-REx, a NASA spacecraft tasked with collecting rocks and dust from a nearby asteroid named Bennu, is coming back home after almost five years away. The spacecraft, officially named Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, officially fired its engines to begin its Earthward journey on May 10. Its return trip will take two Read more about NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Is Racing Back to Earth With a Scoop of Asteroid Bennu[…]

Windows Defender bug fills Windows 10 boot drive with thousands of files

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A Windows Defender bug creates thousands of small files that waste gigabytes of storage space on Windows 10 hard drives. The bug started with Windows Defender antivirus engine 1.1.18100.5 and will cause the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scans\History\Store folder to be filled up with thousands of files with names that appear to be MD5 hashes. Windows Defender folder filled with Read more about Windows Defender bug fills Windows 10 boot drive with thousands of files[…]

NHS Digital booking website had unexpected side effect: It leaked people’s jab status

Posted on by Robin Edgar

An NHS Digital-run vaccine-booking website exposed just how many vaccines individual people had received – and did so with no authentication, according to the Guardian. The booking page, aimed at English NHS patients wanting to book first and second coronavirus jabs, would tell anyone at all whether a named person had had zero, one or Read more about NHS Digital booking website had unexpected side effect: It leaked people’s jab status[…]

Flawless Is Using Deepfake Tech to Dub Foreign Films Actors Lips

Posted on by Robin Edgar

a company called Flawless has created an AI-powered solution that will replace an actor’s facial performance to match the words in a film dubbed for foreign audiences. […] What Flawless is promising to do with its TrueSync software is use the same tools responsible for deepfake videos to manipulate and adjust an actor’s face in Read more about Flawless Is Using Deepfake Tech to Dub Foreign Films Actors Lips[…]

Scientists Create Record-Breaking Laser With Power of all sunlight reaching earth focussed on a tiny spot

Posted on by Robin Edgar

After ten years of toiling, the team has demonstrated in a paper published on Thursday in the journal Optica the development of a laser with record-breaking intensity over 10²³ watts per square centimeter. Nam told Motherboard in an email that you can compare the intensity of this laser beam to the combined power of  all Read more about Scientists Create Record-Breaking Laser With Power of all sunlight reaching earth focussed on a tiny spot[…]

Russian cyber-spies changed tactics after the UK and US outed their techniques – so here’s a list of those changes

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Russian spies from APT29 responded to Western agencies outing their tactics by adopting a red-teaming tool to blend into targets’ networks as a legitimate pentesting exercise. Now, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the US warn, the SVR is busy exploiting a dozen critical-rated vulns (including RCEs) in equipment ranging from Cisco routers Read more about Russian cyber-spies changed tactics after the UK and US outed their techniques – so here’s a list of those changes[…]

Justice Department Quietly Seized Washington Post Reporters’ Phone Records During Trump Era

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Department of Justice quietly seized phone records and tried to obtain email records for three Washington Post reporters, ostensibly over their coverage of then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election, according to officials and government letters reviewed by the Post. Justice Department regulations typically mandate that news organizations Read more about Justice Department Quietly Seized Washington Post Reporters’ Phone Records During Trump Era[…]

PimEyes: a powerful facial-recognition and finding tool – like Clearview AI but for free

Posted on by Robin Edgar

You probably haven’t seen PimEyes, a mysterious facial-recognition search engine, but it may have spotted you. If you upload a picture of your face to PimEyes’ website, it will immediately show you any pictures of yourself that the company has found around the internet. You might recognize all of them, or be surprised (or, perhaps, Read more about PimEyes: a powerful facial-recognition and finding tool – like Clearview AI but for free[…]

US declares emergency after ransomware shuts oil pipeline that pumps 100 million gallons a day

Posted on by Robin Edgar

One of the USA’s largest oil pipelines has been shut by ransomware, leading the nation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to issue a regional emergency declaration permitting the transport of fuel by road. The Colonial Pipeline says it carries 100 million gallons a day of refined fuels between Houston, Texas, and New York Harbor, or Read more about US declares emergency after ransomware shuts oil pipeline that pumps 100 million gallons a day[…]

WhatsApp’s privacy policy – not accepting will slowly kill your functionality and then delete your history

Posted on by Robin Edgar

After facing international backlash over impending updates to its privacy policy, WhatsApp has ever-so-slightly backtracked on the harsh consequences it initially planned for users who don’t accept them—but not entirely. In an update to the company’s FAQ page, WhatsApp clarifies that no users will have their accounts deleted or instantly lose app functionality if they Read more about WhatsApp’s privacy policy – not accepting will slowly kill your functionality and then delete your history[…]

Lone Developer Stands Up To Grand Theft Auto DMCA Claim, Wins – reverse engineered  code the original code

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Earlier this year fans reversed engineered the source code to Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. They released it to the web, but Grand Theft Auto copyright holder Take-Two pulled it offline via a DMCA claim. But one fan stood up to the publisher and has now succeeded in getting the Read more about Lone Developer Stands Up To Grand Theft Auto DMCA Claim, Wins – reverse engineered  code the original code[…]

Environmental Commodities: What Are They & How Can You Trade Them?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Commodity.com has a huge and useful page on how to get started trading in environmental commodities. Unfortunately it won’t let me paste it into here easily so below is a list of the subjects they cover. They are also very transparent about how they make their money (through links on their site), which I thought Read more about Environmental Commodities: What Are They & How Can You Trade Them?[…]

Peloton’s leaky API let anyone grab riders’ private account data – and only fixed the issue after repeated prodding

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] Peloton, the at-home fitness brand synonymous with its indoor stationary bike and beleaguered treadmills, has more than three million subscribers. Even President Biden is said to own one. The exercise bike alone costs upwards of $1,800, but anyone can sign up for a monthly subscription to join a broad variety of classes. As Biden Read more about Peloton’s leaky API let anyone grab riders’ private account data – and only fixed the issue after repeated prodding[…]

Amazon knew seller data was used to boost company sales

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos told U.S. lawmakers last year that the company has a policy prohibiting employees from using data on specific sellers to help boost its own sales. “I can’t guarantee you that that policy has never been violated,” he added. Now it’s clear why he chose his words so carefully. An internal audit Read more about Amazon knew seller data was used to boost company sales[…]

What3Words sent a legal threat to a security researcher for sharing a better open-source alternative, turns into a Striesand

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A U.K. company behind digital addressing system What3Words has sent a legal threat to a security researcher for offering to share an open-source software project with other researchers, which What3Words claims violate its copyright. Aaron Toponce, a systems administrator at XMission, received a letter on Thursday from London-based law firm JA Kemp representing What3Words, requesting Read more about What3Words sent a legal threat to a security researcher for sharing a better open-source alternative, turns into a Striesand[…]

Tesla Cars Hacked Remotely From Drone via Zero-Click Exploit

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] The attack, dubbed TBONE, involves exploitation of two vulnerabilities affecting ConnMan, an internet connection manager for embedded devices. An attacker can exploit these flaws to take full control of the infotainment system of a Tesla without any user interaction. A hacker who exploits the vulnerabilities can perform any task that a regular user could Read more about Tesla Cars Hacked Remotely From Drone via Zero-Click Exploit[…]

Amazon had sales income of €44bn in Europe in 2020 but paid no corporation tax

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Fresh questions have been raised over Amazon’s tax planning after its latest corporate filings in Luxembourg revealed that the company collected record sales income of €44bn (£38bn) in Europe last year but did not have to pay any corporation tax to the Grand Duchy. Accounts for Amazon EU Sarl, through which it sells products to Read more about Amazon had sales income of €44bn in Europe in 2020 but paid no corporation tax[…]

TV maker Skyworth under fire for excessive data collection that users call spying whilst China clamps down on user tracking

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Chinese television maker Skyworth has issued an apology after a consumer found that his set was quietly collecting a wide range of private data and sending it to a Beijing-based analytics company without his consent. A network traffic analysis revealed that a Skyworth smart TV scanned for other devices connected to the same local network Read more about TV maker Skyworth under fire for excessive data collection that users call spying whilst China clamps down on user tracking[…]

What To Expect From 3D Scanning, And How To Work With It

Posted on by Robin Edgar

3D scanning and 3D printing may sound like a natural match for one another, but they don’t always play together as easily and nicely as one would hope. I’ll explain what one can expect by highlighting three use cases the average hacker encounters, and how well they do (or don’t) work. With this, you’ll have Read more about What To Expect From 3D Scanning, And How To Work With It[…]

Lamps Double As Secret Surround Sound Speakers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Combined with today’s massive flat panel displays, a nice surround sound system can provide an extremely immersive environment for watching movies or gaming. But a stumbling block many run into is speaker placement. The front speakers generally just go on either side of the TV, but finding a spot for the rear speakers that’s both Read more about Lamps Double As Secret Surround Sound Speakers[…]

Mice Develop halfway to gestation Inside An Artificial Womb

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Although people-growing is probably a long way off, mice can now mostly develop inside an artificial uterus (try private window if you hit a paywall) thanks to a breakthrough in developmental biology. So far, the mice can only be kept alive halfway through gestation. There’s a point at which the nutrient formula provided to them Read more about Mice Develop halfway to gestation Inside An Artificial Womb[…]

Modding A Casio W800-H With A Countdown Timer – it’s a jumper setting

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Stock, the Casio W800-H wristwatch ships with dual time modes, multiple alarms, and a stopwatch – useful features for some. However, more is possible if you just know where to look. [Ian] decided to dive under the hood and enable a countdown timer feature hidden from the factory. The hack involves popping open the case Read more about Modding A Casio W800-H With A Countdown Timer – it’s a jumper setting[…]

The world’s ‘most powerful’ tidal turbine is nearly ready to power on | Engadget

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Earlier this week, a company Orbital Marine Power successfully launched its latest tidal turbine. Once it’s connected to the European Marine Energy Centre off the Orkney Islands, the two megawatt O2 will have the capacity to generate enough energy to power 2,000 UK households annually, making it one of the world’s most powerful tidal turbines Read more about The world’s ‘most powerful’ tidal turbine is nearly ready to power on | Engadget[…]

Dutch foreign affairs committee politicians were tricked into participating in a deepfake video chat w Russian opposition leaders’ chief of staff

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Netherlands politicians (Geert Wilders (PVV), Kati Piri (PvdA), Sjoerd Sjoerdsma (D66), Ruben Brekelmans (VVD), Tunahan Kuzu (Denk), Agnes Mulder (CDA), Tom van der Lee (GroenLinks), Gert-Jan Segers (ChristenUnie) en Raymond de Roon (PVV).) just got a first-hand lesson about the dangers of deepfake videos. According to NL Times and De Volkskrant, the Dutch parliament’s foreign Read more about Dutch foreign affairs committee politicians were tricked into participating in a deepfake video chat w Russian opposition leaders’ chief of staff[…]