Author: Robin Edgar

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

Ventoy – add an iso to usb drive and boot it (or any other iso on it) up without any configuration

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Ventoy is an open source tool to create bootable USB drive for ISO/WIM/IMG/VHD(x)/EFI files. With ventoy, you don’t need to format the disk over and over, you just need to copy the ISO/WIM/IMG/VHD(x)/EFI files to the USB drive and boot them directly. You can copy many files at a time and ventoy will give you Read more about Ventoy – add an iso to usb drive and boot it (or any other iso on it) up without any configuration[…]

FAA says lack of federal whistleblower protections is ‘enormous factor’ hindering Blue Origin safety review

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Jeff Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, became the subject of a federal review this fall after a group of 21 current and former employees co-signed an essay that raised serious questions about the safety of the company’s rockets — including the rocket making headlines for flying Bezos and other celebrities to space. But that review Read more about FAA says lack of federal whistleblower protections is ‘enormous factor’ hindering Blue Origin safety review[…]

Log4Shell: RCE 0-day exploit found in log4j2, a popular Java logging package, hugely popular

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A few hours ago, a 0-day exploit in the popular Java logging library log4j2 was discovered that results in Remote Code Execution (RCE) by logging a certain string. Given how ubiquitous this library is, the impact of the exploit (full server control), and how easy it is to exploit, the impact of this vulnerability is Read more about Log4Shell: RCE 0-day exploit found in log4j2, a popular Java logging package, hugely popular[…]

MCH2022 Submit a talk above and beyond the final frontier!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In the first part of this series of posts where we explore possible subjects that may trigger your “Aha! I know about this and can talk about this!” reflex, medical technology was suggested as an avenue of interest. In this second part, we would like to tickle your memories from not so very long ago Read more about MCH2022 Submit a talk above and beyond the final frontier![…]

Italian regulator fines Amazon $1.28 billion for abusing its market dominance

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Italy’s antitrust authority (AGCM) has fined Amazon €1.13 billion ($1.28 billion) for “abuse of dominant position,” the second penalty it has imposed on Amazon over the last month. Amazon holds a position of “absolute dominance” in the Italian brokerage services market, “which has allowed it to promote its own logistics service, called Fulfillment by Amazon Read more about Italian regulator fines Amazon $1.28 billion for abusing its market dominance[…]

Report: VPNs Are Often a Mixed Bag for Privacy

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] Consumer Reports, which recently published a 48-page white paper on VPNs that looks into the privacy and security policies of 16 prominent VPN providers. Researchers initially looked into some 51 different companies but ultimately honed in on the most prominent, high-quality providers. The results are decidedly mixed, with the report highlighting a lot of Read more about Report: VPNs Are Often a Mixed Bag for Privacy[…]

Physicists discover special transverse sound wave

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A research team at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has discovered a new type of sound wave: The airborne sound wave vibrates transversely and carries both spin and orbital angular momentum like light does. The findings shattered scientists’ previous beliefs about the sound wave, opening an avenue to the development of novel applications in Read more about Physicists discover special transverse sound wave[…]

Prisons snoop on inmates’ phone calls with speech-to-text AI

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Prisons around the US are installing AI speech-to-text models to automatically transcribe conversations with inmates during their phone calls. A series of contracts and emails from eight different states revealed how Verus, an AI application developed by LEO Technologies and based on a speech-to-text system offered by Amazon, was used to eavesdrop on prisoners’ phone Read more about Prisons snoop on inmates’ phone calls with speech-to-text AI[…]

Spotify Pulls Content of Comedians Fighting to Get Royalties

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] Spotify took down the work of hundreds of comedians, including big names like John Mulaney, Jim Gaffigan, and Kevin Hart, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Mulaney, Gaffigan, Hart, and other comedians are represented by Spoken Giants, a global rights company that’s leading the fight to get radio and digital platforms, such as Read more about Spotify Pulls Content of Comedians Fighting to Get Royalties[…]

Cuba ransomware gang scores almost $44m from 49 victims: FBI

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says 49 organisations, including some in government, were hit by Cuba ransomware as of early November this year. The attacks were spread across five “critical infrastructure”, which, besides government, included the financial, healthcare, manufacturing, and – as you’d expect – IT sectors. The Feds said late last week Read more about Cuba ransomware gang scores almost $44m from 49 victims: FBI[…]

Executive at Swiss Tech Company Said to Operate Secret Surveillance Operation

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The co-founder of a company that has been trusted by technology giants including Google and Twitter to deliver sensitive passwords to millions of their customers also operated a service that ultimately helped governments secretly surveil and track mobile phones, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing former employees and clients. From the report: Since it started in 2013, Read more about Executive at Swiss Tech Company Said to Operate Secret Surveillance Operation[…]

$150m – $200m of digital assets stolen in BitMart security breach

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Cryptocurrency exchange BitMart has coughed to a large-scale security breach relating to ETH and BSC hot wallets. The company reckons that hackers made off with approximately $150m in assets. Security and analytics outfit PeckShield put the figure at closer to $200m. “We have identified a large-scale security breach related to one of our ETH hot Read more about $150m – $200m of digital assets stolen in BitMart security breach[…]

The SEC is probing Tesla’s faulty solar panels prone to fire, whistleblower says they kept evidence of danger under wraps

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into whether Tesla failed to tell investors and customers about the fire risks of its faulty solar panels. Whistleblower and ex-employee, Steven Henkes, accused the company of flouting safety issues in a complaint with the SEC in 2019. He filed a freedom of information request to Read more about The SEC is probing Tesla’s faulty solar panels prone to fire, whistleblower says they kept evidence of danger under wraps[…]

Suspected Russian Activity Targeting Government and Business Entities Around the Globe after Solarwinds

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Mandiant continues to track multiple clusters of suspected Russian intrusion activity that have targeted business and government entities around the globe. Based on our assessment of these activities, we have identified two distinct clusters of activity, UNC3004 and UNC2652. We associate both groups with UNC2452 also referred to as Nobelium by Microsoft. Some of the Read more about Suspected Russian Activity Targeting Government and Business Entities Around the Globe after Solarwinds[…]

Life360 Reportedly Sells Location Data of Families and Kids

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Life360, a popular tracking app that bills itself as “the world’s leading family safety service,” is purportedly selling location data on the 31 million families and kids that use it to data brokers. The chilling revelation may make users of the Tile Bluetooth tracker, which is being bought by Life360, think twice before continuing to Read more about Life360 Reportedly Sells Location Data of Families and Kids[…]

AWS Outage Takes Down Amazon, Disney+, Venmo, loads of online games

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the engine that powers many of the internet’s most-trafficked websites and apps, appears to be experiencing a widespread outage that is bringing down several popular services. Amazon, Disney+, and Venmo are all being affected by the outage, and are showing error messages when users attempt to visit their websites. Amazon appears Read more about AWS Outage Takes Down Amazon, Disney+, Venmo, loads of online games[…]

DARPA Funded Researchers Accidentally Create The World’s First Warp Bubble

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Warp drive pioneer and former NASA warp drive specialist Dr. Harold G “Sonny” White has reported the successful manifestation of an actual, real-world “Warp Bubble.” And, according to White, this first of its kind breakthrough by his Limitless Space Institute (LSI) team sets a new starting point for those trying to manufacture a full-sized, warp-capable Read more about DARPA Funded Researchers Accidentally Create The World’s First Warp Bubble[…]

Huge 20-Year Study Shows Trickle-Down Is a Myth, Inequality Rampant

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The 2022 World Inequality Report, a huge undertaking coordinated by economic and inequality experts Lucas Chancel, Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, and Gabriel Zucman, was the product of four years of research and produced an unprecedented data set on just how wealth is distributed. “The world is marked by a very high level of income inequality Read more about Huge 20-Year Study Shows Trickle-Down Is a Myth, Inequality Rampant[…]

LINE Pay leaks around 133,000 users’ data to GitHub

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Smartphone payment provider LINE Pay announced yesterday that around 133,000 users’ payment details were mistakenly published on GitHub between September and November of this year. Files detailing participants in a LINE Pay promotional program staged between late December 2020 and April 2021 were accidentally uploaded to the collaborative coding crèche by a research group employee. Read more about LINE Pay leaks around 133,000 users’ data to GitHub[…]

The UAE Just Became The Biggest Export Customer For Dassault’s Rafale Fighter

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] A contract for the sale of the 80 Rafales was agreed today between Eric Trappier, Chairman and CEO of Dassault, and Tareq Abdul Raheem Al Hosani, CEO of Tawazun Economic Council, which is responsible for security and defense acquisitions on behalf of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dassault describes the deal as “the largest Read more about The UAE Just Became The Biggest Export Customer For Dassault’s Rafale Fighter[…]

Draken Doubles Its Fleet Of Private Aggressor F-16s With A Dozen Surplus Jets From Norway

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Draken International has signed a contract to bring yet more F-16 fighter jets to its fast-expanding “red air” fleet, as the adversary air support contractor adds ex-Norwegian Vipers to the dozen former Dutch examples it acquired earlier this year. Up to 12 F-16s acquired from Norway will form part of an impressive private tactical jet Read more about Draken Doubles Its Fleet Of Private Aggressor F-16s With A Dozen Surplus Jets From Norway[…]

Documents Shows Just How Much The FBI Can Obtain From Encrypted Communication Services

Posted on by Robin Edgar

There is no “going dark.” Consecutive FBI heads may insist there is, but a document created by their own agency contradicts their dire claims that end-to-end encryption lets the criminals and terrorists win. Andy Kroll has the document and the details for Rolling Stone: [I]n a previously unreported FBI document obtained by Rolling Stone, the Read more about Documents Shows Just How Much The FBI Can Obtain From Encrypted Communication Services[…]

‘Wall of secrecy’ in Pfizer contracts as company accused of profiteering

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Ministers have agreed a secrecy clause in any dispute with the drugs manufacturer Pfizer over Britain’s Covid vaccine supply. Large portions of the government’s contracts with the company over the supply of 189m vaccine doses have been redacted and any arbitration proceedings will be kept secret. The revelation comes as Pfizer is accused by a Read more about ‘Wall of secrecy’ in Pfizer contracts as company accused of profiteering[…]

UK competition regulator orders Meta to sell Giphy

Posted on by Robin Edgar

As rumored, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ordered Meta (Facebook) to sell Giphy, saying the deal “could harm social media users and UK advertisers.” It found that the deal would boost Meta’s already prodigious market power by limiting other platforms’ access to Giphy GIFs, “driving more traffic to Facebook owned sites — Read more about UK competition regulator orders Meta to sell Giphy[…]