The Linkielist

Linking ideas with the world

2017: Dutch Military Intelligence 348 and Internal Intelligence 3205 taps placed. No idea how many the police did, but wow, that’s a lot!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

De MIVD tapte vorig jaar in totaal 348 keer. De AIVD plaatste dat jaar 3.205 taps. Vandaag publiceerden beide diensten de tapstatistieken over de periode 2002 tot en met 2017 op hun website. Source: MIVD tapte vorig jaar 348 keer | Nieuwsbericht | Defensie.nl And of course we have no idea how many of these Read more about 2017: Dutch Military Intelligence 348 and Internal Intelligence 3205 taps placed. No idea how many the police did, but wow, that’s a lot![…]

Microsoft updates its Quantum Development Kit and adds support for Linux and Mac

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Today we’re announcing updates to our Quantum Development Kit, including support for macOS and Linux, additional open source libraries, and interoperability with Python. These updates will bring the power of quantum computing to even more developers on more platforms. At Microsoft, we believe quantum computing holds the promise of solving many of today’s unsolvable problems Read more about Microsoft updates its Quantum Development Kit and adds support for Linux and Mac[…]

A video game-playing AI beat Q*bert in a way no one’s ever seen before

Posted on by Robin Edgar

paper published this week by a trio of machine learning researchers from the University of Freiburg in Germany. They were exploring a particular method of teaching AI agents to navigate video games (in this case, desktop ports of old Atari titles from the 1980s) when they discovered something odd. The software they were testing discovered Read more about A video game-playing AI beat Q*bert in a way no one’s ever seen before[…]

AI models leak secret data too easily

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A paper released on arXiv last week by a team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, National University of Singapore, and Google Brain reveals just how vulnerable deep learning is to information leakage. The researchers labelled the problem “unintended memorization” and explained it happens if miscreants can access to the model’s code and Read more about AI models leak secret data too easily[…]

Larry Page’s Flying Taxis, Now Exiting Stealth Mode – The New York Times

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Since October, a mysterious flying object has been seen moving through the skies over the South Island of New Zealand. It looks like a cross between a small plane and a drone, with a series of small rotor blades along each wing that allow it to take off like a helicopter and then fly like Read more about Larry Page’s Flying Taxis, Now Exiting Stealth Mode – The New York Times[…]

Artists Protest Elite Art World With Unauthorized AR Gallery at the MoMA

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On Friday, eight artists launched an augmented reality gallery at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, digitally overlaying their artwork over the museum’s. Motherboard reports the guerrilla installation was created and deployed without the museum’s permission. “Hello, we’re from the internet” is an “unauthorized gallery concept aimed at democratizing physical exhibition spaces, museums, Read more about Artists Protest Elite Art World With Unauthorized AR Gallery at the MoMA[…]

Posted in Art

World’s biggest DDoS attack record broken after just five days using poorly configured memcache servers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Last week, the code repository GitHub was taken off air in a 1.3Tbps denial of service attack. We predicted then that there would be more such attacks and it seems we were right. Arbor Networks is now reporting that a US service provider suffered a 1.7Tbps attack earlier this month. In this case, there were Read more about World’s biggest DDoS attack record broken after just five days using poorly configured memcache servers[…]

Air gapping PCs won’t stop data sharing thanks to sneaky speakers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Computer speakers and headphones make passable microphones and can be used to receive data via ultrasound and send signals back, making the practice of air gapping sensitive computer systems less secure. In an academic paper published on Friday through preprint service ArXiv, researchers from Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev describe a novel data exfiltration Read more about Air gapping PCs won’t stop data sharing thanks to sneaky speakers[…]

Amadeus invests in CrowdVision to help airports manage growing passenger volumes using AI camera tech

Posted on by Robin Edgar

CrowdVision is an early stage company that uses computer vision software and artificial intelligence to help airports monitor the flow of passengers in real time to minimise queues and more efficiently manage resources. The software is designed to comply fully with data privacy and security legislation. CrowdVision data improves plans and can help airports react Read more about Amadeus invests in CrowdVision to help airports manage growing passenger volumes using AI camera tech[…]

It Took Almost 10 Days to 3D-Print This Giant Millennium Falcon Model

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Typically, when we see 3D-printed replicas as large as this 2.3-foot long Millennium Falcon, they’re assembled from hundreds of smaller 3D-printed parts. But YouTube’s stonefx83 didn’t want to go to all that trouble, so he simply scaled up Andrew Askedall’s 3D model of the Falcon, and then let his printer run for over nine days Read more about It Took Almost 10 Days to 3D-Print This Giant Millennium Falcon Model[…]

Stanford brainiacs say they can predict Reddit raids

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A study [PDF] based on observations from 36,000 subreddit communities has found that online dust-ups can be predicted, and the people most likely to cause them can be identified. “Our analysis revealed a number of important trends related to conflict on Reddit, with general implications for intercommunity conflict on the web.” Among the takeaways were Read more about Stanford brainiacs say they can predict Reddit raids[…]

Google opens Maps to bring the real world into games

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Pokémon Go and other games that use real-world maps are all the rage, but there’s a catch: they typically depend on semi-closed map frameworks that weren’t intended for gaming, forcing developers to jump through hoops to use that mapping info. Google doesn’t want that to be an issue going forward. The search firm is both Read more about Google opens Maps to bring the real world into games[…]

Jewelry site accidentally leaks personal details (and plaintext passwords!) of 1.3M users

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Researchers from German security firm Kromtech Security allege that until recently, MBM Company was improperly handling customer details. On February 6, they identified an unsecured Amazon S3 storage bucket, containing a MSSQL database backup file. According to Kromtech Security’s head of communications, Bob Diachenko, further analysis of the file revealed it held the personal information Read more about Jewelry site accidentally leaks personal details (and plaintext passwords!) of 1.3M users[…]

Illusory movement perception improves motor control for prosthetic hands

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The ability to sense the spatial position and movements of one’s own body (kinesthetic sense) is critical for limb use. Because prostheses do not provide physical feedback during movement, amputees may not feel that they are in control of their bodily movements (sense of agency) when manipulating a prosthesis. Marasco et al. developed an automated Read more about Illusory movement perception improves motor control for prosthetic hands[…]

Can AMD Vulnerabilities Be Used to Game the Stock Market?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On Tuesday, a little known security company claimed to have found vulnerabilities and backdoors in some AMD processors. Within some parts of the security community, the story behind the researchers’ discovery quickly became more interesting than the discovery itself. The researchers, who work for CTS Labs, only reported the flaws to AMD shortly before publishing Read more about Can AMD Vulnerabilities Be Used to Game the Stock Market?[…]

The 600+ Companies PayPal Shares Your Data With – Schneier on Security

Posted on by Robin Edgar

One of the effects of GDPR — the new EU General Data Protection Regulation — is that we’re all going to be learning a lot more about who collects our data and what they do with it. Consider PayPal, that just released a list of over 600 companies they share customer data with. Here’s a Read more about The 600+ Companies PayPal Shares Your Data With – Schneier on Security[…]

Google: 60.3% of potentially harmful Android apps in 2017 were detected via machine learning

Posted on by Robin Edgar

When Google shared earlier this year that more than 700,000 apps were removed from Google Play in 2017 for violating the app store’s policies (a 70 percent year-over-year increase), the company credited its implementation of machine learning models and techniques to detect abusive app content and behaviors such as impersonation, inappropriate content, or malware. But Read more about Google: 60.3% of potentially harmful Android apps in 2017 were detected via machine learning[…]

Major Survey of IT Pros Reveals Why Everything Gets Hacked All the Damn Time, paying for ransomware is like flipping a coin

Posted on by Robin Edgar

More than 1,000 security employees in as many as 17 countries participated in the survey. Most said the biggest hurdle to mounting an adequate defense against cyber threats today is the lack of skilled personnel. (Poor security awareness and an inability to sift through enormous piles of data tied for second place.) The survey, which Read more about Major Survey of IT Pros Reveals Why Everything Gets Hacked All the Damn Time, paying for ransomware is like flipping a coin[…]

Samba allows anyone to change everyone’s password

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On a Samba 4 AD DC the LDAP server in all versions of Samba from 4.0.0 onwards incorrectly validates permissions to modify passwords over LDAP allowing authenticated users to change any other users’ passwords, including administrative users and privileged service accounts (eg Domain Controllers). The LDAP server incorrectly validates certain LDAP password modifications against the Read more about Samba allows anyone to change everyone’s password[…]

Madison Square Garden Has Used Face-Scanning Technology on Customers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Madison Square Garden has quietly used facial-recognition technology to bolster security and identify those entering the building, according to multiple people familiar with the arena’s security procedures. The technology uses cameras to capture images of people, and then an algorithm compares the images to a database of photographs to help identify the person and, when Read more about Madison Square Garden Has Used Face-Scanning Technology on Customers[…]

What is your personal info worth to criminals? There’s a dark web market price index for that

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Your entire online identity could be worth little more than £800, according to brand new research into the illicit sale of stolen personal info on the dark web (or just $1,200 if you are in the United States, according to the US edition of the index). While it may be no surprise to learn that Read more about What is your personal info worth to criminals? There’s a dark web market price index for that[…]

Hardcoded Password Found in Cisco Software

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The hardcoded password issue affects Cisco’s Prime Collaboration Provisioning (PCP), a software application that can be used for the remote installation and maintenance of other Cisco voice and video products. Cisco PCP is often installed on Linux servers. Cisco says that an attacker could exploit this vulnerability (CVE-2018-0141) by connecting to the affected system via Read more about Hardcoded Password Found in Cisco Software[…]