For those that followed the 8Chan to 4Chan to Reddit debacle will know that Reddit has long struggled to achieve a good working relationship with it’s wide user base and how fundamental these users are against any and all changes in the experience. Shutting down Alt right sections, the normal issues with non PC content and petty crime hidden in /r, /x and so on. Now they have completed a USD 200 Mil seeding, and are looking at how to grow into a functioning commercial Company. Alphr has an extensive interview with the current Reddit CEO Steve Huffman on what to expect. Should be fun based on the previous attempts to implement changes. Hints of looking and feeling more like Facebook will give current users the shivers I am sure.
Day: August 2, 2017
Nation State hacking and it’s impacts (this time in the Middle East)
Nation State hacking gets little attention outside of when stupid mistakes are made (Stuxnet springs to mind), but is still prevalent. An op-ed by Adam Segal in NY Times has a good update on the recent activities in the Middle East, focusing on the alleged UAE hacking’s into Qatar news ond government systems. As was noted by Peter G. Neumann, this is not the first time we have seen this lately. Continue reading “Nation State hacking and it’s impacts (this time in the Middle East)”
DEFCON 25 – Wired’s favorite Black Hat Hacks
Summary article from Wired on the best of the Black Hat hacks shown DEFON 25. From hacking smart guns, to hacking Teslas and other cars, new Botnet technologies and their take downs and the general worry that is IOT. Well worth a read.
USB-C power bank for laptops
For those of us that have ultralight laptops with USB-C charging there has been a major gap in the power bank market: a power bank that can charge our laptops. There has been a number of vapor ware solutions touted, but now there is a commercially available alternative. Mophie has just launched the powerstation USB-C XXL, a 19,500mAh, USB-C PD 30W Fast Charge powerbank for sale in the US. Will eventually be available elsewhere, already in the Apple Stores. Currenlty promoted for Apple devices, will let you
Is a new generation of SurfaceBook’s around the corner?
Paul Thurrott (a long term trust able source on what goes on inside Microsoft) posted an update yesterday noting that the 1TB SurfaceBook has for a long time been unavailable and is now gone from the Microsoft Store. He observes that this is a typical Microsoft move before a major upgrade, and is quoting the existing rumors that a new line will be introduced in October. As the second generation was mainly an CPU / RAM / HD upgrade, can Microsoft again surprise us with their continued overtures in the HW space?
DEFCON 25 – Electronic Voting Machines hacked
A write up on Alternet on the DFCON 25 hack attack on American Electronic Voting with an attached video showing the hacks done live. The attacks took from minutes to hours, but all where hacked and altered with little or no traces left behind. Another warning on using technology before it is ready for the use you intend. The safety in electronic voting has always been questioned, here is further argumentation against using the technology for elections until it is fault proof.
Brexit: The impact on London House Prices
An article on Bloomberg shows the Brexit impacts on the housing prices in London. to quote the article “In 2015, for example, 10,000 homes would be sold in a typical month. In London’s desirable borough of Islington, just 87 sales have been recorded so far in May, compared with 139 in May 2016 or 259 in two years before that”. Some of this can be attributed to the overpriced market, but there is no doubt that Brexit has had an impact.
Bitcoin Hard Fork – What Now?
There has been a serious amount of unrest in the Bitcoin community over how to address the block chain constraints and increase the processing efficiency of Bitcoin. The initial conflict around “Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 91” was initially addressed and closed. The current argument over Segwit2x has however not been resolved, and the argument has now led to a hard fork of bitcoin and the creation of Bitcoin Cash for those that wanted to changes in the block chains. Turmoil on conversions, who will support what, and how to move forward with Bitcoin. I am sure the other digital currencies are happy about this chaos!
Amazon Echo as an illegal monitoring device
The woes of IOT and the very basic security features supported keeps on giving gifts to hackers. An article on help net security reports on MWR InfoSecurity research showing that an Amazon Echo can be HW hacked to have microphones “always on”. Only for 2015 and 2016 editions, only with physical access. Never the less, the first stumbling steps in attacking our connected homes.