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.
Tag: Technology
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
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.
Finally: battery levels on connected Bluetooth devices in Android
It looks like there will finally be a general introduction in Android of being able to see the battery status of any connected Bluetooth devise. This has been available in custom and manufacturers for a while, and plenty of options in the app store, but up until now this has been the landscape. An article on XDA finds that “we can see that Google will add a new method in the Bluetooth Device class called getBatteryLevel() ” in the proposed new Android Open Source Project (AOSP) release.
Brickerbot claims to brick 60K Modems/Routers in India
An interesting article on Bleeping Computer on a claim from a Brickerbot Dev that hey have bricked 60.000 modems and routers in Indian blocking subscribers on Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) form accessing the internet. The obvious path of attack: default usernames / passwords exposed to internet. The joy of our IOT world continues!
How the Citadel Banking Trojan Authors really got caught
Brian Krebs has posted an interesting and moderately detailed rundown on how the FBI managed to track and capture the creators of the Citadel Trojans. The fact that the authors decided to crowd source the support of the Trojans to it’s customers and the subsequent fallout speaks volumes about the issues related with the commercial distribution and support of Dark Net services.