Cyber-criminals are now focusing on our energy infrastructure, recently researchers said that a highly destructive malware infected at least three regional power authorities in Ukraine led to a power failure that left hundreds of thousands of homes without electricity last week.
Ukrainian news service TSN first reported the power outage in the country on December 23. The report went on to say that the outage was the result of malware that disconnected electrical substations. On Monday, researchers from security firm iSIGHT Partners said they had obtained samples of the malicious code that infected at least three regional operators. They said the malware led to “destructive events” that in turn caused the blackout. If confirmed it would be the first known instance of someone using malware to generate a power outage.
John Hultquist, head of iSIGHT’s cyber espionage intelligence practice, told Ars Technica:
“It’s a milestone because we’ve definitely seen targeted destructive events against energy before—oil firms, for instance—but never the event which causes the blackout.It’s the major scenario we’ve all been concerned about for so long.”
Security software developer ESET noted on its blog that a trojan from the BlackEnergy malware family — which was first discovered in 2007 — might have been used to inject malicious code into the Ukrainian power authorities’ systems. The latest version of the tool has been found to include a secure shell (SSH) utility that can grant access to affected users’ systems. ESET also reports that the Ukrainian power grid systems were infected using macro functions embedded in Microsoft Office documents.
In 2014, the group behind BlackEnergy, which iSIGHT has dubbed the Sandworm gang, targeted the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Ukrainian and Polish government agencies, and a variety of sensitive European industries. iSIGHT researchers say the Sandworm gang has ties to Russia, although readers are cautioned on attributing hacking attacks to specific groups or governments.
A new Ransomware as a Service, or RaaS, called Ransom32 has been discovered that for the first time uses a ransomware written in Javascript to infect Mac, Windows as well as Linux machines. the Ransom32 RaaS is a simple, but efficient, service where anyone can download and distribute their very own copy of the ransomware executable as long as they have a Bitcoin address.
Ransom32 is being traded on an underground TOR site, with the authors offering customized versions of the malware in return for a 25 percent cut of whatever money is generated. The Ransom32 RaaS is a simple, but efficient, service where anyone can download and distribute their very own copy of the ransomware executable as long as they have a Bitcoin address.
Security expert Fabian Wosar from Emsisoft first reported about the new ransomware family, which embedded in a self-extracting WinRAR archive, is using the NW.js platform for infiltrating the victims’ computers, and then holding their files by encrypting them with 128-bit AES encryption.
Why Ransom32 Uses NW.js Framework?
NW.js is essentially a framework that allows you to develop normal desktop applications for Windows, Linux and MacOS X using JavaScript. It is based upon the popular Node.js and Chromium projects.
So while JavaScript is usually tightly sandboxed in your browser and can’t really touch the system it runs upon, NW.js allows for much more control and interaction with the underlying operating system, enabling JavaScript to do almost everything “normal” programming languages like C++ or Delphi can do. The benefit for the developer is that they can turn their web applications into normal desktop applications relatively easily. For normal desktop application developers, it has the benefit that NW.js is able to run the same JavaScript on different platforms. So a NW.js application only needs to be written once and is instantly usable on Windows, Linux and MacOS X.
Because of this reason Ransom32 could easily be packaged for both Linux and Mac OS X. But the report says that at this point there is no such packages, which at least for the moment makes Ransom32 most likely Windows-only.
How to Protect Myself from Ransom32?
According to EMSISOFT, the best protection remains a solid and proven backup strategy. Using any top anti-malware or anti-virus program proved to be the second best defense.
Most of us make delusional New Year’s resolutions that involve quit smoking, deiting, no more be an internet worm like that, but not for Zuckerberg. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg’s new year’s resolution resolution is lot more different from others.
In 2016, Zuckerberg wants to focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and is even thinking of a simple AI to run his home and workplace lik the famous Jarvis character in the Hollywood movie “Iron Man”.
Earlier today, he wrote on his own Facebook page that his “theme” for 2016 is invention and his goal is “to build a simple AI to run my home and help me with my work.”
Every year, I take on a personal challenge to learn new things and grow outside my work at Facebook. My challenges in…
Zuckerberg will start the project by exploring existing technology, he wrote. He will then begin teaching the technology to understand his voice so that it will learn to control everything in his home, such as music, lights and temperature.
His plans also include teaching the assistant to let friends into his home by looking at their faces when they ring the doorbell, Zuckerberg wrote. The assistant will visualize data to support Zuckerberg at work, he wrote.
“This should be a fun intellectual challenge to code this for myself,” Zuckerberg wrote. “I’m looking forward to sharing what I learn over the course of the year.”
In 2015, while the rest of us halfheartedly plodded away on treadmills at unimpressive speeds for two weeks or so before giving up, Zuckerberg vowed to read a book every other week, essentially inviting everyone on Facebook to be in his book club. And he did it.
In 2014, while many were trying to pack healthy lunches instead of throwing down a noontime Baconator on the regular, Zuckerberg challenged himself to write one thank-you note every day. And he did it. (He admitted it wasn’t easy, though.)
In 2013, while John and Jane Everyman tried to give up their vices and wound up consoling themselves by taking up new ones, Mark Zuckerberg swore to expand his real-life social network bymeeting someone new every day. In person. This was a challenge for him because Zuck is a self-proclaimed awkward dude. But he did it.
In 2011? You may have vowed to do more community service. Zuck pledged that he would only eat meat that he butchered himself. If that’s not hardcore, I don’t know what is.
Oh yeah, and then there was that time in 2010 when he blew everyone away by casually learning Mandarin. I don’t remember what my resolution was that year, but I’m nearly positive it had nothing to do with Mandarin and everything to do with Doritos. Oh, and I didn’t keep it.
We always wonder how to speed up iPhone in our hand, but majority of us can’t find one working trick to do that job. There are various reasons your iPhone might seem slow at times, especially the older models that are running newer versions of Apple’s iOS platform. Recently Apple was sued by some users over iOS 9 performance on older iPhones.
One problem users are facing in their iPhone is with Apple’s App Store in terms of browsing speeds and downloads, and good news is their is a quick fix that could help you to speed up your iPhone in less than 30 seconds.
Developer Zachary Drayer recently explained this weird trick on his Twitter account, to fix problem facing with App Store app on your iOS device like getting slower or not showing app updates correctly.
@steipete tap on any of the tab bar items 10 times.
So now the trick, here’s what you do to speed up your iPhone App Store app :
• First, go into the App Store
• Then, tap one of the buttons at the bottom10 times – it doesn’t matter which (Featured, Top Charts, Explore, Search, Updates) – remember tap the same button 10 times quickly in succession.
• Now the app screen will go blank for a few seconds before resetting.
…and that’s it! You’ve now successfully reset your App Store’s cache, emptying out the temporary storage that can cause your phone to act sluggish or cause your apps to fail to update.
This tap 10 times trick worked in stores, like iTunes, iBooks, and the App Store. It also worked in the Apple Watch app, however not in Podcasts, Music, Game Center, iMessage or Phone.
Earlier this week, we heard PlayStation 4 hacked to run Linux. And now again a hacker made a console to run one of the oldest Windows OS. This time its Nintendo 3DS. Yes, don’t be surprised – Nintendo 3DS is now a PC.
In a post to a Game Boy forum, a user named Shutterbug2000 demonstrates Windows 95 running on a new Nintendo 3DS XL using an x86 emulator, DOSbox emulation – which runs on top of MS-DOS as a sort of graphical shell.
“Back a while ago, I tried compiling the dosbox from libretro, and using retroarch to emulate dosbox. Yet, every time, it froze on a rainbow glitchy mess. So, I gave up for a while. Until tonight,” — wrote Shutterbug2000 in the forum post. “So, I tried it on my n3ds, and it just worked. So, I think the o3ds just isn’t powerful enough to run dosbox, or there’s not enough ram. So, that’s how this all got started. At it’s core, this is just libretro/retroarch dosbox. But I figured, hey, everyone want’s Windows on their 3DS, right?”
Nintendo 3DS , Now a PC
Shutterbug2000 uploaded a YouTube video that shows a Nintendo 3DS displaying the cloudy Windows 95 boot screen and running Scandisk, but that ends before the desktop appears.
The incomplete video led some readers to question the method’s veracity, so Shutterbug2000 uploaded the code needed for other users to run Windows 95 on their own 3DS units. Other posters verified that it worked for them as well.
Nintendo 3DS XL can run Windows 95, but it’s unclear just what you’ll be able to do in the OS. The entire experience is a bit laggy, Shutterbug2000 notes, and it’s doubtful that you can connect to the Internet in any capacity via your 3DS-based Windows 95. Mapping keyboard buttons to the small number of buttons on a Nintendo 3DS presents challenges, too.
Did you try to run Windows 95 in your Nintendo 3DS using the code provided by Shutterbug2000 ? Then tell us your experience. We love hear from your comments !
The robots might one day rise up and take over, but a Palo Alto startup called Knightscope has developed a fleet of crime-fighting robots it hopes to keep us safe.
Knightscope’s K5 security bots resemble a mix between R2D2 and a Dalek from Doctor Who – and the system behind these bots is a bit Orwellian. The K5’s have broadcasting and sophisticated monitoring capabilities to keep public spaces in check as they rove through open areas, halls and corridors for suspicious activity.
The units upload what they see to a backend security network using 360-degree high-definition and low-light infrared cameras and a built-in microphone can be used to communicate with passersby. An audio event detection system can also pick up on activities like breaking glass and send an alert to the system as well. The robots are being used at a number of tech companies and a mall in Silicon Valley at the moment.
CEO Stacey Dean Stephens, a former law enforcement agent, came up with the idea to build a predictive network to prevent crime using robots. He and his co-founder William Li have raised close to $12 million in funding so far from Konica Minolta and others to build on the idea.
While Knightscope doesn’t think its robots will replace mall cops or security guards in the near future, the company does see them as assistants to human security teams. The startup currently rents each five-foot, 300-pound K5 unit out for $6.25 per hour (or less than minimum wage). However, teenagers or others tempted to kick or push the robots over may be shocked to find the robots can talk back to them, capture their behavior on film and alert authorities behind the scenes as well.
There’s more to these droids than becoming our future security forces, of course. Stephens invited me to Knightscope HQ for a behind the scenes look at an integrated security network the company is working on. This network is able to monitor and report suspicious activity in real time in public places based on robot observation and could possibly be used to predict and act quickly in tense and violent situations (possibly even mass shootings), according to Stephens.
The Tor network is a group of volunteer-operated servers that allows people to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. Tor Project helps in enabling anonymous communication. The name is an acronym derived from the original software project name The Onion Router.
Tor directs Internet traffic through a free, worldwide, volunteer network consisting of more than six thousand relays to conceal a user’s location and usage from anyone conducting network surveillance or traffic analysis. Using Tor makes it more difficult for Internet activity to be traced back to the user: this includes “visits to Web sites, online posts, instant messages, and other communication forms”.Tor’s use is intended to protect the personal privacy of users, as well as their freedom and ability to conduct confidential communication by keeping their Internet activities from being monitored.
Recently Tor Project interviewed Edward Snowden and comments shows that Snowden is great supporter of Tor. According to Snowden, Tor provides a level of safety, a level of guarantee, to the confidentiality, and in some cases anonymity of human communications. He think this is an incredible thing because it makes us more human. We are at the greatest peace with ourselves when nobody’s watching.
Here is some key excerpts from the Tor interview with Snowden from their official blog:
Tor: What would you say to a non-technical person about why they should support and care about Tor?
Snowden: Tor is a critical technology, not just in terms of privacy protection, but in defense of our publication right — our ability to route around censorship and ensure that when people speak their voices can be heard.
The design of the Tor system is structured in such a way that even if the US Government wanted to subvert it, it couldn’t because it’s a decentralized authority. It’s a volunteer based network. Nobody’s getting paid to run Tor relays — they’re volunteers worldwide. And because of this, it provides a built-in structural defense against abuses and most types of adversaries.
Tor provides a level of safety, a level of guarantee, to the confidentiality, and in some cases anonymity of human communications. I think this is an incredible thing because it makes us more human. We are at the greatest peace with ourselves when nobody’s watching.
Tor: Can you talk about how the world would be different if Tor did not exist?
Snowden: Without Tor, the streets of the Internet become like the streets of a very heavily surveilled city. There are surveillance cameras everywhere, and if the adversary simply takes enough time, they can follow the tapes back and see everything you’ve done.
With Tor, we have private spaces and private lives, where we can choose who we want to associate with and how, without the fear of what that is going to look like if it is abused.
What the Tor network allows is what’s called a mixed routing experience where, due to a voluntary cooperation of peers around the Internet — around the world, across borders, across jurisdictions — you get individuals who are able to share traffic in ways that don’t require them to be able to read the content of it. So you don’t have to trust every participant of the Tor network to know who you are and what you’re looking for.
Tor: Did you know that Tor is run by a non-profit organization?
Snowden: Yes, Tor has been extremely open. Almost everybody who is involved in development has an online presence; they’re involved in online engagement. You can drop into the IRC and talk to these people directly and ask them questions, or criticize them (laughs). It’s a very open and inclusive community, and I think that’s incredibly valuable.
They also have a very rich and well-supported mailing list, which is very helpful for people who want to move beyond being a passive user of Tor and actually start being an active participant in expanding the network, in running a relay node from your home, or even starting to experiment with running an exit, which I think is one of the most interesting parts of the Tor experience.
From the interview its clear that first and foremost, the Tor Project isn’t exclusively for cyber criminals. Tor is for everyone who is concerned about privacy. For starters, many Tor users fear their browsing history is possibly being logged. Many sites, including Facebook, sell your browsing history to advertisers. It’s likely those ads on the sides of your social network and email accounts are the product of third-parties buying and analyzing your browsing history without your approval.
It’s common for people to turn to Tor for basic security. Often times Activists and Journalists use the utility to report injustices from enemy territory without being discovered or to better protect their sources.
At times, anonymity is important for safely utilizing basic internet functions. The utility can be an asset for citizens of countries with stringent censorship laws. In some cases, basic information is placed behind a firewall. Tor allows users can anonymously circumvent firewalls and research, say, HIV treatment or access Facebook.
In recent years copyright holders have overloaded Google with DMCA takedown notices, targeting links to pirated content. The majority of these requests are sent by the music and movie industries, targeting thousands of different websites. In recent years the volume of takedown notices has increased spectacularly and this trend continued in 2015.
Google doesn’t report yearly figures, but according to TorrentFreak, about 558 million of URLs are submitted by copyright holders last year, requesting Google to remove from its search results. For the first time ever the number of reported URLs has surpassed half a billion in a 12-month period. This is an increase of 60 percent compared to last year, when the search engine processed 345 million pirate links.
The majority of the links are being removed from the search results. However, Google sometimes takes “no action” if they are deemed not to be infringing or if they have been taken down previously.
Google Asked to Remove 558 Million “Pirate” Links
This year most takedown requests were sent for the domains chomikuj.pl, rapidgator.net and uploaded.net, with more than seven million targeted URLs each. The UK Music industry group BPI is the top copyright holder of 2015, good for more than 65 million reported links.
Image Source : TorrentFreak
Looking at the totals for this year we further see that 329,469 different domain names were targeted by 27,035 copyright holders. Interestingly, these staggering numbers are interpreted differently by Google and various copyright holders.
A few weeks ago Google told the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator that it has taken various measures to help copyright holders, including swift removals.
“We process more takedown notices, and faster, than any other search engine,” the search giant commented. “We receive notices for a tiny fraction of everything we host and index, which nonetheless amounts to millions of copyright removal requests per week that are processed, on average, in under six hours.”
The company rejects broader actions, such as the removal of entire domain names, as this would prove counterproductive and lead to overbroad censorship.
Many copyright holders, however, don’t share these concerns. Over the years groups such as the MPAA and RIAA have repeatedly argued that clearly infringing sites should be barred from Google’s index. In addition, they want Google to make sure that pirated content stays down.
While Google believes that the billion reported URLs are a sign that the DMCA takedown process is working properly, rightsholders see it as a signal of an unbeatable game of whack-a-mole.
As this stalemate continues we can expect the number of reported pages to continue to rise in the future, adding millions of new URLs on a daily basis. Perhaps there will be a billion reported pirate links in 2016?
