Tag Archives: Technology

UK hospital meltdown after ransomware worm uses NSA vuln to raid IT

Posted on by

“UK hospitals have effectively shut down and are turning away non-emergency patients after ransomware ransacked its networks.  Doctors have been reduced to using pen and paper, and closing A&E to non-critical patients, amid the tech blackout.  The security hole has been patched for modern Windows versions, but not WindowsXP – and the NHS is a massive user of the legacy operating system.”

Read more: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/05/12/nhs_hospital_shut_down_due_to_cyber_attack/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Baidu AI helps parents find their abducted son 27 years later

Posted on by

“Tens of thousands of kids are abducted in China every year and are either sold to foster parents or to more sinister individuals who’d use them for prostitution or child slavery. Baobeihuijia was created to reunite families torn apart by those abductions. For years, its volunteers would painstakingly compare images uploaded by parents against those uploaded by people looking for their families or by concerned citizens one by one. This March, though, Baidu offered the group its cross-age facial recognition technology, which it’s been testing since November last year.”

Read more: https://www.engadget.com/2017/05/10/baidu-ai-facial-recognition-finds-abducted-son/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

How I Got Boned by Taxes Two Years in a Row

Posted on by

“Here’s a short story about how I became a real American: Someone whose debt is gonna take a few years to pay off. 28 months by current count.”

Read more: https://swizec.com/blog/how-i-got-boned-by-taxes-two-years-in-a-row/swizec/7582

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Soon You’ll Be Able to Hijack Weaponized Police Drones in Connecticut

Posted on by

“Not content with having a fleet of insecure surveillance drones, the state of Connecticut wants a fleet of insecure weaponized drones. What could possibly go wrong?”

Read more: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2017/04/soon_youll_be_a.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Some consumer PCs also appear to have dangerous Intel exploit

Posted on by

“If you think you’re immune from a scary exploit found in Intel’s Active Management Technology just because you’re a consumer, think again. The problem is, plenty of consumers use business-class hardware—and not just the fringe who’ll buy or inherit commercial-class laptops and workstations. Many budget PCs use chipsets, firmware, and motherboards that were designed for small business machines. These machines may be exposed to the exploit through Intel’s Small Business Advantage technology, which is is a scaled-down version of AMT.”

Read more: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3195246/security/how-to-check-for-the-intel-active-management-exploit-that-lets-hackers-take-over-your-pc.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

HP is shipping audio drivers with a built-in keylogger

Posted on by

“That fancy new HP EliteBook laptop you just bought? It may be silently recording every keystroke, according to Swiss infosec firm ModZero.  For what it’s worth, it doesn’t look like there’s malice here – just staggering incompetence.”

Read more: https://thenextweb.com/insider/2017/05/11/hp-is-shipping-audio-drivers-with-a-built-in-keylogger/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Feds searching passenger cell phones at San Francisco airport

Posted on by

“U.S. Customs & Border Protection is becoming more adamant about examining the cell phones of some arriving travelers – including U.S. citizens – and now the American Civil Liberties Union is challenging that practice.  The ACLU has taken up the case of a U.S. artist named Aaron Gach, who returned to the U.S. at San Francisco International from an exhibition in Europe, and was pulled aside by CBP officers and ordered to unlock his iPhone for a search of its contents. Gach resisted, but finally gave in when he was told that if he didn’t, CBP would keep his phone for an indefinite period.”

Read more: http://blog.sfgate.com/cmcginnis/2017/05/10/feds-searching-passenger-cell-phones-at-sfo/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Trump’s Electronics Ban Is Ineffective, Says International Air Transport Association Chief

Posted on by

“Speaking to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, Alexandre de Juniac, director general and chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), questioned the efficacy of the ban, which prohibits electronics larger than a cellphone on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa.  The regulations, prompted by reports that militant groups want to smuggle explosive devices in electronic gadgets, require that electronics larger than a cellphone, including laptops and tablets, must be stowed with checked baggage on U.S.-bound passenger flights.”

Read more: http://fortune.com/2017/03/28/trump-electronics-ban-iata-criticism/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Trump plans laptop, electronics ban on all flights from Europe

Posted on by

“The rule is reportedly prompted by the difficulty of distinguishing plastic explosives from other components in electronic devices using an X-ray machine. But this explanation is baffling: a plastic explosive is every bit as dangerous in the hold of an airplane as it is in the cabin. What’s more, placing a plastic-explosive charge in a hardsided case densely packed with lithium-battery-equipped devices seems an especially dangerous measure.   Travelers to and from affected airports will now face the risk of having their laptops and tablets stolen, having their confidential data leaked, and having their devices broken.”

Read more: https://boingboing.net/2017/05/11/something-must-be-done-there-i.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

This Kid Was Suspended for 10 Days Because He ‘Liked’ a Picture of a Gun on Instagram

Posted on by

“Middle-school student Zachary Bowlin didn’t bring a gun to school. He didn’t say the word gun. He didn’t do anything wrong, or dangerous, to merit a 10-day suspension from Edgewood Middle School in Trenton, Ohio.  Bowlin ‘liked’ a picture of a gun on Instagram. That’s it. He didn’t do this during school hours, with school resources, or on school property.”

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2017/05/08/this-kid-was-suspended-for-10-days-becau

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet