Tuesday, November 13, 2018

The question is: can my Ethical Hackers do the same? (Can we try it on your VW?)
Volkswagen owners can use Siri Shortcuts to unlock their car




Obviously it’s a variation of the old “these are not the droids you are looking for” Jedi mind trick. No evidence of attack means no budget for defense. Remember, it’s the President they’re worried about.
Russian Hackers Largely Skipped the Midterms, and No One Really Knows Why
After unleashing widespread cyberattacks and disinformation warfare on the U.S. during the 2016 presidential election, Russia’s trolls and hackers mostly appeared to have sat on the sidelines during the campaign ahead of last week’s midterm elections.
No one is sure why.




Another concern for developers.
New IoT Security Regulations
… It falls upon lawmakers to create laws that protect consumers. While the US government is largely absent in this area of consumer protection, the state of California has recently stepped in and started regulating the Internet of Things, or "IoT" devices sold in the state and the effects will soon be felt worldwide.
California's new SB 327 law, which will take effect in January 2020, requires all "connected devices" to have a "reasonable security feature." The good news is that the term "connected devices" is broadly defined to include just about everything connected to the internet. The not-so-good news is that "reasonable security" remains defined such that companies trying to avoid compliance can argue that the law is unenforceable.




Sound familiar?
WhatsApp overwhelmed by volume of fake news spread in India...
A lack of trust in the mainstream media has led to dissemination of a large amount of false digital information on social networks, but in India it appears things have taken a turn for the worst, according to BBC researchers.
… WhatsApp is having a hard time ending or controlling disinformation, found the BBC World Service. The practice is linked to growing Hindu nationalism and the dropping price of mobile phone data, as well as strong encryption behind WhatsApp communication. It’s not uncommon for Indians to put more faith in what an acquaintance says, than in the traditional media.
… Research leader Dr Santanu Chakrabarti says the current Indian prime-minister, known for validating Hindu nationalism, has created the belief that it is their duty to spread the information through the group-messaging app, as they assume it has already been checked and confirmed.
“They are effectively looking for validation of their belief systems,” he said. “On these platforms, then, validation of identity trumps verification of the fact.”




The revision of the auto industry or a whole new ballgame?
Waymo to Start First Driverless Car Service Next Month
… Waymo, the secretive subsidiary of Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., is planning to launch the world’s first commercial driverless car service in early December, according to a person familiar with the plans. It will operate under a new brand and compete directly with Uber and Lyft.
Waymo is keeping the new name a closely guarded secret until the formal announcement, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been made public.
… When Waymo starts its commercial program, there will be backup drivers in some cars to help ease customers into the service and to take over if necessary, according to the person familiar with the plans. The fleet of heavily modified Chrysler Pacifica minivans will drive themselves more than 99.9 percent of the time, based on data from Waymo’s test program submitted to California regulators.




An interesting (if somewhat comic book formatted) article to encourage my Architecture students to consider the difficulties of playing catch-up.
Walmart has apparently been worried about Amazon for more than 15 years — here are all of the changes it has made to keep up in the online-shopping battle




Confusion by over-thinking? Trying to control every uncontrollable thing?
… Take the global music hit “Despacito”. This video contains multiple copyrights, ranging from sound recording to publishing rights. Although YouTube has agreements with multiple entities to license and pay for the video, some of the rights holders remain unknown. That uncertainty means we might have to block videos like this to avoid liability under article 13. Multiply that risk with the scale of YouTube, where more than 400 hours of video are uploaded every minute, and the potential liabilities could be so large that no company could take on such a financial risk.




No longer approximate.
Say Au Revoir To That Hunk Of Metal In France That Has Defined The Kilogram
… Now, after researchers spent years creating an elaborate new kind of weighing machine called a Kibble balance, it's finally the kilogram's turn.




I wonder how many of my students already have this App.
Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 App Makes Your Phone’s Internet Faster and Private
… With 1.1.1.1, Cloudflare is letting your phone use their 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver to connect to the internet. That’s where the faster and privacy parts come in. Cloudflare expects you to get a faster connection to 1.1.1.1, which should lead to faster connections to websites or apps or whatever your internet connection is trying to do.




I’ve never heard of such a thing, but I want to look it over.
The Voice of the ‘Intellectual Dark Web’
Claire Lehmann’s online magazine, Quillette, prides itself on publishing ‘dangerous’ ideas other outlets won’t touch. How far is it willing to go?


No comments: