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Showing posts from March, 2018

Microsoft patches Remote Desktop Protocol exploit

This month's Microsoft patch Tuesday included more than 70 patches 15 of which were marked as critical and one that could exploit authentication in Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol. Microsoft released updates for products including, ASP.NET Core, .NET Core, PowerShell Core, ChakraCore, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Services, Web Apps, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Windows, and  Microsoft Exchange Server. One of the most significant patches was a vulnerability in Microsoft's Credential Security Support Provider protocol (CredSSP) which could allow a hacker to gain control of a domain server and other systems in the network.  The vulnerability affects all Windows versions to date (starting with Windows Vista) and Preempt researchers found that an attacker could exploit the flaw in a man-in-the-middle attack that would allow them to abuse the protocol and remotely run code on the compromised server on behalf of a user. "This vulnerability is a big d

VPN Leaks Found on 3 Major VPNs

We tested 3 popular VPNs:  Hotspot Shield, PureVPN, and Zenmate with accredited researchers to find if the VPNs could leak data . While we hoped to find zero leaks, we regretfully found that  all of them leak sensitive data . On the positive side, after we contacted the VPN vendors, we saw  one that was fast to respond and release a patch within days . We are still waiting to hear from the other two VPN vendors, and have decided to publish the information in hope that they will hurry up and fix the underlying issues for the benefit of their users. Here’s a is a summary of our findings Hotspot Shield, PureVPN, and Zenmate VPN all suffer from IP leaks. The leaks allow governments, hostile organizations, or individuals to identify the actual IP address of a user, even with the use of the VPNs. Zenmate’s leak was somewhat minor compared to the two other VPNs . We believe that most other VPNs suffer from similar issues, so  the fast response of Hotspot Shield is something

Pre-Installed Malware Found On 5 Million Popular Android Phones

Security researchers have discovered a massive continuously growing malware campaign that has already infected nearly 5 million mobile devices worldwide. Dubbed  RottenSys , the malware that disguised as a 'System Wi-Fi service' app came pre-installed on millions of brand new smartphones manufactured by Honor, Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo, Samsung and GIONEE—added somewhere along the supply chain. All these affected devices were shipped through Tian Pai, a Hangzhou-based mobile phone distributor, but researchers are not sure if the company has direct involvement in this campaign. According to Check Point Mobile Security Team, who uncovered this campaign, RottenSys is an advanced piece of malware that doesn't provide any secure Wi-Fi related service but takes almost all sensitive Android permissions to enable its malicious activities. "According to our findings, the RottenSys malware began propagating in September 2016. By March 12, 2018, 4,964,460 devices were infec

How to Fuel a Car with a Soda Can

NUST MISIS scientists propose a technology of hydrogen production from aluminum waste. A research team from the Russian NUST MISIS Department of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold led by Professor Alexander Gromov, a visiting researcher from Germany, has developed an industrial method of recycling aluminum and non-ferrous metals for the production of hydrogen as an alternative environmentally-friendly fuel. With this new technology, processing one aluminum soda can (with a volume of .33 liters) will fuel a car for 20 meters. Aluminum and non-ferrous metals in trash and landfills are the most expensive kind of waste both from a recycling point of view and from the prospect of secondary use. Three factors cause the necessity of sorting and recycling of such waste. First of all, the cost of such metals itself, secondly, it is a disappearing fuel energy enclosed in chemically active metal aluminum, and finally, when storing aluminum scrap, it gradually oxidizes and emits hydrogen into the air

Windows 10 'S Mode' Coming Soon — For Security and Performance

Microsoft has confirmed that the company is planning to convert Windows 10 S from a dedicated operating system to a special " S Mode " that will be available in all versions of Windows. Windows 10 S, a new operating system designed for simplicity, security, and speed, was released by Microsoft last year. It locks a computer down to run applications only downloaded from official Windows Store, but the slimmed-down and restricted flavor of Windows did not exactly turn out to be a success. Therefore, the company has now decided Windows 10 S be offered as an optional mode rather than a dedicated operating system. Windows 10 S was developed to simplify administration for school or business sysadmins that want the 'low-hassle' guaranteed performance version. It has been designed to deliver predictable performance and quality through Microsoft-verified apps via the Microsoft Store. However, in a blog post published Wednesday, the corporate VP of Microsoft&#

Stephen Hawking, dies aged 76

The physicist and author of A Brief History of Time has died at his home in Cambridge. His children said: ‘We will miss him for ever’ Stephen Hawking, the brightest star in the firmament of science, whose insights shaped modern cosmology and inspired global audiences in the millions, has died aged 76. A brief history of Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time His family released a statement in the early hours of Wednesday morning confirming his death at his home in Cambridge. Hawking’s children, Lucy, Robert and Tim said in a statement: “We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today. “He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years. His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired people across the world. “He once said: ‘It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love.’ We will miss him for ever.” For fellow scientists and loved ones, it was Hawki

Trump blocks Broadcom's bid for Qualcomm on security grounds

Qualcomm has already showcased 1Gbps mobile internet speeds using a 5G chip US President Donald Trump has blocked a planned takeover of chipmaker Qualcomm by Singapore-based rival Broadcom on grounds of national security. His order cited "credible evidence" that the proposed $140bn (£100bn) deal "threatens to impair the national security of the US". There were concerns the takeover could have led to China pulling ahead in the development of 5G wireless technology. The deal would have been the biggest technology sector takeover on record. A takeover of Qualcomm by Broadcom would have created the world's third-largest maker of microchips, behind Intel and Samsung. The chipmaking sector is in a race to develop chips for the latest 5G wireless technology and Qualcomm is considered to be a leader in this field, followed by Broadcom and China's telecoms giant Huawei. US blocks sale of Moneygram to China's Ant Financial Huawei's US smartpho

List of the device getting Lineage os 16 based on Android P 9.0

Update :  Here is a new updated listed of the device which will be going to get lineageos 16.0 based on latest  Android P 9.0 . List of Devices Supported by official LineageOS 16 rom.If you are running lineage os 15 then you can upgrade lineageos 15 to  lineageo16 rom but make sure your device is on the list. LineageOS is live now as we all know CyanogenMod is now dead officially and it will be replaced by Lineageos OS according to their official blog. That means there will no CyanogenMod rom support for any device in future so Cm14.1 i.e CyanogenMod 14/14.1 is the last CyanogenMod rom. There will be no longer CyanogenMod 15 or + roms in future.Here is the list of devices which will be supported by lineageos soon.You can download lineageos based rom for your device soon. # About the  Android P 9.0  Thanks to the Android Open Source Project, it’s possible to take a glimpse at parts of what Google is working on for the next Android release. While most of the code for Android 9.0

We Just Detected Signals From The Very First Stars in Our Universe - And It's Not What We Expected

This is a HUGE moment for science. The Big Bang may have been bright and dramatic, but immediately after it occurred the Universe got  extremely dark for a long time . In fact, scientists believe that it took up to 200 million years for the first stars to emerge from an obscure soup of matter. As current telescopes aren't sensitive enough to observe the light from these stars directly, astronomers have been looking for indirect evidence of their existence instead. Now a team of scientists has managed to pick up a faint signal from these stars with a radio antenna the size of a table top, called  EDGES . The impressive measurement, which opens a new window on the early Universe, shows that these stars emerged about 180 million years after the Big Bang. The findings,  published in  Nature , also suggests scientists may have to rethink what "dark matter" - a mysterious type of invisible matter -  is made of . Models have shown that the first stars that lit up the U

Quantum Theory Bends The Limits of Physics, Showing Two-Way Signaling May Be Possible

Quantum physics just beat classical physics again. A single quantum particle can send a two-way signal, scientists have discovered - something that's impossible in classical physics. That means a particle can essentially send messages to itself thanks to the whacky state of uncertainty known as superposition . Superposition states that one particle can occupy two positions at once, and that's how the two-way communication happens. A single photon, or particle of light, can be used to get a message to two people in the same time it would normally take the signal to get to just one. Further down the line, not only could quantum communication prove to be much more secure than the systems we have today, it could also be significantly faster, according to the researchers behind the new study. "If we want to transmit messages between different locations, it seems obvious that whatever object stores and carries this information, has to appear at all of these locations,&q

Scientists Discover a Self-Replicating Protein Structure, And It Could Have Built The First Life on Earth

Roughly 4 billion years ago an assortment of complex organic compounds went from being mere carbon soup to replicating biochemistry – the first steps to life on Earth. The order of these steps has been a source of debate for decades. Now, a recent discovery about a common protein structure could help tip the balance, bringing us closer to understanding just how we came to be here. Researchers from Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zürich have demonstrated that short strands of amyloid protein structures can direct the selection of amino acids to build even more amyloids. If the word amyloid doesn't sound familiar, they're a protein structure that's increasingly being found all over the place in nature. Part of the reason it's so common is that the amyloid has a special kink in it called a cross-β fold - this allows it to stick together into long, thin structures called fibrils. You might have come across them in relation to Alzheimer's disease –

A Mysterious Anomaly Under Africa Is Radically Weakening Earth's Magnetic Field

Above our heads, something is not right. Earth's magnetic field is in a state of dramatic weakening – and according to mind-boggling new research, this phenomenal disruption is part of a pattern lasting for over 1,000 years. Earth's magnetic field doesn't just give us our north and south poles; it's also what protects us from solar winds and cosmic radiation – but this invisible force field is rapidly weakening , to the point scientists think it could actually flip, with our magnetic poles reversing . As crazy as that sounds, this actually does happen over vast stretches of time. The last time it occurred was about 780,000 years ago, although it got close again around 40,000 years back. When it takes place, it's not quick, with the polarity reversal slowly occurring over thousands of years. Nobody knows for sure if another such flip is imminent, and one of the reasons for that is a lack of hard data. The region that concerns scientists the most at the moment

This Discovery of Bizarre Dying Mechanism in Worms Could Help Us Cheat Death

When it comes, it's unstoppable. An inescapable wave of cellular death no Earthly organism can deny - but it doesn't happen the same way for everybody. For the first time, scientists have observed the phenomenon of rigor mortis – the 'stiffness of death' – seizing hold of dying worms. But while human bodies plank for the last time in death's final stages, worms seem to have it around backwards. "What really surprised us at first was that rigor mortis in worms begins while they are still alive," explains molecular biologist Evgeniy Galimov from University College London. In humans, death occurs when our heart stops beating and our brain ceases to function – but our physiological processes don't have exact equivalents in the tiny bodies of the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans , which is why the grim reaper has to go about things a little bit differently here. "We realised that death from circulatory failure, as in mammals, doesn't happen