June 9, 2012 – Ken May

06-09-12 – LinkedIn and eHarmoney users beware!

X-ray Generator Fits In the Palm of Your Hand

ananyo writes “Scientists have reported the first tabletop source of ultra-short, laser-like pulses of low energy, or ‘soft,’ X-rays. The light, capable of probing the structure and dynamics of molecules (abstract), was previously available only at large, billion-dollar national facilities such as synchrotrons or free-electron lasers, where competition for use of the equipment is fierce. The new device, by husband-and-wife team Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn based at JILA in Boulder, Colorado, might soon lie within the grasp of a university laboratory budget — perhaps allowing them to one day be as common in labs as electron microscopes are.”

Flame espionage malware issues self-destruct command

Flame

The Flame espionage malware that infected Iranian computers has initiated a self-destruct command that removes all traces of itself on infected machines that receive the instruction, researchers said.

The 20-megabyte piece of malware already had a self-destruct module known as SUICIDE that removed all files and folders associated with Flame, but the purging command observed by Symantec researchers instead relied on a file called browse23.ocx that did much the same thing. The removal tool, which researchers from Kaspersky Lab briefly documented last month, was downloaded from a command and control server still under the control of Flame attackers to several machines in a honeypot. White hats monitored the activities of the sophisticated malware, which is also known as Flamer and sKyWIper.

“This command was designed to completely remove Flamer,” Symantec researchers wrote in a blog post. “The Flamer attackers were still in control of at least a few C&C servers, which allowed them to communicate with a specific set of compromised computers.”

7Gbps wireless transfers and streaming, no router required

60GHz WiFi technology will stream media at ultra-high speed across short distances

Wilocity

The next year and a half will see big advancements in WiFi technology, with much faster routers to replace the ones you use today, and a new class of devices to support an incredible 7Gbps speed and clear a lot of the cable clutter out of your house.

The advancements will come in the form of two new technologies—802.11ac for whole-home routers using the 5GHz band, and 802.11ad for short-distance, high-speed transfers over the 60GHz band—that are at different stages of development, with the latter being on a slower track. The WiFi Alliance expects to certify 802.11ac products in early 2013, but the timeline for 802.11ad is a lot more iffy. The soonest 802.11ad products would be certified is late 2013, and even then the first certifications may not include routers or modems, WiFi Alliance Marketing Director Kelly Davis-Felner told Ars.

Many of the use cases for 7Gbps connections over the 60GHz band will be point-to-point, like streaming video from a handheld device to a TV or transferring tons of data without a cable. The ultimate goal is to have 60GHz connections co-exist alongside 2.4GHz and 5GHz ones in tri-band routers, but it’s looking like the first 60GHz products won’t include access points.