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Report: Russian Hackers Phished The DNC And Clinton Campaign Using Fake Gmail Forms

Citing a report from SecureWorks, BuzzFeed is reporting that Russian hackers “used emails disguised to look as Gmail security updates to hack into the computers of the Democratic National Committee and members of Hillary Clinton’s top campaign staff”: The emails were sent to 108 members of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign and 20 people clicked on them, at least four people clicking more than once, Secureworks’ research found. The emails were sent to another 16 people from the DNC and four people clicked on them, the report said. Researchers found the emails by tracing the malicious URLs set up by [state-sponsored hacking group] Fancy Bear using Bitly, a link shortening service… “We were monitoring bit.ly and saw the accounts being created in real time, ” said Phil Burdette, a senior security researcher at SecureWorks, explaining how they stumbled upon the the URLs set up by Fancy Bear. The URL apparently resolved to accounts-google.com (rather than accounts.google.com), and Burdette says “They did a great job with capturing the look and feel of Google.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Report: Russian Hackers Phished The DNC And Clinton Campaign Using Fake Gmail Forms

Body cameras given to ‘over 22,000’ London police officers

To help keep the peace, more than 22, 000 London police officers will soon be given body cameras . The roll-out begins today — six months later than former mayor Boris Johnson had anticipated. The new hardware, supplied by Taser, won’t be recording around the clock; instead, officers will need to hit the shutter manually and notify the public “as soon as practical.” A red light and beeping noise will indicate new recordings. The footage will then be uploaded to a secure server where it can be used as evidence in court. If it’s not required, the data will be deleted automatically after 31 days. Metropolitan Police hope the cameras will add a greater level of transparency to their work. Accused citizens should, in theory, be able to call on these images to prove their innocence. They could play a similar role for the police, helping officers to defend their actions on the street. It’s hoped that the new hardware will play a preventative role too, discouraging both sides from acting outside of the law in the first place. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, Metropolitan Police Commissioner, believes the cameras can make the court system more efficient — if footage of the incident exists, many offenders will plead guilty immediately, rather than hide the truth. “Video captures events in a way that can’t be represented on paper in the same detail, ” Hogan-Howe added. “A picture paints a thousand words, and it has been shown the mere presence of this type of video can often defuse potentially violent situations without the need for force.” The Met says the rollout is the “largest” of its kind in the world. Officers will be kitted out in phases, with an expected completion date of “next summer.” It follows years of trials , as well as public consultation and academic evaluation. Similar hardware has been deployed in the US , where police trust has fallen to an arguably greater low. Body cameras, if used fairly and consistently, could help to repair that fragile relationship. Source: Metropolitan Police

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Body cameras given to ‘over 22,000’ London police officers

Explore Over 500 Years of English Slang With This Online Dictionary

There’s enough slang within the English language to make up a whole new language. If you need to do some research for an English assignment, or you’re just into linguistics, this online dictionary is your best bet. Read more…

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Explore Over 500 Years of English Slang With This Online Dictionary

Feds Claim They Can Enter a House and Demand Fingerprints to Unlock Everyone’s Phones

Under the Fourth Amendment, Americans are protected from unreasonable searches and seizures, but according to one group of federal prosecutors, just being in the wrong house at the wrong time is cause enough to make every single person inside provide their fingerprints and unlock their phones . Read more…

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Feds Claim They Can Enter a House and Demand Fingerprints to Unlock Everyone’s Phones

Apple To Obsolete iPhone 4 and Late 2010 MacBook Air On October 31

Apple will make all iPhone 4 models, the late 2010 13-inch MacBook Air, third-generation AirPort Extreme, and mid-2009 AirPort Time Capsule obsolete come October 31, MacRumor claims, citing a different report. From the report: Apple products on the vintage and obsolete list are no longer eligible for hardware service, beyond a few exceptions. Apple defines vintage products as those that have not been manufactured for more than five years but less than seven years ago, while obsolete products are those that were discontinued more than seven years ago. Each of the products added were released between 2009 and 2010. The report specifically pertains to Apple’s vintage and obsolete products list in Japan, but the new additions will more than likely extend to the United States, Australia, Canada, and the rest of the Asia-Pacific and Europe regions. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Apple To Obsolete iPhone 4 and Late 2010 MacBook Air On October 31

Here’s Apple’s workaround when your iPhone 7 home button fails

The iPhone 7’s non-moving home button may feel odd at first, but it has its perks… especially if it ever stops working. MacRumors forum goer iwayne has shown that the new iPhone will give you an on-screen home button (along with a warning that you may need repairs) if it thinks the physical key is broken. While that’s not much consolation if your phone needs to be fixed, it does mean that you can keep using your device in a relatively normal way while you’re waiting for your Genius Bar appointment. The technology may be short-lived when there are reports of Apple possibly ditching physical home buttons entirely with the next iPhone . However, it’s not hard to see why Apple would push for a motionless button in the short term. It’s not just the customizable haptic feedback — the new design is theoretically less likely to break (since it doesn’t click down) and reduces the pressure to get an immediate fix. That helps Apple’s bottom line, of course, but it may also make you a happier owner in the long term. Image credit: iwayne, MacRumors Forums Via: MacRumors Source: MacRumors Forums

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Here’s Apple’s workaround when your iPhone 7 home button fails

California City Converts Its Street Lights Into A High-Speed IoT Backbone

Harvard Law professor Susan Crawford describes how the city of Santa Monica installed its own high-speed IoT backbone on its street lights and traffic signals — and why it’s important. Neutral “micro” cell sites can make very high-capacity wireless transmissions available, competitively, to everyone (and every sensor) nearby. This can and should cause an explosion of options and new opportunities for economic growth, innovation, and human flourishing in general… Very few American cities have carried out this transmogrification, but every single one will need to. Santa Monica…is a city that will be able to control its future digital destiny, because it is taking a comprehensive, competition-forcing approach to the transmission of data… Cities that get control of their streetlights and connect them to municipally overseen, reasonably priced dark fiber can chart their own Internet of Things futures, rather than leave their destinies in the hands of vendors whose priorities are driven (rationally) by the desire to control whole markets and keep share prices and dividends high rather than provide public benefits. Santa Monica’s CIO warns that now telecoms “are looking for exclusive rights to poles and saying they can’t co-locate [with their competitors]. They’re all hiring firms to lock up their permits and rights to as many poles as possible, as quickly as possible, before governments can organize.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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California City Converts Its Street Lights Into A High-Speed IoT Backbone

Verizon Is Now Selling Unlimited Data In 30-Minute Increments

Verizon has unveiled a new pay-as-you-go unlimited mobile data offering yesterday called PopData that has some significant strings attached. The option charges you $2 for 30 minutes or $3 for 60 minutes of unlimited internet data. The Verge reports: Think of it like a microtransaction or in-app purchase in a mobile game, where you can’t enjoy the full benefits of a product you ostensibly already own or pay for without ponying up a few extra bucks. There does appear to be some legitimate reasons to want unfettered data access for a short amount of time. For instance, perhaps you know youâ(TM)ll be downloading large files to your phone like numerous Spotify playlists, or maybe you want to enjoy an uninterrupted stream of a sports game or Netflix movie without having to worry about your data cap. But thereâ(TM)s no telling really whether this is a good or bad deal, as it complicates how we think of the value of data by blending a monthly bucket metaphor with that of a time-based subscription system. This wouldnâ(TM)t be such a big deal if customers could simply pay for unlimited data every month. Yet Verizon — unlike ATT, T-Mobile, and Sprint — does not offer customers a standard unlimited plan, and the company has made an effort to kick users off their grandfathered plans in the past. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Verizon Is Now Selling Unlimited Data In 30-Minute Increments