additional – Tech Today w/ Ken May

Yahoo’s 2013 hack impacted all 3 billion accounts

Last year Yahoo (now part of Oath along with AOL after its acquisition by Verizon) announced that back in 2013, hackers had stolen info covering over one billion of its accounts . Today, the combined company announced that further investigation reveals the 2013 hack affected all of its accounts that existed at the time — about three billion. The information taken “may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (using MD5) and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers.” For users being notified of the hack now, the notification is that their information is included. At the time the breach was first announced, Yahoo required everyone who had not reset their passwords since the breach to do so. According to the FAQ posted, it doesn’t appear there’s any new action being taken. The announcement isn’t very specific about why or how it determined the breach was so much larger — or how it was missed in the original forensic analysis, or how this happened in the first place — likely due to pending lawsuits over the issue. Subsequent to Yahoo’s acquisition by Verizon, and during integration, the company recently obtained new intelligence and now believes, following an investigation with the assistance of outside forensic experts, that all Yahoo user accounts were affected by the August 2013 theft. While this is not a new security issue, Yahoo is sending email notifications to the additional affected user accounts. The investigation indicates that the user account information that was stolen did not include passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information. The company is continuing to work closely with law enforcement. Source: Oath , Yahoo FAQ

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Yahoo’s 2013 hack impacted all 3 billion accounts

FDA OKs a blood sugar monitor that doesn’t need fingerpricks

A fingerprick isn’t just a fingerprick when you have to do it all the time to test your blood sugar levels. Thankfully, the Food and Drug Administration has approved the first continuous glucose monitoring system for adults that doesn’t require you to draw blood several times a day. Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring System works by inserting a tiny sensor wire below the surface of your skin. The wire needs 12 hours to start up, but once it’s ready, you can simply pass a mobile reader over it to read your glucose levels. It even works for 10 days before you have to replace it. FDA’s Donald St. Pierre explained that the agency has always been welcome to new technologies that can help people manage chronic conditions. “This system, ” he said, “allows people with diabetes to avoid the additional step of fingerstick calibration, which can sometimes be painful, but still provides necessary information for treating their diabetes — with a wave of the mobile reader.” Abbott already has a similar system available called the FreeStyle Libre Pro , but you need a doctor’s help to use it and to activate the sensor wire under your skin. You don’t need a doctor’s help to determine if your sugar levels are too low, too high or just right with the Flash, but you have to be 18 and older to be able to get it. Source: FDA , Abbott Freestyle Libre

Charter tests streaming-only cable service for $20/month

If you’ve cut the cable cord, or have been tempted to do so, you may be getting yet another streaming option soon. Cable company Charter Communications is testing a new streaming service called Spectrum Stream among their internet subscribers. According to Reddit users who have been offered Spectrum Stream, the service costs $20/month and has 25 TV channels, including local broadcast networks, AMC, TNT, FX and the Food Network. For an additional $15 per month for three years, users can subscribe to a higher tier that includes more premium channels. Networks such an HBO and Showtime are an additional $7.50 per month each. It takes yet another additional $12/month for access to sports networks. It’s important to note that this service appears to be streaming only; there are no set-top boxes and no DVR features. Subscribers can access their channels through apps on their mobile devices and existing streaming devices. They also will have tiered access tiered access (depending on subscription level) to Charter’s vast on demand catalog. Until recently, cable companies have been reluctant to ditch ESPN from low-tier packages because of pressure from its owner, Disney. But more and more customers are canceling service to stop paying high fees for channels they don’t watch; it’s inevitable that these cable companies would seek lower priced options. As more cable companies try to court cord cutters, it will be interesting to see how services such as this complement or compete with other streaming companies. Via: Fast Company Source: Reuters , Reddit

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Charter tests streaming-only cable service for $20/month

Analysis: PS4 Pro’s “Boost Mode” bumps frame rates up to 38 percent

This Digital Foundry video goes into detail about the PS4 Pro’s Boost Mode improvements on many games. Earlier this week, we were surprised by reports that the new Version 4.5 beta firmware for the PlayStation 4 Pro offered an unannounced “Boost Mode” promising “improved gameplay, including higher frame rates, for some games that were released before the introduction of PS4 Pro.” The folks over at the excellent Digital Foundry have now put that new mode through its paces , finding frame rate increases of up to 38 percent on unpatched PS4 games. Those frame rate improvements are very dependent on the specific title in question, though. Destiny for instance, is locked to 30fps in its code, and thus gets no benefit from Boost Mode. An intensive online shooter like Battlefield 4 , on the other hand, can stay at a solid 60fps in Boost Mode, without the frequent frame-rate dips that can occur during a 64-player match in base mode. Many games seem to see the same modest 14 percent bump in their frame rates in Boost Mode. That coincidentally matches the 14 percent faster clock speed that the PS4 Pro’s GPU has over the original system (911Mhz vs 800Mhz), suggesting that the additional processor cycles are helping on GPU-limited games. Boost Mode doesn’t seem to make any use of the 18 additional compute cores available in the PS4 Pro, however—for that, you need a game-specific patch to be coded by the developer. Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Analysis: PS4 Pro’s “Boost Mode” bumps frame rates up to 38 percent

Unearthed Clinton emails garner renewed FBI scrutiny (updated)

Although the FBI previously concluded that Hillary Clinton should not face charges over the usage of her personal email server, the Bureau apparently isn’t done looking into Clinton’s emails after all. “In previous congressional testimony, I referred to the fact that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had completed its investigation of former Secretary Clinton’s personal email server, ” FBI Director James Comey said in a letter sent out Friday . “Due to recent developments, I am writing to supplement my previous testimony.” “In connection with an unrelated case, ” Comey’s letter continues, “the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation. I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.” Comey concluded: “Although the FBI cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant, ” and I cannot predict how long it will take us to complete this additional work, I believe it is important to update your Committees about our efforts in light of my previous testimony.” Engadget will, of course, update as we know more. Update: The Associated Press has tweeted a clarification from an unnamed US official, stating that the newly discovered emails did not come from Clinton’s private email server. BREAKING: US official: Newly discovered emails related to Clinton investigation did not come from her private server. — AP Politics (@AP_Politics) October 28, 2016 Update: The New York Times is reporting that the new emails were discovered after the FBI seized electronic devices belonging to Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her husband Anthony Weiner. Update: John Podesta, the chairman of the Clinton campaign, has responded to Comey’s letter and has called on the FBI director to “immediately provide the American people more information than what is contained in his letter”. “The director owes it to the American people to immediately provide the full details of what he is now examining, ” Podesta continued. “We are confident this will not produce any conclusions different from the one the FBI reached in July.” Via: New York Times , CNBC

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Unearthed Clinton emails garner renewed FBI scrutiny (updated)