New Cridex Malware Copies Tactics From GameOver Zeus

Trailrunner7 writes The GameOver Zeus malware had a nice run for itself, making untold millions of dollars for its creators. But it was a run that ended with a multi-continent operation from law enforcement and security researchers to disassemble the infrastructure. Now researchers have identified a new variant of the Cridex malware that has adopted some of the techniques that made GOZ so successful in its day. Researchers at IBM’s X-Force research team have seen a new version of Cridex, which is also known as Bugat and Feodo, using some of the same techniques that GOZ used to such good effect. Specifically, the new strain of malware has adopted GOZ’s penchant for using HTML injections, and the researchers say the technique is nearly identical to the way that GOZ handled it. “There are two possible explanations for this. First, someone from the GOZ group could have moved to the Bugat team. This would not be the first time something like this has happened, which we’ve witnessed in other cases involving Zeus and Citadel; however, it is not very likely in this case since Bugat and GOZ are essentially competitors, while Zeus and Citadel are closely related. The second and more likely explanation is that the Bugat team could have analyzed and perhaps reversed the GOZ malware before copying the HTML injections that made GOZ so highly profitable for its operators, ” Etay Maor, a senior fraud prevention strategist at IBM, wrote in an analysis of the new malware. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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New Cridex Malware Copies Tactics From GameOver Zeus

Telegram Not Dead STOP Alive, Evolving In Japan STOP

itwbennett writes Japan is one of the last countries in the world where telegrams are still widely used. A combination of traditional manners, market liberalization and innovation has kept alive this age-old form of messaging. Companies affiliated with the country’s three mobile carriers, NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and SoftBank, offer telegrams, which are sent via modern server networks instead of the dedicated electrical wires of the past (Morse telegraphy hasn’t been used since 1962), and then printed out with modern printers instead of tape glued on paper. But customers are still charged according to the length of the message, which is delivered within three hours. A basic NTT telegram up to 25 characters long can be sent for ¥440 ($4.30) when ordered online. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Telegram Not Dead STOP Alive, Evolving In Japan STOP

Entire South Korean Space Programme Shuts Down As Sole Astronaut Quits

An anonymous reader writes The entire South Korean space program has been forced to shut down after its only astronaut resigned for personal reasons. Yi So-yeon, 36, became the first Korean in space in 2008 after the engineer was chosen by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) to lead the country’s $25m space project. Her resignation begs questions of KARI regarding whether she was the right person to lead the program and whether the huge cost of sending her into space was a waste of taxpayer’s money. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Entire South Korean Space Programme Shuts Down As Sole Astronaut Quits

Password Gropers Hit Peak Stupid, Take the Spamtrap Bait

badger.foo (447981) writes Peter Hansteen reports that a new distributed and slow-moving password guessing effort is underway, much like the earlier reports, but this time with a twist: The users they are trying to access do not exist. Instead, they’re taken from the bsdly.net spamtrap address list, where all listed email addresses are guaranteed to be invalid in their listed domains. There is a tiny chance that this is an elaborate prank or joke, but it’s more likely that via excessive automation, the password gropers have finally Peak Stupid. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Password Gropers Hit Peak Stupid, Take the Spamtrap Bait

Study Finds That Astronauts Are Severely Sleep Deprived

sciencehabit (1205606) writes “Researchers tracked the sleep patterns of 85 crew members aboard the International Space Station and space shuttle and found that despite an official flight schedule mandating 8.5 hours of sleep per night, they rarely got more than five. In fact, getting a full night’s rest was so difficult that three-quarters of shuttle mission crew members used sleep medication, and sometimes entire teams were sedated on the same night. Given that sleep deprivation contributes to up to 80% of aviation accidents, it’s important to better understand why sleep is so difficult in space, the authors say.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Study Finds That Astronauts Are Severely Sleep Deprived

Disney Is Reportedly Building a Major Star Wars-Themed Attraction

Star Tours! You’re gonna have company! After hints last year of a potential Star Wars Land in the works, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced today that the theme park(s) would be getting new attraction(s) tied to everyone’s favorite space saga, and the elusive plans will be revealed next year . Read more…

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Disney Is Reportedly Building a Major Star Wars-Themed Attraction

Facebook Seeks Devs To Make Linux Network Stack As Good As FreeBSD’s

An anonymous reader writes Facebook posted a career application which, in their own words is ‘seeking a Linux Kernel Software Engineer to join our Kernel team, with a primary focus on the networking subsystem. Our goal over the next few years is for the Linux kernel network stack to rival or exceed that of FreeBSD.’ Two interesting bullet points listing “responsibilities”: Improve IPv6 support in the kernel, and eliminate perf and stability issues. FB is one of the worlds largest IPv6 deployments; Investigate and participate in emerging protocols (MPTCP, QUIC, etc) discussions, implementation, experimentation, tooling, etc. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Facebook Seeks Devs To Make Linux Network Stack As Good As FreeBSD’s

Justin.tv Shuts Down Amid Reports Google Is Acquiring Twitch

An anonymous reader writes Twitch today announced that the Justin.tv website, mobile apps, and APIs are no longer in service. A very simple explanation is given for the shutdown: since rebranding the company to Twitch Interactive in February 2014, all resources are now focused on Twitch.tv. The news today will almost certainly further fuel the rumors that Google is acquiring, or has already acquired, Twitch. Purchases are often followed by consolidation, as well as cutting off any excess limbs. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Justin.tv Shuts Down Amid Reports Google Is Acquiring Twitch

This is why Facebook bought WhatsApp for $16 billion: because its throughput of shared photographs i

This is why Facebook bought WhatsApp for $16 billion : because its throughput of shared photographs is astronomical, and rising at an insane rate. (See also, the purchase of Instagram and the crazy offer for Snapchat .) [ KPCB ] Read more…

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This is why Facebook bought WhatsApp for $16 billion: because its throughput of shared photographs i

Can Atoms Ever Touch?

There’s a very commonly held view that atoms can never touch: bring them together slowly, and you reach a point where they begin to repel. But in this video, Professor Philip Moriarty explains that really isn’t the case. Read more…

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Can Atoms Ever Touch?