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With a Single Wiretap Order, US Authorities Listened In on 3.3 Million Phone Calls

US authorities intercepted and recorded millions of phone calls last year under a single wiretap order, authorized as part of a narcotics investigation, ZDNet’s Zack Whittaker reports. From the article: The wiretap order authorized an unknown government agency to carry out real-time intercepts of 3.29 million cell phone conversations over a two-month period at some point during 2016, after the order was applied for in late 2015. The order was signed to help authorities track 26 individuals suspected of involvement with illegal drug and narcotic-related activities in Pennsylvania. The wiretap cost the authorities $335, 000 to conduct and led to a dozen arrests. But the authorities noted that the surveillance effort led to no incriminating intercepts, and none of the handful of those arrested have been brought to trial or convicted. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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With a Single Wiretap Order, US Authorities Listened In on 3.3 Million Phone Calls

London Metropolitan Police’s 18,000 Windows XP PCs Is a Disaster Waiting To Happen

According to MSPoweruser, the London Metropolitan Police are still using around 18, 000 PCs powered by Windows XP, an operating system Microsoft stopped supporting in 2014. What’s more is that the police force is upgrading its PCs from Windows XP to Windows 8.1, instead of Windows 10. Only 8 PCs at the police force are reportedly powered by the “most secure version of Windows right now.” From the report: From the looks of things, the London Metropolitan Police will continue to upgrade their systems to Windows 8.1 at the moment. Windows 8.1 is still being supported by Microsoft, although the mainstream support for the OS is set to end on the 9 January 2018. Microsoft will offer extended support for the OS until 2023, which means Windows 8.1 is still a much more secure alternative for the Metropolitan Police than Windows XP. Windows 10 still would have been the best option in terms of security, however. Microsoft is releasing security updates for the OS every month, and the new advanced security features like Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection makes PCs running Windows a whole lot more secure. The spokesman of the 0Conservative London Assembly said in a statement: “The Met is working towards upgrading its software, but in its current state it’s like a fish swimming in a pool of sharks. It is vital the Met is given the resources to step up its upgrade timeline before we see another cyber-attack with nationwide security implications.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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London Metropolitan Police’s 18,000 Windows XP PCs Is a Disaster Waiting To Happen

Equal Rights Center Sues Uber For Denying Equal Access To People Who Use Wheelchairs

The Equal Rights Center is suing Uber, alleging that the company has chosen not to include wheelchair-accessible cars as an option in its standard UberX fleet of vehicles, and excludes people who use wheelchairs in Washington, D.C. According to the lawsuit, Uber is in violation of Title 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the D.C. Human Rights Act. TechCrunch reports: After conducting its own investigation of Uber’s services for people in wheelchairs, the ERC found that passengers had to wait an average of eight times longer for an accessible car to arrive. They also had to pay twice as much in fares, according to the ERC’s study. Ultimately, the ERC wants Uber to integrate wheelchair accessible cars into its UberX fleet so that people who use wheelchairs don’t have to wait longer and pay more to use the car service. Uber said in a statement provided to TechCrunch: “We take this issue seriously and are committed to continued work with the District, our partners, and stakeholders toward expanding transportation options and freedom of movement for all residents throughout the region.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Equal Rights Center Sues Uber For Denying Equal Access To People Who Use Wheelchairs

Researchers Create New Probiotic Beer That Boosts Immunity

randomErr writes: A new patent has been filed for a innovative brewing technique that incorporates a live strain of good bacteria into the brewing process. Researchers at NUS (National University of Singapore) have created a probiotic sour beer that may boost immunity and improve gut health. The bacteria Lactobacillus paracasei L26 is capable of neutralizing toxins and viruses and regulating the immune system. Chan Mei Zhi Alcine, of the Food Science and Technology Program at NUS said, “While good bacteria are often present in food that have been fermented, there are currently no beers in the market that contain probiotics. Developing sufficient counts of live probiotics in beer is a challenging feat as beers contain hop acids that prevent the growth and survival of probiotics. As a believer of achieving a healthy diet through consuming probiotics, this is a natural choice for me when I picked a topic for my final-year project.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Researchers Create New Probiotic Beer That Boosts Immunity

Seattle’s $15 Minimum Wage May Be Hurting Workers, Report Finds

As companies look for ways to cut costs, Seattle’s $15 minimum wage law may be hurting hourly workers instead of helping them, according to a new report. From a USA Today article: A report (PDF) from the University of Washington (UW), found that when wages increased to $13 in 2016, some companies may have responded by cutting low-wage workers’ hours. The study, which was funded in part by the city of Seattle, found that workers clocked 9 percent fewer hours on average, and earned $125 less each month after the most recent increase. “If you’re a low-skilled worker with one of those jobs, $125 a month is a sizable amount of money, ” Mark Long, a UW public-policy professor and an author of the report told the Seattle Times. “It can be the difference between being able to pay your rent and not being able to pay your rent.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Seattle’s $15 Minimum Wage May Be Hurting Workers, Report Finds

Hacker Behind Massive Ransomware Outbreak Can’t Get Emails From Victims Who Paid

Joseph Cox, reporting for Motherboard: On Tuesday, a new, worldwide ransomware outbreak took off, infecting targets in Ukraine, France, Spain, and elsewhere. The hackers hit everything from international law firms to media companies. The ransom note demands victims send bitcoin to a predefined address and contact the hacker via email to allegedly have their files decrypted. But the email company the hacker happened to use, Posteo, says it has decided to block the attacker’s account, leaving victims with no obvious way to unlock their files. The hacker tells victims to send $300 worth of bitcoin. But to determine who exactly has paid, the hacker also instructs people to email their bitcoin wallet ID, and their “personal installation key.” This is a 60 character code made up of letters and digits generated by the malware, which is presumably unique to each infection of the ransomware. That process is not possible now, though. “Midway through today (CEST) we became aware that ransomware blackmailers are currently using a Posteo address as a means of contact, ” Posteo, the German email provider the hacker had an account with, wrote in a blog post. “Our anti-abuse team checked this immediately — and blocked the account straight away. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Hacker Behind Massive Ransomware Outbreak Can’t Get Emails From Victims Who Paid

Ethereum Exchange Reimburses Customer Losses After ‘Flash Crash’

An anonymous reader writes: “The price of ethereum crashed as low as 10 cents from around $319 in about a second on the GDAX cryptocurrency exchange on Wednesday, ” reports CNBC, calling it “a move that is being blamed on a ‘multimillion dollar market sell’ order… As the price continued to fall, another 800 stop loss orders and margin funding liquidations caused ethereum to trade as low as 10 cents.” An executive for the exchange said “Our matching engine operated as intended throughout this event and trading with advanced features like margin always carries inherent risk.” Though some users complained they lost money, the price rebounded to $325 — and according to a report on one trading site, “one person had an order in for just over 3, 800 ethereum if the price fell to 10 cents on the GDAX exchange, ” reports CNBC. “Theoretically this person would have spent $380 to buy these coins, and when the price shot up above $300 again, the trader would be sitting on over $1 million.” Yet the currency exchange announced Friday that they’re honoring everyone’s gains, while also reimbursing customers who suffered losses. “We view this as an opportunity to demonstrate our long-term commitment to our customers and belief in the future of this industry.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Ethereum Exchange Reimburses Customer Losses After ‘Flash Crash’

Los Angeles Tests Reflective ‘Cool Pavement’ On Streets

mikeebbbd writes: As reported in the Los Angeles Daily News, during the current heatwave various officials swooped down on streets coated with an experimental light-gray sealer that makes the old asphalt into a “cool street” — and it works, with average temperature differences between coated streets and adjacent old asphalt around 10F. At a large parking lot, the temperature reduction was over 20F. If the material holds up and continues to meet other criteria, LA plans to use it on more pavement rehab projects, which could eventually make a difference in the heat island effect. The “CoolSeal” coating is apparently proprietary to a company named GuardTop LLC, costs $25-40K/mile, and lasts 5-7 years. At that price, it’s might not be used a lot, at least at first; typical slurry seals run $15-30K/mile. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Los Angeles Tests Reflective ‘Cool Pavement’ On Streets

32TB of Windows 10 Internal Builds, Core Source Code Leak Online

According to an exclusive report via The Register, “a massive trove of Microsoft’s internal Windows operating system builds and chunks of its core source code have leaked online.” From the report: The data — some 32TB of installation images and software blueprints that compress down to 8TB — were uploaded to betaarchive.com, the latest load of files provided just earlier this week. It is believed the data has been exfiltrated from Microsoft’s in-house systems since around March. The leaked code is Microsoft’s Shared Source Kit: according to people who have seen its contents, it includes the source to the base Windows 10 hardware drivers plus Redmond’s PnP code, its USB and Wi-Fi stacks, its storage drivers, and ARM-specific OneCore kernel code. Anyone who has this information can scour it for security vulnerabilities, which could be exploited to hack Windows systems worldwide. The code runs at the heart of the operating system, at some of its most trusted levels. In addition to this, hundreds of top-secret builds of Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016, none of which have been released to the public, have been leaked along with copies of officially released versions. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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32TB of Windows 10 Internal Builds, Core Source Code Leak Online

Just 14 People Make 500,000 Tons of Steel a Year in Austria

An anonymous reader shares a Bloomberg Businessweek feature: The Austrian village of Donawitz has been an iron-smelting center since the 1400s, when ore was dug from mines carved out of the snow-capped peaks nearby. Over the centuries, Donawitz developed into the Hapsburg Empire’s steel-production hub, and by the early 1900s it was home to Europe’s largest mill. With the opening of Voestalpine AG’s new rolling mill this year, the industry appears secure. What’s less certain are the jobs. The plant, a two-hour drive southwest of Vienna, will need just 14 employees to make 500, 000 tons of robust steel wire a year — vs. as many as 1, 000 in a mill with similar capacity built in the 1960s. Inside the facility, red-hot metal snakes its way along a 700-meter (2, 297-foot) production line. Yet the floors are spotless, the only noise is a gentle hum that wouldn’t overwhelm a quiet conversation, and most of the time the place is deserted except for three technicians who sit high above the line, monitoring output on a bank of flatscreens. “We have to forget steel as a core employer, ” says Wolfgang Eder, Voestalpine’s chief executive officer for the past 13 years. “In the long run we will lose most of the classic blue-collar workers, people doing the hot and dirty jobs in coking plants or around the blast furnaces. This will all be automated.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Just 14 People Make 500,000 Tons of Steel a Year in Austria