Tag: network

NSA, GHCQ Implicated In SIM Encryption Hack

First time accepted submitter BlacKSacrificE writes Australian carriers are bracing for a mass recall after it was revealed that a Dutch SIM card manufacturer Gemalto was penetrated by the GCHQ and the NSA in an alleged theft of encryption keys, allowing unfettered access to voice and text communications. The incident is suspected to have happened in 2010 and 2011 and seems to be a result of social engineering against employees, and was revealed by yet another Snowden document. Telstra, Vodafone and Optus have all stated they are waiting for further information from Gemalto before deciding a course of action. Gemalto said in a press release that they “cannot at this early stage verify the findings of the publication” and are continuing internal investigations, but considering Gemalto provides around 2 billion SIM cards to some 450 carriers across the globe (all of which use the same GSM encryption standard) the impact and fallout for Gemalto, and the affected carriers, could be huge. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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NSA, GHCQ Implicated In SIM Encryption Hack

Breakthrough In Face Recognition Software

An anonymous reader writes: Face recognition software underwent a revolution in 2001 with the creation of the Viola-Jones algorithm. Now, the field looks set to dramatically improve once again: computer scientists from Stanford and Yahoo Labs have published a new, simple approach that can find faces turned at an angle and those that are partially blocked by something else. The researchers “capitalize on the advances made in recent years on a type of machine learning known as a deep convolutional neural network. The idea is to train a many-layered neural network using a vast database of annotated examples, in this case pictures of faces from many angles. To that end, Farfade and co created a database of 200, 000 images that included faces at various angles and orientations and a further 20 million images without faces. They then trained their neural net in batches of 128 images over 50, 000 iterations. … What’s more, their algorithm is significantly better at spotting faces when upside down, something other approaches haven’t perfected.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Breakthrough In Face Recognition Software

Facebook Keeps On Not Understanding Native American Names

Facebook’s policy on real names only has got it in some PR hot water in the past, when it forced members of the LGBT community to use their legal (but not preferred) names . But it also seems like it has a track record of stupidity when it comes to the Native American community. Read more…

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Facebook Keeps On Not Understanding Native American Names

Demonii Tracker Tops 30 Million Connected Peers

An anonymous reader writes Demonii is the tracker behind the scenes for many BitTorrent sites serving pirated content. This week the tracker broke through the barrier of 30 million connected peers, handling no less than 2 billion connections per day. In other words, the scale of operation has become massive. TorrentFreak interviewed an operator of the site, and it was revealed that the tracker runs smoothly on just three dedicated servers, communicating at 180 Mb/s while serving 4 million torrents. Some people have argued that trackers are obsolete in the first place, as DHT and PEX allow peers to share the same information among each other, but Demonii’s operator reminds that having trackers speeds up the initial peer finding significantly. In any case, Demonii is not going away anytime soon. The tracker is already on its way to another milestone. The 40 million peer milestone will probably come into view later this year, but first there are a trillion more connections to process. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Demonii Tracker Tops 30 Million Connected Peers

Cuba’s Illegal Underground Internet Is Thriving

In Old Havana’s last remaining internet cafe, an hour online costs about almost a quarter of an average monthly salary. But armed with some piecemeal networking equipment and rebellious sensibilities, some Cuban youths have taken connectivity into their own hands . Read more…

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Cuba’s Illegal Underground Internet Is Thriving

Dish Network Violated Do-Not-Call 57 Million Times

lightbox32 writes Dish Network has been found guilty of violating the Do Not Call list on 57 million separate occasions. They were also found liable for abandoning or causing telemarketers to abandon nearly 50 million outbound telephone calls, in violation of the abandoned-call provision of the Federal Trade Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule. Penalties for infringing on the Do Not Call list can be up to a whopping $16, 000 for each outbound call. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Dish Network Violated Do-Not-Call 57 Million Times

Uber Is Punishing Drivers for Following the Law 

Uber drivers attempting to follow the law are getting screwed by Uber in California. A Buzzfeed investigation revealed that Uber suspended at least 12 drivers last month for properly registering their cars as commercial vehicles. To get their jobs back, Uber said the drivers had to re-register the cars as personal vehicles, which is a clear violation of DMV rules. Read more…

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Uber Is Punishing Drivers for Following the Law 

‘Be My Eyes’ App Crowdsources Help For the Blind

An anonymous reader writes: A new not-for-profit app, Be My Eyes, aims to help the visually-impaired by connecting them with volunteer users who can support them in their daily lives via live video calls. Once downloaded, Be My Eyes asks the user to identify as blind or sighted, to see if you require help or are offering it. When a blind person requests assistance the app scans the system for an available volunteer. The blind user connects with the volunteer over a video call and points to the item they would like described. Be My Eyes was created by Hans Jørgen Wiberg, a visually-impaired entrepreneur, at a startup event. Wiberg teamed up with Robocat, the Danish software studio behind Haze and Thermo, to make his vision a reality. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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‘Be My Eyes’ App Crowdsources Help For the Blind

Silk Road Reloaded Ditches Tor for a More Anonymous Network

Trying to shut down Silk Road, and any of its many-headed hydra reiterations, seems to be the ultimate lesson in futility. According to Motherboard , a new version of the online black market, called Silk Road Reloaded, launched today on the I2p anonymous network, dealing with several altcoin currencies. Read more…

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Silk Road Reloaded Ditches Tor for a More Anonymous Network

In-Flight Service Gogo Uses Fake SSL Certificates To Throttle Streaming

Amanda Parker writes In-flight internet service Gogo has defended its use of a fake Google SSL certificates as a means of throttling video streaming, adding that it was not invading its customer’s privacy in doing so. The rebuttal comes after Google security researcher Adrienne Porter Felt posted a screenshot of the phoney certificate to Twitter. From the article: “The image clearly shows that Gogo signed the certificate, not Google, thus misleading customers and opening the door to malware on users’ devices. It also serves as a way to throttle data and limit traffic on its networks. ‘Gogo takes our customer’s privacy very seriously and we are committed to bringing the best Internet experience to the sky, ‘ CTO Anand Chari said in a Monday statement.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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In-Flight Service Gogo Uses Fake SSL Certificates To Throttle Streaming