Tag: science

4K copy protection removal shop settles for $5.2 million

Intel and Warner Bros. are still very much embroiled in a war on companies stripping copyright protection from 4K and Blu-ray videos. Hardware seller Ace Deal has agreed to pay the two industry giants $5.2 million to settle a lawsuit over alleged violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Supposedly, Ace Deal knowingly aided in piracy by selling devices that remove HDCP anti-copying measures, making it relatively easy to bootleg the latest 4K movie extravaganza . The shop has already pulled the offending gear from its online store and is barred from selling similar devices in the future, but the small outfit still faces a relatively big, potentially crippling payout. The verdict is a sharp contrast to what’s happening with LegendSky, which faced a similar lawsuit at the start of the year. It contends that its HDFury gadgets aren’t stripping HDCP, just weakening it (which is legal) — in fact, it counter-sued Intel and Warner Bros. for allegedly making defamatory claims and abusing their market position. Ace Deal didn’t have that defense, so it was far more likely to be on the hook. Source: TorrentFreak

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4K copy protection removal shop settles for $5.2 million

Hackers Claim to Have 427 Million Myspace Passwords

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, reporting for Motherboard: There’s an oft-repeated adage in the world of cybersecurity: There are two types of companies, those that have been hacked, and those that don’t yet know they have been hacked. MySpace, the social media behemoth that was, is apparently in the second category. The same hacker who was selling the data of more than 164 million LinkedIn users last week now claims to have 360 million emails and passwords of MySpace users, which would be one of the largest leaks of passwords ever. And it looks like the data is being circulated in the underground by other hackers as well. It’s unclear when the data was stolen from MySpace, but both the hacker, who’s known as Peace, and one of the operators of LeakedSource, a paid hacked data search engine that also claims to have the credentials, said it’s from a past, unreported, breach. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Hackers Claim to Have 427 Million Myspace Passwords

How the World’s Most Glamorous Ice Bar Stays Frozen In the Middle of the Desert

The bar is made of 120 tons of pure Canadian ice. So are the walls, and all the furniture, along with intricately carved ice sculptures, including a replica of the Vegas skyline and an icy Iron Throne just for Game of Thrones fans. Walking into Minus 5 Ice Bar in Las Vegas is like stepping into a real-world scene from Disney’s Frozen . Read more…

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How the World’s Most Glamorous Ice Bar Stays Frozen In the Middle of the Desert

The World’s Biggest Ever Math Proof is a Whopping 200TB

If you think you had a hard time filling out pages of algebra at school, spare a thought for the three mathematicians who have just published the world’s largest ever proof. It takes up 200TB of storage space. Read more…

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The World’s Biggest Ever Math Proof is a Whopping 200TB

Hackers steal $12 million from an Ecuadorian bank via SWIFT

Earlier this week reports showed another round of SWIFT-related cyber heists , this time targeting banks in Ecuador. A new report in Reuters sheds light on what actually happened to the high-tech thieves’ $12-million loot. Apparently, they moved $9 million to 23 banks in Hong Kong and $3 million to Dubai and other parts of the world. Wells Fargo transfered sums with the total value of $9 million to the accounts of four companies at HSBC and Hang Seng Bank based on authenticated SWIFT transactions. The hackers then distributed the money to what are believed to be phoney business accounts. Similar to the recent Bangladesh and Vietnam bank attacks, the thieves’ scheme involved the use of the SWIFT messaging platform. Banks use SWIFT’s platform to make financial transfers between each other, and cyber thieves typically send out fraudulent SWIFT messages requesting for funds to be routed to dummy accounts. In Bangladesh Bank’s case, the thieves used the SWIFT credentials of the institution’s employees to request several transfers to accounts overseas. They got off with $80 million, which would have been much larger ($1 freaking billion) if they didn’t misspell the word “foundation.” The hackers could have easily accessed the employees’ credentials, because the bank lacked a proper firewall. It’s not clear if that’s also what happened in Ecuador, but the thieves obviously had the same MO. American banks are now looking more closely into SWIFT’s security after news of these cyber heists surfaced. SWIFT (which stands for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) itself is working on a five-point security plan to prevent similar events in the future. Source: Reuters

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Hackers steal $12 million from an Ecuadorian bank via SWIFT

FCC Formalizes Massive Fines For Selling, Using Cell-Phone Jammers

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Network World: Two years ago the FCC announced its intention to fine a Chinese electronics maker $34.9 million and a Florida man $48, 000 for respectively selling and using illegal cell-phone jammers. Today the agency has issued press releases telling us that those fines have finally been made official, without either of the offending parties having bothered to mount a formal defense of their actions. From the press release announcing the fine against CTS. Technology: ” The company’s website falsely claimed that some jammers had been approved by the FCC, and advertised that the company could ship signal jammers to consumers in the United States.” The company did not respond to the FCC’s allegations, although the agency does report that changes were made to its website that appear to be aimed at complying with U.S. law. Next up is Florida man, Jason R. Humphreys, who is alleged to have used a jammer on his commute: “Mr. Humphreys’ illegal operation of the jammer continued for up to two years, caused interference to cellular service along Interstate 4, and disrupted police communications.” Last Fall, a Chicagoan was arrested for using a cell-phone jammer to make his subway commute more tolerable. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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FCC Formalizes Massive Fines For Selling, Using Cell-Phone Jammers

Google Now Handles At Least 2 Trillion Searches Per Year

Danny Sullivan, reporting for Search Engine Land: How many searches per year happen on Google? After nearly four years, the company has finally released an updated figure today of “trillions” per year. How many trillions, exactly, Google wouldn’t say. Consider two trillion the starting point. Google did confirm to Search Engine Land that because it said it handles “trillions” of searches per year worldwide, the figure could be safely assumed to be two trillion or above. Is it more than two trillion? Google could be doing five trillion searches per year. Or 10 trillion. Or 100 trillion. Or presumably up to 999 trillion, because if it were 1, 000 trillion, you’d expect Google would announce that it does a quadrillion searches per year. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Google Now Handles At Least 2 Trillion Searches Per Year

ComiXology Unlimited offers all of the comics for $6 a month

ComiXology, Amazon’s online comic book service, unveiled a new unlimited content subscription option on Tuesday. The $6 per month ComiXology Unlimited plan gives subscribers unfettered access to the service’s entire archive, which includes titles from Image, Dark Horse, IDW and a bunch more — basically every notable publisher outside of Marvel and DC. ComiXology will continue to sell individual issues from the Big Two, it just won’t offer them on the unlimited plan. Via: Android Central Source: Comixology

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ComiXology Unlimited offers all of the comics for $6 a month

Facebook Live adds nonstop, 24-hour video

As part of the social network’s wider push into live video , Facebook is expanding beyond on-the-ground journalism and in-car Star Wars toy reviews . TechCrunch reports Facebook Live will now also allow for 24-hour, nonstop streaming broadcasts. The new feature is an upgrade from the 90-minute limit previously imposed on streams using Facebook’s Live API , but it comes with the drawback of not allowing for archiving or rewind streams to play back later. Which is unfortunate, considering the Facebook Live team just rolled out a feature to jump to the best bits based on reactions and comments. For now, however, the endless feeds seem to be mostly taking the place of the once-ubiquitous livecams like Explore.org’s Eagle Cam . On top of the continuous streaming capability, Facebook also debuted a Live Video feature which TechCrunch calls “geogating” that allows producers to make a video available to users in a specific location — which could come in handy for sporting events with limited broadcasting rights. And speaking of sports-friendly features, Facebook recently rolled out multi-camera support and the ability to add on-screen graphics, so it’s only a matter of time before someone creates the first Facebook-only 24-hour live news channel.

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Facebook Live adds nonstop, 24-hour video

Geek Squad employee allegedly searched PCs for the FBI

An astute PC technician is supposed to report any illegal content they see while fixing a machine, but one employee of Best Buy’s Geek Squad might have gone too far. The defense in a child pornography case alleges that the FBI paid Geek Squad agent Justin Meade to search customers’ computers for illegal material, bypassing the warrant the FBI would need to conduct its own searches. A secret informant file supposedly shows that Meade was considered a source for child porn investigations between 2009 and 2012, leading to the bust in question. Attorneys for the accused, Dr. Mark Rettenmaier, want the evidence tossed out as a result. Both the FBI and Meade deny that there were any orders to conduct searches. The agent says he was only following Geek Squad’s reporting policy, which also forbids payments from law enforcement. However, the FBI also acknowledges that it paid Meade $500 for an unmentioned reason — the question is whether or not this was an after-the-fact reward or an incentive. It’s far from certain that the accusation will stick. The defense could have valid concerns that the FBI violated a constitutional right… or it could be blowing smoke to distract from damning evidence. Either way, this isn’t going to quiet fears (however overblown) that law enforcement might use device repair shops as fishing nets for crooks. Source: LA Times

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Geek Squad employee allegedly searched PCs for the FBI