Latest News - Page 2770

Cybercriminals with alleged ties to ISIS recently tried to spread malware onto a Syrian citizen media group after posing as Syrian-Canadian citizens, according to a report from Citizen Lab. The social engineering attack took place in late November, and shows the group is continually putting more effort into its cybercriminal abilities. The attempted malware attack was targeted to the Raqqah is Being Slaughtered Silently (RSS) group, and the email was worded in a manner to trick organization members.

"This bears little resemblance to anything we've seen from the usual suspects," said John Scott-Railton, the report's co-author, noted in a statement given to CBC. "That, combined with who they are targeting... gives us pause and makes us think that maybe we're looking at ISIS malware."

ISIS has used the Internet, specifically social media, as a tool to recruit and spread propaganda. However, the group has run into problems, as the Anonymous hacker collective and other groups have disrupted their online operations.

Capcom has announced that the upcoming PlayStation 4 and PC exclusive Street Fighter 5 is being built around Epic Games' very gorgeous Unreal Engine 4 technology.

Bochan Kim, a Producer with Capcom said in a press release from Epic Games "Our goal with the next generation of Street Fighter is to take our beloved fighting game franchise and bring it to our fans in the best way possible. In order to fully deliver on that promise, we know we have to incorporate the latest and greatest technology available, which is why we partnered with Epic Games to power Street Fighter V using Unreal Engine 4." Territory Manager of Epic Games Japan, Taka Kawasaki said "This opportunity to help the development team using Unreal Engine 4 for the new title is a great honor for Epic, and I couldn't be more proud."

Fighting games seem to be adopting Unreal Engine 4 more, with Bandai Namco announcing back in July that Tekken 7 would be powered by Unreal Engine 4. Expect the Unreal Engine 4-powered Street Fighter 5 to hit the PS4 and PC sometime next year, which will support cross-platform play between the PS4 and PC.

There is such a drastic increase in lighting during the holidays that NASA has picked up on it, according to a press release published by the U.S. space agency. Specifically, the NOAA/NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite found that metropolitan areas increased 20 to 50 percent brighter during the Christmas holiday season and New Year's.

"It's a near ubiquitous signal. Despite being ethnically and religiously diverse, we found that the U.S. experiences a holiday increase that is present across most urban communities," noted Miguel Roman, NASA Goddard research physical scientist. "These lighting patterns are tracking a national shared tradition."

A reported 51 percent of companies suffered some type of malware breach during the past 18 months, with phishing emails and social engineering attacks able to circumvent security filters, according to a survey published by the OPSWAT IT solutions provider.

It's a frightening time for companies trying to keep their networks secure, especially as social engineering techniques - which rely on tricking employees to click fraudulent links or install the malware directly - prove difficult to defend against.

"With the sheer number of new viruses introduced every day, it is not surprising that 51% of the respondents experienced a malware breach, particularly since 39% only utilized one anti-malware solution," said Tony Berning, OPSWAT Metascan product manager. "By using only one or two anti-virus engines, companies are exposing themselves to malware threats, since no anti-virus engine can be accurate 100% of the time."

A new Associated Press-GfK poll discovered 41 percent Americans opposed drones for commercial use, with just 21 percent favoring commercial drone use, and 35 percent still sitting on the fence. Only three percent of those surveyed have flown small drones, but that number is expected to increase in the coming years.

Congress will likely push the FAA to help move things along faster, as the drone industry is expected to create 100,000 jobs and provide $82 billion for the economy in the first 10 years.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will continue to move forward with private and commercial drone use - and companies continue to push forward with drone use for deliveries, filming in Hollywood, agriculture, engineering, and other verticals.

Sony has been in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons in recent weeks, but at least the company's gaming unit has something to cheer about. The PlayStation 4 has seen such high demand in Europe, Sony reportedly has struggled to keep up with European demand.

"If I look at Europe I think it is potentially, for the second year running, going to be quite inventory challenged," said Andrew House, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO, in a statement to Reuters. "I'm not going to say you won't be able to find a PlayStation 4. I think it's going to be kind of hand to mouth in terms of that market."

In the United States market, however, Sony admitted to "tougher" competition due to Microsoft's aggressive Xbox One game console. However, Sony believes sales through Christmas are still in line with its preliminary expectations - and reports will likely be published in early 2015.

Sony Pictures is facing a public relations nightmare after a major data breach orchestrated by North Korea, and company executives just can't stop the bleeding. The data breach could become the costliest suffered by a U.S. company, with fallout that will surely continue into 2015. Beyond the sensitive documents and personal information stolen, along with the cancellation of "The Interview," there is a strong possibility some actors will avoid Sony in the future.

It remains unclear how much Sony will lose because of the cyberattack, but lawsuits, lost revenue because of "The Interview" being pulled, and other problems will only complicate matters even further.

"This attack went to the heart and core of Sony's business and succeeded," said Avivah Litan, Gartner cybersecurity analyst. "We haven't seen any attack like this in the annals of U.S. breach history."

Thanks to Oculus and their advanced technology, scientists are conducting "virtual body swapping" studies - putting clients through a literal experience of the "don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes" common saying.

One of the main reasons behind conducting these experiments is to test negative attitudes geared toward specific groups - as according to Manos Tsakiris from the Royal Holloway University of London. Tsakiris is one of the authors of a new paper published in a journal named "Trends in Cognitive Sciences".

Further commenting on this study, Tsakiris said "once you change people's representations of what their bodies are like, then you can change their social cognition, which is the way in which we relate to others" - wrapping up the success of multiple studies conducted over many years, set to fight bias.

North Korea could be using the cyberattack against Sony Pictures as a test run to try out its budding cyber capabilities, with the reclusive government potentially taking aim at US energy companies and critical infrastructure. Despite much of the Western world ignoring its growing cyber ambitions, it looks like North Korea has been able to increase its cyber weapons.

"North Korea's ultimate goal in cyber strategy is to be able to attack national infrastructure of South Korea and the United States," said Kim Heung-kwang, a North Korean defector and former computer science professor. "The hacking of Sony Pictures is similar to previous attacks that were blamed on North Korea and is a result of training and efforts made with the goal of destroying infrastructure."

The North Korean government has poured resources into its Bureau 121 cyber warfare unit, recruiting some of the nation's best computer experts - with most of the department's agents originating from the North Korean military computer school. It has successfully attacked targets in South Korea on several occasions, as some networks remain vulnerable to attack.

It wasn't too long ago when the Kepler planet-hunting spacecraft was considered a lost cause, due to problems with its reaction wheels. Instead, the spacecraft proved its worth yet again, as it found the HIP 116454b exoplanet, larger than Earth and smaller than Neptune, orbiting around a star in just nine days. The planet is too hot for life, and is more than 180 light-years away from Earth, located in the Pisces constellation.

Planets such as HIP 116454b are good prospects for future follow-up ground studies, as researchers try to gain mass measurements.

"Today, thanks to an innovative idea and lots of hard work by the NASA and Ball Aerospace team, Kepler may well deliver the first candidates for follow-up study by the James Webb Space Telescope to characterize the atmospheres of distance world's and search for signatures of life," said Paul Hertz, NASA astrophysics division director.

Busted! Oscar Ramirez, 48, was caught by Port Authority Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials trying to smuggle a .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun inside of a Sony PlayStation 2 game console. Ramirez was attempting to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Mexico City Mexico, but the Brooklyn man was caught before getting onboard.

Things didn't look right when the console went through x-ray, and officers found the weapon's hand grip and other parts inside of the bottom of the console housing. Ramirez now faces a weapons charge for trying to take the hand gun with him.

The TSA has found 2,100 weapons during airport checkpoints so far in 2013, a 16 percent increase year-over-year.

It looks like Microsoft could continue its rampage into 2015, with the latest rumor that the Redmond-based giant will unveil a VR headset at E3 2015 in June. We heard earlier in the year that Microsoft was working on "an investment in VR," so we shouldn't be surprised of this news.

The report is coming from DigiTimes, according to their sources within the Microsoft supply chain that the company is working on a new VR gaming device. Development of the project is handled by the same team that has built the Surface line of devices, but that's all we know. We don't know if this VR device from Microsoft would work as a standalone product, or whether it would tie into the Xbox One.

I think we will see Microsoft step into the VR game at some point, because their major competitor, Sony, is already ahead of them with their own PlayStation 4 exclusive "Project Morpheus" headset. Oculus VR is obviously at the top of their game with the Rift, which will most likely lead the pack and have everyone else just following through trying to cash in on VR, unless they do it right.

It almost seems like vulnerabilities in hardware and software is all that's hitting the news in the past few days. We've reported on multiple issues ranging from the "Grinch" Linux flaw to the vulnerability in SS7's mobile network towers rendering our text messages and phone calls open for all prying eyes.

In recent news, a vulnerability in router software has opened up millions of devices to hacking. This is apparently achieved by the hacker "sending a specially crafted request to RomPager, an embedded Web server running on them" as according to PC World.

Once access has been gained, the hacker then has full control over any in-home security, systems or devices connected to the network - meaning they can steal your data, alter your information or utilize your technology to launch attacks against other systems. It gives them the ability to strip SSL from secure connections and also hijack your DNS settings, listing dodgy websites as 'safe' for your personal computers - opening you up to more malicious attacks.

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has just implemented a ruling that transactions completed in the digital crypto-currency Bitcoin are liable for the Goods and Services Tax (GST), however it's still not classified as 'real money'.

This ruling reads "a transfer of Bitcoin from one entity to another is a 'supply' for GST purposes" with further research into the release commenting that anything involving Bitcoin "will be treated as a barter transaction," still rendering it as not 'real' money. This follows previous reports of this Australian organization claiming Bitcoin to be used for 'barter' only and not classified as a legitimate currency.

Firthermore in the ATO's release, they stated that "Bitcoin is not a legally recognised universal means of exchange and form of payment by the laws of Australia or the laws of any other country. Therefore, it is not 'currency (whether of Australia or of any other country)' under paragraph (a) of the definition of 'money'."

Google wants to see its Android mobile operating system built directly into connected cars, hoping drivers and passengers are able to enjoy connectivity even before connecting their smartphones. If this occurs in 2015, it would be a major step beyond just the Google Android Auto software - and the first wave of vehicles should be available sometime in 2015.

Despite increased interest in connected vehicles, Google still has remained relatively quiet about its long-term Android plans in vehicles. However, Android M should have a major role in providing connected features to drivers. If everything goes according to Google's plan, Android will evolve into the major platform used to power infotainment and navigation for connected cars.

"It provides a much stronger foothold for Google to really be part of the vehicle rather than being an add-on," said Thilo Koslowski, VP and Automotive Practice Leader of Gartner, in a statement published by Reuters.

Signal System 7 (SS7) powers multiple phone carriers across the world including big names such as AT&T and Verizon - its global telecom network is used to route calls and text and in recent news, this technology has been reported to have some huge security issues associated inside. These issues come in the form of security holes that let hackers listen in to your calls and texts.

ACLU's Cheif Technologist has informed Gizmodo that this flaw is so serious that people should consider no longer using their mobile phone for calls until the problems are fixed.

SS7's outdated infrastructure is said to be the cause of this issue, with German research discovering this invasion of privacy, said to be publishing their full findings later this month at a conference in Hamburg (as according to the Washington Post).

Lian Li still make some of the most unique chassis' on the market, but the new O Series open-air, wall-mountable chassis really takes teh cake. There are four new models, the PC-O5, PC-O5S, PC-O6S and PC-O7S which are sure to impress.

The first two models, the PC-O5 and PC-O5S are mini-ITX variants, while the PC-O6S is a micro-ATX offering, with the PC-O7S being an ATX model. All four models feature Lian Li's impressive aluminum design, with all four cases featuring a very similar look. All four allow you to show off the hardware inside of your chassis, with the entire build visible through glass.

The video cards are installed parallel to the motherboard which will have some of your friends freaking out, but it will also look super awesome, too. This is achieved by Lian Li offering PCI riser cards and extensions with the new chassis models. Customizable storage options are also on offer, with hard drives capable of being mounted in the HDD cage, which is hidden by a nice shield. Water cooling support is also provided, with the "S" variants of the new O Series cases denoting which ones are capable of being water cooled.

Markus "Notch" Persson is spending some of those billions that Microsoft paid for Mojang, buying a $70 million mansion, which just so happened to be the most expensive house in Beverly Hills.

The John Aaroe Group announced the sale, a record $70 million, with the following press release: "Persson's purchase included everything in the house from luxury furnishings to exotic electronics such as the automated 54-foot curved glass door in the living room that opens onto an infinity pool with iPad-controlled fountains and spectacular views. Cases of Dom Perignon were part of the deal."

Notch's new digs are pretty damn nice, with the house taking up a massive 23,000 square feet. The $70 million mansion features "vodka and tequila bars, a candy room, an 18-seat tiered screening room, a state-of-the-art kitchen and an exquisite 18-foot onyx dining room table for 24 that includes place settings by Roberto Cavalli at a cost of $3,700 each. Three high-definition 90-inch television screens bring panoramic views of Los Angeles from the roof into the down stairs lounge - especially breathtaking at night, says De Los Reyes. Art pieces include a replica of James Dean's motorcycle and a chromed Ma Deuce machine gun. On a conventional note, the home has eight bedrooms and 15 bathrooms all equipped with Toto Neorest toilets at a price of $5,600 each."

Since the dawn of eSports, poor old Oceania has been heavily neglected in receiving invites, qualifiers or any chances to enter global gaming competitions. In a move to capture a new audience, HiRez Studios have just announced that players from this region will now have the ability to qualify for the Smite world championships, season 2.

This free, Multilayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) 3rd-person game has begun a massive push into the Australian market - after a positive showing at PAX Australia 2014 and the recent acquisition of well-known fighting games player and organizer Daniel Chlebowczyk, they're looking to give the locals something that they've been wanting for ages - international exposure.

Australian and New Zealand-based teams will qualify through an online tournament, conducted on CyberGamer - leading to an Oceanic finals and then eventually the global event.

It looks like the US government could respond to North Korea hacking Sony Pictures, with White House spokesman Josh Earnest telling reporters that the attack was an example of "destructive activity with malicious intent that was initiated by a sophisticated actor."

Earnest continued, saying that US national security leaders "would be mindful of the fact that we need a proportional response. They were also aware that people carrying out such attacks are "often seeking to provoke a response." He added that "They may believe that a response from us in one fashion or another would be advantageous to them" by helping their image on the world stage. The White House spokesman added that the US viewed North Korea hacking Sony as "a serious national security matter."

Sony has since cancelled the release of 'The Interview' from US theaters, after North Korea threatened an attack under the guise of the 'Guardians of Peace' or GOP.