Cybercriminals compromised a German factory and caused "massive" damage to a blast furnace inside of the facility, according to a Federal Office for Information Security report made available by the German government. The company impacted remains unknown, but it looks like they fell victim to a phishing attack that led to malware installation on company computers - and it didn't take long before PCs and factory systems to suffer.

Since the company's employees were not able to maintain control of the blast furnace, there was "massive damage to [the] plant." "The attackers were knowledgeable in conventional IT security and had extensive knowledge of applied control and production processes," according to a recently published report.

As cybercriminals find new methods to conduct cyberespionage, there is growing concern that they can breach critical infrastructure - and cause significant damage - and this German foundry incident is a worrying sign. It's unknown if the hackers intended to just steal data, or cause physical damage, but show how vulnerable computer systems can be.

The Lizard Squad reportedly has taken credit for dropping Microsoft's Xbox Live and Sony's PlayStation Network on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. It's not a complete surprise to hear of the cyberattacks, with the group promising them all month long. Lizard Squad used a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, with the FBI and other hacker groups reportedly targeting them.

Unfortunately, the group demanded 10,000 retweets of a message posted on Twitter, so gamers will be able to access Xbox.com, Xbox Live and other services - and regain playability on PSN. Both Microsoft and Sony are working on connectivity issues, with spotty service available in North America.

It's not a surprise to hear they wanted to target the attack for Christmas, as many gamers plug in their consoles for the first time - or hit the power switch to begin playing a new title.

Techland was aiming for 1080p 60FPS for their upcoming zombie survival shooter 'Dying Light' but the developer has locked things in at 30FPS instead, something that the developer says will provide a "perfectly smooth, gameplay-tailored performance."

The developer has said that a stable 30FPS is better than a varying frame rate, especially for a game where you jump between rooftops, climb buildings and more. Techland has said that the development team considers a consistent frame rate is better for the in-game environments of Dying Light. When talking with GamingBolt, the Lead Game Designer of Dying Light, Maciej Binkowski, would be 1080p 30FPS for both the PS4 and Xbox One.

He reiterated the fact that Dying Light is 30FPS on both consoles, saying "Yes. They're both locked at 30 FPS. We did so much testing and optimizing and eventually came to the conclusion that we needed to lock at 30 FPS to ensure a smooth, fluid experience." Binkowski also mentioned that Dying Light will feature a Subpixel Morphological Anti-Aliasing (SMAA) T2X solution, something that will smooth out the graphics in the game, which should hide the various jaggies. He added "We're using SMAA T2X according to our super brainy hardware guys. That's all I know."

Microsoft has been enjoying the fruits of its labor in the Surface line of devices, with the Surface Pro 3 being a great device for people who don't just want a tablet, or a notebook, but want the best of both world's. Well, now we're hearing the first rumbles of the Surface Pro 4.

The new Surface Pro should feature Intel's upgraded Core M processor, with a display that resembles the Surface Pro 3, launched in two versions. We should expect slight variations between them, most likely concentrating on a smaller, and then bigger display. Microsoft is also poised to provide the Surface Pro 4 with a cheaper price than the Surface Pro 3 currently sells for, which should secure itself many more sales.

Not only that, but we can expect the Surface Pro 4 to launch with Windows 10, as well as the improved Core M processor. These two facts alone should make it a worthy choice against that thinner, fanless MacBook Air that will arrive sometime in 2015.

We've only just reported that Sony Pictures is having a 'limited release' of The Interview, pushing it out to select theaters and digitally, but Apple has come out stating that it is "not interested" in releasing the movie on iTunes for Christmas.

The New York Times is reporting that Sony Pictures talked with Apple, who refused, even pressuring The White House to step in, to no avail. Apple's decision to not provide The Interview on iTunes is, I'm sure, to do with any retaliation with North Korea. Apple won't want the mess and bad publicity that would come with an attack on their internal servers, so they're probably playing it better safe than sorry. Understandable, I guess.

Following a successful data breach targeting Sony Pictures, the Japanese government is increasingly weary of potential North Korea-based cyberattacks. Japan is used to China's ambitious cyberespionage campaigns, but North Korea has steadily improved its own ability to launch successful attacks.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to boost internal cybersecurity defense as the threat of foreign-based attacks reaches frightening levels. There is specific interest in ensuring critical infrastructure, such as its power grid, transportation networks, and gas supplies can continue to function even under continued attack.

"Japan is maintaining close contact with the United States and supporting their handling of this case," said Yoshihide Suga, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, during a press conference. The Japanese government is relying on strong ties with Washington in a joint-cooperation to increase cybersecurity.

WhatsApp is a near unstoppable messaging client, so I'm sure most people will still balk at the fact Facebook dished out an enormous $22 billion to acquire them earlier this year. The company is now set to launch its new feature, a voice calling function, to its app in the coming weeks or months.

Some new leaked photos are showing us what the latest update to WhatsApp will deliver, where we won't only get voice calling but image files and text support, too. The new details were yanked from the latest version of WhatsApp by Android World, where we can see the new features in all their glory.

We don't know when the voice calling function is coming to WhatsApp, but judging from this information being pulled from the latest version, I'm sure it can't be long now.

The Xbox One is one of the hottest consoles on the market, and Kinect technology is one of the best features. The Kinect, which comes standard with Xbox One, has many more applications than just gaming. In fact, it's being used for some amazing things. Here are just a few of its additional capabilities.

With the use of Kinect recognition, Microsoft has revolutionized the way people exercise. Taking advantage of all the amazing fitness programs available on the Xbox, you can train and exercise right at home with the help of some amazing professionals; and the Kinect can help you with everything from making sure you have the right posture and form during your workout, to monitoring your pulse, temperature and other vital statistics. It can even help you record how many calories you have burned by tracking the movement of your body and temperature change on your skin. In a Samsung article, Santa Barbara fitness instructor Alexandra Williams advises taking a minimalist approach to your workout gear and equipment. So, by using the Kinect as your overall tracking device, it is easy to keep track of your overall health and fitness program.

Hospital professionals are always looking for ways to improve the health, safety and efficiency of their employees when doing delicate medical procedures. Now, with the addition of a Kinect system in the operating rooms, doctors can use hand motions to manipulate and refer to images that they use when performing an operation rather than trying to use a remote or keyboard. This not only gives them more freedom and precise detail, it helps keep the room sterile and safe for the patients.

US Internet, a company that offers fiber-optic service to 30,000 households in Minneapolis, has announced that it will offer 10-gigabit per second internet speed to its customers. This equates to 10,000 Mbps, or an amazing download around 1.25 GB/s. Yes, 1.25 Gigabytes per second.

The cost isn't cheap though, a blazing fast connection will weigh in at $399.00 per month. US Internet describes the service as the fastest internet service the world has seen, and if they manage to deliver the service they will take the crown. US Internet has a relatively small user base, so we shouldn't expect this to expand much further than the Minneapolis area. It is good to see this type of service being deployed, it is very likely the larger ISP's are taking note of US Internet's advances.

"The fastest Internet in the world is going to be here in Minneapolis starting this afternoon," said Joe Caldwell, co-CEO of US Internet. "We're talking about a game-changing speed."

The long saga of the Sony hack is far from over, but Sony has finally taken the step of releasing "The Interview" for purchase on a variety of digital platforms. The Interview is available on Google Play, YouTube Movies, Microsoft's Xbox Video, and a Sony website. The movie was released at 1 PM EST today and is available to stream for $5.99, and for purchase at $14.99. Sony also announced that 300 theaters will play the movie on Thursday.

Sony has taken a considerable beating over the massive hack of the Sony Pictures outfit. The satirical film outlines an assassination attempt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The pending release triggered strong condemnation from North Korea, which threatened action. Soon after, Sony Pictures was hacked, and the US government claims to have proof that North Korea was behind the attack. After the hacking attack, embarrassing internal Sony documents were released to the public, and the hacking group also threatened violence at any theaters showing the film. Several prominent film distribution companies refused to air the movie, leading Sony Pictures to pull the movie. That announcement met with widespread criticism, particularly from President Obama, who likened the move to cowing to terrorists.

The digital release of a mainstream movie is unprecedented, but provides Sony with an easy distribution method that also allows them to save face. The major film distribution companies are still refusing to show the film, and the 300 theaters that will be showing the film are all independent chains. The movie will undoubtedly garner much more interest due to the press coverage of the hacking attack. If demand is strong enough it might provide an interesting insight into the possibility of future mainstream movies being released on digital platforms.