FM now stands for 'fleeting mortality' in Norway

Found on The Register on Saturday, 07 January 2017
Browse Various

The Scandinavian nation has begun a gradual shutdown that will see FM broadcasts start to be phased out later this month, and concluding entirely by the end of the year. Nationwide broadcasts will instead be offered through digital radio channels.

Reuters notes that there is still opposition to the DAB migration from both the public and members of the government, who estimate that while more than half of the population has moved to digital radio, millions of cars and homes that do not yet have a DAB receiver will be cut off from radio broadcasts – including emergency notifications

To save some money, the government simply turns a huge number of working devices essentially into bricks, forcing people to buy new hardware and produce more garbage. That's not very economical or resource-friendly.

MongoDB Ransomware Impacts Over 10,000 Databases

Found on eWEEK on Friday, 06 January 2017
Browse Internet

The attack against MongoDB is a fairly simple one and is taking advantage of databases that have been misconfigured and left open, without the need for a user to first have proper administrative credentials. Once the attackers log into the open database, the next step is to fully take control and then steal or encrypt the database, offering it back to the victims only on receipt of the Bitcoin ransom payment.

The solution to the MongoDB security risk involves database administrators following the security checklist that MongoDB outlines on its website. The very first item on the checklist is 'enable access control and enforce authentication.'

So a fairly large number of "developers" neglected the most basic security steps after the installation and left not only the database port open to the public, but also failed to set a decent password. Furthermore, the threat is only a threat to those who, additionally to those grave mistakes, don't have backups. You reap what you sow.

Apple Removes New York Times Apps From Its Store in China

Found on New York Times on Thursday, 05 January 2017
Browse Censorship

The move limits access to one of the few remaining channels for readers in mainland China to read The Times without resorting to special software.

Mr. Sainz declined to comment on what local regulations the Times apps were said to have violated, who had contacted Apple and when, and whether a court order or other legal document had been presented.

There is not just the obvious censorship, but this also raises another question: which laws has a globally active company to respect?

Defend IoT devices, win $25,000 from the FTC

Found on CNet News on Wednesday, 04 January 2017
Browse Technology

"Consumers want these devices to be secure, so we're asking for creativity from the public -- the tinkerers, thinkers and entrepreneurs -- to help them keep device software up to date."

"The tool would, at a minimum, help protect consumers from security vulnerabilities caused by out-of-date software," reads a description of the challenge.

Easy. Disconnect the "smart" devices and make them dumb again. Your fridge or lightbulb doesn't really have much reason to go online. That'll be $25,000 please.

Programmer finds way to liberate ransomware'd Google Smart TVs

Found on The Register on Tuesday, 03 January 2017
Browse Technology

The company initially demanded more money than the idiot box was worth to repair the TV and relented offering instructions for resetting the telly after Cauthon took to Twitter to express his displeasure.

With the TV powered off, place one finger on the settings symbol then another finger on the channel down symbol. Remove finger from settings, then from channel down, and navigate using volume keys to the wipe data/ factory reset option.

How nice where the times when your TV was so stupid that it was literally impossible to get any sort of infection; but today, every device has to be connected to the Internet, now matter how bad and stupid its developers are.

France begins opt-out organ donation

Found on The Outline on Monday, 02 January 2017
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This means that any adult who dies will now donate their organs by default, regardless of their survivors' wishes, unless they have signed a refusal registry in advance.

The law, which was passed last year, creates a national refusal registry, where about 150,000 of France's 66 million had signed up already. In France, there were about 19,000 people on organ donation waiting lists as of April of last year when the law was signed.

After you died, you can't use your body for anything useful anymore. So it might not be the worst idea to help someone else.

Germany Considers Fining Facebook $522,000 Per Fake News Item

Found on Heatstreet on Sunday, 01 January 2017
Browse Legal-Issues

The law would also force the social networks to create in-country offices focused on responding to takedown demands and would make these networks responsible for compensation if a post by individual users were found to slander someone.

German lawmakers believe this bill will help tackle the possibility of Russia meddling in Parliamentary elections scheduled for next year. This follows the allegations that the Kremlin was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee that led to the leak of thousands of emails by key aides to Hillary Clinton.

German politicians and the Internet: a neverending source for ridiculous ideas. Small social networks outside Germany simply will not care since they cannot be fined in their home country. Russia will just laugh about that instead of stopping their efforts (in case they are planning anything). Besides, in most cases it is not so easy to verify the claims within 24 hours so they can be flagged. Also, what about those websites who repost the fake news? Finally, if this law really should become a reality, it should not be limited to social networks, but to all media. Then you could also fine news organisations for fake headlines, like that one where Russian hackers strike at US electrical grid, because the laptop in question was not even connected to the grid. For even more effect, the law should also include fake promises made by politicians.

Russian hackers strike at US electrical grid, report says

Found on CNet News on Saturday, 31 December 2016
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The code, which is associated with Grizzly Steppe, the Department of Homeland Security's name for a Russian hacking operation, was detected on a laptop associated with the utility but not attached to the grid, the utility said Friday.

"This is beyond hackers having electronic joy rides - this is now about trying to access utilities to potentially manipulate the grid and shut it down in the middle of winter," the Democratic senator said in a statement.

It is somewhat strange that suddenly Russia should go all nuclear on the US when Putin and Trump seem to be buddies. It's even more strange that there is no real proof, just a report that does not even deliver anything substantial.

Ants craft tiny sponges to dip into honey and carry it home

Found on New Scientist on Friday, 30 December 2016
Browse Nature

The ants experimented with the tools and eventually showed preference for certain tools – even unfamiliar ones. The ants would drop the tool into the liquid, pick it up and then carry it to the workers back in the nest to drink from.

Senilis started off using all the tools equally, but then focused on pieces of paper and sponge, which could soak up most of the diluted honey they were offered. This indicates that they can learn as they go along.

Not much different than apes who used rocks and sticks a few hundreds of thousands of years ago.

Revealed: British councils used Ripa to secretly spy on public

Found on The Guardian on Thursday, 29 December 2016
Browse Various

Councils were given permission to carry out more than 55,000 days of covert surveillance over five years, including spying on people walking dogs, feeding pigeons and fly-tipping, the Guardian can reveal.

Among the detailed examples provided were Midlothian council using the powers to monitor dog barking and Allerdale borough council gathering evidence about who was guilty of feeding pigeons.

Once the surveillance network is established, it will be abused; no matter what politicians promised before.