ICT news

• Blood of Young Mice Extends Life in the Old

  28-07-2023 23:20 via science.slashdot.org
  
  A team of scientists has extended the lives of old mice by connecting their blood vessels to young mice. The infusions of youthful blood led the older animals to live 6 to 9 percent longer, the study found, roughly equivalent to six extra years for an average human. From a report: While the study does not point to an anti-aging treatment for people, it does hint that the blood of young mice contains compounds that promote longevity, the researchers said. "I would guess it's a useful cocktail," s
  
  Read more

• Apple Cracking Down on 'Fingerprinting' With New App Store API Rules

  28-07-2023 22:40 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Apple will soon start cracking down on apps that collect data on users' devices in order to track them (aka "fingerprinting"), according to an article on its developer site. Engadget writes: Starting with the release of iOS 17, tvOS 17, watchOS 10 and macOS Sonoma, developers will be required to explain why they're using so-called required reason APIs. Apps failing to provide a valid reason will be rejected started in spring of 2024. "Some APIs... have the potential of being misused to access de
  
  Read more

• US Spies Are Lobbying Congress To Save a Phone Surveillance 'Loophole'

  28-07-2023 22:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An effort by United States lawmakers to prevent government agencies from domestically tracking citizens without a search warrant is facing opposition internally from one of its largest intelligence services. From a report: Republican and Democratic aides familiar with ongoing defense-spending negotiations in Congress say officials at the National Security Agency (NSA) have approached lawmakers charged with its oversight about opposing an amendment that would prevent it from paying companies for
  
  Read more

• Maine Lawmakers Approve Bill to Boost Offshore Wind Development

  28-07-2023 21:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  Maine moved a step closer to becoming the East Coast's first floating offshore wind location after lawmakers approved a bill paving the way for deep-water development. From a report: The bill, approved Wednesday, includes pathways for utility companies to purchase wind power and for developers to build port infrastructure using local workers, a detail that prompted Governor Janet Mills' veto last month. She is expected to sign the bill in the coming days. The state has a goal to install 3 gigawa
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Sequoia Capital Slashes Crypto Fund as It Downsizes Amid Startup Crunch

  28-07-2023 20:40 via slashdot.org
  
  Sequoia Capital pared back the size of two major venture funds, including its cryptocurrency fund, as part of a dramatic downsizing the storied venture firm is undertaking amid a broad startup downturn. From a report: Sequoia cut the size of its cryptocurrency fund to $200 million from $585 million, according to people familiar with the matter. It also slashed the size of its so-called ecosystem fund, which invests in other venture funds, to $450 million from $900 million, the people said. Sequo
  
  Read more

• NASA Launches Its Own Streaming Platform

  28-07-2023 20:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  The U.S. agency dedicated to pushing the boundaries of space exploration is finally exploring the barest edges of the modern livestreaming era. From a report: NASA has announced it's launching a beta for on-demand streaming content through NASA+. Oh, and if you couldn't already guess, that "+" in the logo is shaped like a little twinkling star. The agency didn't put an exact date on launch, but said it should be coming "later this year." To start, the new ad-free streaming service will be availa
  
  Read more

• Biden To Sign Order Curbing US Tech Investments in China by Mid-August

  28-07-2023 19:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  President Joe Biden is planning to sign an executive order to limit critical US technology investments in China by mid-August, Bloomberg News reported Friday, citing people familiar with the internal deliberations. From the report: The order focuses on semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. It won't affect any existing investments and will only prohibit certain transactions. Other deals will have to be disclosed to the government. The timing for the order, slated for the
  
  Read more

• Scientists Resurrected an Extinct Animal Frozen for 46,000 Years in Siberia

  28-07-2023 18:40 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Scientists have revived tiny animals called nematodes from a slumber that lasted 46,000 years, reports a new study. From a report: The microscopic animals were successfully woken from a state of suspended animation after researchers found them in the permafrost, or frozen soil, that flanks Siberia's northern Kolyma River. A radiocarbon analysis revealed that they hail from a prehistoric era when Neanderthals and dire wolves still roamed the world, and that they belong to a functionally extinct s
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• US Employees Are Vacationing More Than They Have in Over a Decade

  28-07-2023 18:00 via news.slashdot.org
  
  There's a big reason airports and resorts are booked up this summer: Americans are taking off work and vacationing more than they have in over a decade. In some cases, their employers are forcing them to. From a report: The pandemic, along with jitters about a potential recession, dampened U.S. workers' eagerness to take paid time off in recent years. Now, many vacation-bound employees say they're over such worries. More working adults took vacation days in the first half of 2023 than they did i
  
  Read more

• Hugging Face, GitHub and More Unite To Defend Open Source in EU AI Legislation

  28-07-2023 17:20 via news.slashdot.org
  
  A coalition of a half-dozen open-source AI stakeholders -- Hugging Face, GitHub, EleutherAI, Creative Commons, LAION and Open Future -- are calling on EU policymakers to protect open source innovation as they finalize the EU AI Act, which will be the world's first comprehensive AI law. From a report: In a policy paper released this week, "Supporting Open Source and Open Science in the EU AI Act," the open-source AI leaders offered recommendations âoefor how to ensure the AI Act works for o
  
  Read more

• Kenya Reports Cyber Attacks Causing Government System Outages

  28-07-2023 16:40 via it.slashdot.org
  
  Cyber attackers targeted a digital platform used by Kenya's government to deliver services, the country's technology minister said, highlighting the vulnerabilities of the system. From a report: The attack on the e-Citizen platform in recent days caused system outages that left users unable to access a broad range of government services, ranging from passport applications to electricity payments. Some private companies were also affected.
  It was "an unsuccessful attempt to overload the system th
  
  Read more

• Worldcoin Being Probed by French Privacy Regulator for 'Questionable' Practises

  28-07-2023 16:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  Worldcoin (WLD), the eyeball-scanning crypto project launched by OpenAI's Sam Altman, is being investigated by French data protection regulator CNI for "questionable" practises, the regulator told CoinDesk. From a report: "The legality of this [data] collection seems questionable, as do the conditions for preservation of biometric data," a CNIL spokesperson said in a written statement, referring to Worldcoin's practise of scanning retinas to ensure that no single person can claim crypto rewards
  
  Read more

• Google Says It Will Start Downranking Non-Tablet Apps In the Play Store

  28-07-2023 15:40 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Google is changing the Play Store ranking algorithms to increase the visibility of apps that better support large screens. Google detailed the changes in a blog post: "Apps and games that adhere to our large screen app quality guidelines will now be ranked higher in search and Apps and Games Home. This helps users find apps that resize well, aren't letterboxed, and support both portrait and landscape orientations. Editors' Choice and other curated collections and articles will also consider thes
  
  Read more

• US Senate Panel Passes AM Radio, Ticket Fee Pricing Bills

  28-07-2023 15:00 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation on Thursday to bar automakers from eliminating AM broadcast radio in new vehicles and require companies like Ticketmaster to put total ticket prices including fees in marketing materials. The AM radio bill and the ticket-pricing bill both had strong bipartisan support and both have companion measures in the House of Representatives. The AM radio bill would direct the Transportation Departmen
  
  Read more

• Ivanti Releases Security Updates for EPMM to address CVE-2023-35081

  28-07-2023 14:00 via cisa.gov
  Ivanti has identified and released patches for a directory traversal vulnerability (CVE-2023-35081, CWE-22) in Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile (EPMM). This vulnerability allows an attacker with EPMM administrator privileges to write arbitrary files with the operating system privileges of the EPMM web application server. The attacker could then execute the uploaded file, for example, a web shell. To gain EPMM administrator privileges, the attacker could exploit CVE-2023-35078 on an unpatched syste
  
  Read more

• CISA Releases Malware Analysis Reports on Barracuda Backdoors

  28-07-2023 14:00 via cisa.gov
  CISA has published three malware analysis reports on malware variants associated with exploitation of CVE-2023-2868. CVE-2023-2868 is a remote command injection vulnerability affecting Barracuda Email Security Gateway (ESG) Appliance, versions 5.1.3.001-9.2.0.006. It was exploited as a zero day as early as October 2022 to gain access to ESG appliances. According to industry reporting, the actors exploited the vulnerability to gain initial access to victim systems and then implanted backdoors to
  
  Read more

• Intel Returns To Profitability After Two Quarters of Losses

  28-07-2023 12:00 via slashdot.org
  
  Intel reported second-quarter earnings on Thursday, including a return to profitability after two straight quarters of losses, and a stronger-than-expected forecast. CNBC reports: For the third quarter, Intel expects earnings of $0.20 per share, adjusted, on revenue of $13.4 billion at the midpoint, versus analyst expectations of 16 cents per share on $13.23 billion in sales. Intel posted net income of $1.5 billion, or earnings of $0.35 per share, versus a net loss of $454 million, or a loss of
  
  Read more

• Boeing's Starliner Program Reaches Staggering $1.1 Billion in Losses

  28-07-2023 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Boeing's CST-100 Starliner program, developed for NASA since 2014, has incurred total losses exceeding $1 billion, with an additional $257 million loss announced in the second quarter of 2023. Gizmodo reports: Boeing's total losses now amount to a staggering $1.14 billion for the Starliner program. The impact of these setbacks is evident in the company's Defense, Space, and Security division, which reported a significant loss of $527 million during the second quarter, with the Starliner project
  
  Read more

• Red Meat Allergy Caused By Ticks Is an 'Emerging Public Health Concern': CDC

  28-07-2023 05:30 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from ABC News: Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is a serious, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that arises after people eat red meat or consume products with alpha-gal, a type of sugar found in most mammals, the CDC says. The syndrome is typically caused by a bite from the lone star tick, which transfers alpha-gal into the victim's body which in turn triggers an immune system response. The CDC says the number of AGS cases are underdiagnosed in the U.S. a
  
  Read more

• Conservatives Bombarded With Facebook Misinformation Far More Than Liberals In 2020 Election, Study Suggests

  28-07-2023 02:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  According to new research published Thursday, conservatives on Facebook during the 2020 presidential election were more isolated and saw more misinformation than the platform's liberal users -- though Facebook widely affected users' political content in different ways. Slashdot reader RUs1729 shared one of the four peer-reviewed studies, appearing in the journals Science and Nature. Forbes reports: The study, led by two researchers from the University of Texas and New York University, had hundre
  
  Read more

• SEC Now Requires Companies To Disclose Cyberattacks In 4 Days

  28-07-2023 01:40 via it.slashdot.org
  
  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has implemented new rules requiring publicly traded companies to disclose any cyberattacks considered material incidents within four business days of discovery. BleepingComputer reports: According to the Wall Street watchdog, material incidents are those that a public company's shareholders would consider important "in making an investment decision." The SEC also adopted new regulations mandating foreign private issuers to provide equivalent disc
  
  Read more

• NYC Wants Unsafe Lithium-Ion E-Bike Batteries To Be Stopped At the Border

  28-07-2023 01:00 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  Following a rash of deadly fires, consumer advocates and fire departments, particularly in New York City, want the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to confiscate lithium-ion electric bikes that don't comply with regulations at the border. The ultimate goal is for unsafe e-bikes and poorly manufactured batteries to be taken off the streets and out of homes. The Associated Press reports: "We've been sounding the alarm for months," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said a day after an exploding
  
  Read more

• Senate Panel Advances Bill To Childproof the Internet

  28-07-2023 00:20 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Congress is closer than ever to passing a pair of bills to childproof the internet after lawmakers voted to send them to the floor Thursday. The bills -- the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and COPPA 2.0 -- were approved by the Senate Commerce Committee Thursday by a unanimous voice vote. Both pieces of legislation aim to address an ongoing mental health crisis amongst young people that some lawmakers blame social media for intensifying. But crit
  
  Read more

Follow @newslocke_ict on Twitter!