ICT news

• After Criticism, Signal Agrees to Secure Plain-Text Encryption Keys for Users' Message Databases

  13-07-2024 23:55 via it.slashdot.org
  
  "Signal is finally tightening its desktop client's security," reports BleepingComputer — by changing the way it stores plain text encryption keys for the SQLite database where users' messages are stored:
  When BleepingComputer contacted Signal about the flaw in 2018, we never received a response. Instead, a Signal Support Manager responded to a user's concerns in the Signal forum, stating that the security of its database was never something it claimed to provide. "The database key was neve
  
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• Joe Engle, the Last Living X-15 Pilot, Passed Away July 10 At the Age of 91

  13-07-2024 22:34 via science.slashdot.org
  
  clovis (Slashdot reader #4,684) writes: Joe Engle received his astronaut wings in a ceremony on July 15, 1965, for his flight in the hypersonic aircraft, reaching an altitude of 50 miles above the Earth. At 32, he was the youngest man to become an astronaut.
  Later, he entered the Apollo program and eventually commanded the STS-2 flight of the Space Shuttle.
  Here is an interview from 2004. I thought it was interesting that they used the F-104 as the chase plane and for training because the flight
  
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• Nasty Spoofing Attack Resurrects Internet Explorer Vulnerability in Windows 10 and 11

  13-07-2024 21:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Slashdot reader joshuark shared this report from BetaNews:
  Check Point Research has identified a critical zero-day spoofing attack exploiting Microsoft Internet Explorer on modern Windows 10/11 systems, despite the browser's retirement.
  Identified as CVE-2024-38112, this vulnerability allows attackers to execute remote code by tricking users into opening malicious Internet Shortcut (.url) files. This attack method has been active for over a year and could potentially impact millions... Attackers
  
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• Linksys Routers Found Transmitting Passwords in Cleartext

  13-07-2024 20:34 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  TechSpot writes:
  Users of the Linksys Velop Pro 6E and 7 mesh routers should change their passwords and Wi-Fi network names through an external web browser. The two models transmit critical information to outside servers in an insecure manner upon initial installation. New patches have emerged since the issue was discovered, but Linksys hasn't publicly responded to the matter, and it is unclear if the latest firmware leaves sensitive data exposed to interception.
  The issue was discovered by Test
  
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• Admiral Grace Hopper's Landmark Lecture Is Found, But the NSA Won't Release It

  13-07-2024 19:34 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  MuckRock is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) non-profit collaborative news site to "request, analyze and share government documents," according to its web site.
  And long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 shared their report about a lecture by Admiral Grace Hopper:In a vault at the National Security Agency lies a historical treasure: two AMPEX 1-inch open reel tapes containing a landmark lecture by Admiral Grace Hopper, a giant in the field of computer science. Titled 'Future Possibilities: Data, Hardware, Soft
  
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• Apple Watch Is Cleared By the CBP of Infringing On the ECG Patent

  13-07-2024 18:34 via apple.slashdot.org
  
  Slashdot reader Kirschey writes: The U.S. Customs and Border Protection determined that the redesigned Apple Watch models do not violate AliveCor's electrocardiogram patents, allowing them to be imported. This decision comes before a consolidated hearing at the Federal Circuit Court regarding the same patents.
  From the decision:
  We find that Apple Inc. ("Apple") has met its burden to show that certain redesigned wearable devices ("articles at issue") do not infringe one or more of claims 12, 13,
  
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• Sony Announces It's 'Gradually' Stopping Production of Recordable Blu-Ray Discs

  13-07-2024 17:34 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  A report from TechSpot:
  For home videographers and data hoarders who still rely on optical discs for archiving, some bad news just dropped: Sony is winding down production of recordable Blu-ray media... In an interview Sony gave to AV Watch recently, the company admitted it's going to "gradually end development and production" of recordable Blu-rays and other optical disc formats at its Tagajo City plants in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Essentially, 25GB BD-REs, 50GB BD-RE DLs, 100GB BD-RE XLs, or
  
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• Are Intel's i9-13900k's and -14900k's Crashing at a Higher Rate?

  13-07-2024 16:34 via slashdot.org
  
  "Intel's problems with unstable 13th-gen and 14th-gen high-end CPUs appear to run deeper than we thought," writes TechRadar, "and a new YouTube video diving into these gremlins will do little to calm any fears that buyers of Raptor Lake Core i9 processors (and its subsequent refresh) have."Level1Techs is the YouTuber in question, who has explored several avenues in an effort to make more sense of the crashing issues with these Intel processors that are affecting some PC gamers and making their l
  
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• NATO Countries Pledge $1 Billion To Strengthen Collection, Sharing of Space-Based Intel

  13-07-2024 12:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from DefenseScoop: A group of NATO countries are set to begin implementing a new project aimed at improving the alliance's ability to quickly share intelligence gathered by space-based assets operated by both member nations and the commercial sector. Seventeen NATO members signed a memorandum of understanding for the Alliance Persistence Surveillance from Space (APSS) program as part of the annual NATO summit being held in Washington this week, the alliance an
  
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• Dune-Inspired Spacesuit Recycles Urine Into Clean Drinking Water

  13-07-2024 09:00 via science.slashdot.org
  
  Researchers from Cornell University have developed a novel urine collection and filtration system for spacesuits, designed to improve hygiene and comfort for astronauts during long spacewalks. This new system, inspired by the 'stillsuits' from the Dune franchise, recycles urine into potable water using a vacuum-based external catheter and a forward-reverse osmosis unit. It's expected to be tested for use in upcoming NASA moon and Mars missions. Phys.Org reports: [Researchers] have now designed a
  
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• Three Mile Island Considers Nuclear Restart

  13-07-2024 05:30 via hardware.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Constellation Energy is in talks with the Pennsylvania governor's office and state lawmakers to help fund a possible restart of part of its Three Mile Island power facility, the site of a nuclear meltdown in the 1970s, three sources familiar with the discussions said on Tuesday. The conversations, which two sources described as "beyond preliminary," signal that Constellation is advancing plans to revive part of the southern Pennsylvania nuclear g
  
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• OpenAI Working On New Reasoning Technology Under Code Name 'Strawberry'

  13-07-2024 03:25 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  OpenAI is close to a breakthrough with a new project called "Strawberry," which aims to enhance its AI models with advanced reasoning abilities. Reuters reports: Teams inside OpenAI are working on Strawberry, according to a copy of a recent internal OpenAI document seen by Reuters in May. Reuters could not ascertain the precise date of the document, which details a plan for how OpenAI intends to use Strawberry to perform research. The source described the plan to Reuters as a work in progress. T
  
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• CISA Broke Into a US Federal Agency, No One Noticed For a Full 5 Months

  13-07-2024 02:45 via it.slashdot.org
  
  A 2023 red team exercise by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) at an unnamed federal agency exposed critical security failings, including unpatched vulnerabilities, inadequate incident response, and weak credential management, leading to a full domain compromise. According to The Register's Connor Jones, the agency failed to detect or remediate malicious activity for five months. From the report: According to the agency's account of the exercise, the red team was ab
  
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• German Navy To Replace Aging 8-Inch Floppy Drives With an Emulated Solution

  13-07-2024 02:02 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Mark Tyson reports via Tom's Hardware: The German Navy is searching for a new storage system to replace the aging 8-inch (20cm) floppy disks which are vital to the running of its Brandenburg class F123 frigates. According to an official tender document, the ideal answer to the German Navy's problems would be a drop-in floppy disk replacement based upon a storage emulation system, reports Golem.de. Germany's Brandenburg class F123 frigates were commissioned in the mid 1990s, so it is understandab
  
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• Southwest Airlines Strikes Deal For Electric Air Taxi Network

  13-07-2024 01:20 via tech.slashdot.org
  
  Southwest Airlines has signed a deal with Archer Aviation to develop plans for an on-demand eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) service in California. The Verge reports: The service will operate using Archer's battery-powered, four-passenger, tilt-rotor Midnight aircraft, which are designed to take off and land vertically from a landing strip like a helicopter. As part of the deal, the aircraft will get access to 14 California airports where Southwest operates. [...] Archer claims that
  
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• American Hacker In Turkey Linked To Massive AT&T Breach

  13-07-2024 00:40 via yro.slashdot.org
  
  An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: John Binns, a U.S. citizen who has been incarcerated in Turkey, is linked to the massive data breach of metadata belonging to nearly all of AT&T's customers that the telecommunications giant announced on Friday, three sources independently told 404 Media. [...] As 404 Media reported in January, Binns has already been indicted for allegedly breaking into T-Mobile in 2021 and selling stolen data on more than 40 million people. Now, he is alle
  
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• Amazon's AI Chatbot Rufus Is Now Live For All US Customers

  13-07-2024 00:00 via slashdot.org
  
  Amazon's AI chatbot Rufus is now live for all U.S. customers. Engadget's Lawrence Bonk reports: So what does it do? It's an Amazon chatbot so it helps with shopping. You can ask for lists of recommended products and ask what specific products do and stuff like that. I've tooled around with it a bit this morning and it seems fine, though a bit boring. I will say that I cross-referenced some of the recommended products with the web version and Rufus does not automatically list promoted items, at l
  
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