Advocates worry the DEA will ban the popular plant-based drug kratom, which they see as a safer alternative to prescription and black market opioids.
A group of scientists is challenging an FDA report released this week warning against the use of kratom, based in part on an FDA analysis that emphasized the substance’s similarity to traditional opioids like morphine and heroin.
North Korean hackers sent to China to make money for the impoverished Kim regime don’t have it particularly easy, a defector to South Korea tells Bloomberg Businessweek. He was part of group of hackers who made pirated versions of commercial software, hacked gambling sites to sell information to cheating players, and used bots to build …
Continue reading “North Korea’s hacker army was “just a bunch of poor, low-paid laborers””
North Korean hackers sent to China to make money for the impoverished Kim regime don’t have it particularly easy, a defector to South Korea tells Bloomberg Businessweek. He was part of group of hackers who made pirated versions of commercial software, hacked gambling sites to sell information to cheating players, and used bots to build up valuable characters in online games. They lived in barracks-like housing in China, subject to indoctrination sessions and the possibility of being sent to reeducation camps for misbehavior.
The country’s high level of internet access and history of corruption make it a frequent testbed for digital manipulation techniques often later seen elsewhere.
Breitbart News tops a list of otherwise “mainstream” news sites most linked to by troll accounts managed by Russian propagandists during the 2016 U.S. election, according to research just released by Jonathan Albright, research director at Columbia Journalism School’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism. Other top-linked sites included Trump-backing outlets such as Fox News and …
Continue reading “Russia’s election propaganda weaponized these mainstream news outlets”
Breitbart News tops a list of otherwise “mainstream” news sites most linked to by troll accounts managed by Russian propagandists during the 2016 U.S. election, according to research just released by Jonathan Albright, research director at Columbia Journalism School’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism.
The charges against 13 Russians allege they tried to discourage Americans from voting and communicated with “unwitting” people in the Trump campaign.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office brought an indictment Friday charging the alleged Russian propaganda outfit called the Internet Research Agency, two affiliated groups, and 13 Russian nationals with an elaborate plot to interfere with the 2016 election through metric-driven social media campaigns, using the same techniques as sophisticated, legitimate digital advertising efforts.
Anyone can now find infringers, send take-down requests, and quickly demand thousands in damages. Can the trolls be far behind?
Christy Turner will do a lot for a good picture of the night sky. The Calgary-based photographer feeds her passion for the Northern Lights by monitoring weather conditions at home and, whenever she flies over the Arctic Circle, by making sure to sit on the right side of the plane. Her diligence has paid off: Turner’s work has been featured by CNN, HuffPost, and the Canadian edition of Reader’s Digest. Like many photographers, however, she’s also discovered her work elsewhere, even in print, in publications that never contacted or paid her. Recently it was a shot she got on St. Helena, a remote, volcanic island in the southern Atlantic Ocean.
Security firm CrowdStrike highlights the growing global threat of both state-sponsored and criminal hackers in a new report.
Security firm CrowdStrike says in a new report that the spread of more advanced hacker tools is helping to close the gap between cybercriminal and nation state attack capabilities. Some types of institutions might be facing off against more than one group, the report says. Hotel chains, in particular, have been a target both for identity thieves looking for lucrative targets and for state-sponsored actors wanting to spy on guests, reports CrowdStrike, which is perhaps best known for its work investigating a breach of the Democratic National Committee.
The NSA has not been given orders to stop election interference, adding to a growing list of examples of inaction by the Trump administration.
Admiral Mike Rogers, head of the U.S. Cyber Command, told Congress on Tuesday that he hasn’t been given authority by President Donald Trump to head off future Russia-funded election attacks.
With the New Orleans City Council weighing a proposal by the mayor to build a sweeping network of surveillance cameras that critics call unprecedented, The Verge reported this week that the city’s police department has been secretly working with Palantir, the controversial data analysis firm cofounded by Peter Thiel. Palantir first approached Mayor Mitch Landrieu …
Continue reading “Secret Palantir deal revealed as New Orleans mulls sweeping surveillance”
With the New Orleans City Council weighing a proposal by the mayor to build a sweeping network of surveillance cameras that critics call unprecedented, The Verge reported this week that the city’s police department has been secretly working with Palantir, the controversial data analysis firm cofounded by Peter Thiel.
Amid concerns about predictive policing, Unisys says its system should expedite screening of cargo and people and reduce unnecessary inspections.
A new system from IT company Unisys could help authorities flag suspicious people and cargo at border crossings and airports around the world in as little as two seconds, the company says.
The loophole, since patched, isn’t the first time Facebook has come under criticism for giving troubling amounts of freedom to advertisers.
A loophole in Facebook’s advertising targeting mechanism could have let attackers obtain users’ phone numbers after they visited websites the attackers controlled, a group of scientists revealed in a paper presented last week.
Elliott Broidy, a major Republican fundraiser and head of a security firm with hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts with the United Arab Emirates, recently learned that his email has been hacked, with messages leaked to the press, Bloomberg reports. Citing the leaks, the BBC reported that Broidy last fall urged President Trump to …
Continue reading “Major Trump fundraiser says his email was hacked amid Mideast dispute”
Elliott Broidy, a major Republican fundraiser and head of a security firm with hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts with the United Arab Emirates, recently learned that his email has been hacked, with messages leaked to the press, Bloomberg reports.
The alleged North Korean hacking group sometimes called “Hidden Cobra” used a previously unknown Adobe Flash exploit to gain access to Turkish financial institution systems last week, security firm McAfee says. “We have found what may be an early data-gathering stage for future possible heists from financial organizations in Turkey (and possibly other countries),” says …
Continue reading “Cash-strapped North Korea hacked Turkish banks through Flash”
The alleged North Korean hacking group sometimes called “Hidden Cobra” used a previously unknown Adobe Flash exploit to gain access to Turkish financial institution systems last week, security firm McAfee says.
While members of Congress and transparency advocates have urged the Federal Election Commission to institute disclosure rules for online election ads, the FEC’s chairwoman said Thursday that any new rules might not be ready until after this year’s midterm elections, The Washington Post reports. The FEC’s four current members have been divided largely along party …
Continue reading “Online election ad rules may only come after U.S. midterms”
While members of Congress and transparency advocates have urged the Federal Election Commission to institute disclosure rules for online election ads, the FEC’s chairwoman said Thursday that any new rules might not be ready until after this year’s midterm elections, The Washington Post reports.
The Federal Communications Commission believes a Silicon Valley space tech startup launched four small satellites without permission, an unprecedented move by a commercial space company, IEEE Spectrum reports. The startup, Swarm Technologies, aims to provide connectivity to internet of things devices in remote areas. Founded in 2016 by an engineer who worked with Google and another …
Continue reading “Reminder: Don’t put your satellites in space without FCC permission”
The Federal Communications Commission believes a Silicon Valley space tech startup launched four small satellites without permission, an unprecedented move by a commercial space company, IEEE Spectrum reports.
Russia is attacking the U.S. energy grid, nuclear facilities, water processing plants, aviation systems, and other critical infrastructure that millions of Americans rely on, according to a new joint analysis by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The new attribution—the first official confirmation by the U.S. of Russia’s effort—includes an accusation that the …
Russia is attacking the U.S. energy grid, nuclear facilities, water processing plants, aviation systems, and other critical infrastructure that millions of Americans rely on, according to a new joint analysis by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
After a successful trial in Los Angeles, Lufthansa is planning to expand its biometric boarding pass program to airports nationwide, the airline announced Monday. Instead of checking boarding passes and passports at the gate, the airline uses specialized cameras to snap images of passengers’ faces. They’re uploaded to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which checks …
Continue reading “Lufthansa is pushing ahead to transform your face into a boarding pass”
After a successful trial in Los Angeles, Lufthansa is planning to expand its biometric boarding pass program to airports nationwide, the airline announced Monday.
Last year’s NotPetya malware outbreak has the sprawling maritime sector looking to protect ships and port facilities around the world from hackers.
The $500 billion shipping industry is familiar with handling risks: weather, mechanical failures, war and piracy, labor strife, and political challenges. But until fairly recently, experts say, many players in the maritime transport sector didn’t put cybersecurity near the top of that list.
The Tempe Police Department released a video Wednesday showing the final seconds before Sunday’s fatal crash involving a self-driving Uber car in that Arizona city. The video ends before the collision itself, but it may be still be disturbing to some: The video includes footage from a camera facing the outside of the car, with …
Continue reading “Video shows Uber’s robot car and driver moments before it killed a pedestrian”
The Tempe Police Department released a video Wednesday showing the final seconds before Sunday’s fatal crash involving a self-driving Uber car in that Arizona city.
Atlanta city computers, including some used by the public to pay city bills and access court information online, have been struck by ransomware, the Associated Press reports. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has advised the public and city workers to monitor their bank accounts, as the city works with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, …
Continue reading “Atlanta mayor cautions public after city computers hit by ransomware”
Atlanta city computers, including some used by the public to pay city bills and access court information online, have been struck by ransomware, the Associated Press reports. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has advised the public and city workers to monitor their bank accounts, as the city works with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, as well as Microsoft and Cisco, to investigate the attack.