Creative: Sound Blaster AE-9 und AE-7 nutzen Sabre-DACs

Zwei Sound-Karten von Creative: Die Sound Blaster AE-9 und die Sound Blaster AE-7 sind PCIe-x1-Modelle mit Sabre-DACs von ESS, beide werden mit externer Steuereinheit ausgeliefert. RGB-Licht wie bei der AE-5 fehlt. (Creative, Sound-Hardware)

Zwei Sound-Karten von Creative: Die Sound Blaster AE-9 und die Sound Blaster AE-7 sind PCIe-x1-Modelle mit Sabre-DACs von ESS, beide werden mit externer Steuereinheit ausgeliefert. RGB-Licht wie bei der AE-5 fehlt. (Creative, Sound-Hardware)

Ariane Group: Vega-Rakete beim 15. Flug abgestürzt

Eine europäische Vega-Rakete sollte in der Nacht zu Donnerstag den Militärsatelliten Falconeye1 für die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate starten. Nach 14 erfolgreichen Flügen hat es dabei den ersten Fehlstart gegeben. (Raumfahrt, Internet)

Eine europäische Vega-Rakete sollte in der Nacht zu Donnerstag den Militärsatelliten Falconeye1 für die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate starten. Nach 14 erfolgreichen Flügen hat es dabei den ersten Fehlstart gegeben. (Raumfahrt, Internet)

In eigener Sache: Neue Workshops zu agilem Arbeiten und Selbstmanagement

Wir haben in unserer Leserumfrage nach Wünschen für Weiterbildungsangebote gefragt. Hier ist das Ergebnis: Zwei neue Workshops widmen sich der Selbstorganisation und gängigen Fehlern beim agilen Arbeiten – natürlich extra für IT-Profis. (Golem.de, Inte…

Wir haben in unserer Leserumfrage nach Wünschen für Weiterbildungsangebote gefragt. Hier ist das Ergebnis: Zwei neue Workshops widmen sich der Selbstorganisation und gängigen Fehlern beim agilen Arbeiten - natürlich extra für IT-Profis. (Golem.de, Internet)

In eigener Sache: Neue Workshops zu agilem Arbeiten und Selbstmanagement

Wir haben in unserer Leserumfrage nach Wünschen für Weiterbildungsangebote gefragt. Hier ist das Ergebnis: Zwei neue Workshops widmen sich der Selbstorganisation und gängigen Fehlern beim agilen Arbeiten – natürlich extra für IT-Profis. (Golem.de, Inte…

Wir haben in unserer Leserumfrage nach Wünschen für Weiterbildungsangebote gefragt. Hier ist das Ergebnis: Zwei neue Workshops widmen sich der Selbstorganisation und gängigen Fehlern beim agilen Arbeiten - natürlich extra für IT-Profis. (Golem.de, Internet)

Silent Mac update nukes dangerous webserver installed by Zoom

Fix also requires users to confirm they want to join a Zoom conference.

Pedestrians use crosswalk in large metropolis.

Enlarge (credit: Kena Betancur/Getty Images)

Apple said it has pushed a silent macOS update that removes the undocumented webserver that was installed by the Zoom conferencing app for Mac.

The webserver accepts connections from any device connected to the same local network, a security researcher disclosed on Monday. The server continues to run even when a Mac user uninstalls Zoom. The researcher showed how the webserver can be abused by people on the same network to force Macs to reinstall the conferencing app. Zoom issued an emergency patch on Tuesday in response to blistering criticism from security researchers and end users.

Apple on Wednesday issued an update of its own, a company representative speaking on background told Ars. The update ensures the webserver is removed—even if users have uninstalled Zoom or haven’t installed Tuesday’s update. Apple delivered the silent update automatically, meaning there was no notification or action required of end users.

Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Whitehats use DoS attack to score key victory against ransomware crooks

Victory is anything but decisive, as crooks live to fight another day.

A diagram showing how a DoS shut down an ongoing ransomware campaign.

Enlarge / A diagram showing how a DoS shut down an ongoing ransomware campaign. (credit: Intezer)

Whitehats used a novel denial-of-service hack to score a key victory against ransomware criminals. Unfortunately, the blackhats have struck back by updating their infrastructure, leaving the fight with no clear winner.

Researchers at security firm Intezer performed the DoS technique against ransomware dubbed QNAPCrypt, a largely undetected strain that, as its name suggests, infects network storage devices made by Taiwan-based QNAP Systems and possibly other manufacturers. The hack spread by exploiting secure shell, (or SSH) connections that used weak passwords. The researchers’ analysis found that each victim received a unique bitcoin wallet for sending ransoms, a measure that was most likely intended to prevent the attackers from being traced. The analysis also showed that QNAPCrypt only encrypted devices after they received the wallet address and a public RSA key from the command-and-control server.

Intezer researchers soon noticed two key weaknesses in that process:

Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

AT&T’s robocall-blocking expansion won’t block spam calls unless you pay extra

With free version, you get “personal block list” instead of automatic blocking.

Two Android phones running AT&T's Call Protect and Mobile Security apps.

Enlarge / AT&T's Call Protect and Mobile Security apps for Android. (credit: AT&T)

AT&T yesterday said it will add "automatic fraud blocking and suspected spam-call alerts" to mobile phone lines for no added cost, but the carrier still imposes limits on blocking of spam calls unless customers pay extra.

"New AT&T Mobility consumer lines will come with the anti-robocall service. Millions of existing AT&T customers also will have it automatically added to their accounts over the coming months," AT&T's announcement said.

Despite the change, customers will still have to manually add undesired phone numbers to block lists or pay $4 a month to send all suspected spam calls to voicemail. That's because this is little more than an expansion of AT&T's Call Protect service, which has a basic free tier and a paid tier with automatic blocking of spam calls.

Read 11 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Mysterious illness that paralyzes healthy kids prompts plea from CDC

CDC wants more data and faster reporting before the next wave of cases hits.

13-year-old boy recovering in a Denver hospital from a suspected case of human enterovirus 68 during a 2014 outbreak.

Enlarge / 13-year-old boy recovering in a Denver hospital from a suspected case of human enterovirus 68 during a 2014 outbreak. (credit: Getty | Cyrus McCrimmon)

After a record number of cases in 2018 of a rare, puzzling illness that causes paralysis in otherwise healthy kids, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are urging doctors to hasten reporting and boost data collection before the next big wave of illness hits—which is expected in 2020.

The illness is called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, and is marked by the sudden onset of limb weakness (usually upper limb), paralysis, and spinal lesions seen on MRI scans. It most often occurs in children. It’s unclear what causes it and why instances are increasing—though officials suspect that a relative of poliovirus is involved. There is no specific treatment, and doctors can’t predict how affected patients will fare; some regain muscle strength and recover full use of paralyzed limbs over time, some don’t. In rare cases, AFM can cause respiratory failure and death.

AFM first gained attention in 2014, when health officials noted a spike in the polio-like condition nationwide and began carefully documenting cases. Since then, health officials have seen a distinct every-other-year pattern to the illness.

Read 15 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Lilbits 373: Huawei gets (some sort of) a repriev

After placing Huawei on an “Entity List” earlier this year and prohibiting US companies from selling products to the Chinese electronics giant, the Trump administration is easing restrictions… or something. After meeting with Chinese …

After placing Huawei on an “Entity List” earlier this year and prohibiting US companies from selling products to the Chinese electronics giant, the Trump administration is easing restrictions… or something. After meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping a few weeks ago, US president Donald Trump announced the US would “remove some curbs on Huawei” and […]

The post Lilbits 373: Huawei gets (some sort of) a repriev appeared first on Liliputing.

Tiny robot leaps around carrying its own battery, electronics

Less than 100 millimeters across, a trefoil-shaped robot can walk, hop, or leap.

Image of trefoil-shaped electronics.

Enlarge / A Tribot leaps ahead of its peers. (credit: EPFL)

Robots have traditionally been roughly humanoid in form, which has some obvious advantages, in that the robots are better able to integrate into a human-designed environment. But there are lots of environments that aren't human designed, and researchers have been experimenting with robotic forms that look more like insects or fish. Now, a team of Swiss researchers has produced a robot that looks like nothing more than a walking circuit board. Despite its small size, though, the robot is able to move by hopping, leaping, or walking, and it can even work in a group to coordinate activities.

Meet Tribot

The team calls its creation Tribot, for reasons that are obvious from its photo above. Tribot looks like a tiny circuit board because that's what it largely is, but there are some significant additions to the circuitry. One is a small lithium polymer battery, which means all the power for its motions and circuits are carried on board. The motions are powered by what's called a shape-memory alloy, which can be deformed at one temperature but snap back into place once the temperature is changed. Flexible hinges and a polymer core allow these "muscles" to move any of the three legs either gradually or with a sudden snap, all enabled by tiny heaters embedded in the hardware.

Another interesting feature of the robot is its construction. The circuit board and polymer are originally made as a flat, triangular unit. A couple of folds are all that's needed to convert this shape into the Tribot's trefoil design.

Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments