Month: June 2021

Enlarge / Virgin Galactic's third powered flight on July 26th 2018. (credit: Virgin Galactic)

Virgin Galactic announced a new contract Thursday for human-tended research aboard its suborbital spacecraft, VSS Unity. The company said that Kellie Gerardi, a researcher and science communicator, would conduct two experiments during an upcoming flight that could happen as early as 2022.

The announcement is notable because it suggests there may be a viable business for Virgin in this kind of microgravity research and because the news provides further evidence that "regular" people may one day be able to go into space as more companies start flying there.

Gerardi has been involved in the commercial space industry, including working for the Commercial Space Federation, for about a decade. She obtained this flight by partnering with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences to secure research contracts with the National Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Space Agency.

Enlarge / Ransomware (credit: Getty Images)

The cyberattack that halted some operations at the world’s biggest meat processor this week was the work of REvil, a ransomware franchise that’s known for its ever-escalating series of cut-throat tactics designed to extort the highest price.

The FBI made the attribution on Wednesday, a day after word emerged that Brazil-based JBS SA had experienced a ransomware attack that prompted the closure of at least five US-based plants, in addition to facilities in Canada and Australia.

High-pressure ransom

REvil and its affiliates account for about four percent of attacks on the public and private sectors. In most respects, REvil is a fairly average ransomware enterprise. What sets it apart is the cruelty of its tactics, which are designed to exert maximum pressure on victims.