Bjarteblogg

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/17/tech/epilepsy-strobe-twitter-attack-trnd/

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/epg4xm/amazon-ring-camera-security

Ring lacks basic security features, making it easy for hackers to turn the company’s cameras against its customers.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/lifelabs-pays-hackers-to-recover-data-of-15-million-customers/

Data breach took place in early November, and hackers also gained access to 85,000 laboratory test results.

https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/12/15/google-pauses-chrome-79-rollout-on-android-after-bug-wipes-data-in-some-apps/

data from localStorage and WebSQL — two types of storage commonly used by web apps and packaged apps — wasn’t migrated properly.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3064539/self-driving-mercedes-will-be-programmed-to-sacrifice-pedestrians-to-save-the-driver

Instead of worrying about troublesome details like ethics, Mercedes will just program its cars to save the driver and the car’s occupants, in every situation.

https://uploadvr.com/facebook-ads-vr/

The day is here some VR enthusiasts feared would arrive when Facebook acquired Oculus VR in 2014 for billions of dollars as “Facebook will now use information about your Oculus activity, like which apps you use, to help provide…more relevant content, including ads”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/business/algorithm-bias-fix.html

Humans are inscrutable in a way that algorithms are not

Changing algorithms is easier than changing people: software on computers can be updated; the “wetware” in our brains has so far proven much less pliable.

https://medium.com/fluxx-studio-notes/52-things-i-learned-in-2019-8ee483e6c816

At least three private companies have fallen victim to ‘deep fake’ audio fraud. In each case, a computerised voice clone of the company CEO “called a senior financial officer to request an urgent money transfer.”

Some blind people can understand speech that is almost three times faster than the fastest speech sighted people can understand. They can use speech synthesisers set at at 800 words per minute (conversational speech is 120–150 wpm). Research suggests that a section of the brain that normally responds to light is re-mapped in blind people to process sound.

https://ipvm.com/reports/ethnicity-analytics

This exposes that Uyghur persecution and discrimination goes far beyond Xinjiang and is being built on video surveillance technologies

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/12/vulnerability-in-fully-patched-android-phones-under-active-attack-by-bank-thieves/

The vulnerability allows malicious apps to masquerade as legitimate apps that targets have already installed and come to trust, researchers from security firm Promon reported in a post. Running under the guise of trusted apps already installed, the malicious apps can then request permissions to carry out sensitive tasks, such as recording audio or video, taking photos, reading text messages or phishing login credentials. Targets who click yes to the request are then compromised

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50573069

Apple has complied with Russian demands to show the annexed Crimean peninsula as part of Russian territory on its apps.

https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/01/fbi-smart-tv-security/

Beyond the risk that your TV manufacturer and app developers may be listening and watching you, that television can also be a gateway for hackers to come into your home. A bad cyber actor may not be able to access your locked-down computer directly, but it is possible that your unsecured TV can give him or her an easy way in the backdoor through your router

arguably one of the bigger issues that should cause as much if not greater concerns are how much tracking data is collected on smart TV owners.

collect tons of information about what users are watching in order to help advertisers better target ads against their viewers

The FBI recommends placing black tape over an unused smart TV camera, keeping your smart TV up-to-date with the latest patches and fixes

As convenient as it might be, the most secure smart TV might be one that isn’t connected to the internet at all.

https://pxlnv.com/blog/garages-to-geopolitics/

any company operating worldwide must set a line that it will not cross. There cannot be limitless ethical bending to appease an audience of countries ranging from liberal democracies to ruthless authoritarian states. Otherwise, products and services will morph from tools for customers into tools for dictators

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_gardening

a form of mutation breeding where plants are exposed to radioactive sources, typically cobalt-60, in order to generate mutations, some of which turned out to be useful.

The practice of plant irradiation has resulted in the development of over two thousand new varieties of plants, most of which are now used in agricultural production.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/27/technology/tiktok-censorship-apology.html

The video app said it would review its policies after a 17-year-old in New Jersey who discussed Chinese detention camps was locked out of her account

https://www.zdnet.com/article/cheap-kids-smartwatch-exposes-the-location-of-5000-children/

Insecure web backend and mobile app let attackers access any kids’ details and parent account.

https://www.wired.com/story/146-bugs-preinstalled-android-phones/

When you buy an Android smartphone, it’s rarely pure Android. Manufacturers squeeze in their own apps or give it a fresh coat of interface. Carriers do it too. The resulting stew of preinstalled software and vanilla Android sometimes turns out to be rancid, putting flaws and vulnerabilities on the phone before you even take it out of the box. For proof of how bad it is, look no further than the 146 vulnerabilities—across 29 Android smartphone makers—that have just been simultaneously revealed.

https://www.bt.no/nyheter/lokalt/i/K3XOKE/2200-ansatte-i-bergen-kommune-ble-lurt-av-falsk-e-post

Hver sjette ansatte i Bergen kommune ga fra seg brukernavn og passord da de ble forsøkt lurt under en gransking av datasikkerheten i kommunen.

Bergen kommune har ikke god nok kontroll på personopplysningene de håndterer, og mange ansatte kjenner ikke til rutiner for personvern og hvordan de varsler om sikkerhetsbrudd.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/world/asia/china-xinjiang-documents.html

one of the most significant leaks of government papers from inside China’s ruling Communist Party in decades. They provide an unprecedented inside view of the continuing clampdown in Xinjiang, in which the authorities have corralled as many as a million ethnic Uighurs, Kazakhs and others into internment camps and prisons over the past three years.

https://edition-m.cnn.com/2019/11/14/europe/veneto-council-climate-change-floods-trnd-intl-scli/index.html