Today’s Tech Sightings: Hackers Unlock Samsung Galaxy S8 With Fake Iris Samsung’s latest Galaxy S8 smartphone includes an iris scanner for users to lock and access their devices. But as previously demonstrated with fingerprints, biometric security measures can also be hacked. Researchers from the Chaos Computer Club were able to do just that. They took […]
Pakistan Goes for Robocup Glory; Russia’s New Online Spying Laws
Today’s Tech Sightings: Pakistani Roboteers Hunt Global Soccer Glory For the first time, students at Pakistan’s National University of Science and Technology will participate in the annual RoboCup tournament, held this year in Leipzig, Germany, June 30–July 4. The Pakistani ‘team’ of six humanoid robots was purchased from France, costing about $17,000 each. Russia’s State […]
Spy Hacking Group Targets Asia; Elderly Find Refuge in Technology
Today’s Tech Sightings: Spy Hacking Group Targeting Asian Governments Spotted Microsoft’s latest Security Intelligence Report says hackers have been spying on Asian governments since 2009. Dubbed PLATINUM, this particular hacking group has carried out a number of cyber espionage campaigns against government and private targets in Asia, according to Tim Rains, security editor of the […]
Wireless-tracking Chip; Kids, Parents’ Info Hacked in VTech Products
Today’s Tech Sightings: Former BlackBerry Execs Create Wireless-Tracking Chip Developed by Cognitive Systems Corp., the chip, called R10, can pick up and analyze wireless radio signals from various devices, including routers and television remote controls. Built on top of that is Amera, a wireless tracking technology that can sense motion by detecting changes in wireless […]
Facebook; Google Translate; Wearable Tech; Windows 10; e-Sports
Today’s Tech Sightings: Half of the World’s Population Is on Facebook Facebook’s daily active users now average 968 million, an increase of 17 percent over last year. According to Facebook, up to 1.49 billion users – half of the world’s online population of three billion – accessed the social network by the end of the […]
3D-Scanning Ethiopia’s History; Lenovo’s Superfish; Indonesia Smartphones
Today’s Tech Sightings: 3D Laser Scanner Makes Haunting Works of Art Historians Charles Matz and Jonathan Michael Dillon use 3D Lidar scanning — a technology that uses pulses of light to map 3D structures — to help preserve Ethiopia’s historic sites. Inadvertently, they turned their scanning device into a tool for creating works of art. […]
Tech Sightings, June 18, 2014
Report: Neither iOS Nor Android Inherently More Secure Than the Other Apple might have an edge over Android in mobile app security, but a report by Marble Security found that companies face data breach risks regardless of the platform if they let their employees bring in their own devices. A ‘Bionic Pancreas’ Might Transform How […]