Equifax Reveals 2.4 Million Consumers Had Additional Info Stolen in 2017 Breach

Equifax Reveals 2.4 Million Consumers Had Additional Info Stolen in 2017 Breach

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Interim Equifax CEO Paulino do Rego Barros, Jr. on on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017. Photo: AP

Equifax announced new details on Thursday regarding the personal consumer data stolen during its disastrous data breach last year.

Previously undisclosed, the credit reporting agency said it had now identified approximately 2.4 million US consumers whose names and driver’s license information were stolen. In the “vast majority of cases,” the company said, the driver’s license numbers were not combined with additional pertinent information, such as home addresses, home states, or the licenses’ expiration dates.

Equifax said it had not previously reported the stolen records because its forensic investigation was focused predominantly on the theft of Social Security Numbers. The affected customers will be notified by the company directly, the company said.

“We continue to take broad measures to identify, inform, and protect consumers who may have been affected by this cyberattack,” Equifax interim CEO Paulino do Rego Barros, Jr., said in a statement.

The Equifax breach, first reported in September 2017, is widely considered the largest breach of consumer data in US history. Roughly 148 million Americans were impacted.

Earlier this week, a prominent US lawmaker accused Equifax of profiting off the breach. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, told Marketplace that Americans who’ve decided not to business with Equifax may still be paying the company when they sign up for outside credit-protection services.

“Equifax may actually make money off this breach because it sells all these credit-protection devices, and even consumers who say, ‘Hey, I’m never doing business with Equifax again’—well, good for you, but you go buy credit protection from someone else, they very well may be using Equifax to do the back office part,” said Warren, author of legislation co-sponsored by Sen. Mark Warner aimed at holding credit reporting agencies financial liable for breaches involving sensitive consumer data.

Tech

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March 1, 2018 at 11:39AM

Putin Nukes Florida in New Animated Video Showing Russia’s Futuristic Weapons

Putin Nukes Florida in New Animated Video Showing Russia’s Futuristic Weapons

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Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his annual address to the country’s Federal Assembly today, showing off some impressive new weapons in the process. One of the concept videos even showed a nuclear strike using multiple warheads against the United States. The video depicts Florida, to be exact—the site of President Trump’s private club in Palm Beach.

“Any use of nuclear weapons against Russia or its allies, any kind of attack, will be regarded as a nuclear attack against Russia and in response we will take action instantaneously no matter what the consequences are,” Putin said during the address. “Nobody should have any doubt about that.”

The editor-in-chief of the Kremlin backed RT news outlet tweeted “Elon Musk my ass” in response to the new strategic nuclear weapons, poking fun at America’s obsession with private space companies like Space X.

The Assembly broke into applause during the segment above when the video showed that Russia’s new rocket could hit any target on the globe.

“With the new system, there is no limitation,” said Putin. “As you can see from this video, it can attack any target through the North Pole or via the South Pole. No missile defense system will be able to withstand it.”

And while the part of the video showing Florida was relatively brief, it wasn’t subtle. If you had any doubt that it’s showing Florida, take a look at this Google Maps image side-by-side with Russia’s attack video.

Graphic: Left: Screenshot of a new animated video from Russia, Right: Map of Florida

“But this isn’t the end. We’ve developed new strategic weapons that don’t use ballistic trajectory at all, which means that missile defense will be useless against it,” Putin bragged.

Putin admitted that they don’t have any names for the new system in the animation and got a chuckle from the audience when he asked for the members of the audience to submit proposals to the Defense Ministry’s website.

The new weapon uses a “nuclear power energy unit,” according to Putin. “This is how it avoids defense barriers,” Putin explained as the video played.

“It has unlimited range, so it can keep going like this forever. As you understand, this is unheard of and no one has this system in the world. They may come up with something like this in the future, but by that time our guys will come up with some new ideas as well,” Putin said.

Putin also bragged about the noiseless “unmanned submarines” that can reach incredible depths that are “just fantastic.” The Russian president was sure to note that these were also capable of carrying nuclear weapons, though it’s unclear if the country has ever actually placed a nuke on a submarine without any humans aboard. All we know for sure right now is that their animators are working overtime.

Aside from weapons, Putin’s speech was heavy on romanticizing the glory days of the Soviet Union. Or at least romanticizing the resources that were at the nation’s disposal before its collapse.

“Russia lost 23.8 percent of its territory, 48.5 percent of its population, 41 percent of GDP, 39.4 percent of its industrial potential, 44.6 percent of the defensive capabilities,” Putin explained.

“It was a big question whether we’d be able to develop strategic weapons at all. Some even asked whether if Russia was capable of servicing nuclear weapons we inherited from the Soviet Union,” said Putin.

Putin said that the new weapons were developed in direct response to the US withdrawing from the ABM Treaty in 2002.

“In 2000, the US told us about its plans to withdraw from the ABM Treaty. Russia objected to this categorically. We believed that the treaty, the 1972 treaty, was the cornerstone, the international security architecture,” Putin said.

The full video of the presentation with English translation is on RT’s YouTube channel. Putin’s discussion of the military and defense begins at the 1 hour and 15 minute mark.

“We made no secret of our plans. We spoke openly of what we wanted to do,” Putin said about the new developments in nuclear technology.

“We wanted to motivate our counterparts—this was in 2004. Despite all of the difficulties we faced over the years, economic and financial problems, problems with our defense industry, with our armed forces, Russia remained a nuclear power, but nobody wanted to talk to us seriously,” Putin said. 

“They kept ignoring us. Nobody listened to us. So, listen to us now,” he said to rapturous applause.

If you had any doubts that the New Cold War was upon us, you can stop doubting.

[RT and NBC News]

Tech

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March 1, 2018 at 07:15AM

World’s Largest Airplane Readies For Flight

World’s Largest Airplane Readies For Flight

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The world’s largest airplane is taking to the runway.
The massive Stratolaunch aircraft developed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen conducted a taxi test over the weekend in Mojave, California where the aircraft reached a speed of 46 miles per hour. With a wingspan of 385 feet, and powered by six Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines, the ungainly craft is meant to give rockets a ride to the stratosphere, where they will launch into orbit.
Gearing Up For Flight
The test follows earlier

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February 28, 2018 at 04:22PM

Verizon and a company it bought just paid $614M in biggest FCC fine ever

Verizon and a company it bought just paid $614M in biggest FCC fine ever

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The Federal Communications Commission today collected a $614.3 million fine from Verizon and Straight Path, a company that Verizon just bought.

The merger and fine are related. Straight Path held about 1,000 FCC spectrum licenses but failed to use them. Straight Path thus entered a settlement with the FCC requiring it “to sell its licenses and remit 20 percent of the overall proceeds of the transaction to the US Treasury,” the FCC said in its announcement today.

Verizon struck a deal to buy Straight Path in May 2017 for $3.1 billion and completed the acquisition today. Verizon and its new subsidiary were responsible for paying the $614.3 million, which “is the largest civil penalty ever paid to the US Treasury to resolve a Commission investigation,” the FCC said.

Verizon reported $126 billion in operating revenue in 2017.

The settlement between the FCC and Straight Path “resolved an investigation into allegations that Straight Path failed to use the spectrum it was awarded and thus violated the Commission’s buildout and discontinuance rules in connection with approximately 1,000 licenses in certain millimeter wave spectrum bands,” the FCC said. “These high-frequency bands have been identified by the Commission for use in the next-generation evolution of wireless technology or 5G.”

Straight Path owned spectrum licenses covering the entire United States in the 39GHz and 28GHz bands.

The $614.3 million penalty “is in addition to $15 million that Straight Path previously paid to the US Treasury and its earlier relinquishment of 196—approximately 20 percent—of its licenses to the Commission that were not included in its transaction with Verizon,” the FCC said.

Straight Path will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon, the company said in its merger announcement today.

Verizon topped AT&T in bidding war

Straight Path was a hot commodity last year among carriers looking for spectrum to bolster future 5G services. AT&T announced a deal to buy the company in April 2017, but Verizon then outbid AT&T.

The FCC approved the transfer of licenses from Straight Path to Verizon in an order last month, despite objections from consumer advocacy groups and small wireless carriers.

Letting Verizon acquire Straight Path’s spectrum “could thwart competitive carriers’ efforts to deploy next-generation technologies in some of the most rural and remote areas of the United States,” the Competitive Carriers Association said in August 2017.

Tech

via Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com

February 28, 2018 at 05:17PM

Cellebrite can unlock any iPhone (for some values of “any”)

Cellebrite can unlock any iPhone (for some values of “any”)

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Cellebrite—the Israel-based forensics company that has been a key source for law enforcement in efforts to crack the security of mobile devices to recover evidence—has reportedly found a way to unlock Apple devices using all versions of the iOS operating system up to version 11.2.6, the most recent update pushed out to customers by Apple. The capability is part of Cellebrite’s Advanced Unlocking and Extraction Services, a lab-based service the company provides to law enforcement agencies—not a software product.

Tech

via Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com

February 28, 2018 at 07:55PM

This is the All Twinster, a new torque-vectoring hybrid system for SUVs

This is the All Twinster, a new torque-vectoring hybrid system for SUVs

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The engineering company GKN might not be instantly recognizable, but it has been a leader in the world of four- and all-wheel drive for decades. In recent years, it has been working as much with electric motors as mechanical systems, and it has just revealed its latest work, which it calls All Twinster. It’s an all-wheel drive system designed for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and GKN says it’s the first such system to be capable of all-wheel torque-vectoring.

To create the GKN Technology Demonstrator 18, the company started with a Mercedes-AMG GLA, then ditched the front power-transfer unit, prop shaft, and rear axle. Up front, the GLA kept its gearbox, but it now uses GKN’s Twinster torque-vectoring system in place of the existing final drive and differential.

This uses an electronically controlled clutch for each wheel that can apportion the amount of torque it receives from the SUV’s 375hp (280kW) internal combustion engine. (GKN’s mechanical twin-clutch torque-vectoring systems can already be found in cars like the Ford Focus RS.)

At the rear, instead of the GLA’s usual mechanical setup, there’s now an eAxle, a twin-speed unit called the eTwinsterX. It uses a compact coaxial motor-generator unit that provides 161hp (120kW) and 155ft-lbs (210Nm). As with the front (mechanical) axle, the unit is also able to vary the torque split between left and right wheels.

Both systems are linked and controlled centrally, allowing the GTD18 to adjust each wheel’s torque on the fly to suit available traction conditions. That includes being able to over-speed an outside wheel when cornering to increase the vehicle’s yaw rate, which means it will take a tighter line through the turn. The hybrid powertrain is also able to run as a pure EV with just the rear wheels driving.

Because the rear eAxle is so compact, GKN says that it should be much simpler for OEMs to add it as a “bolt-in” hybrid system to existing vehicles. However, it has only just begun testing the GTD18 at its testing facility above the Arctic Circle in Sweden, so it might be a year or two before we start to see its technology appear in the showroom.

Listing image by GKN

Tech

via Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com

March 1, 2018 at 09:18AM

Computer Teacher With No Computers Chalks Up Clever Classroom Plan

Computer Teacher With No Computers Chalks Up Clever Classroom Plan

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Owura Kwadwo Hottish illustrates a window of Microsoft Word using colored chalk on a blackboard. He uses it to teach computer skills to students at the Betenase M/A Junior High School in Kumasi, Ghana.

Frimpong Innocent


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Frimpong Innocent

Owura Kwadwo Hottish illustrates a window of Microsoft Word using colored chalk on a blackboard. He uses it to teach computer skills to students at the Betenase M/A Junior High School in Kumasi, Ghana.

Frimpong Innocent

Could you teach computer class without a computer?

For Owura Kwadwo Hottish, 33, an information and communications technology teacher in Ghana, it’s his only option. At the middle school where he works, there are no computers. So using colored chalk, he painstakingly draws a version of the computer screen onto the blackboard.

In mid-February, he shared a Facebook post showing photos of himself teaching Microsoft Word using this method. His story went viral, making international headlines around the world.

People praised his incredible attention to detail. “How many days did you take to draw that?” one commenter marveled. Indeed, his drawing of the word processing software included dozens of buttons and features, from the File tab to the horizontal scroll bar.

And he was lauded for his commitment to the students. “God bless you for the effort you are putting into grooming our young people,” wrote another.

One commenter expressed his disappointment in the Ghanaian education system: “Modern-day Ghana teaching ICT like this … so sad.”

For Hottish, who spends about 30 minutes making these drawings before every class, teaching this way is really no big deal. “Every subject is taught on the blackboard here,” he says.

He has taught computer class for six years and currently works at Betenase M/A Junior High School in Kumasi, a city about 250 miles from Accra, the capital of Ghana. He studied computers at the Kumasi Technical University. He does have a computer at home, “but the battery is too weak to send it to school,” he says.

Via WhatsApp, we chatted with Hottish about his newfound fame, where he learned how to draw and what he wishes most for his students. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You’ve captured the world’s attention for using a chalkboard to teach a computer program. What do you make of all the hype?

I was really surprised. I wasn’t expecting my Facebook post to go that far.

Your story has been shared all over the world. Why do you think people are so fascinated by it?

It’s because of the chalkboard illustration of Microsoft Office. How I detailed it.

Why didn’t you just teach them on a computer?

There is no computer and I had no choice but to draw for them.

Where did you learn your drawing skills? You are quite good!

I studied art and graphic design in secondary school.

What else do you teach besides Microsoft Word?

We teach them the basics, like turning on and off the computer, components of the personal computer and creating folders.

And you do that all on the chalkboard!

Yes.

When your students actually see a real computer are they able to take what you’ve learned from the chalkboard and apply it to real life?

Yes, but not with ease. They sometimes fumble behind the real computers. [Teaching with a real computer] would be easier for them.

Do your students have computers at home?

[We live in] a rural community and the students don’t have it at all in their homes.

People talk about the “digital divide,” which keeps poor people from entering the digital age. Does a chalkboard picture of Microsoft Word help kids get a way in, or is it a cruel reminder that they are lacking in equipment?

They are lacking more than just equipment.

Did your students laugh at you when you first tried teaching them computers on the chalkboard?

No. That’s the normal way and they’re used to it. They were OK since they don’t have an option, not having computers at the school.

So you’re not the first to teach computers on a blackboard!

Yeah, that’s normal in the rural community.

Does anyone ever erase your drawings?

Yes, after the students are done and the lesson is over. To make room for the next class.

So you have to draw a new screen every time!

Yes.

I’ve read in news reports that you’ve received an outpouring of help from foreigners who want to donate computers to your school. Is that actually happening?

No, they are showing interest but nothing has been brought to the school. We are praying that they are able to organize themselves and present us with computers.

Do students ever correct your drawings?

No, they only tell me if they can’t see some portions very well.

Have any of your students graduated and gone on to study or work in computers?

I can’t tell, because when they graduate they move to urban areas to make a living or continue their education.

If you could give your students anything, what would it be?

Computers! So they can have a feel for it.

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March 1, 2018 at 09:20AM