Category: Technology

Monitoring Desk

STRASBOURG: Facebook Inc’s Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg came under pressure from EU lawmakers on Wednesday to come to Europe and shed light on the data breach involving Cambridge Analytica that affected nearly three million Europeans.

The world’s largest social network is under fire worldwide after information about nearly 87 million users wrongly ended up in the hands of the British political consultancy, a firm hired by Donald Trump for his 2016 US presidential election campaign.

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani last week repeated his request to Zuckerberg to appear before the assembly, saying that sending a junior executive would not suffice.

In his letter to the Facebook CEO, Tajani said the company should bear in mind that lawmakers play a key role in crafting tough rules governing online tech giants.

“Let me also stress that one of the Parliament’s future priorities will be to reinforce the regulatory framework to ensure a well-functioning digital market with high level protection for our citizens,” he wrote.

EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova, who recently spoke to Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, said Zuckerberg should heed the lawmakers’ call.

“This case is too important to treat as business as usual,” Jourova told an assembly of lawmakers.

“I advised Sheryl Sandberg that Zuckerberg should accept the invitation from the European Parliament. (EU digital chief Andrius) Ansip refers to the invitation as a measure of rebuilding trust,” she said.

Facebook did not respond to a request for comment. Zuckerberg fielded 10 hours of questions over two days from nearly 100 US lawmakers last week and emerged largely unscathed. He will meet Ansip in San Francisco on Tuesday.

Another European lawmaker Sophia in’t Veld echoed the call from her colleagues, saying that the Facebook CEO should do them the same courtesy.

“I think Zuckerberg would be well advised to appear at the Parliament out of respect for Europeans,” she said.

Lawmaker Viviane Reding, the architect of the EU’s landmark privacy law which will come into effect on May 25, giving Europeans more control over their online data, said the right laws would bring back trust among users.

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON: Chinese smartphone maker ZTE’s US woes deepened on Tuesday, as regulators proposed new rules that could cut into its sales, while a supply ban means it may not be able to use Android software in its devices, according to a source.

The US Commerce Department banned American firms on Monday from selling parts and software to ZTE for seven years. The move was sparked by ZTE’s violation of an agreement that was reached after it was caught illegally shipping US goods to Iran.

Then on Tuesday, a US telecoms regulator proposed new rules that would bar government programs from buying from companies that it says pose a security threat to US telecoms networks, which will likely hurt both ZTE and rival Chinese smartphone maker Huawei Technologies.

  The moves threaten to further complicate relations between the United States and China. The two countries have already proposed tens of billions of dollars in tariffs in recent weeks, fanning worries of a full-blown trade war that could hurt global supply chains as well as business investment plans.

The Commerce Department decision means ZTE may not be able to use Google’s Android operating system on its mobile devices, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

ZTE and the Alphabet unit have been discussing the impact of the ban, the source added, but the two companies were still unclear about the use of Android by ZTE as of Tuesday morning.

ZTE shipped 46.4 million smartphones last year, placing it seventh among Android-based manufacturers, according to research firm IHS Markit.

Google declined to comment and ZTE has not responded to requests to comment.

The proposed new rules from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), meanwhile, which are expected to be finalized this year, appear to be another prong in a US effort to prevent ZTE and Huawei from gaining significant market share in the United States.

They would prevent money from the $8.5 billion FCC Universal Service Fund, which includes subsidies for telephone service to poor and rural areas, from being spent on goods or services from companies or countries which pose a “national security threat to the integrity of communications networks or their supply chains,” the FCC said.

“Hidden ‘backdoors’ to our networks in routers, switches, and other network equipment can allow hostile foreign powers to inject viruses and other malware, steal Americans’ private data, spy on US businesses, and more,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who introduced the proposal.

Pai did not specify China or specific companies.

But in a letter to Congress last month, Pai said he shared the concerns of US lawmakers about espionage threats from Huawei, the world’s third-largest smartphone maker.

USTelecom, an industry trade group, praised the FCC’s “proposal to confront nation-state actions that threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our nation’s network infrastructure.”

Republican US senators have also introduced legislation that would block the US government from buying or leasing telecoms equipment from Huawei or ZTE.

Huawei’s planned deal with US carrier AT&T to sell its smartphones in the United States collapsed in January after US lawmakers sent a letter to Pai citing concerns about Huawei’s plans to launch US consumer products.

Amid a steady drip of bad news, Huawei has laid off its vice president of external affairs, Bill Plummer, and four other employees at its Washington office, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The company slashed lobbying expenditures to $60,000 in 2017 from $348,500 in 2016, according to Huawei filings.

ZTE has similarly cut its lobbying expenditures, from $860,000 in 2016 to $510,000 last year, according to ZTE filings. Reuters

Monitoring Desk

The United States and Britain on Monday warned of a global cyber attack targeting routers and other networking equipment, blaming Russian government-backed hackers for the campaign on government agencies, businesses and critical infrastructure operators.

Washington and London issued a joint alert, saying the widespread, global campaign began in 2015 and could be escalated to launch offensive attacks.

The alert comes two months after the United States and Britain accused Russia of carrying out the damaging “NotPetya” cyber attack in 2017 that unleashed a virus that crippled parts of Ukraine’s infrastructure and damaged computers across the globe.

American and British officials said the attacks affected a wide range of organizations including internet service providers, private businesses and critical infrastructure providers. They did not identify any victims or provide details on the impact of the attacks.

“When we see malicious cyber activity, whether it be from the Kremlin or other malicious nation-state actors, we are going to push back,” said Rob Joyce, the White House cybersecurity coordinator.

The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment late on Monday. Moscow has denied previous accusations that it carried out cyberattacks on the United States and other countries.

US intelligence agencies last year accused Russia of interfering in the 2016 election with a hacking and propaganda campaign supporting Donald Trump’s campaign for president. Last month the Trump administration blamed Russia for a campaign of cyber attacks stretching back at least two years that targeted the US power grid.

Britain and the United States said they issued the alert to help targets protect themselves and persuade victims to share information with government investigators so they can better understand the threat.

“We don’t have full insight into the scope of the compromise,” said Jeanette Manfra, a cybersecurity official for the US Department of Homeland Security.

The alert is unrelated to the suspected chemical weapons attack in a town in Syria that prompted a US-led military strike over the weekend targeting facilities of the Russian-backed Syrian government, Joyce said.

US and British officials warned that infected routers could be used to launch future offensive cyber operations.

“They could be pre-positioning for use in times of tension,” said Ciaran Martin, chief executive of the British government’s National Cyber Security Centre cyber defence agency, who added that “millions of machines” were targeted.

Some private-sector cybersecurity experts have criticized the US government for being too slow to release information about cyber attacks. Monday’s announcement appears to reflect a desire to publicize a threat quickly and widely even before officials completely understand its breadth.

A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there had been a steady increase in Russian cyber attacks in recent years.

“It’s harder to track, attribute and respond immediately to a cyber attack … than it is to know who fired a missile,” the official said. REUTERS

Monitoring Desk

LONDON: Britain would consider launching a cyber attack against Russia in retaliation if Russia targeted British national infrastructure, the Sunday Times reported, citing unnamed security sources.

Britain’s relations with Russia are at a historic low, after it blamed Russia for a nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England, prompting mass expulsions of diplomats.

Russia has denied involvement, and on Saturday also condemned strikes against Syria by Western powers, which Britain took part in.

Cybersecurity has become a focal point of the strained relations. On Thursday, a British spy chief said that his GCHQ agency would “continue to expose Russia’s unacceptable cyber behaviour”, adding there would be increasing demand for its cyber expertise.

The Sunday Times also said that British spy officials had been preparing for Russia-backed hackers to release embarrassing information on politicians and other high-profile people since the attack on the Skripals. REUTERS

Over the last year, we introduced many pocked drones with different shapes and features. SMRC S1 comes with a square shape like the Eachine E55.

Flying cameras are often advertised as “Selfie drones”, but this is a bit exaggerated. The truth is that you can’t buy anything under $500 in compliance with the term.

In addition to the HD video recording, the SMRC S1’s on-board camera can transmit live-video stream to your phone.

Thanks to the barometric air-pressure sensor, the drone is capable to autonomously maintain its flight altitude at the desired level. This feature is very helpful for beginner pilots.

SMRC S1 drone features and specs

• Compact size with foldable arms;
• 6-axis gyro-stabilization;
• • 2MP camera with WiFi real-time image transmission (FPV);
  • Headless flight mode;
  • Altitude hold (auto-hover);
  • Dual control mode (RC and phone APP);
  • 3D flips and rolls;
  • Up to 8 minutes flight time;
  • Black, Red, Silver and Green color options.

  Folded, it measures only 70 x 70 x 27 mm, so you can take it with you everywhere.

  According to the manufacturer’s specs, the built-in 300mAh LiPo battery allows up to 8 minutes of play time.

  As you can see in the image bellow, the remote controller has 8 buttons and 2 control sticks. While the left shoulder button allows to toggle between speed rates, the right one allows to enable 3D flip mode.

• Included with the SMRC S1 mini foldable quadcopter

  • Remote controller;
  • Phone holder;
  • 3.7Vm 300mAh LiPo battery (built-in);
  • USB charging cable for drone;
  • 1 pair of spare propellers;
  • Screwdriver;
  • English user manual.

  Using this “L9331RM” coupon code you can get one from here for only $30.99 (including free shipping). There are 4 color options (red, green, silver and black).

Courtesy First Quad Copter

Monitoring Desk

Bungie today announced the name and release date of its second Destiny 2 expansion. The expansion, which will likely cost $19.99 like December’s Curse of Osiris, is called Warmind, and it’s expected to revolve around the game’s mystical artificial intelligences that

have long been a core part of the franchise’s backstory. It launches on May 8th. The warmind in

question is rumored to be a character named Charlemagne or possibly Rasputin, a prominent AI

from the original Destiny. Bungie is planning an official live stream on Twitch to reveal more info on April 24th.

A fair chunk of Destiny 2 players likely already paid for Warmind, as part of the game’s collector’s edition sold last year. Everyone else will have to make a determination whether they want to stick with the Destiny universe, which has been plagued by constant controversy since the game’s September 2017 launch. Bungie has made a series of minor and major changes to the game to address criticism — mainly that the game is not as fun, deep, or rewarding as the first — and restore health to its player base, which appears to have dwindled significantly over the past six months.

But the issues facing the game feel more systemic, and Bungie will likely have to make even more drastic changes with the larger, more substantial expansion planned for September. The company acknowledges this, writing in the announcement post, “For now it’s all hands on deck to make sure we deliver on our promise to restore Destiny 2 to the hobby we all love.”

That said, Bungie did reveal more of its developer roadmap today and revealed some positive changes its making with Warmind and future expansions. Most notably, the developer will no longer restrict competitive multiplayer maps to only those who buy the new expansion, a move it made with Curse of Osiris that gated content behind a paywall and resulted in painfully long queue times for certain playlists.

The Warmind launch, which also coincides with the launch of the game’s third season, will also bring private Crucible matches, a vault space increase, seasonal multiplayer rankings, and much-needed boosts in power to the game’s coveted and rare exotic weapon class. All of those are welcome changes and go a long way in repairing some of the game’s biggest issues.

Down the line, Bungie is planning this summer to bring back the daily bounty system, which diehard fans had been calling for to give players tasks to complete if they login every day. In September, with season four and the presumed launch of the still-unannounced third expansion, Bungie is planning to make changes to “weapon slot systems.” We don’t know exactly what that means, but one of the biggest issues the game faces today is how weak and unexciting players feel in the competitive multiplayer modes, primarily because flashy, one-hit-kill weapons like sniper rifles and shotguns were shuffled into a special restricted “power weapon” slot.

How Bungie addresses this with those weapon slot changes, and how those changes impact the speed and fun factor of multiplayer combat, will have a big effect on whether Destiny 2 can reclaim the popularity and longevity of its predecessor.