Google’s Android hacking contest fails to attract exploits

Six months ago, Google offered to pay US$200,000 to any researcher who could remotely hack into an Android device by knowing only the victim's phone number and email address. No one stepped up to the challenge.While that might sound like good news and a testament to the mobile operating system's strong security, that's likely not the reason why the company's Project Zero Prize contest attracted so little interest. From the start, people pointed out that $200,000 was too low a prize for a remote exploit chain that wouldn't rely on user interaction."If one could do this, the exploit could be sold to other companies or entities for a much higher price," one user responded to the original contest announcement in September.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Russian hacking goes far beyond 2016 pro-Trump effort

As the Senate Intelligence Committee held its first public hearings examining Russian hacking yesterday, lawmakers received a stark warning that the intrusions have been far broader in scope than the intelligence community's finding that Russian hackers meddled in the 2016 presidential election to help Donald Trump defeat Hillary Clinton.Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) seemed to confirm as much when he announced that former aides to his presidential campaign, had been targeted by an apparent cyberattack emanating from a Russian IP address last July and again just this Wednesday.Clinton Watts, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said that his organization in the past week had detected Russian involvement in a social media campaign aimed at discrediting House Speaker Paul Ryan (D-Wis.).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Stuff The Internet Says On Scalability For March 31st, 2017

Hey, it's HighScalability time:

 

What lies beneath? Networks...of blood vessels. (Wellcome Image Awards)

If you like this sort of Stuff then please support me on Patreon.
  • 5000: node (150,000 pod) clusters in Kubernetes 1.6; 15 years: time to @spacex launch with a recycled rocket booster; 174 mbps: Internet speed in Dublin; 10 nm: Intel’s new Moore approved process; 30 minutes: to create Samsung's S8; 50 billion: of your cells replaced each day; 2 million: new red blood cells per second; 3dbm: attenuation of human body, same as a wall; 12: hours of tardis sounds; 350: pages to stop a bullet; 2: meters of DNA pack in a space .000006m wide; 

  • Quotable Quotes:
    • @swardley: Having met many "leaders" in technology & business, I wouldn't bet on the future survival of humanity. If anything AI might help the odds
    • Francis Pouliot: Any contentious hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain shall be considered an alternative cryptocurrency (altcoin), regardless of the relative hashing power on the forked chain.
    • @coda: WhatsApp: 900M users, built w/ < 35 devs, using #erlang Krispy Kreme: 1004 locations, 3700 employees, original glazed is 190 #calories
    • @BenedictEvans: Still think Continue reading

Tech giants join effort to save legal services for the poor from Trump budget ax

The biggest names in technology are among 185 companies urging Congress to ignore a line item in the Trump Administration’s proposed budget that would entirely defund the Legal Services Corporation, a non-profit organization that has provided civil legal assistance to the poor since 1974.The letter to Congress reads: The undersigned 185 leaders of corporate legal departments across the country write to urge you to support the preservation of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) and provide funding at a level of $450 million for FY 2018, which would be consistent with the appropriation received in FY2010, adjusted for inflation. As the cornerstone of equal justice in America, LSC creates a level playing field for the many lower and moderate- income families who cannot afford a lawyer. By upholding the fundamental American promise of liberty and justice for all, the minimal investment in LSC generates a significant positive return for business and for the health of individuals and communities across the nation.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Tech giants join effort to save legal services for the poor from Trump budget ax

The biggest names in technology are among 185 companies urging Congress to ignore a line item in the Trump Administration’s proposed budget that would entirely defund the Legal Services Corporation, a non-profit organization that has provided civil legal assistance to the poor since 1974.The letter to Congress reads: The undersigned 185 leaders of corporate legal departments across the country write to urge you to support the preservation of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) and provide funding at a level of $450 million for FY 2018, which would be consistent with the appropriation received in FY2010, adjusted for inflation. As the cornerstone of equal justice in America, LSC creates a level playing field for the many lower and moderate- income families who cannot afford a lawyer. By upholding the fundamental American promise of liberty and justice for all, the minimal investment in LSC generates a significant positive return for business and for the health of individuals and communities across the nation.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Tech giants join effort to save legal services for the poor from Trump budget ax

The biggest names in technology are among 185 companies urging Congress to ignore a line item in the Trump Administration’s proposed budget that would entirely defund the Legal Services Corporation, a non-profit organization that has provided civil legal assistance to the poor since 1974.The letter to Congress reads: The undersigned 185 leaders of corporate legal departments across the country write to urge you to support the preservation of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) and provide funding at a level of $450 million for FY 2018, which would be consistent with the appropriation received in FY2010, adjusted for inflation. As the cornerstone of equal justice in America, LSC creates a level playing field for the many lower and moderate- income families who cannot afford a lawyer. By upholding the fundamental American promise of liberty and justice for all, the minimal investment in LSC generates a significant positive return for business and for the health of individuals and communities across the nation.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Terrible computer pranks that could get you fired

Office pranksI know, I know – that jerk from sales deserves it. That snippy attitude last time you showed up to fix his “slowdown problem,” which was obviously just him having like 150 Chrome windows open at once. Still, as tempting as it might be, you can’t just take revenge on the guy’s computer. Please, just go and read something else now. You’ll feel like a better person.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Verizon picks up ex-Ericsson CEO on the rebound

Verizon has hired Hans Vestberg, the CEO Ericsson bounced last summer amid cost cutting and failing financials, to head up its Network and Technology team.Network and Technology is one of three areas Verizon will focus on under a new operating structure, with the other two being Media and Telematics, and Customer and Product Operations.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Verizon picks up ex-Ericsson CEO on the rebound

Verizon has hired Hans Vestberg, the CEO Ericsson bounced last summer amid cost cutting and failing financials, to head up its Network and Technology team.Network and Technology is one of three areas Verizon will focus on under a new operating structure, with the other two being Media and Telematics, and Customer and Product Operations.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here