Database for Microsoft Careers mobile site was leaking data, vulnerable to attack

If you want to work at Microsoft, then you likely have visited Microsoft Careers. The backend database for the mobile version of Microsoft’s jobs portal was misconfigured, exposing user information and leaving the site vulnerable to attack.Security researcher Chris Vickery has a knack for exposing leaky databases such the one that put 13 million MacKeeper users at risk, another which exposed personal information of 191 million voters, yet another held 18 million voter records with targeted profile data, and one that exposed 140,000 class and student records from Southern New Hampshire University; he also discovered a leaked Hello Kitty database with 3.3 million user accounts, some belonging to kids. This time, Vickery said he found another misconfigured MongoDB database which exposed registered users’ information and had write-access to the contents of the database.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Minus 10 makes minus 8 seem balmy

Regular readers may recall that a year or so ago I took a moment away from this blog’s typical fare to note that it was minus 8 degrees outside, also known as “pretty nippy for these parts.”This morning, as you can see in the picture above, it’s minus 10.And I did the math after my fingers thawed out.Now obvious caveats: Minus 10 isn’t considered all that cold in some places. Where you live, for example, I’ve heard tell that at minus 10 water doesn’t even bother to freeze.In Massachusetts, however, minus 10 is wicked cold, as in I’ve lived here for more than half a century and can’t recall ever being outside when the thermometer was reading double-digits below zero.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Picasa is finally going lights off! What’s next..


Google Inc. yesterday, finally announced axing of the Picasa Desktop app (no more updates to it) and "read only" access to Picasa Web Albums starting 1st May 2016. Although quite brutal, this hasn't been unexpected. I am however one of the many people who loves Picasa Web Albums and even Google+ photos.

A Lifescape Inc. technology after being acquired by Google was released as Picasa in 2002. As many other Google services Picasa has finally become yet another service to be axed out to promote its newer counterpart in photo sharing & organizing - Google Photos. Picasa brought in online photo backup and sharing space a new perspective. Many others have followed suite (Flickr, 500px..). The picasa desktop application was very handy in quickly exporting and importing pictures to and from the web. Organizing pictures was a breeze. Picasa came as both a paid and a free service.

Photo sharing functionality has been moved to different apps/services within Google Inc. ever since. I remember a similar move couple of years ago when I received a mail stating that picasa web albums were being migrated to Google+, Google's social networking platform. Google+ has its own story and Continue reading

Watson 2016?

The Watson 2016 Foundation is an independent organization formed for the advocacy of the artificial intelligence known as Watson to run for President of The United States of America. It is our belief that Watson’s unique capabilities to assess information and make informed and transparent decisions define it as an ideal candidate for the job responsibilities required by the president.- Watson 2016 Foundation Okay, so it's a publicity stunt by IBM but isn't it an interesting idea? Just imagine Watson, IBM’s AI computer system that beat humans playing Jeopardy, in the role of President and Computer-in-Chief. Decisions would be made incredibly fast based on a vast corpus of facts and knowledge … or would they? Is it possible to provide an enormous  library of information for Watson to chew on that wouldn’t have political bias built in? Would it be possible for Watson to filter out bias automatically? Perhaps the best place to start is to give Watson a cabinet post, say, secretary of energy and see how that works out. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Belizean law enforcement, FBI reportedly question John McAfee’s ex-girlfriend

While antivirus software pioneer John McAfee garners media attention here for his long-shot Libertarian presidential run, law enforcement authorities in Belize are reportedly continuing to investigate the 2012 murder of McAfee’s American neighbor. That probe prompted McAfee to flee Belize and eventually land back in the United States.McAfee has unequivocally denied any participation in or knowledge of the murder and has maintained that he left Belize because he feared authorities there would imprison or kill him anyway.From a report in The San Pedro Sun:  To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

phpipam 1.2.1 bugfix release

phpipam version 1.2.1 was released today. This is a bugfix release, addressing the following issues:

 Enhancements:
 ----------------------------
 + French translation updated to verson 1.2;
 + German translation updated to verson 1.2;

 Bugfixes:
 --------
 + Fixed upgrade bug that selected invalid auth method for AD/LDAP users;
 + Fixed LDAP problems after 1.2 upgrade;
 + Fixed PowerDNS Slave with multiple masters delimiter error;
 + Fixed owerDNS PTR records not being updated automatically;
 + Fixed csrf cookie bug when editing folder;
 + Fixed csrf cookie bug when truncationg subnet;
 + Fixed invalid code for API crypt method;
 + Fixed strange headings font display in Firefox;
 + Fixed invalid proxy settings in config.dist.php;
 + Fixed search same hostnames in db link form address table;
 + Fixed import subnet bug caused by fw object;
 + Fixed Subnet Import (Preview button > no action);

 Security Fixes:
 ----------------------------
 + Fixed security issues introduced in 1.2;

There is no database change, so just replace phpipam directory and copy over config.php.

br
Miha

How Money Spoiled Blogging

Found this on Quora:

Money spoiled blogging. Why? Because people moved from doing great things for money and then talking about them on their free blogs, to people doing nothing but talking on their monetized blogs.

It’s not just blogs, and it’s not just cooking (the author's focus).

Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in 5G networks

Co-authored by Dave Meyer, Brocade Fellow, and Kevin Shatzkamer, CTO, Mobile Networks Every day there is a new announcement involving big data or real-time analytics for mobile carrier networks. These technologies, along with machine learning, are being advertised as the breakthrough technologies that will enable business and operational transformation for mobile service providers. In fact,... Read more →

IDG Contributor Network: Federal agencies struggling with digital transformation, study says

Federal bosses admit they're falling behind the tech advances being made in the private sector, says a survey. Consequently, they acknowledge that their stakeholder expectations aren't being met.The leaders appear to know there's a problem, yet they're having problems making the transformations and going digital, according to researchers from the National Academy of Public Administration and ICF International, the two organizations that jointly released the report earlier this month.Problems Money, security and privacy concerns, and lumbering acquisition procedures are among the issues the "federal leaders" who responded to the survey say are preventing them from making progress.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Q&A: Mobile app security should not be an afterthought

As enterprises struggle to keep up with their internal demand for mobile apps, more are turning to more speedy development workflows, such as the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) , which essentially calls for mobile development teams to focus on the highest return on effort when compared to risk when choosing apps to develop, and features to build within them. That is: focus on apps and capabilities that users are actually going to use and skip those apps and features they won’t.Sounds simple, but what does that mean when it comes to security? We know application security is one of the most important aspects of data security, but if software teams are moving more quickly than ever to push apps out, security and quality assurance needs to be along for the process. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Spectacular black hole space images

Strong gravityImage by NASABlack holes had the spotlight as the centerpiece of the gravitational waves discovery announced recently. The waves were produced during the final fraction of a second of the merger of two black holes – that were about 29 and 36 times the mass of the sun, to produce a single, more massive spinning black hole. NASA defines black holes as places in space where gravity pulls so much that even light cannot get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space and that can happen when a star is dying for example.   While black holes are basically invisible, they make for some spectacular imagery, some an artist’s interpretation, in the space matter and stars around them.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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