Software | Common News Update

Nov302018 by adminNo Comments

GCHQ reveals why it keeps some software flaws secret

GCHQ has revealed how it decides which software vulnerabilities to keep secret. According to the agency's defensive arm, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the default position when a vulnerability is discovered is to try and get the flaws fixed - but this isn't always in the UK's interest.It was previously known that flaws might be kept secret to use the information to hack into the computers of national security targets - but the agency has now explained the checks and balances behind this.The process for how the UK handles vulnerabilities has been made public more than a year after the US published its own. The British document is considerably shorter than the 14-page one published by the Americans.It aims to ensure that achieving national security objectives is...

Nov122018 by adminNo Comments

SAP is acquiring survey software maker Qualtrics for $8 billion

Finance

SAP is acquiring Qualtrics for $ 8 billion, snapping up the survey software company just before its planned IPO. The all-cash deal has been approved by the boards of both companies and by Qualtrics shareholders, SAP said in a statement on Sunday. Qualtrics competes with SurveyMonkey, which went public in September. Qualtrics is bigger and growing faster than SurveyMonkey and is also more profitable. SAP has been counting on new cloud products for growth as the transition away from traditional desktop software has taken business from its core enterpris...

Aug12018 by adminNo Comments

US release of 3D-printed gun software blocked

World

A US federal judge in Seattle has blocked the release of software that allows consumers to 3D-print firearms.Gun access advocacy group Defense Distributed published downloadable gun blueprints five days early on Friday.The firm had reached a settlement with the Trump administration in June to allow it to legally publish the plans. But eight states and the District of Columbia sued the government on Monday to block the settlement, arguing the untraceable guns were a safety risk. US District Judge Robert Lasnik issued a temporary restraining order halting the release hours before the 1 August deadline, saying the blueprints could fall into the wrong hands. 3D-printed firearms, explained Will 3D printing change my world? "There are...

Jun262018 by adminNo Comments

Anti-virus software pioneer says he has been poisoned

Technology

Anti-virus software pioneer and former US presidential hopeful John McAfee has said he was unconscious for two days after "enemies" tried to kill him. The man who founded McAfee technology in the late 1980s claimed the rivals had "spiked something" that he consumed and he has now made a threat that they "better be gone".He spoke of the alleged death plot on Twitter along with two photos of him connected up to tubes and lying on a hospital bed.McAfee wrote: "I apologise for my three day absence but I was unconscious for two days at the Vidant Medical Center in North Carolina and just woke up."My enemies (managed) to spike something that i ingested. However, I am more difficult to kill than anyone can possibly imagine. I am back." I apologize for m...

Jun122018 by adminNo Comments

BAE to develop conflict modeling software for DARPA

Business

June 12 (UPI) -- BAE Systems has been contracted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop software that models political and military conflicts around the world. The $ 4.2 million contract, announced Monday by the defense contractor, is the first phase of software development for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory as part of its Causal Exploration of Complex Operational Environments program. The software -- called Causal Modeling for Knowledge Transfer, Exploration and Temporal Simulation, or CONTEXTS -- is meant to help the Department of Defense model political, territorial and economic tensions that lead to military conflicts as a means of helping to plan ahead for them. "Military planners often conduct manual research and use limited modelling tools to generate ...