Technology | Common News Update

Jun122017 by adminNo Comments

How e-cigarettes can be used to hack computers

Technology

Security researchers have demonstrated how e-cigarettes can easily be modified into tools to hack computers.With only minor modifications, the vape pen can be used by attackers to compromise the computers they are connected to - even if it seems just like they are charging.Giving a presentation at BSides London, Ross Bevington showed how an e-cigarette could be used to attack a computer by fooling the computer to believe it was a keyboard or by tampering with its network traffic.While Mr Bevington's particular form of attack required the victim's machine to be unlocked, that was not the case for all attacks.Image:The e-cigarettes can be easy to be modify. Pic: Ross Bevington"PoisonTap is a very similar style of attack that will even work on locked machines," Mr Bevington told Sky News.Anot...

Jun122017 by adminNo Comments

'Facebook blasphemer' given death penalty

Technology

A man accused of posting blasphemous content to Facebook has been sentenced to death by a court in Pakistan.Taimoor Raza was convicted after allegedly posting remarks about the Prophet Muhammad, his wives and companions within the site's comments.The public prosecutor involved said he believed it was the first time the death penalty had been awarded in a case related to social media.Human rights campaigners have expressed concern.Facebook itself has yet to comment on the case.The US firm previously announced in March that it was deploying a team to Pakistan to address the government's concerns about blasphemous content on its service, but added that it still wished to protect "the privacy and rights" of its members.Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has described blasphemy as being an ...

Jun122017 by adminNo Comments

Council fined £100k over Heartbleed cyberattack

Technology

A council has been fined £100,000 by the data watchdog after its employees' personal information was compromised in a hacking attack.Taking advantage of a software flaw in Gloucester City Council's website, the attacker downloaded more than 30,000 emails from the council's mailboxes.These email messages contained financial and sensitive information about council staff, according to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).The ICO, the UK's data regulator, said the hacker exploited the Heartbleed security bug - which had been widely reported on and patched months prior to the attack.Heartbleed was publicly disclosed in April 2014 and was described as "catastrophic" by a number of security researchers and led to warnings from government agencies around the world.The bug affected OpenSSL, ...

Jun122017 by adminNo Comments

E3 2017: Microsoft unveils Xbox One X

Technology

Media playback is unsupported on your deviceMicrosoft has unveiled the latest games console in its line-up, a more powerful version of the Xbox One called the Xbox One X.The tech giant touted the machine's specs, including its ability to run games in 4K ultra-HD, ahead of the E3 games show in Los Angeles.To be released on 7 November, the Xbox One X will cost $ 499, or £449 in the UK.One analyst said Microsoft was keen to keep attracting hardcore gamers.Media playback is unsupported on your deviceThe system, which also runs games at 60 frames-per-second (fps), was labelled "the most powerful console ever made" on stage by Phil Spencer, head of Xbox.It is also the smallest Xbox yet.It joins the Xbox One S - a slimmer version of the Xbox One that supports 4K video streaming - in the roster of...