Live map shows cyber-war in real time

Cyber-intelligence firm builds heatmap to show online attacks around the world as they happen

A heat map depicting cyber-warfare as it happens has revealed the extent of the online attacks that ricochet between China and the United States. The mesmerising depiction has been created by Norse Corporation – a company that monitors global spyware and malware. The map is based on 130 terabytes of information gathered from 40 countries and eight million so-called "honeypots" – computers that emulate the kinds of programs cyber-attackers tend to attack, like ATM software and corporate email, BuzzFeed explains. The map shows a range of different information, including which country a cyber attack comes from, where it is aimed, and details about what kind of attack it is. The attacks it displays represent only one per cent of the total data Norse tracks. If the company attempted to display any more than that it would become illegible, it says. Although many of the attacks seem to be emanating from China, that impression may be misleading, NetworkWorld says, as "many attackers are good at masking their real location".  At time of writing, the five most frequently attacked countries appear to be the US, China, Singapore, UK and Thailand. And apart from China, the assaults seem to originate from the US, the Netherlands, Russia and what looks like a small island off the south coast of Ghana labelled "Mil/Gov". Rather than this being a secretive US military base in the Gulf of Guinea, it is in fact a random location on the equator that Norse has selected to represent cyber-attacks committed by and against the American government, where location data is unavailable. The map is "weirdly hypnotic" Quartz's Heather Timmons says, and looks rather "like the vintage video game Missile Command". Another tool that does a similar job is Kaspersky’s stunning interactive cyber threat map. Kaspersky Lab, a provider of anti-virus software has over 60 million users and detects more than 300,000 malicious objects every day. According to Kaspersky, the most infected countries in the world are currently Russia, India, Vietnam, the US and Germany. For further concise, balanced comment and analysis on the week's news, try The Week magazine. Subscribe today and get 6 issues completely free. Source: The Week UK, Image Courtesy: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BrJK-NACMAERLH6.jpg:large

Read More........→July 15, 2014

Apple seeking patent for interactive 3D display

Apple has filed a patent application for an Interactive 3D display system which would allow users to manipulate objects in mid-air. The system involves light being projected through a non-linear crystal, for example, which would convert the signal into a floating 3D image that users could interact with. A sensor assembly logs user input such as touches and swipes to manipulate image. According to the document filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the system would consist of four main parts, beginning with the display creating a primary 3D image. The optical system within the unit would create a secondary 3D image based upon the first one which the user would interact with. A sensor system would gather information on the user’s interaction with the secondary 3D image and the display would then update the primary image based on user interaction feedback. How far the system has been developed since the patent was filed two years ago is unclear, but it shares many features Vermeer - with a 360-degree viewable tabletop display created  by Microsoft Research in 2011. With non-interactive holographic displays are already creating a buzz in the retail sector as a new era in digital signage, the creation of an interactive model is the next logical step. Contact Details and Archive...Apple, Source: InAVate

Read More........→May 20, 2014

Apple, Microsoft and Google: what does 2014 hold in store?

Will Google Glass see the light of day? Will Surface re-surface? A tech lecturer offers his predictions

WITH Microsoft losing controversial CEO Steve Ballmer, Apple launching new iPads and iPhones and the rise of wearable devices all making headlines, it’s been another huge year for technology. But what will 2014 hold? Apple – a larger tablet? The recent changes to Apple’s professional-level laptops (decreasing weight, adding battery life and reducing cost) have created a degree of overlap with their Macbook Air range. Rumours suggest that Apple may prototype a larger tablet, or a new design of ultra-thin laptops running iOS. This larger form factor with an ARM processor could have 20-30 hours battery life and run iPad/iPhone apps, but not traditional Mac OS X applications, which would be a significant change. The Apple Watch is still missing: perhaps they’ve realised the number of 20 to 30-year-olds wearing watches has significantly decreased, so the market is not worth pursuing. Microsoft – time for a redesign? The new Microsoft CEO will inherit a restructured company that must succeed in the mobile and home market under significant competitive pressure. Hopefully the issues with the XBOX ONE launch (some hardware problems and a limited number of games) will be quickly overcome. The Surface tablet is starting to look tired compared to the sleeker, lighter alternatives available, so a redesign towards the end of 2014 looks likely. A reduction in price may also make these more desirable.There is a vast market eager for Office to run on Android and Apple devices. The problem is that this would remove one of the significant reasons for purchasing a Surface. Google – the Samsung threat 2014 will either see Google roll out Glass or abandon it in favour of some lighter, less intrusive technology. Some restaurants and public spaces in America are already placing restrictions on Glass use because of its video-recording facility, an issue which is only likely to become more prominent with an increasing number of similar style devices. In the mobile sector Samsung has become the dominant seller of Android phones with 60 per cent of the market. The issue for Google is that such dominance allows Samsung the ability to control which features they allow through to their customers, which could bring conflict between the two. The recent Jolla phone may demonstrate the ability of alternative app stores to match Google’s offering - what would happen if Samsung decided it was more profitable to switch their customers away from Google? All in all, 2014 will see many things that were hinted at in 2013 become more mainstream or die off. It’s unlikely we’ll all be looking at our smart watches through our Google Glasses. But who knows, this time next year I could be declaring 2014 the Year of the SmartWig. This is an abridged version of an article originally published at The Conversation. The author, Barry Avery, is Principal Lecturer, Informatics and Operations, at Kingston University. Source: The Week UK, Image: flickr.com

Read More........→January 02, 2014

Angry Birds drains your battery faster

Are You addicted to Games like Angry Bird? If Yes be cautious the Life of The battery of your cell will be decreasing. According to TG Daily Free mobile apps using third party services to display ads are draining users' batteries, researchers from Purdue University and Microsoft say. The team monitored the power use of Android and Windows Phone devices using a tool called Eprof, and found that up to 70 percent of the power used by free apps was caused by downloading advertisements and tracking users. In the case of Angry Birds, just a fifth of the power use was caused by actually playing the game, with almost half accounted for by location services used totarget advertisements. In addition, the team found that the game left 3G connections open for up to ten seconds after downloading information, accounting for over a quarter of the app's total energy consumption. But other apps were almost as bad, with the team finding energy wastage on all 21 apps examined, including browsers, newspaper apps and Twitter. There is a solution, say the researchers. "Most of the energy in smartphone apps is spent in I/O, and I/O events are clustered, often due to a few routines," they say in their report. "This motivates us to propose bundles, a new accounting presentation of app I/O energy, which helps the developer to quickly understand and optimize the energy drain of her app. Using the bundle presentation, we reduced the energy consumption of four apps by 20 percent to 65 percent."Source: Ananta-Tec

Read More........→October 13, 2013

Clothes of the future: where hi-tech meets high fashion

Photo: EPA

It seems impossible to survive in the modern world without going either “smart” or digital, and clothes are no exception. The fashion industry is now working on technology to bring dressing habits to a completely new level. We're still in the stone age of nano-fibres and networked apparel but, in the not too distant future, you can count on having a coat which tells your mom where you are and having the Encyclopaedia Britannica embedded in your underwear! According to IMS Research, about 14m wearable tech devices were produced in 2011; by 2016, the global market could reach $6bn. Nancy Tilbury, designer to the stars and one of the creators of the futuristic Studio XO, predicts, “Generation Digital are constantly connected and live their lives digitally. Clothes are the next logical step”. Though thought of now as innovation, tampering with textiles and technology has been going on for over a thousand years. Artisans have been wrapping fine golden and silver foil around fabric threads since as early as the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. At the end of the 19th century, with the advent of electric appliances, designers and engineers sought to combine electricity with clothing and jewellery; the so-called Electric Girl Lighting Company hired out young ladies wearing light-adorned evening gowns to brighten up cocktail parties. In 1968, the Body Covering exhibition in New York City presented new fruits of the tech-fashion relationship, that is, clothing that could inflate and deflate, light up, heat and cool itself. In the mid-1990s, a team of MIT researchers led by Steve Mann developed the so-called wearable computers, traditional computer hardware attached to and carried on the body. The baton was later handed over to another MIT group, including Maggie Orth and Rehmi Post, who explored the plausible integration of such devices into clothing. Modern e-textiles are distinguished by either classical electronic devices such as conductors, integrated circuits, LEDs, and conventional batteries embedded in garments or fabrics, or by Internet connectivity. Smart clothes have many virtues: they are universal, customised, and eco-friendly. More than that, designers promise to make their dresses change colour by the mere touch and never wear out; I can see the last quality being debated by fashionistas though. Nanotech fabric will repel stains that normal cloth would absorb, thanks to molecular nano shields against stains, without changing the texture of the fabric. Digitalised and web-enabled apparel in health care, sports, and military service will, and already do, facilitate collecting physiological data and diagnostics. By now, smart textiles and Web-enabled clothing have passed the R&D stage and are on the verge of throwing themselves into mass production. However, many of the finest examples of this symbiosis already wow audiences with their alien hi-tech looks or versatility. Wanda Nylon makes transparent raincoats which can change colour like a bug's wing and are also 90% recyclable and totally nature-friendly. Another eco-friendly project is Orange Power Wellies, created in collaboration with renewable energy experts GotWind. The unique sole of these wellies converts heat from the feet into an electrical current, which can be used to re-charge a mobile phone. The more their owner moves, the more energy they generate. CuteCircuit a couture recruited by stars, specialises on dresses with hundreds of LED lights embedded in the fabric and USB rechargeable. The company made a statement by creating a powered dress which could receive and display tweets in real time. This Twitter Dress contained 2000 LED lights and 3,000 Swarovski crystals. It was introduced at the launch party of EE, the U.K. first 4G mobile network, the commissioner of this wonder-garment. Among wearable tech garments that do serve a purpose is the Hovding bicycle helmet created by Swedish industrial designers. It only inflates at the moment of danger, otherwise stowed around a person's neck in the form of a stylish shawl. The sensors gather data from around the cyclist and should danger present, a futuristic helmet of tough nylon covers the rider's head. Some designers are more hung up on devising ways of incorporating social networking in a dress in the discreetest way possible. Seattle-based Electricfoxy came up with a Ping garment, which can connect to Facebook wirelessly and from anywhere. Functions are performed by lifting a hood, tying a bow, zipping or buttoning. If a friend sends a comment or a message back, the garment will notify its owner with a tap on the shoulder. To surprise and stand out, any technology goes, based on the classic lie detector test, SENSOREE has crafted the so-called "mood sweater" which changes colour depending on mood through a number of sensors on the person's hands. When the sweater's owner is nervous, it lights up red and when calm in blue. The smart use of body heat was discovered by the Netherlands-based company Studio Roosegaarde, its high-tech garments entitled 'Intimacy White' and 'Intimacy Black' are made out of opaque smart e-foils which turn from black or white to transparent when exposed to body heat. Smart garments are not solely designed to turn heads, though, the armed services are one area in need of innovation. Smart uniforms will instantly detect gunshot wounds or even traces of nuclear, biological or chemical attacks in blood and sweat; they can report a fallen soldier's location with GPS coordinates and pass along other critical information for battlefield medics. Sensatex Inc. is already working with the military, emergency workers, and doctors to design what it calls a “smart shirt”; clothing featuring tiny microscopic wires interwoven with the fabric itself. This garment, turned into a communication device, could one day perform remote physiological monitoring or even heat up or cool down depending on the weather. "Throughout society, the ability to unplug from wires and utilise smart textiles to gather information through wireless communication will really be the textile of the future," said Sensatex CEO, Robert Kalik. The use of web-enabled clothing is vastly explored and introduced in areas like medicine and sport where continuity and precision of data are vital. Smart fibres are used to monitor systems in maternal and paediatric units where precise observation is constantly needed. Several companies, like Intelligent Clothing, are already engaging in these activities and create the first tele-monitoring systems, with Internet connectivity, for infants. A group of Ukrainian developers at the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition in 2012 made another smart use of smart fabrics. Their Enable Talk gloves help translate the sign language used by deaf-mute people. The glove sensors read gestures and translate them into words transmitted through bluetooth to a smartphone screen. Electricfoxy has developed the special MOVE technology for sports apparel which focuses on measuring precision in exercises such as yoga or pilates. The sensors transmit information to a mobile app which analyses the position and helps eliminate future errors. Besides, it stores all the information from previous training sessions to keep track of progress. It's clear that one day, while getting dressed in front of the mirror we might catch ourselves thinking how right the Star Wars author was. E-foils, nano cells, glowing LEDs and going online just by, quite literally, lifting your finger. People are however willing to go a long way in revealing their own physiological data; the fact that marketeers may be taking personal data and using it to support their advertising efforts might seem disturbing. When advertisers, and anyone else for that matter, have records of the customers' sleeping and eating habits, daily routine and physical activity and even certain medical conditions they acquire a certain power. Giving away information to strangers through social networks is already an issue, though seemingly inevitable in the modern world of computerised records, it still needs to be treated with caution. Source: Voice Of Russia

Read More........→May 21, 2013