Friday, January 6, 2017

China is planning to undertake 30 space launch missions in 2017

China is planning to undertake 30 space launch missions in 2017

Seen here is China's Long March 4C rocket. Image: Reuters
China plans to conduct some 30 space launch missions in 2017, a record-breaking number in the country’s space history, said China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Long March-5 and Long March-7 rockets would be used to carry out most of the space missions, the China News Service reported.
Long March-5 is China’s largest carrier rocket. The successful test launch of the vehicle in November in Hainan would pave the way for space station construction, analysts said. Wang Yu, general director of the Long March-5 program, said 2017 is a critical year for China’s new generation of carrier rockets and the Long March-5 rockets would carry Chang’e-5 probe to space.
The probe would land on the moon, collect samples and return to Earth. On the other hand, Long March-7, the more powerful version of Long March-2, would send China’s first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 into the space in the first half of 2017, according to Wang Zhaoyao, director of China Manned Space Engineering Office.
Tianzhou-1 was expected to dock with Tiangong-2 space lab and conduct experiments on propellant supplement, People’s Daily reported. China conducted 22 launch missions in 2016 and 19 in 2015. The country successfully tested its Long March-7 rocket in June 2016, and has gradually shifted to new generation rockets that reduce the use of toxic rocket fuels.
IANS

CyberZeist, a hacker breaches FBI website and posts information on Pastebin

CyberZeist, a hacker breaches FBI website and posts information on Pastebin

Representational image
A hacker has claimed to have breached the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s website and leaked personal account information to a public site, media reported. The hacker, known as CyberZeist, exploited a zero-day vulnerability in the highly-secured Plone Content Management System (CMS) of the FBI’s website and leaked some of the information to Pastebin, an open source site that is often used by hackers to post stolen information and bits of code, RT.com reported on Thursday.
A zero-day fault is a vulnerability in the code that has not been detected, listed, or patched yet. Therefore, the FBI had zero days to respond to the attack. This is not the first time the hacker claimed breaching the FBI site. In 2011, CyberZeist is believed to have hacked the FBI site as a member of a group known as Anonymous.
Authorities in the US have not yet responded to the recent hacking incident that was claimed to have occurred last month. “fbi.gov CMS Exploited, files in view – PasswordResetTool.py, product permissions, setup file. More coming soon #FBI #PWNED,” the hacker had tweeted on December 22.
“Don’t blame the #hacker, blame the faulty #code!,” CyberZeist had said in another tweet on December 27. CyberZeist warned other agencies that are currently using the Plone CMS that they too are vulnerable to a similar attack. “Amnesty acknowledges to patch the Plone #vulnerability in their CMS, just in time!,” CyberZeist said in a recent tweet.
IANS

Apple did try out a iPhone with an iPod click wheel

Apple did try out a iPhone with an iPod click wheel

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While we know that Apple truly believes in experimenting and prototyping when it comes to software interfaces, we have yet to see some experimental prototype leak out. No we are not talking about the usual prototype which resembles today’s iPhone, but something that looks weird and hard to imagine, like touchscreen MacBook Pro that Apple’s Phil Schiller mentioned in a recent interview.
The Verge today has reported what may have been the software for one of these wierd and whacky prototype devices. Pictures and a video published by Sonny Dickson, show what he claims is one of the first test versions of iOS called AcornOS.
While the emulated interface looks like an OS developed for feature phones, the interface does look similar to what many iPod users were used to in the past. What’s interesting here is that the interface uses an iPod click wheel to browse through and open menus.
A look a the video shows how the simple transitions glide across with little or no graphics to display text from menu to menu. The author of the blog points to an old 2006 Apple patent which revealed a multi-touch device with optional click wheel to interact with its software interface.
Delving deeper into the matter, The Verge revealed that Tony Fadell (responsible for iPod development) did mention that there were different types of prototypes, including an iPod Plus phone as well. In fact Apple fans will recall how Steve Jobs at the first iPhone launch in 2007 joked about an iPod iPhone with a rotary dial on stage. Well, turns out that Apple did try out one, but with a click wheel.

CES 2017: BMW makes use of Google Tango to give virtual 3D tour of its i8 and i3 models

CES 2017: BMW makes use of Google Tango to give virtual 3D tour of its i8 and i3 models

Image Credit: AutoHome
Fiat may have been the first car company to take Google’s Tango 3D augmented reality system for a spin as a prototype tool for potential customers — that was at the Mobile World Congress in February 2016 — but at this year’s CES, BMW has become the first carmaker to take the technology and launch it as a real-world tool.
Tango is what Google calls a smartphone or tablet whose cameras have depth and distance sensing so that it can create three-dimensional imagery and can place an object within a realistic space, such as a car in a showroom or on an owner’s driveway.
Using a suitable smartphone, starting today, potential customers considering a BMW i8 or BMW i3 will be able to take an interactive tour of the car, inside and out, select colours and interior options and even interact with elements such as the doors and trunk.
“Our vehicles are emotional products and to get that emotional feeling, you really need to experience them,” commented Andrea Castronovo, BMW Group vice president, sales strategy and future retail. “In situations where the desired product isn’t available on the spot, this visualisation is the next best thing.”
The system, developed with Accenture and Google, will be launched as a pilot scheme at a number of BMW dealerships starting Thursday. At each location a “Product Genius” will be on hand with a smartphone to give visitors an augmented digital tour of a vehicle.
Once the initial tests are completed, BMW plans to roll out the service as an app so that anyone with a Tango-enabled Android handset can experience it for themselves without having to visit a dealership.
And although the whole experience is no bigger visually than the smartphone’s screen, according to BMW, the experience is life-like enough for people to forget that the tour is virtual.
“In our initial tests, we saw people ducking down when they were getting into the car, as if there really were a roof there for them to bang their heads on,” said Castronovo.
And that’s part of the reason for the app’s creation. Technology is changing the way people research, choose and even buy cars. Some customers are already sufficiently confident to complete the entire process online without ever seeing the car until delivery day.
“Our research shows that consumers are seeking improved use of technologies like augmented reality during the car-buying process to make the online-offline experience more compelling,” said Christina Raab, managing director in Accenture’s Automotive practice.
AFP

US spy chief ‘resolute’ on Russia cyber attack, differs with president-elect Trump

US spy chief ‘resolute’ on Russia cyber attack, differs with president-elect Trump

Image Credit: REUTERS
The top U.S. intelligence official said on Thursday he was “even more resolute” in his belief that Russia staged cyber attacks on Democrats during the 2016 election campaign, rebuking persistent skepticism from Republican President-elect Donald Trump about whether Moscow was involved.
James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, said he had a very high level of confidence that Russia hacked Democratic Party and campaign staff email, and disseminated propaganda and fake news aimed at the Nov. 8 election.
“Our assessment now is even more resolute than it was” on Oct. 7 when the government first publicly accused Russia, Clapper told a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He said motives for the attack would be made public next week.
Trump on Thursday morning called himself a “big fan” of intelligence agencies. But he has cast doubt on their assessments that Russia targeted the campaign of his opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, drawing ire from his fellow Republicans as well as Democrats who are wary of Moscow and distrust Trump’s praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The intelligence officials at Thursday’s hearing said they worried a lack of support from atop the government could prompt valued staff members to leave their agencies.
“There’s a difference between healthy skepticism … and disparagement,” Clapper said. Vice President-elect Mike Pence has used the expression “healthy skepticism” to defend Trump’s criticism of intelligence findings.
Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan, speaking at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics on Thursday, said that because Trump had never served in government, he was unfamiliar with the intelligence profession.
“It doesn’t bother me if someone is going to be skeptical and challenge our work and maybe disagree with our views, but I expect that the president of the United States will recognize that the CIA and intelligence community were established by statute for a very important reason,”
The congressional hearing was overseen by Republican Senator John McCain, a vociferous Russia critic. It was the first in a promised series of briefings and hearings on allegations that Russia tried to disrupt or influence the U.S. campaign, one of the most bitter in recent history.
Moscow denies the allegations.
McCain told reporters that Senator Lindsey Graham, also a vocal critic of Moscow, would chair a new Armed Services subcommittee dedicated to cyber issues.
Trump will be briefed by intelligence agency chiefs on Friday on the hacks. President Barack Obama received a report on the matter on Thursday. An unclassified version will be made public early next week.
“I don’t think we’ve ever encountered a more aggressive or direct campaign to interfere in our election process than we’ve seen in this case,” said Clapper, who leaves when Trump becomes president on Jan. 20. Clapper stopped short of declaring Russia’s actions “an act of war,” saying that determination was beyond the scope of his office.
Clapper and the two other officials who testified, National Security Agency Director Admiral Mike Rogers, and Marcel Lettre, undersecretary of defense for intelligence, did not say what made U.S. intelligence confident Russia was behind the cyber attacks, a conclusion also reached by several private firms.
CRITICAL OF ASSANGE
Obama last week ordered the expulsion of 35 suspected Russian spies and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies he said were involved in hacking U.S. political groups such as the Democratic National Committee.
The CIA has identified Russian officials who fed material hacked from the DNC and Democratic Party leaders to WikiLeaks at Putin’s direction through third parties, according to a new U.S. intelligence report, senior U.S. officials said.
Documents stolen from the DNC and Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, were posted on the Internet before the election, embarrassing the campaign.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Trump was skeptical about a Russian role in the affair, writing: “(WikiLeaks founder) Julian Assange said ‘a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta’ – why was DNC so careless? Also said the Russians did not give him the info!”
But on Thursday, Trump said in another Twitter post that he was not against intelligence agencies or in agreement with Assange. “The media lies to make it look like I am against ‘intelligence’ when in fact I am a big fan!” Trump tweeted.
Clapper said Assange had put American lives in danger and deserved no credibility. McCain and other lawmakers also blasted Assange.
Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, said there would be “howls” from Republicans if a Democrat described intelligence officials as Trump had.
U.S. intelligence officials have said Russian cyber attacks were specifically aimed at helping Trump beat Clinton. Several Republicans have acknowledged the Russian hacking but have not linked it to an effort to help Trump win.
Trump and top advisers believe Democrats are trying to delegitimize his victory by accusing Russia of helping him.
Senator Tim Kaine, an Armed Services member who was Clinton’s vice presidential running mate, said: “It is my hope that this Congress is willing to stand in a bipartisan way for the integrity of the electoral process.”
Graham said Obama’s actions against Moscow fell short.
“I think what Obama did was throw a pebble. I’m ready to throw a rock,” Graham said. “Putin is up to no good and he better be stopped.”
Reuters

US files a lawsuit against D-Link for failing to secure its routers and security cams from hackers

US files a lawsuit against D-Link for failing to secure its routers and security cams from hackers

Image Credit: D-Link
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against D-Link Corp on Thursday, accusing the Taiwan-based manufacturer of failing to take reasonable steps to protect its routers and internet-linked security cameras from hackers.
The FTC brought the charges as part of a broader effort to improve security of internet-connected devices, including routers, webcams, digital video recorders and other widely used consumer electronics devices. The company said the claim is without merit.
“D-Link denies the allegations outlined in the complaint and is taking steps to defend the action,” it said in a statement. “The security of our products and protection of our customers private data is always our top priority.”
Concerns about security of internet-connected devices, which are sometimes referred to collectively as the internet of things, or IoT, have surged since last year when hackers used armies of compromised routers, webcams and other electronic devices to launch a series of increasingly powerful attacks that severed access to some of the world’s biggest websites.
Security experts blamed those attacks on lax security in large numbers of IoT devices from dozens of manufacturers. They have called on the industry to better secure their equipment, removing easy-to-exploit vulnerabilities such as the use of default passwords that give hackers the keys to remotely access machines over the web.
Allison Nixon, director of security research with cyber intelligence firm Flashpoint, said the FTC’s action could encourage IoT manufacturers to beef up security. “I think vendors are going to take it seriously,” she said. “The IoT world needs to shape up quickly because this is a big problem.”
The FTC’s complaint alleged that D-Link neglected to protect the devices from “widely known and reasonably foreseeable risks of unauthorised access,” even as it highlighted security features in communications with consumers.
The FTC asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to order D-Link to improve its security practices and to pay the agency’s legal costs. The agency filed the case after issuing guidelines on securing IoT devices in 2015. FTC commissioners voted 2-1 to approve the filing of the lawsuit. The Democratic chairwoman Edith Ramirez and commissioner Terrell McSweeny voted yes, but the lone Republican commissioner, Maureen Ohlhausen, opposed the filing of the lawsuit.
Reuters

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