Shadow Brokers reveals list of Servers Hacked by the NSA

 Monday, October 31, 2016  Swati Khandelwal

The hacker group calling itself the Shadow Brokers, who previously claimed to have 

leaked a portion of the NSA’s hacking tools and exploits, is back with a Bang!

The Shadow Brokers published more files today, and this time the group dumped a list of foreign servers allegedly compromised by the NSA-linked hacking unit, Equation Group, in various countries to expand its espionage operations.

Top 3 Targeted Countries — China, Japan, and Korea

The data dump [Download / File Password: payus] that experts believe contains 306 domain names, and 352 IP addresses belong to at least 49 countries. As many as 32 domains of the total were run by educational institutes in China and Taiwan.

A few target domains were based in Russia, and at least nine domains include .gov websites.

The top 10 targeted countries include China, Japan, Korea, Spain, Germany, India, Taiwan, Mexico, Italy, and Russia.

The latest dump has been signed by the same key as the first Shadow Brokers’ dump of NSA exploits, though there is a lot to be done to validate the contents of the leaked data dump fully.

Targeted Systems — Solaris, Unix, Linux and FreeBSD

Most of the affected servers were running Solaris, Oracle-owned Unix-based operating system, while some were running FreeBSD or Linux.

Each compromised servers were reportedly targets of INTONATION and PITCHIMPAIR, code-names given for cyber-spy hacking programs.

The data dump also contains references to a list of previously undisclosed Equation Group tools, including Dewdrop, Incision, Orangutan, Jackladder, Reticulum, Patchicillin, Sidetrack and Stoicsurgeon.

The tools as mentioned above could be hacking implants, tools or exploits used by the NSA's notorious group.

Security researcher Mustafa Al-Bassam, an ex-member of Lulzsec and the Anonymous hacking collective, said the NSA likely compromised all the servers between 2000 and 2010.

"So even the NSA hacks machines from compromised servers in China and Russia. This is why attribution is hard," Al-Bassam added. 

Are Hackers trying to influence U.S. Presidential elections?

A message accompanying the leaked data dump calls for attempts to disrupt the forthcoming United States presidential election. The portion of message from the Shadow Brokers reads:

"TheShadowBrokers is having suggestion. On November 8th, instead of not voting, maybe be stopping the vote all together? Maybe being grinch who stopped the election from coming? Maybe hacking election is being the best idea? #hackelection2016."

Targeted victims can use the leaked files in an effort to determine if they were the potential target of the NSA-linked hacking unit.

Since the records are old, many servers should now be clean of infection. However, a brief Shodan scan of these domains indicates that some of the affected servers are still active and still running old, possibly-vulnerable systems.

The latest release comes after the FBI arrested Harold Thomas Martin, an NSA contractor, who was reportedly a prime suspect in The Shadow Brokers case.

Nissan agrees to takeover Mitsubishi with a $2.29 billion investment; Masuka to stay

Image Credit: REUTERS

  20 Oct 2016 , 17:22

Nissan Motor Co Ltd said on Thursday it had completed a deal to take a controlling stake in Mitsubishi Motors Corp, and would be retaining the embattled automaker’s chief executive to ensure its recovery from a mileage cheating scandal. Japan’s No. 2 automaker has agreed to make a 237 billion yen ($2.29 billion) investment to acquire a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors, making it the single largest shareholder in its smaller peer.

The deal will make Mitsubishi Motors a member of an alliance between Nissan and French automaker Renault. The two companies said that the partnership would generate significant synergies in areas including purchasing and

Toyota’s Kirobo Mini robot aims to be your companion in the car and at home; to cost around $400

By Nimish Sawant /  04 Oct 2016 , 10:21

Companion robots as well as humanoid robots are a thing in Japan. And the latest addition to that list is the Kirobo Mini robot, which is a palm-sized robot that is being positioned as a synthetic baby which can carry out casual conversations while being driven around in a car or at your home. In Japan, where the birth rates are plummeting and the population is ageing fast, the Kirobo Mini is being positioned as a companion robot for the elderly as well. Toyota plans to start retailing Kirobo Mini in 2017 for 39,800 Japanese Yen which comes to around $400 (approx Rs 27,000).

According to Reuters, the Kirobo Mini is Toyota’s non-automotive product which is aimed at the personal home-robot market. The Kirobo Mini is a smaller version of the Kirobo, which was a robot developed by Toyota and sent into space in 2013 along with Koichi Wakata who was the first Japanese astronaut to be commanding the International Space Station.

Image: Toyota

Kirobo Mini’s chief designer engineer says that the robot is meant to emulate a seated baby and tends to wobble a bit, to mimic a growing baby who is yet to learn the skills to balance itself. Toyota has gone this specific to add an element of vulnerability to the robot which will evoke an emotional reaction from its owners. It can recognise facial expressions, so it can tell if the person is happy or sad and accordingly respond to your emotions. This 10cm tall robot aims to be your companion on your long car rides as well, since according to Toyota, people spend and average of 4.3 years of their lives inside cars.

The Kirobo Mini can respond to your queries, blink its eyes (thanks to the LED lights around the eyes) and has a high pitched voice just like that of a growing baby. Toyota has even gone ahead an added a cradle to go along with the Kirobo Mini, which can fit into a car’s cup holder. Sure, the idea of a robot mimicking a little baby and being marketed as a product to fill in that gap, does raise some ethical questions, but then this isn’t the first companion robot launched in Japan.

Japan is a leader as far as use of industrial robots is concerned, with around 314 machines per 100,000 employees, as per the International Federation of Robots. Toyota, which is heavily investing in artificial intelligence research, will

New wind turbine that harnesses the energy of typhoons could power Japan for 50 years

By Rob Thubron on September 30, 2016, 6:15 AM

Japan feels the devastating effects of typhoons several times per year – in 2016 alone there have already been six. They can cause a trail of destruction, along with many dead and injured civilians who get caught in their path. But an engineer from the country has designed a new type of wind turbine that can harness this immense energy and use it for good.

Atsushi Shimizu claims that a series of his prototype devices could collect enough energy from a single typhoon to power the whole of Japan for 50 years.

The unique, egg beater-shaped turbine’s omnidirectional vertical axis can withstand an intense storm’s powerful winds and rain. Moreover, the speed of the blades are adjustable, meaning they won’t spin wildly out of control – a big problem with super typhoon speeds reaching up to 150 mph.



The Fukushima disaster saw Japan turn away from nuclear power. It now imports 84 percent of its energy requirements. "Our generation reaped the benefit of nuclear power - we never experience a power blackout because of it," Shimizu says. "Now we are responsible for changing the future."

CNN reports that while Japan has tried to use wind energy in