Time to uninstall Java?

When do hackers sleep? Seriously. Everyday they are hacking into something new, exposing some security flaw, and freaking out computer users and IT managers. According to Slate:

Hackers have found a flaw in Oracle's Java software that allows them to break into users' computers and install nasty malware, security experts report. The attack, first spotted on Sunday by researchers at the security firm FireEye, is what security types call a "zero-day" threat, exploiting a previously unknown vulnerability for which there is currently no fix available. The loophole appears to affect Java Version 7 (also known as 1.7) on all browsers. So far the attacks have been against PCs, but Mac users are vulnerable as well. Businesses should be especially concerned about targeted attacks, but just about anyone who uses Java on the Internet is at risk, especially since the attack has been added to the Internet's most popular hacking kit, BlackHole.

Sounds serious, but what’s it mean for me and you? Hint: RUN!!

Given the potential seriousness and pervasiveness of the attacks—and Oracle's reputation for being slow on the draw in response to Java vulnerabilities—experts say that everyday Internet users should probably just disable Java entirely. Like, right now. "Java has been the most exploited program for well over a year now and it simply isn't worth the risk," Chet Wisniewski of the security firm Sophos told me in an email. "I would recommend removing Java entirely, if you can.

The Slate article explains how to going about disabling J ...

Permalink

-

Adriene Hill

|

Aug 30, 2012

Coral reefs get touched by a robot

The coral reefs just off the west coast of Scotland have taken a beating from pollution and overfishing, and now they’re going to get a little robot-style TLC. Currently in training with builders from Heriot-Watt University, Scottland, “coralrobots” will soon be let loose in the Atlantic to tend and repair the reef. The BBC reports:

When they get damaged, scuba divers re-cement broken fragments, helping them re-grow - but it is tricky for divers to reach depths over 200m. Coralbots, the researchers hope, will be a lot more efficient, able to repair the reefs in days or weeks.

The bots aren’t very smart on their own, but when they work in a swarm, like underwater bees with video cameras and remote-control arms, they can get a lot done. The BBC spoke with some of the researchers:

"Our key idea is that coral reef restoration could be achieved via swarm intelligence, which allows us to exploit co-operative behaviours we see from natural swarms of bees, termites and ants that build complex structures such as hives and nests," said marine biologist Lea-Anne Henry who is lead scientist on the project at Heriot-Watt. She said the robots would be intelligent enough to navigate and avoid obstacles. "We are developing new intelligent object recognition routines, exploiting the data from hundreds of coral reef images, to enable each swarm member to recognise coral fragments and distinguish them from other materials and objects in the environment in real-time," she said.

Isis gets ready to go live next month

Isis, the mobile payment system, was almost becoming as mythical as Isis, the Greek godess. Since it was announced over a year ago as a joint venture between wireless carriers, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, plans for an early 2012 had been stalled. The company just announced that test sites in Austin and Salt Lake City will go live next month. Better late than never I guess. Wired reports:

If you happen to live in Salt Lake City or Austin and happen to have an NFC-equipped phone (all 50 or so of you), you can use that phone to pay at stores that have terminals that can read the tiny chips. (Isis said this spring that participating retailers will include Foot Locker, Macy’s, Jamba Juice, and others, as well as Coca-Cola vending machines.)

Got it, I can buy shoes, clothes, and snack drinks in Salt Lake City or Austin. I’m all set. To be fair, the plan offers payments at local retailers like cupcake shops, pizza joints, and the Utah Jazz too. The announcement comes at an interesting time too, after Square announced a deal with Starbucks a few weeks ago, mega-retailers banned together to launch the MCX payment system, and PayPal entered into a partnership with Discover. I’m hoping to only have to buy one more wallet in my life, because pretty soon it’s going to be all phone all the time everywhere for everything.

Paper vs. iPad. NFL style.

NFL coaches are abandoning paper binders full of super-secret plays and strategies in favor of iPads. Apparently making all those paper binders can be really expensive (think $100,000 a season). Plus, it doesn’t sound like they were recycling. From CITEWorld: "Until recently, they were printed and arranged into binders, distributed to players the week before the game, then destroyed and pulped after the game was over." Adding updates required getting pages to each player. (Hey guys. Good practice. Now we have a few handouts for you to add to page 76 of your binders... One for you, one for you, one for you...) "Plus, players are also supposed to watch hours of film from every game, which was a totally separate process." Makes some sense, I suppose. But it’ll be interesting to see how the season goes for those teams that have made the change to the IPad (about 10 teams) and those that haven’t. I can imagine it’s a whole lot harder to memorize calls and plays and your opponents’ weaknesses when you’ve got Twitter and Facebook right there...begging for just a moment of your attention. (@aaronrodgers Me too. RT @tonyromo Wish I could get a slice of cheese pizza right now. ) With a binder all you can do if you get bored is click the thing open and closed.