Posts by fLaMePrOoF 249 publicly visible posts • joined 11 May 2010
If the entire process was handled by AI and completely closed then this would potentially be a great idea, but without that cast iron assurance of a closed system the potential / probability of bad actors at FB is just too high...
Of course such a closed system comes with it's own issues and potential for abuse by users so won't hold my breath on this one...
The lidar technology in many newer cars would be capable of 'stealing' a person's 3 dimensional facial data without even needing close proximity or line of sight. Fingerprints, voice and iris patterns are bad enough but facial data is literally the easiest to compromise...
With the type of high end high resolution lidar being utilised by large companies and governments for 3D area mapping the facial data of large crowds could be captured in minutes or seconds...
And even without lidar it is possible to extrapolate 3D data from multiple images of a person's face, particularly with a dual camera setup.
It seems the only people not vulnerable would be Muslim women, bikers, and teens wearing hoodies...
What might an individual hacker need to compromise this new unlock feature?
1 A lidar scanner (becoming surprisingly common place, and with enough images of the target this might not even be needed)
2 A picture of the target, or preferably 2 or 3 from slightly different angles, to map onto the 3D construct of their face, not difficult at all these days... (and this won't even be necessary if the facial detection is based on geometric data only)
3 A 3D printer
"A backdoor is a component of a security system, in which the component is active on a computer system without consent of the computer's owner, performs functions that subvert purposes disclosed to the computer's owner, and is under the control of an undisclosed actor."
This is a terrible definition; all the stuff about who knows / authorises what is irrelevant and quite obviously only there to support the FBI's current position with Apple.
A backdoor is simply 'another way in', nothing more, nothing less.
The implications are more complex; primarily that it bypasses / circumvents the 'usual' authentication / security mechanisms in some way...
The type of drone in question, a Syma X5 is circa 200-300 grams, has relatively weak brushed motors, doesn't have the power to lift a load of more than 50-100 grams, a maximum of 50-100 meter range from the transmitter and requires line of sight, little or no use for any criminal enterprise.
Drones that are of use to criminals are larger (1 Kg+) with powerful brushless motors and the ability to carry loads such as drugs or mobile phones as well as providing decent range for the transmitter and FPV camera. No way an eagle could grab one of those out of the air; nothing could mitigate the risk of injury from the motors and the drone it's self would simply be too heavy for the bird...
As a technical test analyst/manager with >8 years experience in mobile telecoms, (I was working for Orange / EE at the time), I can assure you I'm perfectly qualified to assess and report on the afore-mentioned incident, however if you're just going to call me a liar then I can see you must have earned your little silver badge for trolling...
Our security service has been doing this for years even before smart phones...
Back in about 2009 when I owned a Sony Ericsson C902 feature phone, my employer used to organise a summer day out for all staff and their families, that year we had a boat tour up and down the Thames.
Using my C902 camera I took lots of photos on the trip, including a large number of Vauxhall Cross as we sailed past...
After the trip back at my desk I plugged the memory card into my computer and to my surprise found that there wasn't a single image of Vauxhall Cross, even though I knew I'd taken several, 6-12 at least.
What's even more strange, all of the other photos, before and after the Vauxhall Cross ones were present with sequentially numbered file names first to last, with no break in the numbering.
Several times I've recounted this tale to various levels of dis-belief and mockery, now maybe the reaction might be slightly less incredulous...
"The likes Irvine Welsh, Alan Warner and Laura Hird in literary fiction and crime writers such as Val McDermid, Chris Brookmyre and Ian Rankin seem to have developed a sub-genre of their own. All are very prolific and consistent at turning out high quality pared down writing with downbeat heroes and a grim sardonic underlying humour."
Cannot believe you omitted the late Iain M Banks from this list :/
I have to recommend instant noodles and cup-a-soup:
Buy the cheapest noodles from any supermarkets (Asda I believe sell them for about 20p per packet) along with some cheap cup-a-soups of your preferred flavours.
Add a soup sachet to the noodles, cover with boiling water and microwave for a couple of minutes.
Provides a quick, easy and relatively tasty & filling meal for around 50p
"If it succeeds in slurping O2 Ireland, it'll reduce the number of operators in the country from four to three, with just Meteor and Vodafone as rivals, potentially reducing the amount of competition and therefore hiking prices for users"
I don't think so if the example set in the UK is anything to go by - while the 'old boys network' which runs the main operators here have been price fixing for years, 3 has been very much the outsider aggressively and consistently undercutting prices...
Edward Snowden's whistle blowing has massively advanced the cause of personal privacy, however, the exposure of this kind of material worries me greatly; up till now ES has been able to say that he has not compromised national security but the revelation of international espionage projects like this most definitely does undermine national security and the capabilities of security agencies.
On a technical level I find this fascinating, but I can't get past the thought that I / we really shouldn't know this; security agencies and governments deserve to keep SOME secrets :o/
I was there yesterday, and while I accept these quotes and references are accurate, I have to say this story is straining out a gnat...
While the event lasted a full day with several keynote speakers and sessions from AWS partners, this whole article is based on a couple of minutes from Andy Jassy's presentation which charted the growth of AWS since 2007.
AWS boasting about their dominant market position? Definitely and rightly so. Tanks on the lawn? Hardly.
"What the NSA appears to have done is circumvent or nobble the software and hardware that underpin widely used encryption systems, rather than all-out breaking the mathematical foundations of modern-day cryptography."
This puts the US / UK attitude towards Huawei & other Chinese firms in an interesting perspective...
It may be that western spooks aren't so much concerned with China's ability to compromise Chinese built kit, but rather THEIR INABILITY to compromise it...
None of this is relevant though if any link in the electronic chain can be presented with a court order or threatened by the security services to reveal data. we've already seen 2 businesses fall to this with one possibly facing obstruction charges.
You can't subpoena a face to face conversation (provided you avoid it being monitored / recorded in any way0 and that's the whole point of Rusbridger's stance and why this article is virtually pointless...
Couldn't agree more.
I started 'at the bottom' in testing in 2008 and since then my career, (as a 'permie'), and remuneration, has progressed rapidly.
I've worked on countless fascinating projects for 5 major companies and today my weekly pre-tax income as a Test Engineer / Analyst is well over £800 (although without the Ferrari).
Sure, there are the Accentures of this world who will work you to ill health for a pittance, but the 'Emperors New Clothes' that was the off-shoring 'revolution' has been largely called, decent contractors can still get £300-£500 / day, (in the south at least), and heaps of medium to large sized companies are bringing more and more of their testing in-house and offering excellent packages and career prospects for permies.
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