North Korea hacking focused more on making money than espionage – South Korean study

SEOUL — North Korea is behind an increasingly orchestrated effort at hacking into computers of financial institutions in South Korea and around the world to steal cash for the impoverished country, a South Korean state-backed agency said in a report.

In the past, suspected hacking attempts by North Korea appeared intended to cause social disruption or steal classified military or government data, but the focus seems to have shifted in recent years to raising foreign currency, the South’s Financial Security Institute (FSI) said.

The isolated regime is suspected to be behind a hacking group called Lazarus, which global cybersecurity firms have linked to last year’s $81 million cyber heist at the Bangladesh central bank and the 2014 attack on Sony’s Hollywood studio.

The U.S. government has blamed North Korea for the Sony hack and some U.S. officials have said prosecutors are building a case against Pyongyang in the Bangladesh Bank theft.

In April, Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab also identified a hacking group called Bluenoroff, a spinoff of Lazarus, as focused on attacking mostly foreign financial institutions.


The new report, which analyzed suspected cyberattacks between 2015 and 2017 on South Korean government and commercial institutions, identified another Lazarus spinoff named Andariel.

“Bluenoroff and Andariel share their common root, but they have different targets and motives,” the report said. “Andariel focuses on attacking South Korean businesses and government agencies using methods tailored for the country.”

Pyongyang has been stepping up its online hacking capabilities as one way of earning hard currency under the chokehold of international sanctions imposed to stop the development of its nuclear weapons program.

Cyber security researchers have also said they have found technical evidence that could link North Korea with the global WannaCry “ransomware” cyberattack that infected more than 300,000 computers in 150 countries in May.

“We’ve seen an increasing trend of North Korea using its cyber espionage capabilities for financial gain. With the pressure from sanctions and the price growth in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum — these exchanges likely present an attractive target,” said Luke McNamara, senior analyst at FireEye, a cybersecurity company.

North Korea has routinely denied involvement in cyberattacks against other countries. The North Korean mission to the United Nations was not immediately available for comment.

ATMs, online poker

The report said the North Korean hacking group Andariel has been spotted attempting to steal bank card information by hacking into automated teller machines, and then using it to withdraw cash or sell the bank information on the black market. It also created malware to hack into online poker and other gambling sites and steal cash.

“South Korea prefers to use local ATM vendors and these attackers managed to analyze and compromise SK ATMs from at least two vendors earlier this year,” said Vitaly Kamluk, director of the APAC research center at Kaspersky.

“We believe this subgroup (Andariel) has been active since at least May 2016.”

The latest report lined up eight different hacking instances spotted within the South in the last few years, which North Korea was suspected to be behind, by tracking down the same code patterns within the malware used for the attacks.

One case spotted last September was an attack on the personal computer of South Korea’s defense minister as well as the ministry’s intranet to extract military operations intelligence.

North Korean hackers used IP addresses in Shenyang, China to access the defense ministry’s server, the report said.

Established in 2015, the FSI was launched by the South Korean government in order to boost information management and protection in the country’s financial sector following attacks on major South Korean banks in previous years.

The report said some of the content has not been proven fully and is not an official view of the government.

source: interaksyon.com

Cyberattack sweeps globe, researchers see ‘WannaCry’ link

MOSCOW/KIEV/WASHINGTON — A major global cyberattack on Tuesday disrupted computers at Russia’s biggest oil company, Ukrainian banks and multinational firms with a virus similar to the ransomware that last month infected more than 300,000 computers.

The rapidly spreading cyber extortion campaign underscored growing concerns that businesses have failed to secure their networks from increasingly aggressive hackers, who have shown they are capable of shutting down critical infrastructure and crippling corporate and government networks.

It included code known as “Eternal Blue,” which cyber security experts widely believe was stolen from the U.S. National Security Agency and was also used in last month’s ransomware attack, named “WannaCry.”

“Cyberattacks can simply destroy us,” said Kevin Johnson, chief executive of cyber security firm Secure Ideas. “Companies are just not doing what they are supposed to do to fix the problem.”

The ransomware virus crippled computers running Microsoft Corp’s Windows by encrypting hard drives and overwriting files, then demanded $300 in bitcoin payments to restore access. More than 30 victims paid into the bitcoin account associated with the attack, according to a public ledger of transactions listed on blockchain.info.

Microsoft said the virus could spread through a flaw that was patched in a security update in March.

“We are continuing to investigate and will take appropriate action to protect customers,” a spokesman for the company said, adding that Microsoft antivirus software detects and removes it.

Russia and Ukraine were most affected by the thousands of attacks, according to security software maker Kaspersky Lab, with other victims spread across countries including Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United States. The total number of attacks was unknown.

Security experts said they expected the impact to be smaller than WannaCry since many computers had been patched with Windows updates in the wake of WannaCry last month to protect them against attacks using Eternal Blue code.

Still, the attack could be more dangerous than traditional strains of ransomware because it makes computers unresponsive and unable to reboot, Juniper Networks said in a blog post analyzing the attack.

Researchers said the attack may have borrowed malware code used in earlier ransomware campaigns known as “Petya” and “GoldenEye.”

Following last month’s attack, governments, security firms and industrial groups aggressively advised businesses and consumers to make sure all their computers were updated with Microsoft patches to defend against the threat.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it was monitoring the attacks and coordinating with other countries. It advised victims not to pay the extortion, saying that doing so does not guarantee access will be restored.

In a statement, the White House National Security Council said there was currently no risk to public safety. The United States was investigating the attack and determined to hold those responsible accountable, it said.

The NSA did not respond to a request for comment. The spy agency has not publicly said whether it built Eternal Blue and other hacking tools leaked online by an entity known as Shadow Brokers.

Several private security experts have said they believe Shadow Brokers is tied to the Russian government, and that the North Korean government was behind WannaCry. Both countries’ governments deny charges they are involved in hacking.

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The first attacks were reported from Russia and Ukraine.

Russia’s Rosneft, one of the world’s biggest crude producers by volume, said its systems had suffered “serious consequences,” but added oil production had not been affected because it switched over to backup systems.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Pavlo Rozenko said the government’s computer network went down and the central bank reported disruption to operations at banks and firms including the state power distributor.

Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk said it was among the victims, reporting outages at facilities including its Los Angeles terminal.

WPP, the world’s largest advertising agency, said it was also infected. A WPP employee who asked not to be named said that workers were told to shut down their computers: “The building has come to a standstill.”

A Ukrainian media company said its computers were blocked and it was asked to pay $300 in the crypto-currency bitcoin to regain access.

“Perhaps you are busy looking for a way to recover your files, but don’t waste your time. Nobody can recover your files without our decryption service,” the message said, according to a screenshot posted on Ukraine’s Channel 24.

Russia’s central bank said there were isolated cases of lenders’ IT systems being infected. One consumer lender, Home Credit, had to suspend client operations.

Other companies that identified themselves as victims included French construction materials firm Saint Gobain, U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co.  and Mars Inc.’s Royal Canin pet food business.

India-based employees at Beiersdorf, makers of Nivea skin care products, and Reckitt Benckiser, which owns Enfamil and Lysol, told Reuters the ransomware attack had impacted some of their systems in the country.

Western Pennsylvania’s Heritage Valley Health System’s entire network was shut down by a cyber attack on Tuesday, according to local media reports.

Last’s month’s fast-spreading WannaCry ransomware attack was crippled after a 22-year-old British security researcher Marcus Hutchins created a so-called “kill switch” that experts hailed as the decisive step in slowing the attack.

Security experts said they did not believe that the ransomware released on Tuesday had a kill switch, meaning that it might be harder to stop.

Ukraine’s cyber police said on Twitter that a vulnerability in software used by MEDoc, a Ukrainian accounting firm, may have been an initial source of the virus, which researchers including cyber intelligence firm Flashpoint said could have infected victims via an illegitimate software update.

In a Facebook post, MEDoc confirmed it had been hacked but denied responsibility for originating the attack.

An adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister said earlier in the day that the virus got into computer systems via “phishing” emails written in Russian and Ukrainian designed to lure employees into opening them.

According to the state security agency, the emails contained infected Word documents or PDF files as attachments.

Following is a list of companies and organizations that have reported being hit by cyberattacks:

ROSNEFT

Russia’s top oil producer Rosneft said its servers had been hit been a large-scale cyberattack but its oil production was unaffected.

A.P. MOLLER-MAERSK

Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk, which handles one out of seven containers shipped globally, said a cyberattack had caused outages at its computer systems across the world.

Maersk’s port operator APM Terminals was also hit. Dutch broadcaster RTV Rijnmond reported that 17 shipping container terminals run by APM Terminals had been hacked, including two in Rotterdam and 15 in other parts of the world.

WPP

Britain’s WPP, the world’s biggest advertising company, said computer systems within several of its agencies had been hit by a suspected cyberattack.

MERCK & CO

Pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. said in a tweet its computer network was compromised as part of a global hack.

RUSSIAN BANKS

Russia’s central bank said there had been “computer attacks” on Russian banks and that in isolated cases their IT systems had been infected.

All Russian branches of Home Credit consumer lender are closed because of a cyberattack, an employee of a Home Credit call center in Russia said.

UKRAINIAN BANKS, POWER GRID

A number of Ukrainian banks and companies, including the state power distributor, were hit by a cyberattack that disrupted some operations, the Ukrainian central bank said.

UKRAINIAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Yevhen Dykhne, director of the capital’s Boryspil Airport, said it had been hit. “In connection with the irregular situation, some flight delays are possible,” Dykhne said in a post on Facebook.

SAINT GOBAIN

French construction materials company Saint Gobain said it had been a victim of a cyberattack, and it had isolated its computer systems to protect data.

DEUTSCHE POST

German postal and logistics company Deutsche Post said systems of its Express division in the Ukraine have in part been affected by a cyberattack.

METRO

Germany’s Metro said its wholesale stores in the Ukraine had been hit by a cyberattack and the retailer was assessing the impact.

MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL

Food company Mondelez International said employees in different regions were experiencing technical problems but it was unclear whether this was due to a cyberattack.

TNT EXPRESS

The Netherlands-based shipping company said it was experiencing interference with some of its systems, following a global ransomware attack.

EVRAZ

Russian steelmaker Evraz said its information systems had been hit by a cyberattack but its output was not affected.

NORWAY

A ransomware cyberattack is taking place in Norway and is affecting an unnamed international company, the Nordic country’s national security authority.

MARS INC

A unit of candy manufacturer Mars Inc. has been targeted by cyber attackers, and the company has isolated the issue, a spokeswoman for the company said.

BEIERSDORF AG

India-based employees at Beiersdorf AG, the maker of Nivea skincare products, told Reuters the ransomware attack had impacted some of the company’s systems in the country. The extent of the impact was unclear and Beiersdorf, which is based in Germany, could not be reached immediately for comment in India.

RECKITT BENCKISER

The Indian unit of British consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc, which owns brands such as Enfamil, Dettol and Lysol, was also hit by the ransomware attack, employees in India told Reuters. The extent of the impact on its systems was not immediately clear and the company could not be reached for comment in India.

source: interaksyon.com

ONLY 3 DAYS TO GO | You have less than a week to upgrade to Windows 10 for free

MANILA, Philippines — Microsoft highlighted that more than half of qualified PCs in the Philippines are at risk of missing out on the free Windows 10 upgrade offer which will end July 29.

According to web traffic analysis tool StatCounter, 56.4 percent of PCs in the Philippines are still running on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, both of which are eligible for the free Windows 10 upgrade offer.

“Windows 10 is the fastest growing version of Windows in history, and more than 350 million active devices around the world today run on the most personal and productive version of Windows we’ve ever created,” said Karrie Ilagan, Country Manager for Microsoft Philippines. “We strongly encourage eligible PC users to take advantage of the free upgrade to enjoy great new features on Windows 10 that will truly enhance their personal computing experience.”

Since launch, Windows 10 has seen the highest customer satisfaction rate among customers as compared to previous versions of Windows. In addition, there has been incredible customer engagement with more than 135 billion hours of use on Windows 10 since launch. From students to mobile professionals, Windows 10 has created new computing experiences that are more engaging, more natural and more productive.

In addition, the upcoming Windows 10 Anniversary Update will roll out globally on August 2, bringing key breakthrough new features to all Windows 10 PCs, including more security features for the most secure Windows; increased power efficiency, extensions and accessibility with Microsoft Edge; a better gaming experience with Xbox Play Anywhere; and innovations for the modern classroom where education customers can enjoy a range of new features in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

Ilagan added, “With Windows 10, our vision was to provide the best and most secure operating system that gets even better over time. The Anniversary Update is just the first step in our commitment to consistently add new features and innovations that people love to Windows 10. Customers who take advantage of the free upgrade today can do so with the full confidence that they will continue to reap the benefits Windows 10 will offer down the road.”

Microsoft is encouraging all qualified PCs to upgrade to Windows 10 immediately, before the free upgrade offer ends on July 29, 2016. After July 29, users who missed the free upgrade offer will have to purchase a new Windows 10 product license to keep their devices up-to-speed with the Anniversary Update.

source: interaksyon.com

Microsoft’s latest operating system running on 200 million devices

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft Corp’s latest operating system, Windows 10, is running on 200 million devices in what the company said was the fastest adoption rate of any of its operating systems.

Windows 10, which the company released as a free download in July, powers both personal computers and devices like phones. It replaced Windows 8, the heavily criticized system dating from 2012.

Just over two months ago, Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said 110 million devices were running Windows 10, meaning the system is now on almost double the number of phones and PCs compared to before the holiday season.

“I would characterize this as white hot adoption out of the gate,” said Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, who has an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Much of the growth comes from retail consumers, with devices such as Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console helping drive adoption of Windows 10, the company said. Xbox’s busiest day ever was Dec. 28, it added.

But the ultimate success of Windows 10 will be judged by the take-up rate among businesses. About three-quarters of Microsoft’s enterprise customers are testing Windows 10, the company said.

Microsoft also needs more mobile developers to build apps for Windows 10 to help catch up with players like Apple and its popular iPhone and iPad devices. It reported some progress in that area Monday, citing more visits to its Windows Store for apps such as video service Netflix and music service Pandora.

source: interaksyon.com

Google’s two OSs to become one

BEIJING — Two operation systems(OSs) operated by Google are to be combined into one.

The Internet company is reportedly planning to build its Chrome operating system for personal computers into its Android mobile-operating system.

Google sets such plans as Android has emerged as the dominant operating system by quite a long stretch. It is also regarded as a sign of the growing dominance of mobile computing.

Combining the two operating systems means setting up Android to run on laptops and desktop computers, which would require big changes.

For instance, Android will have to support the Google Play Store. Chromebooks will reportedly receive a new name to reflect the new OS.

The new operating system is expected to be ready sometime in 2017.

source: interaksyon.com

IBM launches Linux-only mainframe system LinuxONE

International Business Machines Corp said on Monday it launched Linux-only mainframe servers called LinuxONE.

The severs include LinuxONE Emperor for large enterprises and Rockhopper for mid-size businesses.

IBM said LinuxONE Emperor can scale up to 8,000 virtual machines or thousands of containers, which would be the most for any single Linux system.


The Linux One Emperor system will be based on IBM’s z13 mainframe computer, which had been designed for high-volume mobile transactions.

IBM said the LinuxOne system will work with open software such as Apache Spark, MariaDB, PostgreSQL and Chef.

The company also said it partnered with UK-based Canonical Ltd to distribute its Ubuntu open source software on LinuxONE and z systems.

source: interaksyon.com

DEFCON 2015 | Aerial Assault drone is armed with hacking weapons

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Hackers’ arsenal on Sunday was beefed up with a drone armed with weapons to crack into wireless computer networks at close range, whether they be in skyscrapers or walled compounds.

David Jordan of US-based Aerial Assault was at an infamous Def Con hacker gathering showing off a drone that could be dispatched on missions to land atop buildings or hover outside walls and probe for cracks in computer networks.

“There has never been this capability before,” Jordan said as he showed the drone to AFP.

The drone was equipped with software tools used to perform the kind of “penetration testing” done by hackers or computer security professionals who seek vulnerabilities in computer networks.

As with drones previously launched by hackers, the Aerial Assault model scans for unsecured wireless connections to networks, according to Jordan.

Along with assessing weaknesses of networks, the drone logs precise GPS coordinates of a target and takes all the information back to its handler, he said.

Aerial Assault drones were for sale, at a price of $2,500 each.

Hackers at Def Con early on turned to drones for sniffing out unprotected wireless Internet networks, but capabilities Jordan said were built into the Aerial Assault drone raised the ante with automated tools that could be flown past physical defenses

source: interaksyon.com

US urges removing Superfish program from Lenovo laptops

BOSTON — The U.S. government on Friday advised Lenovo Group Ltd customers to remove “Superfish,” a program pre-installed on some Lenovo laptops, saying it makes users vulnerable to cyberattacks.

The Department of Homeland Security said in an alert that the program makes users vulnerable to a type of cyberattack known as SSL spoofing, in which remote attackers can read encrypted Web traffic, redirect traffic from official websites to spoofs, and perform other attacks.

“Systems that came with the software already installed will continue to be vulnerable until corrective actions have been taken,” the agency said.

Adi Pinhas, chief executive of Palo Alto, California-based Superfish, said in a statement that his company’s software helps users achieve more relevant search results based on images of products viewed. He said the vulnerability was “inadvertently” introduced by Israel-based Komodia, which built the application described in the government notice.

Komodia CEO Barak Weichselbaum declined comment on the vulnerability.

Lenovo apologized late on Friday in a statement for “causing these concerns among our users” and said that it was “exploring every action we can” to address the issues around Superfish, including offering tools to remove the software and certificate.

“We ordered Superfish pre-loads to stop and had server connections shut down in January based on user complaints about the experience. However, we did not know about this potential security vulnerability until yesterday (Thursday),” the Lenovo statement said.

“We recognise that this was our miss, and we will do better in the future. Now we are focused on fixing it,” the company said.

Komodia’s website says it produces a “hijacker” that allows users to view data encrypted with SSL technology.

“The hijacker uses Komodia’s redirector platform to allow you easy access to the data and the ability to modify, redirect, block, and record the data without triggering the target browser’s certification warning,” according to the site.

Marc Rogers, a researcher with CloudFlare, said that means companies which deploy Komodia technology can snoop on web traffic.

“These guys can do everything from just collect a little bit of marketing information, all the way to building a profile on you and spying on your banking connections,” he said. “It’s a very dangerous slope.”

Rogers said that use of Komodia’s technology in other products makes them vulnerable to the same types of attacks as Lenovo’s Superfish.

He said other vulnerable products include two parental filters: One from Komodia known as KeepMyFamilySecure and another from Qustodio.

Komodia’s Weichselbaum said his company was investigating reports of vulnerabilities in KeepMyFamilySecure.

Qustodio CEO Eduardo Cruz Chief Executive said his company’s Windows parental filter was vulnerable and he hoped to push out a fix within a few days.

Lenovo did not disclose how many machines were affected, but said that only machines shipped from September to December of last year had been pre-loaded with the vulnerable software.

Affected Lenovo products include laptops in its Yoga, Flex and MiiX lines as well as its E, G, U, Y and Z series, according to the company’s support website.

source: interaksyon.com

Internet will ‘disappear’, Google boss tells Davos

DAVOS, Switzerland — Google boss Eric Schmidt predicted on Thursday that the Internet will soon be so pervasive in every facet of our lives that it will effectively “disappear” into the background.

Speaking to the business and political elite at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Schmidt said: “There will be so many sensors, so many devices, that you won’t even sense it, it will be all around you.”

“It will be part of your presence all the time. Imagine you walk into a room and … you are interacting with all the things going on in that room.”

“A highly personalised, highly interactive and very interesting world emerges.”

On the sort of high-level panel only found among the ski slopes of Davos, the heads of Google, Facebook and Microsoft and Vodafone sought to allay fears that the rapid pace of technological advance was killing jobs.

“Everyone’s worried about jobs,” admitted Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook.

With so many changes in the technology world, “the transformation is happening faster than ever before,” she acknowledged.

“But tech creates jobs not only in the tech space but outside,” she insisted.

Schmidt quoted statistics he said showed that every tech job created between five and seven jobs in a different area of the economy.

“If there were a single digital market in Europe, 400 million new and important new jobs would be created in Europe,” which is suffering from stubbornly high levels of unemployment, he said.

The debate about whether technology is destroying jobs “has been around for hundreds of years”, said the Google boss. What is different is the speed of change.

“It’s the same that happened to the people who lost their farming jobs when the tractor came … but ultimately a globalised solution means more equality for everyone.”

Everyone has a voice

With one of the main topics at this year’s World Economic Forum being how to share out the fruits of global growth, the tech barons stressed that the greater connectivity offered by their companies ultimately helps reduce inequalities.

“Are the spoils of tech being evenly spread? That is an issue that we have to tackle head on,” said Satya Nadella, chief executive of Microsoft.

“I’m optimistic, there’s no question. If you are in the tech business, you have to be optimistic. Ultimately to me, it’s about human capital. Tech empowers humans to do great things.”

Facebook boss Sandberg said the Internet in its early forms was “all about anonymity”, but now everyone was sharing everything and everyone was visible.

“Now everyone has a voice … now everyone can post, everyone can share and that gives a voice to people who have historically not had it,” she said.

Schmidt, who said he had recently come back from the reclusive state of North Korea, added he believed that technology forced potentially despotic and hermetic governments to open up as their citizens acquired more knowledge about the outside world.

“It is no longer possible for a country to step out of basic assumptions in banking, communications, morals and the way people communicate,” the Google boss said.

“You cannot isolate yourself any more. It simply doesn’t work.”

Nevertheless, Sandberg told the assembled elites that even the current pace of change was only the tip of the iceberg.

“Today, only 40 percent of people have Internet access,” she said, adding: “If we can do all this with 40 percent, imagine what we can do with 50, 60, 70 percent.”

Even two decades into the global spread of the Internet, the potential for opening up and growth was tremendous, she stressed.

“Sixty percent of the Internet is in English. If that doesn’t tell you how uninclusive the Internet is, then nothing will,” said the tycoon.

The World Economic Forum brings together some 2,500 of the top movers and shakers in the worlds of politics, business and finance for a four-day meeting that ends on Saturday.

source: interaksyon.com

Apple pushes first ever automated security update to Mac users

BOSTON — Apple Inc has pushed out its first-ever automated security update to Macintosh computers to help defend against newly identified bugs that security researchers have warned could enable hackers to gain remote control of machines.

The company pushed out the software on Monday to fix critical security vulnerabilities in a component of its OS X operating system called the network time protocol, or NTP, according to Apple spokesman Bill Evans.NTP is used for synchronizing clocks on computer systems.

The bugs were made public in security bulletins on Friday by the Department of Homeland Security and the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute. Carnegie Mellon identified dozens of technology companies, including Apple, whose products might be vulnerable.

When Apple has released previous security patches, it has done so through its regular software update system, which typically requires user intervention.

The company decided to deliver the NTP bug fixes with its technology for automatically pushing out security updates, which Apple introduced two years ago but had never previously used, because it wanted to protect customers as quickly as possible due to the severity of the vulnerabilities, Evans said.

“The update is seamless,” he said. “It doesn’t even require a restart.”

Apple does not know of any cases where vulnerable Mac computers were targeted by hackers looking to exploit the bugs, he added.

source: interaksyon.com

Dell launches new PC monitors

MANILA, Philippines — Dell has launched its new line-up of computer monitors during the company’s year-end briefing in Taguig last Friday.

The product line includes the flagship UP2715K, a 5k monitor with almost twice the resolution of a 4k monitor, the U3415W, Dell’s first type of 34-inch curved screen monitor, the Ultra HD 4k monitor P2715Q and the UltraSharp monitor U2515H.

“We are excited to announce Dell’s new monitor line-up in sizes and price points that will be compelling to customers seeking for higher resolutions,” Jasmon Ching, Dell South Asia brand marketing manager, said. “Today’s announcement reinforces how Dell has led in product innovation by making the latest monitor technologies available to everyone, regardless of their usage and budget.”

The premium product UP 2715K goes for $2,499 (about P111,492) and is designed primarily for color-based and high-resolution imaging industries as well as game and software developers. The product is mainly a 27-inch 16:9 ultra-HD 5k screen panel with a resolution of 5120×2880 (over 14 million pixels), or seven times better than full-HD monitors. According to Dell, the UP2715K can display 1.07 billion colors and has an 86 percent decrease of harmful reflection compared to other products for a more accurate display performance.

The curved display U3415W, on the other hand, retails for $1,199 (about P53,493) and has a sharpness of 3440×1440 resolution on 21:9 screen.

“The curved display and wide field of view work together to give gamers a competitive edge, requiring less eye movement when compared to a flat panel display, enabling players to take advantage of their peripheral vision when the competition heats up,” the company said in a press statement.

Dell also unveiled the P2715Q Ultra HD ($699 or P31,168), which has a 3840×2160 resolution with more than 8 million pixels, and the U2515H ($479 or about P21,375), which has a 2560×1440 QHD resolution.

source: interaksyon.com

Pirate Bay taken down after Swedish police raid

Swedish file-sharing website The Pirate Bay was taken down after Swedish police seized servers and computers from a server room in Stockholm.

“We had a crackdown on a server room in Greater Stockholm because of a copyright infringement, and yes it was Pirate Bay,” Paul Pinter, national coordinator, intellectual property crime at Stockholm County Police told Reuters.

Other file-sharing sites such as EZTV, Zoink, and Torrage were also offline, as was Pirate Bay’s forum Suprbay.org.

It was unsure if Pirate Bay was taken down for hosting some of the movies leaked due to the recent cyber attack on Sony Corp’s Sony Pictures Entertainment, tech website Wired reported.

Pirate Bay resurfaced for a while late Tuesday, after changing its domain name to .cr (Costa Rica), according to Russian news site Rt.com

source: interaksyon.com

Apple go cheap with new iMac

Since Apple gave the world a ‘cheap’ phone, they’ve convinced themselves that they can go ‘cheap’ across the board. Of course, Apple’s version of cheap isn’t the same as anyone else’s.

They’ve added an iMac to their product line which will cost you £899 ($1,099), which is cheaper than the rest of their offerings, but not exactly something you could buy on a whim once the direct debits have come out of your account at the start of the month.

So what’s under the hood?

Apple say that it’ll have a 21.5-inch display with 1.4GHz dual-core Core i5, a 500GB hard drive, and Intel HD Graphics 5000 hardware. It’ll have 802.11ac WiFi and Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 ports, but, with 8GB of RAM soldered hard to the motherboard, you won’t be able to beef it up. There’s pictures of that here.





This is something of a turnaround for Apple.

Once upon a time, Steve Jobs said that they wouldn’t go cheap(er) because ”we don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk.” Of course, this isn’t a $500 computer, but apply some inflation and it’s as good as.

Fancy one, or is it worth just saving up for a proper one?

 source: bitterwallet.com

Twitter’s Vine expands video on Web

SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter’s video service Vine announced Friday it was expanding its presence on the Web, giving users the option of watching full-screen clips on their personal computers.

The new service allows members to watch sequences of videos and use a full computer screen for viewing.

While Vine began as a mobile app for sharing short videos from smartphones, the new service gives more options to PC users.

Twitter bought the small team at Vine, a startup based in New York, in October 2012, prompting talk the messaging service intended to do for smartphone video what Instagram did for pictures.

“Today, we’re introducing a new way to experience Vine: on the web,” said a blog post from engineer Janessa Det.

“Log in at vine.co to view your home feed and like, comment, and share videos just as you do on our mobile apps. You can also visit your favorite users’ Vine profiles to browse the videos they’ve created since joining Vine. Plus, now you can share your profile with others so they can see your posts.

Det said Vine added a TV mode “to view the collection of videos in sequence and in full screen mode.”

“This release is just a first step toward bringing you a richer, more enjoyable web experience. We look forward to introducing more improvements in 2014,” she added.

Vine, which was one of the fastest-growing apps when it was launched, said in August its registered users had hit 40 million.

source: interaksyon.com

IBM sees five tech-powered changes in next five years

SAN FRANCISCO — Technology stalwart IBM on Tuesday predicted classrooms getting to know students and doctors using DNA to customize care are among five big changes on the horizon.

IBM said that its annual forecast of five ways technology will change lives in the coming five years was “driven by a new era of cognitive systems where machines will learn, reason and engage with us in a more natural and personalized way.”

And while software evolves to “think” in ways similar to the human brain, computing power and troves of data kept handy in the Internet “cloud” will enable machines to power innovations in classrooms, local shops, doctors’ offices, city streets and elsewhere, according to the firm behind the Watson computer that triumphed on US television game show Jeopardy.

“Over time these computers will get smarter and more customized through interactions with data, devices and people, helping us take on what may have been seen as unsolvable problems by using all the information that surrounds us and bringing the right insight or suggestion to our fingertips right when it’s most needed,” IBM contended.

Predictions for the coming five years included “classrooms of the future” equipped with systems that track and analyze each student’s progress to tailor curriculum and help teachers target learning techniques.

“Basically, the classroom learns you,” IBM vice president of innovation Bernie Meyerson told AFP. “It is surprisingly straight-forward to do.”

In another prediction, IBM sees retail shops large or small blending online and real-world storefronts with ‘Watson-like’ technologies and augmented reality.

Also, doctors will tailor treatments using patient DNA, according to Meyerson.

“Knowing your genetic make-up lets you sort through a huge variety of treatment options and determine the best course to follow,” he said.

“They don’t have to carpet bomb your body to treat cancer,” Meyerson continued. “There is the ability to tailor the attack to improve the efficacy against cancer cells while leaving healthy cells untouched.”

Smart machines tapping into the Internet cloud will also be able to serve as “digital guardians” protecting people from hackers by recognizing unusual online behavior, such as shopping binges at dubious websites, and spying scam email messages or booby-trapped links.

“The digital guardian will know you are not someone who goes to a poker site and tops off your account,” Meyerson said. “Not only does it shut down the behavior, but it tracks it back to who is doing it and passes the information on to authorities.”

The final prediction was that cities will weave social networks, smartphones, sensors, and machine learning to better manage services and build relationships with citizens.

“The city will help you live in it,” Meyerson said. “There is a new generation of leaders coming in who are extremely tech savvy and making good use of it.”

source: interaksyon.com

No wires, no mess: an ultra-thin wireless keyboard

The elegant Rapoo E6300 for the iPad is an ultra-slim keyboard with high-performance, tactile keys that’ll make cumbersome typing on the tablet’s touch screen a thing of the past. The compact keyboard slides into your pocket or briefcase for easy access anytime, anywhere.

With full-size alpha-numeric keys, the E6300 allows the user to comfortably and quickly type for longer periods of time. Each key has its own spring mechanism, and it’s arranged in a scissor key structure for a practical layout. The slim keyboard offers 80 keys including 15 iPad Hotkeys such as Homepage, Search, Picture Frame Mode, Play/Pause, Mute, Lock/Unlock, Copy, Paste and more.

Only .22 inches thick, the E6300 is one of the thinnest wireless keyboards on the market; but, thin doesn’t mean flimsy. Rapoo expertly designed the keyboard using brushed stainless steel coupling an elegant form factor with durability to withstand every day bumps. On the back of the keyboard is the lithium battery which also lifts the keyboard into a comfortable typing angle, a power switch, syncing button for Bluetooth-enabled devices, and a microUSB charging port to juice up the rechargeable battery. Small rubber feet ensure that the keyboard won’t slide around on smooth surfaces.

Using advanced Bluetooth 3.0 technology, users can pair and connect their iPad to the keyboard instantly. You can get a stable connection within a 360 degree wide range and transmission distance up to 30 feet. You only need to pair the keyboard to your iPad once because the iPad will remember the device pairing for future use.

The battery lasts up to one month before it needs to be recharged with the included cable, and it is compatible with any Bluetooth-enabled device.

source: interaksyon.com

Bedroom computers, TV may add to autism sleep issues

NEW YORK -- Kids with autism and related disorders are prone to sleep disturbances but a new study finds that screen time, especially in the bedroom, may make their sleep problems worse.

When researchers compared boys with autism spectrum disorders to other boys, they found that all the kids with bedroom access to media slept fewer hours, but the relationship was twice as strong for the boys with autism.

"In-room media access was associated with about 1.5 fewer hours of sleep per night in the group with autism," said Christopher R. Engelhardt, who led the study at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

"This association can potentially be problematic, particularly if the reduction in sleep interferes with other daily activities, such as school, homework, interactions with other people, or driving," he told Reuters Health in an email.

Past studies suggest that up to 80 percent of kids with autism, and related conditions like Asperger syndrome, experience sleep troubles, including difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep through the night. Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder also are known to have a high rate of sleep disturbances.

With both conditions, it's unclear why sleep is so difficult. Theories include a disruption in sleep-wake cycles that are regulated by the hormone melatonin, which is often deficient in kids with ASDs, Engelhardt and his colleagues write in Pediatrics.

Because kids with autism spectrum disorders, like those with ADHD, also tend to spend a lot of time watching TV and playing video or computer games, the researchers wondered whether that could be contributing to their sleep problems.

So they recruited the parents of 49 boys with autism spectrum disorders, 38 with ADHD and 41 comparison boys with typical development to fill out questionnaires about their children's bedroom screen access and sleep patterns. All the kids were between ages eight and 17.

Boys with autism who had TV, computers or video games in their bedrooms got less sleep than all the other boys, including boys with autism who didn't have media in their bedrooms.

Without a TV in their room, boys with autism spent an average of about nine hours sleeping, compared to less than eight hours among kids with an ASD and a bedroom TV.

In contrast, bedroom TVs didn't seem to make a difference for boys with ADHD or typical development.

Boys with autism with computers in their rooms slept nearly two hours less than boys with autism and no bedroom computer.

A lot of time spent playing video games, regardless of where they were located, was also linked to shorter sleep times among boys with ASDs.

Even for typical children, too much time with TV or video games has been linked to attention problems, hyperactivity, arguments and physical fights, Engelhardt said.

"We can't say that access to a TV causes less sleep," only that the two are linked for some kids, he said.

Last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics called for limiting screen time for all kids to one or two hours per day.

"This is a good recommendation for all children," Dr. Beth Marlow, Burry Chair in Cognitive Childhood Development and director of the Sleep Disorders Division at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

"Following this recommendation for kids with (autism spectrum) and ADHD is good, although children with (autism spectrum) or ADHD who are still having difficulty with sleep despite limiting electronics really deserve a sleep evaluation by their pediatrician or sleep specialist."

Sleep troubles can also stem from anxiety, sleep apnea, pain that the child might not be able to express, gastrointestinal problems or seizures, she said.

For typically developing kids, bedroom TV access doesn't usually seem to cut into sleep.

"However, (Engelhardt's) finding for teens with ASD concurs with our clinical impressions -- that these teens have difficulty 'switching off' videogames," Michael Gradisar said.

Gradisar is a clinical psychologist who studies technology use and sleep, especially among teens, at Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia.

"Many teens have a distorted sense of time passing when playing videogames, however, it may be that this time distortion is stronger for teens with ASD," he said.

Parents can have a tough time managing how much their children play games or watch TV, he said. "It may take quite some time to do, but one option is for parents to introduce other hobbies and activities into their teens lives, so that videogaming eventually occupies less time."

People with autism tend to spend more time with media outlets, researchers think, because the electronic worlds have engaging audio and visual features and their social interactions are easy relative to real life interactions.

This doesn't necessarily mean that parents should take TVs or video games out of their autistic children's rooms, but might consider limiting or monitoring media consumption, he said.

"Screen media can certainly be good for kids with autism," he said. "Scientists have long known that video games are great at teaching and reinforcing certain behaviors, so it's possible that these games can be used to adjust and shape the types of behaviors generally valued by society, such as behaviors intended to help others."

source: interaksyon.com

Dell SS240T: Mind-blowing monitor

Mind-blowing.

This piece of new technology conjures up scenes from hit Hollywood movies and puts us right into the action, one cool swipe at a time.

You open and close apps and execute programs and process by touching, pointing and dragging using your finger, instead of a mouse or touchpad, on the display monitor itself.

We are not talking about the latest tablet around—innovation, you can see anywhere today.

It’s a desktop touchscreen monitor we’ve tested from giant PC maker Dell.

Called the Dell S2240T, the flat 21.5-inch display won’t impress you off-the-box yet as it seems just like any ordinary monitor. However, when I connected the accompanying cables to my VGA or HDMI ports and the additional USB port to my laptop, the ordinary chores of checking my Outlook, launch Word or Excel, and even bring up a Photoshop window, turned into one fascinating experience.

Even if I’m using Windows 7, which still shows the traditional Windows interface, clicking on icons and maneuvering on the menus of the applications was as easy as picking up, using or leaving items on a real desktop or table. What’s extra cool is picking up items and organizing them into folders, which made my usual computing not only convenient but fun.

Yes, it is just a desktop version of your favorite tablet, and I admit it would still take time before users can really get a hang of it, using a touchscreen instead of a mouse, on a desktop. Some might even just opt to use a tablet instead of using a touchscreen monitor, given its handy and light form factor. But the innovation is something we must welcome as it puts the desktop experience on a higher plain, transforming it into a cool, futuristic interface everyone would want in their office cubicles or study tables.

But, I recommend using this monitor with Windows 8, which clearly defines the touchscreen desktop experience.

The LED touchscreen provides even more than what its target audience demands. Sliding, swiping, pinching, or stretching those desktop items on a large screen to view photos, play games, and browse websites is just so cool, you won’t want to get your hands off it. The multi-touch feature allows you to execute desktop programs more conveniently and easily with its 10-point touch capability. This means it recognizes up to 10 touch points simultaneously.

Not only does the multi-touch capability make you crave for the Dell S2240T, the image quality, too! It offers a full 1920 x 1080 full-HD resolution, a dynamic contrast ratio of 8,000,000:1 and support 16.7 million colors. It also has a wide 178-degree viewing angle, allowing screen views from almost any angle without sacrificing image quality.

And this I have to say: the design is just truly jaw-dropping, not only aesthetically but functionally. The end-to-end glass screen makes it look stunning and offer a smooth touch experience for users. What amazed me was its ergonomic stand that allows the user to easily adjust the panel up to 60 degrees of tilt. Users can choose the best angle wherein they can comfortably type or touch the screen. Do you want to mount the monitor on the wall? You can do that as well, with a VESA-compatible mount for viewing flexibility.

It supports a wide array of signal inputs, including DVI, HDMI and VGA. Because my laptop does not have an HDMI or DVI port, I used the “classic” VGA connection and still, the astonishment was there. But what’s further impressive was its low power consumption and eco-friendly features. Despite loads of functions, the Dell S2240T consumes only 20W of electricity, arsenic-free glass, and mercury-free LED panel that not only saves power but pushes to protect the environment.




There may be some kinks along the way, as some touches have not followed what I wanted. Like when I wanted to touch the File menu, the Edit menu on its right appeared instead. Also there were times when I still reached for the USB mouse when I wanted to access right-click menus or other options. But for sure, Dell will address this and make the experience even more compelling.

As it is, it’s still like living a dream.

source: interaksyon.com

Dell equips latest computer models with powerful specs, cutting-edge design

MANILA, Philippines — Dell has recently launched its newest line of laptops that fall under the Dell Latitude 3000, 5000, and 7000 series.

With the latest mobile computing products, Dell balances “sophisticated design, quality construction, and uncompromised durability to offer businesses of all sizes a wide variety of solutions.”

“These exciting new additions to the Latitude line provide our commercial customers what they’ve been asking for by bringing touch capability to the workspace at desirable price points,” said Christopher Papa, country manager of Dell Philippines.

All the models have touch displays that offer Corning Gorilla Glass NBT for up to 10 times higher scratch resistance compared to soda lime glass, the predominant material used in laptop screens throughout the industry. They also come with StrikeZone shock absorbers, Fast Response Free-Fall sensors, and rubber hard drive isolation for added protection of valuable data.

The Latitude 7000, Dell said, is the most secure and manageable of the Ultrabooks, which they said comes with “exceptional reliability and has mobility at its finest with business-class style.”

With the 12-inch model starting at just 20 millimeters thin and 1.3 kilograms, the Latitude 7000 price starts at P45,000.

While the Latitude 5000 and 3000 series, the computer company said, allows for “easy entry into business-class computing.”

Both series, with a choice of 14-inch and 15.6-inch screen sizes, will be able to address the needs of today’s “dynamic workforce by enabling easy entry into business-class computing,” according to a statement provided.

The Latitude 5000 will be available end of October, while the the 3000, which is already available in the market, has a base price of P26,000.

Worth adding is the 9020, a powerful Intel vPro-enabled All-in-One desktop with touchscreen capability.

Powered by the latest Intel Core i7 processors, it comes with a choice of hard drive, SSD or hybrid drive; high-speed memory options; and optional discrete graphics.

It has a 23” multi-touch display that supports the Windows 8 Interactive experience.

With “form and function being the goal,” this new line is designed to run for content creation, engineering, and other professional software applications.

source: interaksyon.com

Google may let you use computer with ‘hand gestures’

MANILA, Philippines — U.S. tech giant Google, now awash with millions of cash due to its booming income, has filed a patent application on a user interface that allows users to transmit computer commands through mere hand gestures.

In its application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last Oct. 15 innocuously titled “Hand gestures to signify what is important,” Google sought to own first dibs on a technology that enables people to execute commands on a wearable computer device, such as the much-touted Google glass.

In a drawing sheet, the company illustrated that the technology may be used to grab video stills by making hand gesture of a heart over the video.

“In accordance with example embodiments, hand gestures can be used to provide user input to a wearable computing device, and in particular to identify, signify, or otherwise indicate what may be considered or classified as important or worthy attention or notice,” the company said.

The technology may be seen to complement the further maturity of its Google glass device, which now allows users to record videos and snap pictures through voice commands.

In its patent filing, Google indicated that the hand-gesture technology will be used on a “wearable computing device, which could include a head-mounted display (HMD) and a video camera.”

“Particular hand gestures could be used for selecting portions of a field of view of the HMD, and generating images from selected portions,” Google said.

“The HMD could then transmit the generated images to one or more applications in a network server communicatively connected with the HMD, including a server of server system hosting a social networking service,” Google added.

This is not the first time, however, that Google toyed with the idea of a hand-gesture operated technology, only its first one was an April Fool’s prank. Google Motion, publicized in April 1, 2011, reportedly allows users to use gmail with body movements.

Google has not released an official statement about the hand-gesture technology and it may also be possible that the patent application may just be an attempt to ward off patent trolls

With the company’s balance sheet swimming in a sea of liquidity, due to a steady stream of ad revenues that propped up its third quarter income by 36 percent over last year to $3 billion, Google has been more and more ambitious in pursuing frontier technology, or “moonshots” as the company calls it.

The Internet search company even has a dedicated facility called Google X specifically tasked to develop and study the viability of these projects, which right now include a driverless car, a high-altitude helium balloon that will beam down broadband internet to remote areas, and the Google glass.

The company is also studying how to extend the human lifespan through its biotech company Calico.

source: interaksyon.com