Tag: contractor

How the NSA’s Hubris Left America Vulnerable

A new book promises “the untold story of the cyberweapons market — the most secretive, invisible, government-backed market on earth — and a terrifying first look at a new kind of global warfare.” Its author — a New York Times cybersecurity reporter — shares the book’s story about David Evenden, a former National Security Agency analyst who later worked in Abu…

‘Major Component Malfunction’ Ends SLS Rocket Test Early. NASA Considers New Timeline

“NASA’s rocket charged with taking the agency back to the moon fired its four main engines Saturday afternoon, but the test in Mississippi was cut short after a malfunction caused an automatic abort,” reports Florida Today… “We did get an MCF on engine four,” a control room member said less than a minute into the test fire, using an initialism that…

Jeff Bezos Shares Blue Origin Engine Test Footage

Friday on Instagram Jeff Bezos shared footage from NASA’s test of Blue Origin’s BE-7 engine, which he described approvingly as “a high-performance, additively manufactured liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen lunar landing engine with 10,000 lbf [pound-force] of thrust — deep throttling down to 2,000 lbf for a precise landing on the Moon.” The test brings the program’s cumulative test time up to 1,245…

What Hunting Bigfoot Taught a Republican Congressman about Misinformation, Political Extremists, and Grift

Republican congressman Denver Riggleman was once a defense contractor for America’s National Security Agency. But in 2004, he paid more than $5,000 to join an amateur expedition searching for Bigfoot. Not because he believed in the mythical ape-like creature said to live in the woods, according to the Washington Post, but “to indulge a lifelong fascination: Why do people — what…

Cyberattackers Now Also Make Linux Versions of Their Ransomware

“Security firm Kaspersky said Friday that it discovered a Linux version of the RansomEXX ransomware,” reports ZDNet, “marking the first time a major Windows ransomware strain has been ported to Linux to aid in targeted intrusions.” RansomEXX is a relatively new ransomware strain that was first spotted earlier this year in June. The ransomware has been used in attacks against the…

Uber and Lyft Will Push For More Laws Classifying Drivers as Independent Contractors

“Uber helped wage a $200 million war in California to keep drivers as contractors,” notes the Washington Post — successfully funding a ballot proposition that overrides a high-stakes 2019 law which insisted drivers be considered employees. “But now that the ballot measure has passed, the company says its work isn’t done…” The ride-hailing giant’s CEO said Thursday that Uber is looking…

Maze, a Notorious Ransomware Group, Says It’s Shutting Down

One of the most active and notorious data-stealing ransomware groups, Maze, says it is “officially closed.” From a report: The announcement came as a waffling statement, riddled with spelling mistakes, and published on its website on the dark web, which for the past year has published vast troves of stolen internal documents and files from the companies it targeted, including Cognizant,…

Privacy Investigation Finds 5 Million Shoppers’ Images Collected At Malls Across Canada

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CTV News: Without customers’ knowledge, more than five million images of Canadian shoppers’ were collected through facial recognition software used by Cadillac Fairview, a parent company of malls across the country, according to an investigation by privacy officials. The federal privacy commissioner reported Thursday that Cadillac Fairview contravened federal and provincial privacy laws by…

NSA Ducks Questions About Backdoors In Tech Products

The U.S. National Security Agency is rebuffing efforts by a leading Congressional critic to determine whether it is continuing to place so-called back doors into commercial technology products, in a controversial practice that critics say damages both U.S. industry and national security. Reuters reports: The NSA has long sought agreements with technology companies under which they would build special access for…