Technology

Killnet Carries Out Series of DDoS Attacks on Lithuania
Lithuania, News, Russia, Technology

Killnet Carries Out Series of DDoS Attacks on Lithuania

The pro-Russian group Killnet is claiming a series of cyber attacks that disrupted internet traffic in Lithuania on Monday.   The distributed denial of service attacks is said to be in retaliation for Lithuania's decision to block EU-sanctioned goods sent from the Russian border to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. DDoS The Lithuanian government says malicious internet traffic has disrupted some key components of its national security network. The local security services are said to have identified the main victims during the attacks and helped them counteract DDoS attacks in real-time. “There is a good chance that these and more intense attacks will continue to come in the coming days, especially against our communications services, energy suppliers and financial sector,” said...
Mars Probe on Windows 98 Gets Major Update After 19 Years
News, Technology

Mars Probe on Windows 98 Gets Major Update After 19 Years

As support for Windows 8.1 ends on Earth, a device further out in the solar system will receive a major update to its current system based on Windows 98 for the first time in 19 years.   The Mars Express, a probe that departed for the red planet on June 2, 2003, and is still circulating there, is getting its first major update. Currently, the probe runs on MARSIS software, an operating system based on Windows 98. It is now being modernized with an upgrade. Many details about the hardware the system runs on, and whether much of the original Windows 98 remains, are unknown. The ESA does say that the update gives the Mars Express more options. This makes it possible to use radio waves to look much deeper under the surface of Mars, or the surface of its moon, Phobos. For example, the ...
German Competition Watchdog Starts Investigation into Google Maps
Europe, Germany, News, Technology

German Competition Watchdog Starts Investigation into Google Maps

Limits in the terms of use of the service could be a form of monopoly abuse. The German antitrust watchdog has launched an investigation into Google Maps for possible anti-competitive practices.   The organization wants to know whether the limits Maps places on combining its services with those of third parties could have given Maps a competitive advantage. Specifically, the watchdog wants to find out whether the terms of use for the charting platform may be illegal. These are conditions that make it difficult for app developers to combine the Google Maps API with that of alternative map makers. The cartel watchdog would also start an investigation of Google's Automotive Services. "We're going to see if Google extends its dominance in certain mapping services through this practice...
Swiss Airspace Closed for Several Hours Due to Computer Failure
Europe, News, Switzerland, Technology

Swiss Airspace Closed for Several Hours Due to Computer Failure

Switzerland's airspace was closed for about three hours on Wednesday morning for security reasons, due to an IT breakdown at Skyguide.   At Geneva airport, all departing and inbound flights were suspended until 11 a.m. Two flights to Geneva were scheduled from Brussels Airport on Wednesday morning, one of which was cancelled and another was delayed. Many flights to Geneva or Zurich were diverted to airports in neighbouring countries, including Lyon, Milan and Vienna. The spokesman for air traffic controller Skyguide, Vladi Barrosa, informed the German news agency DPA that the company does not assume a cyber attack, but that a hardware problem was the cause of the breakdown.
US has Fastest Supercomputer Again After Two Years
News, Technology, US

US has Fastest Supercomputer Again After Two Years

The fastest (publicly known) supercomputer in the world is now located in the US. The Frontier is the first to hit more than one exaflop.   According to the Top500 ranking of supercomputers, the fastest machine is now located at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The machine achieves a peak performance of 1.1 exaflops, which makes it a lot more powerful than the previous number one, the Japanese Fugaku which hits 442 petaflops. The ranking of supercomputers changes regularly as more powerful machines are made and delivered. Fugaku, made by Fujitsu, has been in the lead for the past two years, since mid-2020. Frontier is a supercomputer based on HPE's Cray EX platform. The machine is water-cooled and features AMD's 3rd generation Epyc processors, Instinct MI250X accelerators...
Elon Musk and Bill Gates are Arguing Again: ‘What a Shitty Prank’
Business, News, Technology

Elon Musk and Bill Gates are Arguing Again: ‘What a Shitty Prank’

It's another fight between two of the richest people in the world. News reports claim that Microsoft founder Bill Gates would donate money to boycott Twitter, which Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk calls a "shit prank".   “Sigh”. Just one word, but one with a lot of meaning. Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk wrote the word on Twitter in response to a news article alleging Microsoft founder Bill Gates donated “hundreds of millions of dollars” to groups behind a campaign urging advertisers to boycott Twitter. if Musk takes over the platform. Under another article with the same content, he wrote "What a dick move", which means "what a shitty prank". This is not the first time the two have openly argued. Gates has criticized Musk's possible takeover of Twitter in the past. He said Musk mig...
Zuckerberg Charged with Role in Cambridge Analytica Scandal
News, Technology

Zuckerberg Charged with Role in Cambridge Analytica Scandal

Washington DC District Attorney is indicting Mark Zuckerberg. The attorney says he has evidence that Zuckerberg, as CEO of Facebook (now Meta), participated in the decision-making process that made the data scandal possible.   "The evidence shows that Mr Zuckerberg was personally involved in Facebook's inability to protect users' privacy and data, which led directly to the Cambridge Analytica incident," prosecutor Karl Racine said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal. He also states that business leaders are also responsible for their actions. The case comes after Racine tried to implicate Zuckerberg in a Cambridge Analytica lawsuit last year. The court did not agree with this because it thought it had been waiting too long to sue the CEO of Meta. Racine then says that it took...
Broadcom Wants to Acquire VMware
Business, News, Technology, US

Broadcom Wants to Acquire VMware

Talks are underway between Broadcom and VMware to take over the latter. Although a deal does not seem immediate.   Both Bloomberg and Reuters spoke to sources who say the two are currently negotiating, but details about the terms are not yet available. Also, the takeover talks would not lead to a takeover in the short term. Broadcom is mainly known as a chip manufacturer and makes routers and other network technology, among other things. In recent years, the company has acquired CA Technologies for $18.9 billion and Symantec's security arm for $10.7 billion. It previously also tried to take over chip manufacturer Qualcomm, among others, but without success. VMware has changed hands a few times in recent years. It was largely owned by EMC. Later it came into the hands of Dell Techn...
Zoom buys contact center software company
Business, News, Technology

Zoom buys contact center software company

Video conferencing company Zoom has completed a new acquisition. With Solvvy, it adds customer support AI to its portfolio.   The move appears to be part of a broader plan to expand Zoom from its familiar voice and video chats to a platform for large businesses. With the lockdowns that made Zoom so popular in much of the world gone, the company has been expanding its portfolio for a while now. With Solvvy, it has acquired an automation platform for contact centres containing the necessary AI. Zoom already introduced Zoom Contact Center last year, allowing companies to provide their customers with the well-known video chat, but with voice, SMS and live chat. Solvvy's software fits neatly into this. The aim is to build the AI software into the Zoom Contact Center Platform. The acqui...
Google Launches Its Own Smartwatch
News, Technology

Google Launches Its Own Smartwatch

Tech group Google is competing with the Apple Watch by launching its smartwatch. The smartwatches should be available this fall, Google announced at its annual developer I/O conference.   The search giant has been trying to strengthen its market position with hardware, such as smartphones. For example, the Google Pixel Watch was developed for the most part by Fitbit, the smartwatch company that came into the hands of Google in early 2021. The watch can be used for digital payments, navigation via Google Maps and notifications for incoming messages. In addition, the smartwatch works with, among other things, a voice-controlled assistant that is also on many Android phones. The acquisition of Fitbit by Google was already seen by many as a step to answering the Apple Watch. Apple con...