Attackers could exploit over-the-air updates in three million Android devices to remotely execute commands with root privileges via a man-in-the-middle (MiTM) attack.
Monday review – the hot 16 stories of the week
From fears about fake news on Facebook to how BlackNurse can overwhelm firewalls from a single laptop
Spammers Compromised Popular Twitter Accounts Including Viacom And Microsoft Xbox
“A number of popular Twitter accounts suddenly wanted to help you add more followers,” joked Engadget. An anonymous reader writes: Early Saturday morning, due to a breach of the Twitter Counter analytics service, the compromised Twitter accounts started posting images…
Humble Bundle Supports The EFF With A LEGO eBook Sale
The EFF is describing it as “a break for your brain.” An anonymous reader writes: Humble Bundle has announced a special “pay what you want” sale for four ebooks about LEGO from No Starch Press, with proceeds going to the…
Google Opens Real-World 'Google Shops' in Canada
Streetlight writes: Google is moving towards a physical presence in Best Buy stores…mimicking what Samsung has done. Hopefully the “stores” are staffed with competent professionals that know what they’re selling and maybe provide some help to those who have purchased…
One Third of California's Trees Are Dead
“There are about 21 million acres of trees spread across California’s 18 national forests, and the latest figures show 7.7 million of them — more than one-third — are dead.” An anonymous reader quotes the San Francisco Chronicle: California’s lingering…
Ask Slashdot: Could A 'Smart Firewall' Protect IoT Devices?
To protect our home networks from IoT cracking, Ceaus wants to see a smart firewall: It’s a small box (the size of a Raspberry Pi) with two ethernet ports you put in front of your ISP router. This firewall is…
Is Google's AI-Driven Image-Resizing Algorithm Dishonest?
The Stack reports on Google’s “new research into upscaling low-resolution images using machine learning to ‘fill in’ the missing details,” arguing this is “a questionable stance…continuing to propagate the idea that images contain some kind of abstract ‘DNA’, and that…
cURL Author Is Getting Tech Support Emails From Car Owners
AmiMoJo writes: The author of the popular cURL utility has been receiving requests for help from frustrated car owners having difficulty with their infotainment systems… [B]ecause his email address is listed on the “about” screen, as required by the cURL…
Dutch Science Academy Plans A Women-Only Election
greg65535 writes: In order to reduce its gender imbalance, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in Amsterdam will hold special election rounds, one in 2017 and one in 2018, for which only women can be nominated. The…