Why Light Bulbs May Be the Next Hacker Target

Smart Light Bulbs – Wireless Fault - Hackers Take Control

Supporters debate that the Internet of Things provides several benefits like energy efficiency, technology convenience that can anticipate what one needs and also reduce congestion on the roads. However, placing a cluster of wirelessly connected devices in one spot could be tempting to hackers and would enable them to spread malicious code via air, just like a flu virus on a plane. Researchers had reported in a recent paper release that they had discovered an error in a wireless technology which is generally included in smart home devices like lights, locks, switches, thermostats and several of the components of the smart home of the future.

According to researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science near Tel Aviv and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, they focused on the Philips Hue smart light bulb and discovered that the wireless fault can permit hackers in taking control of the light bulbs. It may not sound like a great deal. But considering thousands or even hundreds of thousands of internet-connected devices in close proximity and the malware that is created by hackers could spread among the devices on compromising with just one of them.

Popular Websites Experience Outages/Interruption

Moreover they would not need to have direct access to the devices to pollute them. The researchers were capable of spreading infection in a network within a building by driving a car 70 metres away. The hackers had briefly denied access to complete chunks of the internet recently, by developing a flood of traffic which had overwhelmed the servers of a US company known as Dynthat assists in handling key components of the internet.

 Pinterest, Twitter, Reddit together with PayPal were down for most part of a day since their domain name provider, Dyn had been compelled to be offline. It had also resulted in popular Australian websites like ANZ, Coles, The Daily telegraph; Ebay, NAB, 9News and many others, to experience outages and interruption. Security experts are of the belief that the hackers discovered the horsepower essential for their attack by gaining control of a range of internet-linked devices.

Password Partially Blamed for Attack

However the hackers did not utilise the system provided in the report that had been released recently. A Chinese wireless camera company had stated that weak passwords on some of its products could be partially blamed for the attack. Although it had not been the first attempt hackers had utilised the Internet of Things to control an attack, the measure of effort against Dyn had been an eye opener to users who had not realized that the impact of internet-linked things joined in daily life would foresee new risks.

A widely respected cryptographer, Adi Shamir who assists pioneer modern encryption methods and is also one of the authors of the report, had commented that `even the best internet defense technologies would not stop such an attack.The new risk is said to come from a little-known radio protocol named ZigBee which had been developed in 1990s.

 ZigBee is a wireless standard which is used extensively in home consumer devices. Though it has been presumed to be secure, it has not been held up for scrutiny of the other safety methods utilised across the internet. The researchers had discovered that the ZigBee standard could be utilised in creating a computer worm to spread the malevolent software in devices which were internet-linked.

Comma.ai Goes Open Source with Self Driving Car Kit

Self driving car segment is popularly associated with Google and Apple automated car programs. But most of the people doesn’t known that BMW, Tesla and a number of other firms are working on the segment and each are going through a rapid phase of development to come up with their own version of safe and robust self-driving car within the mid next decade. Comma.ai is a lesser known player in the self-driving companies list but it has done a tremendous research and built a very reliable within a few years of its inception.

Comma.ai has announced that it will be coming up with its own software platform and it has future plans of bringing an associated hardware module which will be made available for free download on Github site. The best thing about this startup is that it will release its software platform and hardware module as an open source entity under the MIT license. This will help in development and engineering of self driving more easier and error free than before both for the enthusiasts and manufacturers alike.

Comma.ai is already works on a selected number of cars

Comma.ai’s developed self-driving platform is currently helps in powering the automation utility to just two cars namely the Acura ILX and Honda Civic. In order to bring the automated driving functionality to these cars this particular self-driving platform has to be supported with the LaneWatch package which is placed in the cars. Comma.ai brings a number of self driving capabilities to the vehicle which includes adaptive cruise control and self steering.

Adaptive cruise control backed with Comma.ai self driving platform allows the car to slow down from any given speed to a slower speed as per the traffic movement ahead while the self-steering allows users to leave the car completely on the auto-pilot kind of mode.

The advantage & disadvantage of self driving platform at a glance

As stated earlier a number of car manufactures, equipment supplier and even well established technology companies are trying their hand at developing their own home-grown self driving cars. The potential of the self driving technology is vast as it will not just bring a drastic fall in the car crashes and ultimate deaths but it will also help in reducing the traffic congestion which has become a chronic disease in mega cities. It does have it won a disadvantage which includes a major and detrimental impact on the jobs along with the economy.

Comma.ai is moving swiftly towards bring self-driving all cars alike

At the inception Cooma.ai offered to develop a self-driving car within $1000 but what it actually meant was that it will help in retrofitting the existing cars with self-driving capability through hardware and software support. On the same lines it is making its self-driving platform in open-source which will help hackers, engineers, communities and manufactures to add new capabilities and extend the application of this platform to a more diverse range of cars regardless of the region and location.

Six Benefits of Using Offshore Software Testing Services

Today, many companies are looking for ways to save money while maintaining an efficient, profitable organization. They want to expand their services to reach consumers on other parts of the globe. Some of these companies are taking advantage of offshore software testing services to help them achieve their business goals. Consider some of the benefits that these companies enjoy by having their software tested by a service located offshore.

A Staff of Experienced IT Professionals

When companies opt for offshore software testing services they are benefiting from the expertise and knowledge of a team of IT professionals. These individuals are familiar with many types of software and know how to identify bugs that can put a company at risk. Also, their practical experience enables them to anticipate possible problems with the software and make the appropriate adjustments to prevent these issues from occurring. This can be an especially valuable service for a growing company. In addition, IT professionals working for a software testing company located offshore are trained in different testing methods such as dynamic and static. A company can rely on the skills and training of IT professionals who work for a reputable software testing service located offshore.

Saving on the Payroll for In-House Employees

Another benefit of having software tested offshore is a company doesn’t have to hire a team of IT experts to work in-house. This reduces the overall payroll and the amount of health benefits a company must provide to workers. Plus, IT professionals working off-shore don’t have to be trained by the company. They already have the training necessary to evaluate and test software. In short, they are ready to do the work! Going offshore for software testing means a company doesn’t have to overburden its own IT staff members who are busy working on other types of projects. QAwerk is one example of a good option when it comes to offshore software testing services.

Access to the Latest Technology

When companies go offshore for their software testing services they benefit from use of the latest technology. These IT professionals are familiar with all sorts of cutting-edge technology that can only contribute to the security and operation of a company’s software. Most companies want to stay ahead of the curve in regard to software used to train employees, manage the payroll, organize departmental projects and much more! They want to be using the newest programs before their competitors in the industry are even aware of their existence. Companies can enjoy this level of technology when they garner offshore software testing services.

Paying Less for More

Going offshore for software testing allows companies the opportunity to pay a reasonable price for this valuable service. Many offshore businesses that do this type of work ask a fair price for their services. In many cases, a company would have to pay in-house IT workers more than they would pay software testers located offshore.

Focused Work

An offshore organization that tests software has a company’s unique goals in mind. They can focus their complete attention on fulfilling the needs of a company. This is a much better situation than asking an overworked, in-house IT staff to try to fit software testing into their busy schedule. The testing work is sent out to a staff that has the skills and talent to complete it.

An Effective Use of Time

An offshore organization that tests software is able to get the testing work done in a prompt, thorough way. A company may need software testing done in a specific amount of time so it can introduce a new project or training program to the staff. This can be accomplished by IT professionals working offshore. Or, maybe a company has a few short-term projects it needs done instead of a long-term one. An offshore software testing service can handle this type of work as well. Companies that want flexibility in their software testing services have that option available to them.

Finally, these are just six of the many benefits that a company can enjoy by using software testing services located offshore. As a note, it’s important for a company to do some research to find out about the reputation and reliability of any software testing service located offshore. Looking at reviews provided by previous clients as well as ratings given to the service by experts in the industry are both helpful. A company that uses offshore software testing can save money while still providing excellent service to its customers.

Gadget:OnePlus 3T Review

The Oneplus 3T is the new name of the Smartphone released by the Company Oneplus. This new product has currently been launched and currently been put for sales in US, UK and Europe. This Chinese smartphone manufacturer has been famous to give an killer specs in an flagship mobiles especially in an affordable price. This company’s previous product was the Oneplus 3 which made the people go crazy for its specs.

DESIGN 

The new Oneplus 3T features the same design of its previous sibling the Oneplus 3T. The Oneplus 3T is fully made up of full metal but yet it weighs light in hand. This has an slightly curved back and nice curved round edges and very thin which makes is nice to hold in hands easy to carry.

The new flagship phone now features a new color variant that is the new Gun metal color replacing the old silver color and the phone also comes in Gold variant as well. The Gun metal color comes in 64gb and 128gb storage options whereas the gold comes in 64gb storage.

The design of the phone may be the same but we can guess that there might be an improvement in the hardware and software processing and acceleration.

DISPLAY

The Oneplus 3T features the same 5.5 inch AMOLED display with a 1080p resolution as on the previous Oneplus 3. This device features a dual polarizing layer which makes us to view and use the phone in the brightest Daylight.

When you buy an good and a premium Smartphone there must be certain safety measures take to protect your device. One of them is the screen protector in this case the Oneplus 3T ships with an pre installed gorilla glass 4 screen protector which is an very welcomed addition.

PERFORMANCE

The new Oneplus 3T has an updated snapdragon 821 processor clocked up to 2.35GHZ which boosts the phone for a faster proceeding speeds and greater efficiency compared to old Oneplus 3 and compared to the Oneplus 3 the new 3Ts battery consumption is so efficient.

The new phone consists of an 6GB LPDDR4 ram which helps the device to perform faster.

BATTERY

The Oneplus 3T has been updated with an 3400 mAh battery compared to the Oneplus 3 which features an 3000 mAh battery. The battery has been increased by 13% without an increase in weight in the device.

The phone is shipped with Dash Charger which helps to get the phones battery back to full charge in less time. The Dash charger contains the extra heat from charging your device and this prevents its way to the device. This makes it easy to use the Device when its still connected to the charger.

Concerns Over Cross Device Marketing

With the advances in technology have come advances in the way companies market their products and services. One innovation that is current getting a lot of attention is cross-device marketing. This type of marketing has come under fire due to security concerns, but it has also opened many doors and can be quite useful.

How It’s Used

Cross-device marketing involves monitoring and tracking a consumer’s activities on all the devices he or she uses to access the internet. For companies, this allows them to learn more about your activities. For example, if you see an advertisement while on your smartphone and switch to your computer to buy the item, the company will be able to see that their ad was effective. Without this type of marketing, the company would not have a way to completely track the effectiveness of the ad. Cross-device marketing enables companies to compile a marketing profile for you across all your devices.

Tracking is often done by signing into an account. This allows companies to track your activity and merge your activity on all your devices. So, if you were to put something in a shopping cart while on a site on your computer and you opened that same site on your phone, then your item would be in your shopping cart on both devices. In this way, it is actually beneficial to you, too.

UAB online notes a few things to keep in mind when engaging in cross-device marketing to make the best use of it. This includes creating good landing pages, using keywords smartly and understanding reach and frequency.

Concerns

As with any type of activity tracking, privacy is a concern with cross-device marketing. Knowing a company is always watching can be a little scary. Mainly the concern lies with tracking not related to signing in, called probabilistic tracking, where data collection helps to track consumers. Not making consumers aware they are being tracked is something the FTC has begun looking into. The main consensus is that privacy has to be kept in mind and users need to be aware when companies are using this type of marketing.

The Good News

Because cross-device marketing and tracking can be beneficial to consumer and companies, it is not likely to be abandoned despite concerns. The good news is that this open doors to new jobs in the IT field for those working in cyber security. MVU online notes some things to consider when entering this field. This area of technology is one that you’ll want to explore if you are currently getting an IT degree or you are thinking about it. Cybersecurity is likely to continue to grow, and the need for trained professionals will grow with it.

Cross-device marketing is not really all that new, but it is garnering more attention as privacy concerns are foremost in the mind of internet users. In addition, the increase in multi-device browsing is increasing the use of this type of marketing. New techniques, like probabilistic tracking, are prompting government involvement to ensure consumers are kept safe. Likely, the move will be toward a more transparent use of tracking, so consumers are aware of when their online activities are being monitored.