The Ransomware That Knows Where You Live

Ransomware - Scam Email Quoting People’s Postal Addresses -

As per security researcher, an extensively distributed scam email quoting people’s postal addresses tends to link to a dangerous kind of ransomware. After getting to know of an episode of BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours that discuss about the phishing scam, Andrew Brandt, of US firm Blue Coat had got in touch with BBC. He found that the emails seemed to be linked to ransomware known as Maktub.

The malware tends to encrypt the files of the victims, demanding a ransom to be paid before they can be unlocked. The recipients were told by the phishing emails that they owed hundreds of pounds to UK businesses and that they could print an invoice by clicking a link. However, according to Mr Brandt that leads to malware. One of the said emails had been received by You and Yours reporter, Shari Vahl. Mr Brandt had informed BBC that `it was incredibly fast and by the time the warning message had appeared on the screen, it had already encrypted everything of value on the hard drive, it happened in seconds’. Maktub does not only demand a ransom but it tends to increase the fee which needs to be paid in bitcoin, as time passes.

Addresses Highly Precise

One of the website connected with the malware had explained that during the first three days, the fee is at 1.4 bitcoins or around $580 and rises to 1.9 bitcoins or $799 after the third day. The recipients are told by the phishing emails that they owe money to British business and charities when they do not owe them anything. One of the organisations named was Koestler Trust, a charity that tends to help ex-offenders and prisoners produce artwork.

Chief executive Sally Taylor told You and Yours that they rely on generous members of the public and was very distressed when they discovered that people felt they had received emails from them asking for money when they had not been generated by them at all. A remarkable feature of the scam was that they included not only the victim’s name but the postal address as well. Several of them including the BBC staff had noticed that the addresses were generally highly precise.

Data Derived from Leaked/Stolen Databases

As per cybersecurity expert at the University of London, Dr Steven Murdoch, it is yet not clear how scammers were able to gather people’s addresses and link them to names and emails. The data could have been derived from a number of leaked or stolen databases for instance making it difficult in tracking down the source.

Many of the people had got in touch with You and Yours team to inform that they were concerned that the data could have been taken from their eBay account since their postal addresses had been stored in the same format there as they seemed to appear in the phishing emails.

The firm had mentioned in a statement that eBay tends to work aggressively in protecting customer data and privacy which is their highest priority and they are not aware of any link between this new phishing scam and the data of eBay. In an effort of creating the safest, environment possible for their customers, they tend to constantly update their approach to customer data security.

Whatsapp Encrypts Messages for all its Users

WhatsApp – Encrypting Messages For all Users

WhatsApp, the instant messaging service, is intending to reassure its users regarding their privacy by encrypting messages sent through its app. Whatsapp CEO Jan Koum, in his blog post had mentioned recently that every conversation on the messaging service irrespective of it being a private or group chat would have complete end-to-end encryption, making the recipient the only individual who can view the message. Koum writes in his blog on the WhatsApp website that `no one can see inside the message, neither cybercriminals, nor hackers nor oppressive regimes and not even us’.

He adds that end-to-end encryption tends to help in making communication through WhatsApp private, a kind of face-to-face conversation. The WhatsApp website has explained that end-to-end encryption tends to work by securing messages with a lock that only the recipient together with the sender are capable of unlocking and read with a special key. For additional protection, each message sent has its own unique lock and key which happens automatically and even WhatsApp cannot read any of the messages. This announcement of WhatsApp comes in the wake of one of the most high profile clashes in argument regarding encryption together with data privacy between the government and a technology company.

Depends on Signal Protocol

The App’s users are not only protected by encryption but it is a strong encryption. In a technical white paper released on April 4, the underlying cryptographic exchange has been described in details by WhatsApp, which tends to take place when users message each other. It depends on the Signal Protocol that has been created at Open Whisper Systems and uses double ratcheting in providing forward secrecy even when the session keys are compromised which means that if a rival is capable of uncovering the cryptographic keys used by the app, it will not compromise communications that are made with contacts in the past and will remain protected.

Strong and well-vetted cryptographic building blocks are used by The Signal Protocol for constructing and transmitting messages inclusive of ECDH utilising Curve25519. Besides the service’s strong end-to-end provisions, all the communication between the client apps together with the WhatsApp server have been encrypted utilising Noise Pipes from the Noise Protocol Framework.

WhatsApp – Over One Billion Users Globally

The FBI had asked Apple in February, to unlock one of the iPhones of San Bernardino shooters so that the authorities could access his data. Apple had refused asserting a breach of privacy and the FBI had taken Apple to court though eventually they were able to unlock the phone without the help of Apple and the suit was dropped.

However, the case stirred national debate over whether it would set a pattern for authorities in the future to unlock other phones and the question of privacy. Koum wrote that for him it was personal and he had grown up in the USSR during Communist rule and the fact that people could not speak freely was one of the reasons his family had moved to the United States. Messaging service of WhatsApp had been purchased by Facebook for an amount of $19 billion in 2014 and accounts for over one billion users globally.

Large Scale Painting of Photographs by Interactive Optimization

Dartmouth Researcher Invents Smart Paint Spray

A Dartmouth researcher together with his colleagues has invented a smart paint spray which robotically reproduces photographs as significant murals. The computerized technique that spray paints a photo is not expected to issue a trend of giant graffiti, but can be utilised in digital fabrication, digital and visual arts, together with artistic stylization and other application. The findings had appeared in the journal Computer & Graphics and the project is in partnership between ETH Zurich, Disney Research Zurich, Dartmouth College and Columbia University. The spray can system is an innovative twist on computer aided painting that had been initiated in early 1960s and is well-studied topic among artists and scientist.

 Spray paint tends to be economical and easy to use making large-scale spray painted mural common in modern urban culture. However, it could be logistically and technically difficult for skilled artists in covering walls of buildings as well as other large surfaces. The researchers desired to create a method of helping non-artists in creating perfect reproductions of photographs as large-scale murals utilising spray painting and hence they developed a computer aided method which tends to use an ordinary paint can, tracking the position of the can related to the wall or canvas, recognizing what image it would want to paint.

Fast & Light-Weight/Two Webcams/QR Coded Cubes

As the person wave the pre-programmed spray can around the canvas, the system tends to automatically operate the spray on/off button to provide the specific image as spray painting. The prototype seems to be fast and light-weight and includes two webcams together with QR coded cubes for the purpose of tracking as well as a small actuation device for the spray can that is attached through a 3D printed mount. The paint commands are transmitted through radio directly connected to a servo-motor operating the spray nozzle.

On a close by computer, the real time process regulates the optimal amount of paint of the current colour to spray at the tracked location of the spray can. The outcome is that the painting portrays itself as the user waves the can around without the user needing to know the image beforehand.Owing to spray paint difficulty in obtaining permission foruniversity buildings, the researchers have tested the automated painting system on large sheets of paper gathered into mural-size paintings.

Permitting Unskilled Users – Creating Physical Piece of Art

Though this system seems to presently support only painting on flat surface, one possible advantage of the new technique over standard printing is that it could be usable on more complex curved painting surfaces. Co-author Wojciech Jarosz, assistant professor of computer science at Dartmouth who was a senior research scientist earlier at Disney Research Zurich stated that computationally assisted painting methods are limited to the computer and in this research, it is shown that by combining computer graphics and computer vision techniques, they can bring such assistance technology to the physical world even for very traditional painting medium which has created an unconventional kind of digital fabrication.

Their assistive approach seems to be like a modern take on `paint by numbers’ for spray painting and most important was that they wanted to maintain the aesthetic aspects of physical spray painting and the physical experience of holding and waving a physical spray can while permitting unskilled users in creating physical piece of art.

Interactive Screens on Your Packages

Interacting with Electronic Screen on Packaging

Due to a revolutionary development by scientists at the University of Sheffield, consumers would now be interacting with an electronic screen on packaging in the near future instead of reading a label. The scientists have come up with a new kind of digital screen which could one day feature on the packages that could be delivered at home. For instance, one could tap on the display to check from where it came from.

The scientists hadworked together with technology company Novalia in creating new ways of displaying information on packaging a change which could revolutionise the packaging industry. This kind of technology could be utilised in greeting cards or products wherein customers could receive a simple message. Difficult development could comprise of a countdown timer on the side of the packet indicating when a timed product would be available like hair-dye, pregnancy test or home-baking, utilising a traffic light system.

 Published in the IEEE Journal of Display Technology, the team had explained how a screen could be fixed onto packaging to display information. Procedure involves in printing electronic tracks onto paper and fixing low-cost electronics and a polymer LED display to the paper using adhesive which tends to conduct electricity.

Designed & Constructed Touch-pad Keyboard on Paper

Scientists from the University of Sheffield and Novalia working together had designed and constructed a touch-pad keyboard on the paper which enabled a user to selectively drive the LEDs in the display. The research has been supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council- EPSRC and so far, the testing has been on paper though the process can probably be printed on other surfaces.

 The next step of the team is to develop completely flexible organic displays on plastic substrate which could then be fixed on the electronic tracks. The LED devices essentially should be low-cost and adequately flexible to be used on all packaging. Professor David Lidzey from the University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy had stated that labels on packaging can become more innovative and enable customers to interact with and explore new products.

The use of displays or light emitting panels on packaging would also permit companies to communicate brand awareness in a sophisticated way.

Brand Awareness – One of the Probable Uses of these Displays

Chris Jones of Novalia had said that the paper-based packaging industry is worth billions of dollars and this innovative system that is developed with the University of Sheffield could provide the manufacturers with a means of gaining market share by being capable of distinguishing its products from competitors.

Tech firm Novalia had helped in with the development of the new smart labelling and the process it utilised in creating it involves printing electronic tracks on paper and using a conductive adhesive in fixing low-cost electronics and polymer LED on the top.

Amazon and John Lewis could utilise the tech in customising their parcels as well as in creating interactive adverts on their boxes. Chris Jones of Novalia has stated that `brand awareness seems to be one of the probable uses of these displays.

Huawei P9 Smartphone Uses Leica Camera Tech

Android Smartphone P9 Unveiled by Huawei – Dual Camera Technology

An Android smartphone was unveiled by Huawei which tends to use dual-camera technology enabling owners to refocus photos after they are taken. The outcome of the feature is an association between the Chinese tech firm and German camera maker Leica which means the P9 has the potential of creating shallow depth-of-field shots which is more commonly connected with bigger lenses.

According to analysts, the innovation can help Huawei in promoting itself as a premium brand as well as expand its market share. According to the research firm IDC, it is said that in 2015, the Shenzhen based company had shipped over 106 million handsets, representing 44.3% growth, the previous year. It was the quickest rise in sales of any major brands, putting Huawei in the third place with regards to market share.

But Apple still sold over double the amount of phone and Samsung had sold more than three times the number. Ian Fogg from IHS Technology consultancy had commented that the camera seems to be one of the things that define a premium smartphone and there is yet plenty of scope in improving the quality of the photography. Besides this, there are things which one can do when two camera sensors are put on the back which one can’t do with a single sensor.

Superior Performance in Low-Light Situations

Instead of providing users with the ability of taking two different kinds of photos, as in the case with LG’s dual-camera G5 handset, the P9 tends to combine the data from both its rear sensors in creating its 12 megapixel shots. One tends to capture red, green and blue – RGB information regarding the view while the other is limited to collecting monochrome image data.

The firm states that on utilising both types, the phone tends to deliver improved contrast, offering superior performance in low-light situations. However, the standout feature is the skillto stimulate wide aperture photography which is the effect of enabling more lights in a lens to create a shallow-depth-of-field. A shallow depth-of-field tends to create striking photographs of a topic with an unclear background. Photo fanatics often tend to spend huge sums on digital single-lens reflex cameras – DSLRs and large lenses to create the look.

Files Exported in RAW File Format

The P9, unlike the larger cameras, tends to permit users in changing the part of the image they desire to be in sharp focus after they have pressed the shutter button. This is made possible by the element that the two lenses of the phone slightly capture different views and built-in software analyses the differences to assume depth information.

On the other hand, the files can be exported in the RAW file format for the purpose of editing on a PC and the ability is made available only in stills mode but cannot be used to refocus captured videos. Lytro had earlier made attempts at selling specialist cameras which offered a similar refocusing ability but had given up on the consumer market after admitting that the rise of smartphone photography, its appeal had been restricted.

Refocusing functions had also been offered by Nokia and HTC on some of their handsets though they had achieved the effect in a different way. An industry-watcher had stated that the tie-up with Leica should inspire possible buyers not to let goof the dual-camera facility of Huawei, as being a ploy.