data

Mon
12
Feb
John Lister's picture

Liquid Metal Could Transform Computer Memory

Researchers in China have found a way to make flexible computer memory using liquid metal. It could one day revolutionize the physical design of computer devices. Anyone who has handled either internal computer RAM or a flash memory device will know ... that bending them even slightly would not end well. That's partly because the electronics is housed on often-brittle plastics, but partly because those electronics need to be flat and inflexible themselves. In very simple terms, RAM uses flat, two-dimensional electronic grids. Each point where a horizontal and vertical line crosses is a cell that ... (view more)

Thu
01
Feb
John Lister's picture

New Error Correcting Could Reduce AI Hallucinations

A physical limitation in traditional computers could be harnessed to power artificial intelligence according to a start-up business. They've demonstrated what they call a "thermodynamic computer." The research is all about the way that computers use ... a physical process to carry out a digital, mathematical operation. All traditional computing boils down to a circuit board using electronic switches to represent and process data as either a 1 (for "true") or a 0 (for "false"). The physical aspect can lead to problems, however. New Scientist gives the example of a component ... (view more)

Mon
29
Jan
John Lister's picture

26 Billion User Records Compromised

A leak of around 26 billion user records has been labeled "the mother of all breaches." It's a major reminder of the downsides of reusing the same passwords on multiple sites. The collection of records is not a single stolen database. Instead, it ... appears to be a massive compilation of databases that have either been leaked before or sold on the black market. The database was spotted online by security researchers, likely a sign that whoever compiled it screwed up somewhere by mistakenly making it accessible. The researchers noted the database was extremely well indexed and organized. The ... (view more)

Mon
15
Jan
John Lister's picture

23andMe Blames Victims for Information Hack

DNA and ancestry site 23andMe has told victims of a major hack that it's their fault for not using unique passwords. The claim came in a letter aimed deterring victims from proceeding with a class action case. The site admitted last month that ... almost 7 million customers have been affected by a data breach. Hackers directly accessed personal data including DNA information of about 14,000 people. However, they were able to get some personal data of another 6.9 million people that enabled a feature to share information with potential relatives. Unsurprisingly, this led to legal action from ... (view more)

Wed
10
Jan
John Lister's picture

WhatsApp Change May Hit Google Storage

WhatsApp users on Android could hit storage limits thanks to a change in Google policy. However, claims it could mean a "shock new fee" are misleading at best. Users of the popular messaging app can have their messages, including videos and images, ... automatically backed up from an Android device. However, WhatsApp itself does not handle the backup or store the data. Instead the backup is on Google Drive. Because WhatsApp doesn't hold backups itself, the Google Drive backup may be the only way to restore data when moving to a new phone, particularly when the old handset is broken or unavailable ... (view more)

Fri
08
Dec
John Lister's picture

7 Million Affected By DNA Website Breach

DNA and ancestry site 23andMe has admitted nearly 7 million customers are affected by a data breach. Both the breach itself and the way the site organizes its data contributed to what could be a legal disaster for the company. 23andMe is named after ... the number of segments of DNA that people share with each parent. The service involves customer submitting a DNA sample to be used either to check for genetic health conditions, get information about ancestry such as ethnic origin, or both. Customers can also agree to be put in touch with other customers when a DNA match suggest a possible family ... (view more)

Mon
04
Dec
John Lister's picture

Study: No Evidence Internet Harms Mental Health

Researchers say they were unable to find a clear link between Internet use and harm to mental health. However, the results looked at national populations as a whole, rather than individual behavior. The researchers, from Oxford University's Oxford ... Internet Institute, said they were limited by a lack of data and cooperation from major tech companies. The broad research paper, "Global Well-Being and Mental Health in the Internet Age", looked at studies of psychological wellbeing of around 2.4 million people across 18 countries. The researchers looked at changes in reported wellbeing between ... (view more)

Fri
24
Nov
John Lister's picture

Security Glitch Undermines Encryption Keys

Around one in a million computer encryption keys are faulty and could be compromised according to researchers. While it sounds like an obscure issue, it could be exploited by security agencies at both friendly and hostile governments. The problem is ... with the RSA encryption that's widely used for online security. It works by users having two security keys (lengthy codes), one public and one private. The public key is used for encrypting data, while the private key is needed to decrypt it. The system also allows users to "sign" encrypted messages so that recipients know the supposed sender is ... (view more)

Thu
23
Nov
John Lister's picture

Major Library Hit By Ransomware

One of the world's largest libraries has been hit by a major ransomware attack. It's an example of an increasingly common "double-dip" attack. The attackers have not simply encrypted the British Library's files until they receive a payment, which is ... the usual core ransomware goal. Instead, they are threatening to auction off sensitive employee data seized in the attack. The library has an estimated collection of up to 200 million items, including a copy of every book published in the United Kingdom. It's also a key research facility for historians. Among other systems, the library has an ... (view more)

Wed
27
Sep
John Lister's picture

iPhone iOS17 Update Switches On Tracking

The latest update for iPhones has switched on sensitive tracking, even for users who've actively switched it off. It appears to be a bug rather than conspiracy but users may want to check their settings. The change comes with iOS17, the latest ... version of the operating system, which started rolling out last week. It should eventually come to most models of iPhone released in the past five years. The problem is with two settings on the iPhone, namely iPhone Analytics and Significant Locations. A small minority of users have spotted the settings switched back on after the update, even though ... (view more)

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