attacks

British scientists developing bomb-resistant train

The 7/7 bombings, a series of suicide blasts that took place on London's public transport system on July 7, 2005, were among the deadliest terrorist attacks of the post-9/11 world. Since then, efforts have been made to mitigate the possible damage of future attacks on public transit, and a group of British engineers from Newcastle University is doing its part by designing blast-proof trains.

SecureMetro, a collaborative project funded by the European Union, launched three years ago with the goal of developing blast-resistant and fire-proof above-ground and underground metro trains that minimize death and injury in the event of a bomb attack.

The video below shows the progress on the project. First you'll see a decommissioned train, highlighting the potential collateral damage exploding trains can cause. Doors, windows, and pieces of the carriage fly through the air. The interior of the train is also demolished, as furniture and ceiling panels prevent any survivors from easily escaping the carriage.… Read more

Akamai: A third of cyberattacks come from China

A third of all cyberattacks in the third quarter of 2012 came from China, a new report from Akamai said, double the percentage in the second period.

Akamai, one of the world's largest globally distributed networks, released its State of the Internet report today that found a steep increase in the percentage of attacks originating in China. In the second quarter of 2012, only 16 percent of attacks came from the country, but that rose to 33 percent in the period ended in September. The U.S. came in at No. 2 with 13 percent, up sequentially from 12 … Read more

Mechanized horned equine assault for Android

Although there are only two buttons available for use (jumping and dashing), players will find themselves overwhelmed by the increasing difficulty of the game as the score gets higher. As the scrolling becomes progressively faster, chain jumping and dashing is required to cross particularly difficult obstacles. Gameplay involves leaping over gorges, collecting fairies, and dashing through giant crystallized stars for further points. The points gained for collecting fairies or dashing through stars increases with every consecutive action. You are awarded with a happily squeaking dolphin rising above from seemingly nowhere every 5,000 points. You get three lives, called wishes. … Read more

Citizen scientists map 1,400 defibrillators in Philly contest

After researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine called on the general public to find as many of Philadelphia's estimated 5,000 automated external defibrillators as possible, more than 300 "citizen scientists" stepped up and located 1,429 of them in more than 525 buildings across the city.

The eight-week crowdsourcing contest, called MyHeartMap Challenge, is part of what the researchers hope will be a national effort to catalog as many AEDs as possible and develop an interactive app of the registry so that laypeople can act quickly in the event someone nearby … Read more

Japanese Web sites attacked in tense dispute with China

A tense territorial dispute with China has triggered cyberattacks, according to Japan-based reports.

Web sites at 19 Japanese banks and universities, among other institutions, have been hit with attacks in the wake of Japan's nationalization of the Senkaku Islands on September 11, according to Kyodo News Agency and other reports.

The Web site of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry statistics bureau, for example, has come under a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, Kyodo said.

Tohoku University, an elite science and engineering university, has also been targeted, Kyodo said.

It's not clear who's behind the attacks. … Read more

Protect your USB drives and data with USB Disk Security

USB disks let you add unlimited storage to your desktop or laptop (especially laptops!) for movies, songs, images, backups, and other bulky data. USB thumbdrives and portable storage devices let you carry gigabytes of data with you. The USB interface means compatibility with almost every PC. And here's the problem: huge capacity, total portability, universal compatibility, and absolute indispensability work together to render your USB disks and devices especially vulnerable to viruses and other malware. USB Disk Security from Zbshareware Lab is an effective solution for securing your USB disks and data. This easy-to-use shareware is widely compatible with … Read more

Peek under the skin of Predator, Alien, and Mogwai

Chances are you had to dissect a frog in high school biology class. What if it had been a Mogwai instead? Artist Bradwick J. McGinty III has created a bizarre mashup of science fiction creatures and vintage anatomical drawings imagining what fictional beasts look like under their skin.

The Mogwai doesn't look as cute and cuddly as usual in this form. The illustration hints at its sinister transformation into a Gremlin through the care and feeding instructions at the bottom of the drawing. Better keep an eye on those feeding times!… Read more

Experts: Google's 'Aurora' hackers still at it years later

The hackers behind the cyberespionage attacks on Google and more than 30 other companies three years ago are still going strong and seem to have a steady stream of weapons in their arsenal in the form of rare unpatched vulnerabilities known as zero-days, Symantec researchers said today.

The group has used exploits for four zero-day vulnerabilities in attacks over the past few months against targets across a variety of industries, including energy, aeronautics, and financial, and particularly manufacturers of components sold to defense contractors, the security provider said in a blog post.

"This group is focused on wholesale theft … Read more

Apple's iOS and Android are new favorite malware victims

The online world is under siege. Computers, laptops, and mobile devices are increasingly being attacked by worms, viruses, botnets, Trojans, spam, and more.

According to a new report by McAfee (PDF), Malware is multiplying at a faster pace now than any other time in the last four years. There has been a 1.5 million increase in malware over last quarter, along with growth of newer threats, including "ransomware" attacks, thumb drive corrupters, and botnets.

While Windows PCs remain the hardest hit, there's a growing trend of attacks on Apple's Mac devices and Android smartphones.

"… Read more

Hackers hit Swedish Web sites in support of Assange

A group of supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange claimed responsibility today for hacking into and jamming several Swedish government Web sites, according to the Associated Press.

Initiating a denial-of-service attacks, the hacking group reportedly took down the Web sites of the Swedish government, armed forces, and the Swedish Institute for several hours.

According to the Associated Press, it isn't clear who was behind the attacks but an unidentified group announced responsibility on Twitter and told the Swedish government to take its "hands off Assange."

This is the second attack on government Web sites in Assange's … Read more