Hasta La Gadget!

Zyvex Marine, a division of Zyvex Technologies and developer of nanotech lightweight boats, has launched its latest creation – the LRV-17. The LRV-17 is a 17-meter advanced Long Range Vessel that is built for speeds of up to 40 knots with a range of over 1,500 nautical miles. The LRV-17 uses a deep-V hull with an active gyroscope stabilizer that will significantly improve sea handling while reducing factors that can cause human fatigue. By default, the vessel is manned with two operators on it, although four additional seats can be added as well to allow a six-man crew on board. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: AlertMe launches Iris, Yahoo now deploying additional security measures following data breach,

About a month ago, a group of researchers from the University of Texas from the UT Radionavigation Laboratory demonstrated to the military and other US officials how a hacker could completely take control of an automated drone operating within US airspace. The demonstration exposed a very serious flaw in plans to allow the civilian operation of drone aircraft within US airspace.

This week the investigations panel of the House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing on how civilian operation of drones could affect the security of American airspace. According to panel chairman, Republican Michael McCall, the panel needs to ensure that the current vulnerabilities are mitigated before the drone is put to use.

The big challenge moving forward is that the FAA and the Department of Homeland Security don’t have a set of requirements or certification system in place to ensure that drones aren’t subject to hacking or GPS spoofing. Wired reports that some drone makers have their own systems in place to prevent GPS spoofing, yet surprisingly some drone manufacturers feel it’s not their place to secure the systems and others were reportedly surprised that their systems could be spoofed.

“The Department of Homeland Security mission is to protect the homeland. Unfortunately, DHS seems either disinterested or unprepared to step up to the plate,” said McCall, noting that representatives from the DHS declined to testify at the hearing.

[via Wired]

Drone hacking by UT researchers catches Feds off guard is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

After seeing Dhani Sutanto from London embedding a RFID Transit Card into a ring, Becky from Adafruit thought that it would be a cool idea to try and embed one into her iPhone.

The process is pretty straightforward. First, you need to dissolve away the plastic of the card in acetone. Then you need to extract the antenna and chip. This needs to be installed under the iPhone backplate. You’ll probably have to experiment with paper and tape in order to insulate the chip from the guts of your phone.

The result is that you can carry around your transit card without actually carrying around your transit card. Of course, as NFC technology continues to come along, chances are that someday you’ll be able to pay for public transit just by holding your phone up to the reader anyhow. But for now, this is a clever hack and works with today’s systems.

[via Make:]

Redmond’s console gaming network may not have suffered a breach of security comparable to last year’s PSN fumble, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t braced for impact. According to Xbox Live General Manager Alex Garden, Microsoft has made great strides in account security by taking legal action against sites who share phished usernames and passwords, enacting two-step login verification for untrusted devices and pushing fresh security updates to devices. Even so, Garden says that many of Xbox Live’s account protection measures rely on member profiles being up to date, and heartily encourages users to make sure their security information is accurate. Get the word directly from the horses mouth at the source link below.

Filed under: Gaming

Microsoft fights back against Xbox Live account threats, begs you to update your security settings originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Xbox  | Email this | Comments

Earlier this year, we heard about a string of Xbox Live account hacks that had users on edge. The stories of those attacks have since subsided (at least mostly), but account hacking on Xbox Live is still something to guard against. Today, Microsoft announced that it has taken measures to beef up Live’s security, with Xbox Live general manager Alex Garden taking to the Xbox.com Blog to detail the changes that have been made, saying “we’ve worked hard these last several months to further protect our members’ accounts, and more is still to come.”

He then shared a list of things Microsoft is doing to keep Xbox Live secure. Take a look:

• We’ve increased notifications to members whose accounts may be compromised to add proofs, update their passwords, and, if necessary, contact Xbox support. This helps our team lock down an account quickly, investigate and restore the account to the rightful owner.
• We’ve taken legal action to pull down online posts of gamertags, usernames and passwords gathered from malware or phishing schemes to help protect our members.
• Our Xbox LIVE Spring update included many behind the scenes improvements that help us build on security enhancements for the near future.
• We’re sending unique codes to the security phone numbers and secondary email addresses provided by members to verify authorization for Xbox.com purchases or account change attempts not stemming from a member’s trusted device.
• We’re working to reduce market incentives for criminal activity. Engaging in identity theft, trading in stolen accounts and committing credit card fraud are illegal and violate our Terms of Use. Those involved in these activities risk criminal prosecution, account and console bans. That goes for both sellers and buyers of known stolen accounts and content.

Of course, Microsoft can do anything it wants to boost Xbox Live’s security and it won’t do much to stop hackers if users aren’t being proactive in protecting their information. Garden suggests taking five minutes today to make sure your Xbox Live security information is up-to-date and make any necessary changes. Obviously, you should be using a unique password for every one of your online identities, and if you aren’t already, now may be a good time to start.

Garden points out that seeing things like “password” and “12345″ on lists of compromised passwords is still a very common thing, so Xbox Live users are urged to use stronger passwords. Last but not least (and this kind of goes without saying), don’t share your login information with anyone, otherwise you may find yourself with a bunch of charges for Microsoft Points and nothing to show for it other than a maxed-out credit card.

Microsoft boosts Xbox Live security, details changes is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.