Hasta La Gadget!

Chalk up one more reason to check out Windows 8.1 Preview when it becomes available on June 26th. Today, Microsoft announced that it’ll pay up to $100,000 in cash to those who discover and report novel security exploits within its latest OS revision, along with up to $50,000 in bonus loot for defensive suggestions that relate to the attack. But wait… there’s more. Starting on June 26th and running through July 26th, the Redmond outfit will also pay up to $11,000 toward the discovery of critical vulnerabilities within Internet Explorer 11 Preview (Windows 8.1 Preview). Whether you’re motivated by your bank account or the good of humanity, you can start taking your best shots at Microsoft’s latest code just one week from now.

Filed under: Software, Microsoft

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Microsoft

While it may not come as much of a surprise to some people, the FBI has confirmed and admitted that they perform surveillance with drones on US soil. FBI Director Robert Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee today that they use drones for surveillance in the US, but “in a very, very minimal way, and

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The ability to turn your iPhone into a Wi-Fi hotspot is a fantastically useful little tool in and of itself. But Apple, being the generous overlord that it is, goes so far as to automatically generate a network key, keeping even the most absent-minded of Wi-Fi-beggared safe and sound. Or so we thought. According to a new study, iOS-generated passwords use a very specific formula—one which the experienced hacker can crack in less than a minute.

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On June 5, we reported on a take down of Citadel botnet networks by Microsoft‘s Digital Crime Unit and the FBI, among other unspecified “technology industry partners.” The assault had resulted in 1400 Citadel botnet networks being taken down, and now Microsoft has revealed the number of computers liberated as a result: at least 2

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The United States government’s controversial data collection practices reportedly helped thwart plots to bomb the New York City subway system and New York Stock Exchange, Federal Bureau of Investigation deputy director Sean Joyce said during a House Intelligence Committee hearing this morning in Washington, DC. Information from the programs — one focused on phone networks and another on the internet — was also said to serve a role in stopping a separate bombing threat at Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in Denmark, which ran a cartoon depicting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

National Security Agency director Keith Alexander added that, “50 terror threats in 20 countries” were stopped as a result of the controversial information gathering practices. “I would much rather be here today debating this than explaining why we were unable to prevent another 9/11” attack,” he said. When asked if the NSA is technologically capable of “flipping a switch” and listening in on Americans (whether by phone or internet), Alexander flatly answered, “no.”

Update: According to a Wired report, the man named during today’s hearing in connection with the New York Stock Exchange bombing, Khalid Ouazzani, wasn’t convicted of anything regarding the NYSE. Rather, his plea cites various money laundering in connection with terrorists, and his lawyer said, “Khalid Ouazzani was hot involved in any plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange.”

Filed under: Internet, Software

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Source: Reuters