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18 articles, 2016-08-30 12:01 1 New and Mysterious FairWare Ransomware Targets Servers

(1.02/2) Users should be cautious before paying the ransom 2016-08-30 00:55 1KB news.softpedia.com 2 14.04 LTS and 12.04 LTS Users Get New Kernel Updates with Security Fixes Five vulnerabilities were patched in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

(1.02/2) 2016-08-29 22:20 1KB linux.softpedia.com

3 Apple seeds macOS 10.12 Sierra Developer Beta 8 and Public Beta 7 Apple today seeded the latest build for macOS 10.12 Sierra, the (1.02/2) next iteration of the company's desktop operating system. It's available to developers as well as Public Beta testers. 2016-08-29 21:38 1KB feedproxy.google.com 4 HP Linux Imaging and Printing 3.16.8 Adds Support for 18, Fedora 24 The GNU/Linux 8.5 operating system is also supported (1.00/2) 2016-08-30 00:05 2KB news.softpedia.com 5 Avidemux 2.6.13 Open-Source Video Editor Gets AAC/ADTS Import and Export Available for GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows (1.00/2) 2016-08-29 21:30 2KB news.softpedia.com 6 Google Login Page Bug Can Lead to Automatic Malware Download Google declined to classify this as a security issue 2016-08-30 02:20 2KB news.softpedia.com 7 Microsoft Back to School Deal: Buy Huawei MateBook Windows 10 PC, get free keyboard! If you are looking to buy a new computer for college or high school, there are many great options. In my shopping guide, I listed some choices, with one being the Huawei MateBook. Like the Surface Pro, it is technically a tablet, but when the... 2016-08-30 01:35 1KB feeds.betanews.com 8 Spam Wave Delivers New Ozone RAT German-speaking users targeted with new spam wave 2016-08-30 00:05 2KB news.softpedia.com

9 Samsung unveils curved Quantum Dot gaming monitors with AMD FreeSync When buying a gaming monitor, there have historically been many things to consider, such as brand, budget, size, and resolution. Nowadays, however, there are even more features to investigate, like whether or not to buy a curved screen and deciding if you need AMD FreeSync or... 2016-08-29 23:42 3KB feeds.betanews.com 10 FFmpeg 3.1.3 "Laplace" Open-Source Multimedia Framework Now Available for Linux It updates many of the built-in libraries and tools 2016-08-29 23:10 2KB news.softpedia.com 11 UWP developers can now submit their apps for Xbox One to the Windows Store Microsoft announced a number of new features for the Windows Dev Center today, including that UWP developers can now submit their apps that are targeted at Xbox Ones beginning today. 2016-08-29 22:55 1KB feedproxy.google.com 12 Parsix GNU/Linux 8.10 "Erik" Users Receive the Latest Debian Security Updates Linux kernel 4.4.19 LTS now available in the main repos 2016-08-29 22:45 2KB news.softpedia.com 13 Google Embeds Cast Extension in Chrome Casting multimedia streams to your TV just became easier 2016-08-29 22:15 2KB news.softpedia.com 14 Microsoft claims to fix Surface Pro 3 battery issues with today's firmware update In an update on Microsoft's Answer forum community, the company has confirmed that it has fixed the Simplo battery issue on the Surface Pro 3 with today's firmware update. 2016-08-29 21:57 1KB feedproxy.google.com 15 Foreign Hackers Breached Two US State Election Databases Attacks linked to a Russian-based threat actor 2016-08-29 21:25 2KB news.softpedia.com 16 Facebook will eventually let individuals / communities activate Safety Check Facebook in 2014 launched Safety Check, a service that allows users to quickly share with friends and family that they’re alright in the wake of a disaster or tragedy like the massive earthquake that rocked Italy last week and the… 2016-08-29 18:01 2KB www.techspot.com

17 50% off LOOP Worldwide Travel Adapter with Dual USB Charging Ports - Deal Alert Get charged in over 150 Countries with US UK EU & AUS/CHINA Plugs. This adapter works in Canada, Russia, Asia, Central America, South America and the Middle East to name a few. Plus dual USB charging ports. Currently discounted 50%. 2016-08-29 17:30 1KB www.javaworld.com 18 43% off NETGEAR AC750 WiFi Range Extender - Deal Alert The NETGEAR AC750 Wi-Fi Range Extender boosts your existing home network by increasing Wi-Fi range and speed, delivering AC750 dual band Wi-Fi up to 750Mbps. Currently discounted 43% on Amazon. 2016-08-29 16:00 1KB www.javaworld.com Articles

18 articles, 2016-08-30 12:01

1 New and Mysterious FairWare Ransomware Targets Linux Servers (1.02/2) Users, who posted their quandary on a ransomware support thread on the Bleeping Computer forum and the Chinese V2EX Q&A site , said that somebody hacked their servers, removed their website root folders, and left a ransom note behind in the /root folder. The PasteBin link contains a longer ransom note, with more details, asking the user to make a 2 Bitcoin (~$1,150) payment to a Bitcoin wallet, and also providing an email address to get in contact with the crook. Malware analyst and Bleeping Computer founder Lawrence Abrams says there is no evidence that FairWare encrypts the user's files. The crook may be just uploading the files to a server under his control, and holding them for ransom. He also warns that FairWare's author may also be deleting files for good and that users might get scammed after paying the ransom. In the crook's expanded ransom note, which is embedded in full below, the FairWare author says he will not answer any questions from victims, or requests to prove he stole their files. In spite of the crook's statement of not answering emails, users should attempt to get proof that their files still exist before paying the ransom. At the time of writing, there are no payments in the Bitcoin wallet address listed in the ransom note. 2016-08-30 00:55 Catalin Cimpanu

2 Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and 12.04 LTS Users Get New Kernel Updates with Security Fixes (1.02/2) Ubuntu 16.04 LTS is not the only operating system for which Canonical releases updated kernels that patch various security flaws discovered recently upstream by various Linux kernel developers, and Ubuntu Security Notice USN- 3071-1 and Ubuntu Security Notice USN-3072-1 contain details about what's new in today's updates. According to these security notices, it appears that a total of five kernel vulnerabilities have been addresses in the kernel packages of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) and three in those of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin), and users are urged to update their PCs immediately. There are fixes for an information leak in Linux kernel's Reliable Datagram Sockets (RDS) implementation, a heap-based buffer overflow in the USB HID driver, a flaw in the TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) implementation, a race condition in the MIC VOP driver, and some issues with PowerPC platforms. Of course, if you're using Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS or Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS, you'll get updated kernels too, but of different versions. To update your system check out the instructions available at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Security/Upgrades , and don't forget to reboot your computer after the new kernel was installed. 2016-08-29 22:20 Marius Nestor

3 Apple seeds macOS 10.12 Sierra Developer Beta 8 and Public Beta 7 (1.02/2) Apple today released a new build of macOS 10.12 Sierra to both developers and Public Beta testers. Developer Beta 8 and Public Beta 7 come with the build number 16A313a, and the news comes just a week after the last build was offered. Most of what's new with today's seed include fixes and under-the-hood improvements, as the company is gearing up for a GM seed, which is likely to be offered following the iPhone event on September 7. Indeed, it's quite possible that this will be the last beta of macOS Sierra before the final version next week. The release notes have about four pages of "notes and known issues". Of them, four list a workaround. Many of them aren't bugs; for example, the latest version of Xcode isn't compatible with macOS Sierra. You'll need to use the Xcode 8 beta. Keep in mind that macOS 10.12 Sierra is the first version since OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion to not support devices that its predecessor did support. To install Apple's next OS, you'll need a MacBook or iMac from late 2009 or later, or a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, or Mac Pro from 2010 or later. 2016-08-29 21:38 Rich Woods

4 HP Linux Imaging and Printing 3.16.8 Adds Support for Linux Mint 18, Fedora 24 (1.00/2) According to the release notes , HP Linux Imaging and Printing 3.16.8 adds support for new all-in-one HP printers, including HP OfficeJet Pro 6970, HP OfficeJet Pro 6960, HP OfficeJet 250 Mobile, HP DeskJet 3700, as well as HP DeskJet Ink Advantage 3700. Also new in the HPLIP 3.16.8 update is support for the recently released Linux Mint 18 "Sarah" Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce, and the upcoming KDE editions, the Fedora 24 Linux operating system, as well as the Debian GNU/Linux 8.5 "Jessie" distribution. So if you're using any of these OSes, you can now update to the latest HPLIP release. Besides adding support for new HP printers and Linux kernel-based operating systems mentioned above, today's HP Linux Imaging and Printing 3.16.8 maintenance version also adds various modifications to the graphical (GUI) about the Secure PIN Printing feature, which was made more user-friendly for newcomers. HPLIP 3.16.8 is available for download right now via our website as both a binary executable for any supported GNU/, in the .run file format, as well as source for those who like to compile and tweak their apps to run much better on specific hardware configuration. Both 64-bit and 32- bit platforms are supported. Of course, you are also free to install the latest HP Linux Imaging and Printing release from the main software repositories of your GNU/Linux OS, using your favorite package manager. For example, you will already find HP Linux Imaging and Printing 3.16.8 in the repos. 2016-08-30 00:05 Marius Nestor

5 Avidemux 2.6.13 Open-Source Video Editor Gets AAC/ADTS Import and Export (1.00/2) Shipping with updated toolchains for both Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows operating systems, Avidemux 2.6.13 is here to implement support for importing and exporting of AAC/ADTS audio streams, add performance improvements to the copy mode for H.264 and H.265 video streams, as well as to revamp the refresh screen. Moreover, Avidemux 2.6.13 comes with better support for ASS and SSA subtitle streams, introduces a brand new video filter called ivtcDupeRemover, which can be used to remove duplicates after a 3:2 pulldown, and adds new "Go Forward 60 Seconds" and "Go Backword 60 Seconds" buttons to the graphical user interface. Another interesting feature that caught our attention in the Avidemux 2.6.13 release is the availability of a universal binary package in the AppImage format, which is perfect for distributing the software on any 64-bit capable GNU/Linux operating system. You can download Avidemux 2.6.13 as an AppImage by clicking the links below! Among other noteworthy changes, this new maintenance update bumps the required libav library to version 3.0.2, which needs to be installed in your OS to use the app, improves the the logo filter with Alpha channel support, adds support for newer GCC (GNU Compiler Collection) versions, and lets you load your OpenGL shaders as filters. Last but not least, it looks like the Partial filter has been updated to support only one in or one out video filters. Of course, several other minor bugs reported by users since Avidemux 2.6.12 have been addressed, and many language translations updated. Download Avidemux 2.6.13 for GNU/Linux , Mac OS X , and Windows right now via our website. 2016-08-29 21:30 Marius Nestor

6 Google Login Page Bug Can Lead to Automatic Malware Download The problem at the heart of this security issue is the fact that Google allows the "continue=[link]" as a parameter in the login page URL that tells the Google server where to redirect the user after authenticating. Google has anticipated that this parameter might cause security issues, and has limited its usage only to google.com domains using the "*.google.com/*" rule, where * is a wildcard. Woods figured out that this meant that drive.google.com or docs.google.com links could be passed as valid "continue" parameters inside the login URL. A clever attacker could upload malware to his Google Drive or Google Docs account, take the URL and hide it inside the official Google login link. Users that would receive this link inside a spear-phishing email would most likely be tricked into thinking it's the real Google login URL. When the user accesses this page and logs in, a file will be downloaded without user confirmation on the user's PC when the victim presses the Sign In button. A cleverly named file such as "Login_Challenge.exe" or "Two-Factor- Authentication.exe" would trick less technical users into installing malware on their computers. Woods says that he attempted to notify Google's security team about the issue, but they closed all of his three bug reports he opened to let them know about the bug. Below is a snippet from Google's final reply, but you can read the entire email exchange on Woods' blog . “ Thanks for your bug report and research to keep our users secure! We've investigated your submission and made the decision not to track it as a security bug. This report will unfortunately not be accepted for our VRP. Only first reports of technical security vulnerabilities that substantially affect the confidentiality or integrity of our users' data are in scope, and we feel the issue you mentioned does not meet that bar :( ” 2016-08-30 02:20 Catalin Cimpanu

7 Microsoft Back to School Deal: Buy Huawei MateBook Windows 10 PC, get free keyboard! If you are looking to buy a new computer for college or high school, there are many great options. In my shopping guide , I listed some choices, with one being the Huawei MateBook. Like the Surface Pro, it is technically a tablet, but when the keyboard attachment is connected, it is functionally a laptop too. Unfortunately, having to buy the Portfolio Keyboard adds $129 to the overall price. Thankfully, this is no longer an issue. You see, for a limited time, Microsoft will give you that keyboard for free when you buy the Huawei Matebook. Best of all, this promotion includes the base model, meaning you can get the full Windows 10 experience for a steal! You can read my review of the Huawei Matebook here. It is quite the satisfying computer. Below is an excerpt from that review. My warning about lap-typing is still true today. The MateBook is brilliant when used as a tablet or in laptop mode on a desk or table, but if you type a lot on your lap, it should be avoided. The Core m3/128GB/4GB that I reviewed is quite peppy and capable -- a great buy at $699. With that said, if you can afford it, the m5 with 256GB storage and 8GB of RAM is a worthwhile upgrade at $999. As icing on the cake, you also get a free 8-inch tablet made by NuVision (seen here ). The smaller size could prove useful when laying in bed and reading. Want to take advantage of the deal? You can get it here . 2016-08-30 01:35 By Brian

8 Spam Wave Delivers New Ozone RAT What's different about this spam campaign is that it doesn't deliver macro-laced Office documents like most spam these days, but uses an older technique not seen for some time. Instead of asking users to turn on macros support in their Office applications, users are asked to double-click on a thumbnail image, which loads and executes malicious JavaScript. This JavaScript file installs a local PAC (Proxy Auto-Config) file that hijack's the user's local Internet connection proxy settings and then downloads a rogue Comodo certificate, which it will use for MitM attacks, later on, to disguise and sign malicious traffic. Crooks also use another non-standard technique by downloading the malicious PAC file from a Tor URL via a Tor2Web proxy service like onion.to. Crooks install the Ozone RAT on the user's device so they could connect to the local copy and take over his workstation in search of valuable information. According to Ozone's website, which claims to offer a "legal" remote control product, Ozone comes with a keylogger, a password dumper, a hidden startup routine, the ability to hide its process, the ability to download and execute other files, and a remote desktop feature. Ozone also comes with its own file manager, a process manager, an application manager, a boot persistence feature, and the ability to access the remote PC's webcam. All "legal" features, which coincidentally are also the features you'll find in spyware programs. But hey, who are we to judge! "With RAT applications like Ozone, one does not need to be an expert to create and distribute malware," Fortinet's Floser Bacurio Jr. and Joie Salvio note. "Anyone can buy Ozone from their websites, or simply download 'modified' versions. " "Just a few words of caution, though," the two researchers warn. "This can be a cunning ordeal. These 'modified' versions may be the malware themselves. With a lack of understanding how malware schemes work, even before starting your first attack, you may inadvertently become one of the first victims," the two researchers say, referring to modified Ozone RATs that come with a keylogger to spy on the people wanting to deploy the malware. 2016-08-30 00:05 Catalin Cimpanu

9 Samsung unveils curved Quantum Dot gaming monitors with AMD FreeSync When buying a gaming monitor, there have historically been many things to consider, such as brand, budget, size, and resolution. Nowadays, however, there are even more features to investigate, like whether or not to buy a curved screen and deciding if you need AMD FreeSync or NVIDIA G-SYNC. Today, Samsung announces some new gaming monitors that check many of the marks -- curved screen, AMD FreeSync, plus respectable resolutions and refresh rate. Stepping things up further, it also has Quantum Dot technology, which should produce remarkable colors. There are two models being released, the CFG70 (23.5 and 27 inch) and CF791 (34-inch). While the former only offers 1080p, the latter has a very respectable 3440x1440 resolution. Your graphics card will determine the monitor you should target, however, as gaming beyond 1080p requires a lot of horsepower. For example, my fairly new AMD Radeon RX 480 is rather powerful, but frame rate on newer games at 3440x1440 would likely be poor. In other words, for gaming, 1o80p is still ideal for many without the most hardcore cards. If you do decide to buy a 1080p monitor, going above 24-inch can result in blurry text. It is for this reason that the 23.5-inch CFG70 should be the focus of most gamers -- that would be my recommendation. "The new CFG70 curved monitor incorporates a host of user-friendly features to create a premium multi-sensory gaming destination. The CFG70's 'Super Arena' design aligns 1800R curvature with sound interactive LED lighting that lets players fully experience the thrill of victory. This format also includes 1 m/s moving picture response time, making it the first curved gaming monitor to offer such functionality. A rapid refresh rate of up to 144 Hz further ensures a seamless and uninterrupted presentation", says Samsung of the 1080p model. This slideshow requires JavaScript. Regarding the 34-inch 3440x1440 variant, the famed manufacturer explains, "with a 1500R curvature (indicating a curvature radius of 1,500 mm) design, Samsung's CF791 is the most curved gaming monitor currently on the market. Combined with a 100 Hz refresh rate and embedded AMD FreeSync Technology, functionality that synchronizes screen refresh rates with gamers' AMD graphics cards, the CF791 monitor offers consistent full-screen presentation. Additionally, the CF791's ultra- wide 21:9 aspect ratio further preserves content quality during multi-screen competition". Samsung shares the following specifications. Samsung states that the monitors will be released in Q4 2016. The 24- inch CFG70 will cost $399, while the 27-inch variant will be $100 more at $499. The higher-resolution 34-inch CF791 will cost $999. 2016-08-29 23:42 By Brian

10 FFmpeg 3.1.3 "Laplace" Open-Source Multimedia Framework Now Available for Linux FFmpeg 3.1 was announced two months ago, at the end of June, and it introduced a multitude of new features to make the popular multimedia backend even more reliable and handy to game and application developers. Dubbed Laplace, FFmpeg 3.1 is currently the most advanced FFmpeg release, cut from Git master on June 26, 2016. FFmpeg 3.1.3 is now the latest stable update to the Laplace series, available for all supported platforms, including GNU/Linux, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows, and it promises to update many of the core components and libraries that are used for encoding and decoding various audio and video streams. According to the release notes published on the project's website, FFmpeg 3.1.3 contains the libavutil 55.28.100, libavcodec 57.48.101, libavformat 57.41.100, libavdevice 57.0.101, libavfilter 6.47.100, libavresample 3.0.0, libswscale 4.1.100, libswresample 2.1.100, and libpostproc 54.0.100 updated libraries. Most probably, some of the bugs reported by uses since the FFmpeg 3.1.2 "Laplace" release announced at the beginning of the month have been addressed as well, so you need to check out the internal changelog for additional details. FFmpeg 3.1.3 is now available for download via our website, if you plan on compiling the sources for your Linux OS. Otherwise, we recommend you to install the latest FFmpeg 3.1.3 update from the main software repositories of your GNU/Linux distribution as soon as possible. Rolling operating systems like Arch Linux already contain the new stable FFmpeg update, which should be soon available for other distros so make sure that you check the repositories at least once a day and apply all available updates. 2016-08-29 23:10 Marius Nestor

11 UWP developers can now submit their apps for Xbox One to the Windows Store Microsoft today announced a number of new features for its Dev Center, including one that's pretty major. Developers can now submit their UWP apps for the Xbox One. The firm said on August 2 that it would share more details about submitting apps for Xbox One by the end of the month. Obviously, many thought that the company wouldn't make that deadline. Keep in mind that you still can't submit games for the Xbox One. Microsoft was clear about this from the beginning. If you want to publish a UWP game on the Xbox, you'll need to get involved with ID@Xbox. Here is an outline of the new Dev Center features announced today: Gradual package rollouts will allow developers to only release an update to a percentage of users. Assuming that there are no show-stoppers in the update, you'll be able to increase that percentage as you see fit. There is also a new A/B testing UI, while we're on the subject of distributing certain packages to certain users. Mandatory updates is another major feature. Developers can now add code to their apps that checks for updates, and then when they update their app, they can say in the Dev Center that the build is mandatory. These are just a few of the new and updated features that Microsoft has added to the Dev Center. If you're a Windows developer, you should certainly check out all of the cool new stuff. 2016-08-29 22:55 Rich Woods

12 Parsix GNU/Linux 8.10 "Erik" Users Receive the Latest Debian Security Updates Parsix GNU/Linux 8.10 "Erik" is the latest stable and most advanced release of the Debian-based operating system, launched on July 31, 2016, and it always gets the newest security patches from the upstream Debian GNU/Linux 8 "Jessie" software repositories. Therefore, Parsix GNU/Linux 8.10 "Erik" has been fully synchronized with Debian Stable, which means that users received security updates for open-source software like GnuPG, Flex, ImageMagick, Rails, Quagga, MuPDF, and libgcrypt20, since the previous update from August 17, 2016. "Parsix Developers closely follow ​Debian Security Advisories and port them to our own security repository. Right now we are offering security support for both of our stable and testing branches. Parsix Continent repository is also fully supported by security updates," reads the project's security page. Also today, the Parsix GNU/Linux development team managed to update the kernel packages of the operating system to Linux kernel 4.4.19 LTS, the latest version to the long-term supported Linux 4.4 kernel series, which is also used in more popular distributions like Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) and now Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS (Trusty Tahr). If you're using the Parsix GNU/Linux 8.10 "Erik" operating system, you are urged to update your computer(s) as soon as possible to receive the new security updates mentioned above and keep your OS safe from any threats. Details on how to update your Parsix GNU/Linux installations, as well as what has been fixed in these patches, are always available at http://www.parsix.org/wiki/Security . An updated kernel based on Linux 4.4.19 has been released for Parsix GNU/Linux 8.10 (Erik). Update your system to... https://t.co/RdjnZj7OfX 2016-08-29 22:45 Marius Nestor

13 Google Embeds Cast Extension in Chrome We expected Google to make this move ever since the product launched in 2014 when Google released it with a pretty limited feature set and with support for Chromecast devices only. Since then, Google has worked on its Cast technology and recently decided to simplify the process of "casting" audio and video streams from browsers even more. Users that updated to the latest version of Chrome will be able to cast multimedia streams from their browser to a nearby Cast-enabled or Chromecast device just by navigating to the user's browser, opening the menu, and selecting the brand new "Cast" option. Web services that implement the Chrome Sender API will be able to alert Chrome browsers about native Cast support. Chrome will then add a special button in its UI, which users can press to send the multimedia stream to a Cast device much simpler. The old Google Cast Chrome extension will be kept around for users still deploying older version of the Chrome browser. Google says that users love its new Cast feature. The company says that in the past month, users have "casted" more than 38 million times, and watched and listened more than 50 million hours of content using the Cast feature. The service's popularity has spurred Google into developing all sorts of spin-offs, such as Chromecast Audio, a new Chromecast device dedicated to audio streaming alone, and Cast for Education , a special Chrome app that allows students and teachers to share their screens wirelessly from anywhere in the classroom to a nearby Cast-friendly device. Google has also been busy talking with hardware manufacturers and convincing them to make TVs and speakers with Cast-enabled hardware already built-in, meaning no Chromecast dongle will be needed for the Google Cast feature to work. 2016-08-29 22:15 Catalin Cimpanu

14 Microsoft claims to fix Surface Pro 3 battery issues with today's firmware update Earlier today, Microsoft released a firmware update for the Surface Pro 3. While there was no changelog available for the update - and there still isn't - it was speculated that today's firmware is the long-awaited fix for the now-infamous Simplo battery issue. As it turns out, that's exactly the fix that it was. The company issued the following statement on its Answers forum. According to the support page that it links to , the issue was caused by an error that "causes the full charge capacity of the battery to be misreported to the operating system and device firmware". Any modern device with a lithium ion battery shuts down charging when it thinks that its reached 100%, as they can explode if overcharged. Microsoft's notes also state that after applying the update, it will take several charge and discharge cycles before the issue is completely fixed, so don't install the update, reboot your PC, and take your Surface Pro 3 on a walk with you. The battery will likely still die earlier than expected. Have you installed the update yet, and has it fixed your battery issues? Let us know in the comments! Thanks to Randy for the tip! 2016-08-29 21:57 Rich Woods

15 15 Foreign Hackers Breached Two US State Election Databases The news publication said it had seen a secret "flash" alert sent out by the FBI to the State Board of Elections across the US. The "flash" alert, titled "Targeting Activity Against State Board of Election Systems," told state officials about the two hacks and urged them to audit their IT systems for any possible weaknesses that might be exploited by attackers. The alert didn't include the name of the two hacked Board of Elections, but Yahoo says they're Arizona and Illinois. Ken Menzel, the general counsel of the Illinois Board of Elections, confirmed the breach to the Yahoo reporter and said the attack took place during ten days in July and the hackers managed to steal around 200,000 state voter records. Attackers also compromised Arizona's Board of Elections IT system, but did not manage to take any data, local officials told Yahoo. An interesting detail included in the FBI alert was a list of eight IP addresses that the FBI considered suspicious and potentially linked to the intrusion. The FBI asked other states to check their logs for these IPs. A ThreatConnect expert told Yahoo that one of the IPs was spotted on Russian underground hacking forums. He also said the tools used to scan the state election systems for vulnerabilities are similar to the ones used by Russian threat actors in recent campaigns, more precisely in the hacking of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS, also CAS). ThreatConnect had previously linked the WADA attacks to the DNC and DCCC hacks, which they said were carried out by Russian state-sponsored cyber-intelligence groups. The ThreatConnect expert did not ellaborate on his statements, nor did he provide any technical details, and at this point his statement may be a generic attribution cliche. No doubt, based on ThreatConnect's past in- depth reports, the company will likely follow through on its statements with new research in the upcoming days. This latter data made its way on the Dark Web and could be easily bought for a few Bitcoin. Most likely, this data is in the hands of more than just Russian hackers. Either way, the FBI is more interested in preventing automated attacks that might leverage this data and attempt to rig the US Presidential election that's to take place this fall. 2016-08-29 21:25 Catalin Cimpanu

16 Facebook will eventually let individuals / communities activate Safety Check Facebook in 2014 launched Safety Chec k, a service that allows users to quickly share with friends and family that they’re alright in the wake of a disaster or tragedy like the massive earthquake that rocked Italy last week and the Orlando shooting, respectively. It’s a noble effort but one that has often been criticized for a variety of reasons. Chief among them has to do with the unfortunate events that do – and don’t – activate Safety Check. It’s something the social network is already working on behind the scenes. At a recent town hall meeting at Luiss University in Rome, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was asked if users would be able to activate Safety Check on their own. Zuckerberg confirmed that yes, they are already working on it and added the following: “If we’re building a community product, this is one of the moments of truth for us. How we judge whether Facebook is successful, it’s not just on whether you can share a photo of a fun moment or a night out with friends but it’s also whether our community is strong enough and we give people the tools to keep people safe in those [emergency] situations. We’re working on what you say. When Safety Check got started a couple of years ago, it was only for natural disasters. Unfortunately since then we’ve had to expand it to terrorist attacks too because that’s just been too common over the last few years. The next thing we need to do is make it so that communities can trigger it themselves when there is some disaster.” How exactly Facebook will go about implementing community-driven or individual Safety Checks remains unknown, nor do we have any guidelines at this time as to what exactly would qualify to activate it. 2016-08-29 18:01 Shawn Knight

17 50% off LOOP Worldwide Travel Adapter with Dual USB Charging Ports - Deal Alert Power and charge in over 150 Countries with US UK EU & AUS/CHINA Plugs. This adapter works in Canada, Russia, Asia, Central America, South America and the Middle East to name a few. Dual USB charging ports for simultaneously charging your USB devices as well. A 6- amp fuse (and built-in spare fuse) is included, as well as an 18-month warranty. LOOP's travel adapter averages 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon from over 580 people ( read reviews ). It's $39.95 list price has been reduced a generous 50% to just $19.95. To learn more, or to take advantage of this discount, hop over to Amazon. 2016-08-29 17:30 DealPost Team

18 43% off NETGEAR AC750 WiFi Range Extender - Deal Alert If you're struggling with wifi dead zones, boost the range of your existing WiFi and create a stronger signal in hard-to-reach areas with a wifi extender, like this one from Netgear. The AC750's design is compact and discrete. Plug it into a wall outlet and it delivers AC dual band WiFi up to 750 Mbps from your existing wifi network. 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz both supported. This model averages 4 out of 5 stars from nearly 12,000 people on Amazon ( read reviews ) and its typical list price of $69.98 has been reduced a generous 43% to just $39.99 . 2016-08-29 16:00 DealPost Team Total 18 articles. Created at 2016-08-30 12:01