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The issue of pedestrian safety sharing the way with scooters is prevalent. It is a matter of concern, but it turns out that this is not the only problem with these devices. Engineers at the University of Texas at San Antonio looked at other aspects of this equipment, namely cybersecurity. It turns out that cybercriminals can carry out attacks on electric scooters, and their users, via GPS spoofing, can track them. The attacker can fool GPS and lead the user to a different location than he would like. Many weaknesses have noticed in current transport systems. Cybercriminals can potentially use them for many different purposes, from the theft of private user data, causing losses in a company providing vehicles to remote control of vehicle behavior. According to the researchers, they warn that e.g., communication between the smartphone and the scooter may be intercepted. People using these services provide very confidential information, data analysis makes it possible to get to know the routes followed by a given person, their place of residence, work, interests, getting information when and where they are. Therefore, researchers believe that companies that offer short-term vehicle rental services should focus not only on physical security but also on the security their users.

The Veeam Availability Suite has advanced data protection features designed for NAS storage networks. The extended protection is to support against harmful ransomware and the Multi-VM Instant Recovery solution for automating disaster recovery. The V10 package has 150 new features and extensions available. It turns out that 73% of companies do not meet the users’ needs regarding access to applications and their data. Many companies want to use cloud data management tools. Considering all the needs of companies, Veeam decided to expand and deepen its solutions providing more extensive platform support and better control over data. Veeam Availability Suite v10 is designed to provide adequate protection against ransomware attacks. A more comprehensive set of functions for creating immutable backups has introduced to ensure greater security. The manufacturer assures that these functions will minimize costs, save time, and exceed planned data recovery goals.

Cybercriminals’ attack methods are becoming more and more innovative. Currently, a sharp increase in fileless attacks has noticed, which are expertly installed in the victim machine of malicious code, and do not require saving any files to disk first. Malwarebytes data show that the primary tool for criminals infecting computer malware is still the kits exploit. These sets are able to easily use specific, most commonly known errors in software development. However, this method has recently lost its effectiveness – because detection of a file saved on the disk is relatively simple, it is usually a matter of time to identify it and block it by security applications. Fileless attacks are a more complicated process to acquire and provide analysis of a sample of malware. Malwarebytes experts warn that fighting new threats is more complicated. Fileless attacks are not used on a large scale; hackers still rely on traditional methods of providing malicious content. Unfortunately, the growing range of using these tools is worrying, because it was even sporadic a year ago.

Hackers operate without any hesitation; this time, attacks on industrial installations are prevalent. The Dragos company informs about a hazardous malware called Ekans or Snake. Malware is prepared to attack industrial systems, encrypt stored files. After encryption, the name changes (has a new extension), then the hackers a ransom demand. Data protection is significant; one way is to segment the ICS systems from the rest of the network; the other way is to back up systems and store them offline.

According to Emisisoft specialists, the number of ransomware attacks is overgrowing, and additionally, they are carried out in detail. Crisis and panic are becoming more and more cruel to companies. Until now, the worst-case scenario was data loss; the scope of sophisticated blackmail is increasing. At present, the black option is to make the stolen information public on the Internet or to pass it on to other criminal groups. Brett Callow believes that the scale of tactics may be the answer that employees of the IT security segment manage to break ransomware encryption and unlock files. In this case, it is not profitable for companies to pay the ransom; they have to wait to recover lost data. The new ransomware campaign carefully selects its victims, aiming primarily at organizations for which publicizing the data stored in their systems could be a real disaster. The leakiness of fraudsters and intimidation shows their temporary helplessness on IT employees, forcing and inventing newer tactics.

Cisco and IBM have teamed up to develop a service called Managed Private Cloud-as-a-Service. Cisco will support the service through a hardware platform. Information indicates that it will be available in two variants. The first Managed Private Cloud-as-a-Service will use the VMware development environment, and the second will use OpenShift (RedHat). The agreement is a continuation of cooperation between the two companies that intend to combine their technologies, the goal is to create a platform that allows customers to manage applications running in both local data centers and in hybrid clouds.

January 15, the standard Edge browser will stop functioning. The message is directed most to individual users, businesses will be able to choose whether they want to switch to a new browser or stay with the old Edge. Microsoft announced in November, subsequent versions of Egde will use a different Google rendering mechanism. Last week, the document “Blocker Toolkit to disable automatic delivery of Microsoft Edge” reported that, unlike individual business users, they have the right to choose whether to opt out of upgrades and stay with the standard Edge. Microsoft in that document states that Edge browsers installed on computers with Windows 10 Home and Pro version 1803 will be automatically updated in Chromium. The appearance of the new logo will be a sign of change.

A research team led by the University of Bath as well as scientists from the universities of Bristol, Zurich and Auckland described artificial neurons in the journal “Nature Communications“. From the article, we can learn that artificial neurons react to electrical signals from the nervous system like real, which has been the goal of scientists for decades. This gives tremendous treatment options for diseases whose neurons do not work properly, e.g. spinal cord injury. Artificial neurons can repair diseased bio-circuits by replicating their healthy functions and responding appropriately to biological feedback to restore proper body function. As well as researchers, they designed silicon chips. Silicon chips behave just like real biological neurons and need one billionth of the power of a typical microprocessor, which also works great in medical implants and bioelectronic devices. Ultimately, scientists created the full dynamics of hippocampal and respiratory neurons.