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New Linux botnet SSHStalker uses old-school IRC for C2 comms

A newly documented Linux botnet named SSHStalker is using the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) communication protocol for command-and-control (C2) operations.

The protocol was invented in 1988, and its adoption peaked during the 1990s, becoming the main text-based instant messaging solution for group and private communication.

Technical communities still appreciate it for its implementation simplicity, interoperability, low bandwidth requirements, and no need for a GUI.

Malicious 7-Zip site distributes installer laced with proxy tool

A fake 7-Zip website is distributing a trojanized installer of the popular archiving tool that turns the user’s computer into a residential proxy node.

Residential proxy networks use home user devices to route traffic with the goal of evading blocks and performing various malicious activities such as credential stuffing, phishing, and malware distribution.

The new campaign became better known after a user reported that they downloaded a malicious installer from a website impersonating the 7-Zip project while following instructions in a YouTube tutorial on building a PC system. BleepingComputer can confirm that the malicious website, 7zip[.]com, is still live.

Why the next 25 years could surpass anything in modern memory | Peter Leyden: Full Interview

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more: https://bigthink.com/membership/?utm_

“Old systems of the past are collapsing, and new systems of the future are still to be born. I call this moment the great progression.”

Up next, We are living through a slowdown in human progress | Jason Crawford ► • We are living through a slowdown in human…

We are at a tipping point. In the next 25 years, technologies like AI, clean energy, and bioengineering are poised to reshape society on a scale few can imagine.

Peter Leyden draws on decades of observing technological revolutions and historical patterns to show how old systems collapse, new ones rise, and humanity faces both extraordinary risk and unprecedented opportunity.

0:00 We’re on the cusp of an era of progress.

Scientists Have Discovered a Protein That Reverses Brain Aging in The Lab

Our brains age along with the rest of our bodies, and as they do, they produce fewer new brain cells. Now, researchers have found a key mechanism through which the typical age-related decline in neuron production might be slowed.

In later life, the neural stem cells (NSCs) that turn into fully fledged neurons become more dormant – almost as if they’re going into retirement after a long lifetime of service. As that happens, cognitive decline creeps in.

A major reason why NSC activity fades with age is the wear and tear on telomeres, the protective caps on the ends of DNA. Telomeres fray a little more each time a cell divides, and over time, this impairs cells’ ability to grow and divide, leading to increasing cell death.

New sun-powered device extracts lithium while desalinating seawater

The world needs lithium at higher rates than ever before. But our current methods of getting it are breaking the planet.

The answer to the lithium crisis might just be a high-tech, “solar-powered seesaw” extractor.

According to the researchers at Zhejiang University in China, this new device maximizes lithium yield from seawater while simultaneously desalinating water.

How to design a space station: Meet the Seattle company that’s helping define the look of the final frontier

How do you design a living space where there’s no up or down? That’s one of the challenges facing Teague, a Seattle-based design and innovation firm that advises space companies such as Blue Origin, Axiom Space and Voyager Technologies on how to lay out their orbital outposts.

Mike Mahoney, Teague’s senior director of space and defense programs, says the zero-gravity environment is the most interesting element to consider in space station design.

“You can’t put things on surfaces, right? You’re not going to have tables, necessarily, unless you can attach things to them, and they could be on any surface,” he told GeekWire. “So, directionality is a big factor. And knowing that opens up new opportunities. … You could have, let’s say, two scientists working in different orientations in the same area.”

Anti-Aging Breakthrough: Regenerate Your Liver

NewLimit just announced something that could be a major step toward real anti-aging medicine:
their first therapy is designed to regenerate the liver potentially making it 10–20 years younger.
Human trials are still ahead, but they’re already working on similar approaches for the immune system and vascular system.
Cartilage. Teeth. Liver.
Regeneration is moving from science fiction to clinical reality.
And it raises a bigger question:
medicine today often requires lifelong dosing like GLP-1 weight loss drugs (Ozempic, Wegovy).
What if the future is different?
What if one shot could actually repair the system instead of managing it forever?

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