Lifeboat Foundation

By Chuck Brooks

Our Growing Digital Connected World — Made For Botnets

There are dire implications of having devices and networks so digitally interconnected when it comes to bot nets. Especially when you have unpatched vulnerabilities in networks. The past decade has recorded many botnet cyber-attacks. Many who are involved in cybersecurity will recall the massive and high profile Mirai botnet DDoS attack in 2016. Mirai was an IoT botnet made up of hundreds of thousands of compromised IoT devices, It targeted Dyn—a domain name system (DNS) provider for many well-known internet platforms in a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. That DDoS attack sent millions of bytes of traffic to a single server to cause the system to shut down. The Dyn attacks leveraged Internet of Things devices and some of the attacks were launched by common devices like digital routers, webcams and video recorders infected with malware.

Continue reading “When Botnets Attack” »

Researchers have come up with a new and improved way to levitate objects using sound waves alone, an impressive feat of mixed-reality technology that could pave the way for some seriously futuristic hologram-like displays.

As seen in a new video, the researchers were able to levitate individual polystyrene beads and water particles inside a special enclosure, making them move in three dimensions by adjusting the output of hundreds of small speakers, set up in a grid.

Continue reading “Scientists Are Getting Better and Better at Levitating Objects With Sound Waves” »

Summary: Human cortical networks have evolved a novel neural network that relies on abundant connections between inhibitory interneurons.

Source: Max Planck Institute.

The analysis of the human brain is a central goal of neuroscience. However, for methodological reasons, research has largely focused on model organisms, in particular the mouse.

Exploring the feasibility of tankers using lasers to recharge drones’ batteries is the program’s goal, but it could have bigger implications.

AZoRobotics speaks with Dr. Erik Enegberg from Florida Atlantic University about his research into a wearable soft robotic armband. This could be a life-changing device for prosthetic hands users who have long-desired advances in dexterity.

Typing on a keyboard, pressing buttons on a remote control, or braiding a child’s hair has remained elusive for prosthetic hand users. How does the loss of tactile sensations impact limb-absent people’s lives?

Losing the sensation of touch has a profound impact on people’s lives. Some of the things that may seem simple and a part of everyday life, such as stroking the fur of a pet or the skin of a loved one, are a meaningful and fundamental way to connect with those around us for others. For example, a patient with a bilateral amputation has previously expressed concerns that he might hurt his granddaughter by accidentally squeezing her hand too tightly as he has lost tactile sensation.

Biobatteries have the potential to power remote devices. However, their lifespan is just a few hours. New research can change this.

Framing Alexa’s audio deepfake capabilities as a way to revive a connection to late family members is creepy and weird, even by Amazon’s standards.

Amazon taps emotional woes of pandemic, grief to push developing Alexa feature.

Continue reading “Amazon uses kid’s dead grandma in morbid demo of Alexa audio deepfake” »

The spyware has been used to target people in Italy, Kazakhstan, and Syria, researchers at Google and Lookout have found.

Like Celsius before it, Coinflex cited “extreme market conditions” and continued uncertainty as reasons for halting all withdrawals.