Welcome to the August 15, 2022, edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for IT professionals three times a week.
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Tech, Cyber Companies Launch Security Standard to Monitor Hacking Attempts
WSJ Pro Cybersecurity Kim S. Nash August 10, 2022
A group of 18 tech and cyber companies hoping to build a common data standard for sharing cybersecurity information launched the Open Cybersecurity Schema Framework (OCSF) during the Black Hat USA cybersecurity conference. Products and services that support the OCSF specifications would be able to collate and standardize alerts from different cyber-monitoring tools, network loggers, and other software to simplify and speed up the interpretation of that data. “There's a lot of custom software out there in the security world,” but products that support OCSF would be able to share information in one dashboard without the extra manual labor, said Amazon Web Services' Mark Ryland. The OCSF standard and documentation will be on the GitHub open source repository.
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Alibaba, ByteDance Share Details of Algorithms with Beijing for First Time
Bloomberg Jane Zhang August 15, 2022
In an effort to prevent data abuse that may expose corporate secrets, major Chinese Internet companies including Alibaba Group and ByteDance have, for the first time, provided details of their algorithms to Beijing. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) disclosed 30 algorithms the firms use to collect user data, tailor recommendations, and disseminate content. While the CAC currently requires only basic information, it may demand more details to probe alleged data violations, said Zhai Wei of East China University of Political Science and Law. The list provides short descriptions of how the algorithms function and their product and use cases.
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Hospital, Drugmaker Move to Build Vast Database of New Yorkers' DNA
The New York Times Joseph Goldstein August 12, 2022
A database housing one million patients' genetic information is being built by New York-based Mount Sinai Health System for research and pharmaceutical development by drugmaker Regeneron. Researchers aim to search the database to find new treatments for various illnesses and to use it in conjunction with patient medical records to gain insights into how genetic and socioeconomic factors impact health. The biobank would be the first large-scale program to draw participants mainly from New York City. Regeneron will sequence participants' DNA samples in exchange for access to the sequences and partial medical records of each patient. The Mount Sinai Million Health Discoveries Program will sequence the exome, or about 1% of each individual's genome.
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Stanford, Nvidia Researchers Shrink VR Headsets to Regular Glasses
Interesting Engineering Ameya Paleja August 11, 2022
Virtual reality (VR) headgear has been reduced to the thickness of a pair of regular glasses by scientists at Stanford University and software company Nvidia, who engineered pancake lenses to interoperate with three-dimensional images. Researchers also used a phase-only spatial light modulator to shorten the distance between the lens and the display, creating “a small image behind the device." The device weighs just two ounces (about 60 grams), much less than Meta's Quest headset, which weighs roughly a pound (503 grams). However, the prototype's field-of-view is much smaller than that of commercially available headsets, and it also requires accurate measurement of the user's pupil.
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Zoom Is Great for Remote Code Execution
PC Magazine Max Eddy August 11, 2022
Google Project Zero security researcher Ivan Fratric launched a remote code execution attack by exploiting the technology underlying Zoom and other applications. Fratric's exploit targets bugs in XMPP, an XML-based instant messaging (IM)-like protocol. The method involves embedding pieces of XMPP code, or stanzas, within other XMPP stanzas. The attacker is then able to use a client to smuggle stanzas within legitimate messages, which are accepted and passed on by the intermediate server but interpreted as two stanzas by the victim's IM client. Fratric alerted Zoom, which has issued patches, but Fratric warned that other targets also are vulnerable to XMPP bugs.
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One of 5G's Biggest Features Is a Security Minefield
Wired Lily Hay Newman August 9, 2022
5G Internet of Things (IoT) application programming interfaces (APIs) being offered by mobile carriers have security vulnerabilities, according to researchers at Germany's Technical University of Berlin. Researchers analyzed 5G IoT APIs from 10 mobile carriers (seven in Europe, two in the U.S., and one in Asia) and all contained serious vulnerabilities. They determined that weak authentication, missing access controls, and other basic flaws in API setup could expose SIM-card identifiers and secret keys, along with the identity and billing information of the SIM card purchaser. "We found vulnerabilities that could be exploited to access other devices even though they don't belong to us, just by being on the platform,” said the Technical University of Berlin's Altaf Shaik. “It's a big issue."
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Novel Percussion Instrument to Debut at SIGGRAPH
University of British Columbia August 5, 2022
Engineer and musician Victor Zappi will present a unique percussion instrument co-developed with Sidney Fels at Canada's University of British Columbia during this year's ACM SIGGRAPH conference. Fels described the Hyper Drumhead as "a virtual percussion surface that you can excite by touch. You draw shapes on the touch-screen surface, and you modify them to change the timbre and create all sorts of unique sound effects." Musicians can load pre-recorded sound files into a connected computer, or they can inject live inputs such as vocals or guitar. Each audio source is assigned to a particular screen area and tweaking the shape's dimensions modifies the sound effects.
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Australian Supercomputer Images of Remains of Dying Star's Explosion
The Guardian Wasim Raja; Pascal Jahan Elahi August 10, 2022
A supernova remnant (SNR) observed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization's Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder radio telescope has been imaged by the Setonix supercomputer at Australia's Pawsey Supercomputing Research Center. The image demonstrates the integration of the ASKAPsoft processing software on Setonix, as well as the supercomputer's stability when processing massive amounts of data daily. Producing the SNR image involved combining data collected at hundreds of different frequencies or colors to generate a composite view of the phenomenon. The image marks the first installation stage for Setonix; the second will enable data teams to process even vaster volumes of incoming data from many projects in a fraction of the time.
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Meet the World's Largest Mechanical Robot Suit
BBC News August 8, 2022
Canadian artist and engineer Jonathan Tippett has built the world's largest four-legged exoskeleton, as recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. Called Prosthesis, the robot stands more than 3 m tall, weighs 4,000 kg, and has 200 hp. Tippett described Prosthesis is "a cross between an excavator, a dune buggy, and a dinosaur,” according to Tippett, who added, “…within a few minutes you're standing and you can move the machine and you can balance and you can tilt."
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Experts Use AI Tools to Identify Substances that Cause Overdose Deaths
News-Medical Life Sciences Emily Henderson August 9, 2022
Experts from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) applied artificial intelligence tools to rapidly identify substances that caused overdose deaths. Researchers combined natural language processing and machine learning to analyze almost 35,500 death certificates for all of 2020 in Connecticut as well as nine U.S. counties in Illinois, Alabama, Texas, and California. They determined that of the 8,738 recorded overdose fatalities, the most common substances were fentanyl (54%), alcohol (33%), cocaine (26%), methamphetamine (21%), heroin (18%), prescription opioids (14%), and benzodiazepines (12%).
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Quantum Computers Would Beat Classical Ones at Wordle
New Scientist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan August 5, 2022
Researchers at China's Sun Yat-sen University developed a quantum algorithm that wins the game Mastermind more often and in fewer moves than a classic algorithm. In Mastermind, which is similar to Wordle, a "codemaker" arranges four pegs, each being one of six colors, in a pattern while a "codebreaker" must guess the arrangement of the pegs. Based on a codebreaking algorithm used in real-world cryptography, the algorithm can make many guesses at once, relying on the concept of quantum superposition, where many possibilities are expressed by a single mathematical function. "Our work shows the Wordle game can also be more easily won on quantum computers," said Sun Yat-sen University's Lvzhou Li.
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Graphene Synapses Advance Brain-Like Computers
University of Texas at Austin Cockrell School of Engineering August 8, 2022
Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) and Sandia National Laboratories have created graphene-based synaptic transistors for brain-like or neuromorphic computers. The researchers combined graphene and the polymer membrane material nafion, which collectively exhibit synaptic-like behaviors, notably the ability to reinforce pathways over time with more frequent use. The transistors also can interact with organic cells and tissue. "Computers that think like brains can do so much more than today's devices," explained UT Austin's Jean Anne Incorvia. "And by mimicking synapses, we can teach these devices to learn on the fly, without requiring huge training methods that take up so much power."
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