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Submission + - FBI seizes RAMP cybercrime forum used by ransomware gangs (bleepingcomputer.com)

Submitted by joshuark
joshuark writes: The FBI has seized the notorious RAMP cybercrime forum, a platform used to advertise a wide range of malware and hacking services, and one of the few remaining forums that openly allowed the promotion of ransomware operations.

Both the forum's Tor site and its clearnet domain, ramp4u[.]io, now display a seizure notice stating, "The Federal Bureau of Investigation has seized RAMP."

While there has been no official announcement by law enforcement regarding this seizure, the domain name servers have now been switched to those used by the FBI when seizing domains. In a forum post to the XSS hacking forum, one of the alleged former RAMP operators known as "Stallman" confirmed the seizure.

Comment Now for... (Score 2) 33

by joshuark (#65948018) Attached to: The Risks of AI in Schools Outweigh the Benefits, Report Says

Now for something entirely different (allusion to Monty Python)...now NVidia, Anthropic, OpenAI, etc. will now fund a study to release a report about how AI is a great asset in schools, etc. The benefits of AI/ML are reminiscent of the studies about coffee in the 1980s and 1990s. First bad for you, drink de-caf. Then de-caf is bad for you drink coffee, and the band plays on...

--JoshK.

Submission + - Glitch Resulted in Biitcoin Priced at $0 (gizmodo.com)

Submitted by joshuark
joshuark writes: According to a report in The Block, Paradex, which is a decentralized crypto exchange (DEX) , experienced a glitch that resulted in bitcoin being priced at $0. As a result, a large number of unwarranted liquidations took place, as Paradex operates as a perpetuals exchange.

A crypto perpetuals exchange is a type of financial platform where all trades are effectively leveraged positions held in perpetual futures contracts (oftentimes called perps) based on the user’s collateral.

The Paradex bug was reportedly introduced during database maintenance, and the team behind the exchange will now rollback the state of the exchange to a time before the maintenance in an effort to reverse all of the activity that occurred based on false market data. According to a report in DL News, Paradex has also claimed all user funds are safe. The increasing centralization found in the crypto space is becoming a common criticism of the sector.

While Paradex users who would have otherwise lost money will be happy to be bailed out by the centralized entity behind the appchain, this situation also illustrates the lack of credibility associated with the exchange’s supposed decentralization, which has become par for the course in crypto.

Submission + - Mandiant releases table cracks weak password using vulnerable hashing algorithm (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by joshuark
joshuark writes: Security firm Mandiant has released a database that allows any administrative password protected by Microsoft’s NTLM.v1 hash algorithm to be hacked in an attempt to nudge users who continue using the deprecated function despite known weaknesses.

Despite its long- and well-known susceptibility to easy cracking, NTLMv1 remains in use in some of the world’s more sensitive networks. One reason for the lack of action is that utilities and organizations in industries, including health care and industrial control, often rely on legacy apps that are incompatible with more recently released hashing algorithms. Another reason is that organizations relying on mission-critical systems can’t afford the downtime required to migrate. Of course, inertia and penny-pinching are also causes.

Comment As Homer Simpson put it... (Score 1) 40

As Homer Simpson put it...

"Aw, you can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. 14% of all people know that.." from the episode "Homer the Vigilante," https://www.youtube.com/watch?....

And the "study" does not define what is "weak" just like other studies and " is not _good_ for you" or when the tobacco industry study that showed the elderly benefited from smoking. As they were more likely to be dead and beyond caring...so avoided the issues with geriatrics; the later part was not highlighted.

JoshK.

Submission + - Texas A&M is banning Plato, citing his "gender ideology." (lithub.com)

Submitted by joshuark
joshuark writes: The philosopher-king is dead in Texas. Texas A&M has a new policy of: “a new system policy restricting classroom discussions of race and gender” starting this semester. The public research university has lately been caught in the crossfire between state and stupid. The policy, engineered and approved by the Texas A&M University Regents last November, requires that the school’s president sign off on every syllabus with an eye to scrubbing “problematic” content. Plato and his Theory of Forms, and The Republic are not truthful enough, and so problematic.

Gender ideology is defined as “a concept of self-assessed gender identity replacing, and disconnected from, the biological category of sex.” Race ideology entails “attempts to shame a particular race or ethnicity” or anything that “promotes activism on issues related to race or ethnicity rather than academic instruction.”

The forward-thinking regents used AI analysis software to audit syllabi for unapproved content. Thanks to this rude mech, 200 courses have been cancelled, stripped of core curricular credit value, or forced into revision. A philosophy professor, Martin Peterson, was told to “either remove ‘modules on race and gender ideology'” from his course, or be reassigned to teach a different class entirely.

Meanwhile, A&M students are set to be deprived of so much recent world. Including but not limited to “literature with major plot lines that concern gay, lesbian or transgender identities,” feminist and queer film, or race and ethnicity as a subjectfullstop.

As you go about your reading today, pour one out for the Aggies. And watch the Star Trek Original Series episode "Plato's Step-Children"...about absolute power corrupting absolutely.

Submission + - Google confirms Android bug with accessibility causing volume key issues (bleepingcomputer.com)

Submitted by joshuark
joshuark writes: Google has confirmed a software bug that is preventing volume buttons from working correctly on Android devices with accessibility features enabled. According to a support document published today, user reports indicate that volume keys malfunction when" Select to Speak" is activated on their Android devices.

This newly acknowledged issue causes volume buttons to adjust the device's accessibility volume rather than the media volume when users expect to control music, video, or other audio playback. Additionally, pressing volume keys while using the camera application will fail to capture photos, a popular shortcut many Android users rely upon.

Google didn't specify how many users are affected, which Android versions are affected, or share an estimated timeline for when the issue will be resolved, (twice a year but when next?) Google typically pushes bug fixes through regular system updates that roll out over time.

Until a permanent fix is available, Google provides a temporary workaround that requires affected users to disable the Select to Speak service by going into their device's settings, tapping Accessibility, then "Select to Speak," and then toggling the Select to Speak shortcut off.

This bug gives a new spin on the song "Pump Up the Volume"

Submission + - Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says AI doomerism has 'done a lot of damage' (businessinsider.com) 2

Submitted by joshuark
joshuark writes: Jensen Huang is over AI doomerism. The Nvidia CEO said one of his biggest takeaways from 2025 was "the battle of narratives" over the future of AI development.
Huang said while "it's too simplistic" to dismiss either side entirely, some of the dismal outlooks are having real consequences. "I think we've done a lot of damage with very well-respected people who have painted a doomer narrative, end of the world narrative, science fiction narrative," Huang said.
"And I appreciate that many of us grew up and enjoyed science fiction, but it's not helpful. It's not helpful to people. It's not helpful to the industry. It's not helpful to society. It's not helpful to the governments."
A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to elaborate on Huang's remarks. Previously, the Nvidia CEO took issue with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's prediction that AI could replace up to half of all white-collar entry-level jobs within five years.
"When 90% of the messaging is all around the end of the world and the pessimism, and I think we're scaring people from making the investments in AI that make it safer, more functional, more productive, and more useful to society," he said.
Overall, Huang said the sheer amount of negativity is distorting the conversation around AI, impacting the profitability of Nvidia and undermining investor confidence.

Submission + - In a galaxy-brained rebrand, Microsoft Office is now 'Microsoft 365 Copilot app' (pcgamer.com)

Submitted by joshuark
joshuark writes: As spotted by Bluesky user DodgerFanLA, going to Office.com now greets you with the following helpful explainer:

"The Microsoft 365 Copilot app (formerly Office) lets you create, share, and collaborate all in one place with your favorite apps now including Copilot.*"

Never has an asterisk been more relevant to me than following the words "your favorite apps now including Copilot."

About a decade ago, hardware company Corsair attempted to pivot from its classic logo—a subtle trio of ship sails—to a newer, edgier look, a pair of crossed swords that gave off regrettable '2000s tribal tattoo' energy. The rebrand didn't last long: after a fierce outcry from people who correctly thought the new logo sucked, Corsair swapped to a refreshed take on the sail logo, which it's been using ever since.

Corsair was established in 1994, and made about $1.4 billion last year—which I bring up because today Microsoft, a slightly bigger company, has slipped on its own rebranding banana peel. The company is seemingly all but ditching the Office name—which it introduced four years before Corsair existed, and which drove more than $30 billion in revenue just last quarter—with a catchy new name: "Microsoft 365 Copilot app."

The company had already downplayed the Office name, despite it being perhaps the most universally recognized software in existence, by renaming its cloud version of Word, Powerpoint, etc. Office 365 in 2010, then Microsoft 365 in 2017. Now when you want to open up a Word document, you can get to them by launching the Microsoft 365 Copilot app. Intuitive!

Should Microsoft just go ahead and rebrand Windows, the only piece of its arsenal more famous than Office, as Copilot, too? I do actually think we're not far off from that happening. Facebook rebranded itself "Meta" when it thought the metaverse would be the next big thing, so it seems just as plausible that Microsoft could name the next version of Windows something like "Windows with Copilot" or just "Windows AI."

Copilot is the app for launching the other apps, but it's also a chatbot inside the apps. Any questions?

Submission + - Dell Admits It Made a Huge Mistake When It Abandoned XPS (gizmodo.com)

Submitted by joshuark
joshuark writes: At last year’s CES, Dell made the eyebrow-raising decision to ax all its legacy laptop brand names and instead opt for Apple-like conventions. Instead of XPS, we were forced to comprehend the differences between a “Dell,” a “Dell Pro,” a “Dell Premium,” and a “Dell Pro Max.”

“This complicated brand we called Dell last year was trying to cover this very large consumer space with lots of similar products,” Clarke said. Now those non-XPS products are mostly dedicated to the base consumer and entry-level laptops, “no pluses, minuses, squares, or whatever the hell else we called them.”

“This complicated brand we called Dell last year was trying to cover this very large consumer space with lots of similar products,” Jeff Clarke, Dell’s chief operating officer said. Now those non-XPS products are mostly dedicated to the base consumer and entry-level laptops, “no pluses, minuses, squares, or whatever the hell else we called them.”

“We won’t chase every competitor down every rabbit hole,” he added. What that means is we probably won’t see any kind of handheld PC from Alienware, like that age-old UFO design showed off back in 2020. Just as well, Dell isn’t remodeling its entire laptop lineup for a second time in two years. The company isn’t bringing back brand names like Inspiron (which became mere “Dells) or Latitude (which transformed into “Dell Pro). According to Clarke, Dell Pro “still tests well.”

Submission + - The 'Godfather of SaaS' says he replaced most of his sales team with AI agents (businessinsider.com)

Submitted by joshuark
joshuark writes: 'We're done with hiring humans' the 'Godfather of SaaS' says. Jason Lemkin, known to some as the Godfather of SaaS, says the time has come to push the limits of AI in the workplace. Lemkin, the founder of SaaStr, the world's largest community of business-to-business founders. In a recent podcast Lemkin said that this means he will stop hiring humans in his sales department.

SaaStr is going all in for AIagents which are commonly defined as virtual assistants that can complete tasks autonomously. They break down problems, outline plans, and take action without being prompted by a user. The company now has 20 AI agents automating tasks once handled by a team of 10 sales development representatives and account executives. That move to AI was rapid from an entirely human workforce.

During the SaaStr Annual a yearly gathering of over 10,000 founders, executives, and VCs, two of its high-paid sales representatives abruptly quit. Lemkin said he turned to Amelia Lerutte, SaaStr's chief AI officer, and said, "We're done with hiring humans in sales. We're going to push the limits with agents." Lemkin's calculus was that it just wasn't worth the cost of hiring another junior sales representative for a $150,000 a year position who would eventually quit, when he could use a loyal AI agent instead.

Lemkin said SaaStr is training its agents on its best humans. "Train an agent with your best person, and best script, then that agent can start to become a version of your best salesperson," he said. Lemkin said that the net productivity of agents is about the same as humans. However, he said, agents are more efficient and can scale — just like software.

Many companies are experimenting with AI agents, but risks remain. One of the big ones is the threat of data leaks and cybercrime.

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