Tech Gyaan: news

Browsing "Older Posts"

Popular podcast 'Serial' will be broadcast on British radio

If you haven't heard the This American Life podcast Serial, then you've probably heard people endlessly banging on about how great it is. Despite its massive popularity in the US, the first country to syndicate the real-life murder mystery show will actually be in the UK. The BBC will broadcast the first season of the series on digital radio station Radio 4 Extra, one per day, in the run up to the finale. The first show airs on Sunday December 7th at 9:00pm, presumably with the conclusion airing on December 18th. One thing to note, of course, is that given the BBC's strict policy against advertising, it's likely that the Mail... Kimp? gag that opens each installment won't survive the trip across the Atlantic.

[Image Credit: Serial / This American Life / WBEZ Chicago]

Friday, 5 December 2014

Hackers leak Sony passwords, social security numbers and salaries

The cyber attack against Sony Pictures continues to be a major problem for the company. For one, it looks like the hackers used malware called Destover (which security firms believe could have been created in Korea) that can completely disable hard drives, rendering computers useless. Worse, the hackers calling themselves the Guardians of Peace recently leaked more info: a whole folder full of company passwords, as well as former and current employees' salaries and social security numbers. And yet, all these could've been avoided, according to some of the company's former employees. They told Fusion that "Sony's 'information security' team is a complete joke," prone to ignoring reports about vulnerabilities.

However, it's unclear if the company could've done anything to prevent the recent security breaches, though. Aside from the fact that the GoP claimed to have physical access to Sony's offices, the malware they used is so powerful, the FBI had to issue a flash warning to US businesses right after Thanksgiving. While the FBI's bulletin didn't mention specifics, security firms Trend Micro and Kaspersky have just confirmed that it's about the same malware that took down Sony's computers. Kaspersky has also noted that Destover works just like older malware used for previous cyber attacks against companies in Saudi and South Korea. Further, the firm has determined that its Destover samples were created on a computer using the Korean language during working hours in the peninsula.

READ More

Alienware's Alpha game console is ready to invade your living room

Eager to get a truly TV-oriented gaming PC without waiting until the official Steam Machine launch in 2015? Alienware is more than happy to oblige: at long last, it'sshipping the Alpha console. You can now shell out $549 or more to get a living room-friendly Windows PC with a custom interface designed to work with an included Xbox 360 gamepad. Don't expect an ideal Far Cry 4 machine out of the box, however. Every system can play some modern titles thanks to GeForce GTX 860M graphics, but that base system comes with a modest Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive; you'll have to pay $699 if you want more memory and storage, and at least $799 if you want a faster CPU. This doesn't include a mouse and keyboard, either. Nonetheless, the Alpha could be a solid pick if a PS4 or Xbox One just won't cut it.

Sunday, 23 November 2014