The source code that powers the “Internet of Things” (IoT) botnet responsible for launching the historically large distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack against KrebsOnSecurity last month has been publicly released, virtually guaranteeing that the Internet will soon be flooded with attacks from many new botnets powered by insecure routers, IP cameras, digital video recorders and other easily hackable devices.
Source: Source Code for IoT Botnet ‘Mirai’ Released — Krebs on Security
Get used to this, because here’s the future of computer security….
A giant botnet made up of hijacked internet-connected things like cameras, lightbulbs, and thermostats has launched the largest DDoS attack ever against a top security blogger, an attack so big Akamai had to cancel his account because defending it ate up too many resources.
Source: Largest DDoS attack ever delivered by botnet of hijacked IoT devices | Network World
This is a wonderfully detailed article about an interesting new blend of weapon and tech…the Precision Guided Firearm. For those unfamiliar with guns, it’s effectively a computer-assisted firearm, relying on a human to pick a target and tell the gun where you’d like the bullet to go. The gun then tells you when it’s in the right position and angle to actually hit the target you chose, and fires appropriately. According to the article linked below, the reporters were able to hit targets the size of a dinner plate at 1000 yards…insane, unheard of accuracy even for the very best human marksmen.
With a marketing plan that involves iPads, Google Glass, and gamification of target practice, this company is very, very savvy. I am interested to see what they come up with, and how quickly this system drops in price.
The Precision Guided Firearm is a “whole widget” type of thing—it’s not just a fancy scope on top of a fancy gun, but rather a tightly integrated system coupling a rifle, an ARM-powered scope running a modified version of Angström Linux (with some custom BitBake recipes and kernel modules to support the rifle’s proprietary hardware), and a linked trigger mechanism whose weighting is controlled by the scope.
via Bullseye from 1,000 yards: Shooting the $17,000 Linux-powered rifle | Ars Technica.
This looks….promising. I don’t expect any single type of input mechanism to “win” in the alternative-input-wars, as some combination device/system is more likely to be more effective. But this looks very interesting…
The MYO armband lets you use the electrical activity in your muscles to wirelessly control your computer, phone, and other favorite digital technologies.
I’ve been looking for a good answer for lifelogging for awhile, and have been anticipating the point at which the technology drops in price enough to make this possible for the average consumer. Google Glasses is the high-end answer, and this may just be the sort of thing that emerges at the low end.
The Memoto camera is a tiny camera and GPS that you clip on and wear. It’s an entirely new kind of digital camera with no controls. Instead, it automatically takes photos as you go. The Memoto app then seamlessly and effortlessly organizes them for you.
Here’s one take on what omnipresent visual overlay with network connectivity might enable, although with a slight dystopian bent.
I’ve said it before, but the rise of the cheap sensor, combined with ubiquitous connectivity, is going to do more to change the way we interact with our world than you can imagine.
The coolest thing at Google I/O this year isn’t a cheap tablet or a pair of overpriced glasses or even a killer keyboard. It is, believe it or not, an alarm clock. But not just any alarm clock — this is an alarm clock with potential. What you see above, and demonstrated in the video after the break, is the gadget that was handed out to attendees who went to learn about the Android Accessory Development Kit.
Inside Google’s amazing Accessory Development Kit demo hardware (video) — Engadget.
Yet another Kickstarter for cheap and connected sensors that record and report things about your environment. Seriously, people, these are going to be everywhere.
You know that Internet-of-Things I’ve been talking about? Here’s an example, from two of the hottest products to come from Kickstarter:
Twine+Pebble: Connect your world to your wrist on Vimeo on Vimeo
Remember all those talks I gave over the last few months talking about a data explosion because sensors were getting so cheap that they will soon be ubiquitous and allow us to measure everything and anything?
Yeah. So that’s happening.
tōd:Connect Real World Actions to Mobile Devices and the Web by Rowdy Robot
