According to data provided by app traffic company AppStats, Instagram has lost more than half of all its active users in the month since proposing to change its original Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. In mid-December, Instagram boasted about 16.3 million daily active users; as of Jan. 14, Instagram only has about 7.6 million daily users.
via Instagram Loses Half Its Daily Users In A Month, And Here’s Why [REPORT].
This just got (more) real: Researchers today unleashed exploit code for a pair of newly found vulnerabilities in the popular Web application programming platform Ruby on Rails (RoR), as well as a new Metasploit module for the most serious of the two flaws, raising concerns of potentially damaging attacks to come on Web servers and databases.
via Attack Code, Metasploit Module Released For Serious Ruby On Rails Bugs – Dark Reading.
Security experts recommend patching RoR apps now if you have not already done so. Said O’Donnell in a blog post yesterday:
Scranage also notes that, unlike other data collection and analysis systems, Guavus’s software screens the vast volumes of data created constantly by networks, devices and subscribers for particular data types, stripping out vast quantities of data that provide no insight and feeding only “useful” data into analytics engines.
“Now is a time for everyone involved to reflect on their actions, and that includes all of us at MIT,” Reif said. “I have asked professor Hal Abelson to lead a thorough analysis of MIT’s involvement from the time that we first perceived unusual activity on our network in fall 2010 up to the present. I have asked that this analysis describe the options MIT had and the decisions MIT made, in order to understand and to learn from the actions MIT took. I will share the report with the MIT community when I receive it.”
via MIT to conduct internal probe in wake of Aaron Swartz’s suicide | Internet & Media – CNET News.
The criminal investigation and today’s indictment of Mr. Swartz has been directed by the United States Attorney’s Office. It was the government’s decision whether to prosecute, not JSTOR’s. As noted previously, our interest was in securing the content. Once this was achieved, we had no interest in this becoming an ongoing legal matter.
via JSTOR Statement: Misuse Incident and Criminal Case | About JSTOR.
Also … From: Prosecutor as bully
Fifty years in jail, charges our government. Somehow, we need to get beyond the “I’m right so I’m right to nuke you” ethics that dominates our time. That begins with one word: Shame.
The purpose of this post is to introduce a user to the nmap command line tool to scan a host and/or network, so to find out the possible vulnerable points in the hosts. You will also learn how to use Nmap for offensive and defensive purposes.
via Top 30 Nmap Command Examples For Sys/Network Admins.
Nmap can be very useful which is why I have a link to it in the Tools section on this page.
The OpenMP Application Program Interface (API) supports multi-platform shared-memory parallel programming in C/C++ and Fortran on all architectures, including Unix platforms and Windows NT platforms. Jointly defined by a group of major computer hardware and software vendors, OpenMP is a portable, scalable model that gives shared-memory parallel programmers a simple and flexible interface for developing parallel applications for platforms ranging from the desktop to the supercomputer.
Sysinternals Suite
The entire set of Sysinternals Utilities rolled up into a single download.
Just a shout out to an excellent set of PC diagnostic tools since I had to recently download and use tcpview.exe.
According to a new report from the state-run paper China Daily, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is ordering all newly built residences to install fiber optic connections in any city or county “where a public fiber optic telecom network is available.”
via China Demands All New Homes Install Fiber Optic Networks.
Running Android 4.1 with a custom Huawei user interface, the phone is dust- and water-resistant, as was demonstrated on stage when Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s consumer business group, poured water over the phone’s screen with no apparent problem. He also dropped it on stage, on purpose, to demonstrate toughness.