Microsoft warns about two apps that installed root certificates then leaked the private keys

In researchers’ own words “every system on which HeadSetup […] was installed at any time in the past […] remains vulnerable” until users manually review the Trusted Root Certificate Store and remove the two certificates, or until the certificates expire –which could be January 13, 2027, or July 27, 2037, respectively.

Source: Microsoft warns about two apps that installed root certificates then leaked the private keys | ZDNet

Germany: CeBIT, world′s largest IT conference, canned

CeBIT was once considered the best barometer of technological trends, and during the dot-com boom in the late 90s and early 2000s, it boasted some 850,000 visitors a year. However, that number has been declining for years, despite cultivating a ‘fun fair’ atmosphere.

Source: Germany: CeBIT, world′s largest IT conference, canned | News | DW | 28.11.2018

First ever plane with no moving parts takes flight

In the prototype plane, wires at the leading edge of the wing have 600 watts of electrical power pumped through them at 40,000 volts. This is enough to induce “electron cascades”, ultimately charging air molecules near the wire. Those charged molecules then flow along the electrical field towards a second wire at the back of the wing, bumping into neutral air molecules on the way, and imparting energy to them. Those neutral air molecules then stream out of the back of the plane, providing thrust.

Source: First ever plane with no moving parts takes flight | Science | The Guardian

Windows Isn’t a Service; It’s an Operating System

An operating system that runs on millions of different hardware configurations is not a service. It can’t be updated as easily, and you’ll run into issues with hardware, drivers, and software when you change things. The upgrade process isn’t instant and transparent—it’s a big download and can take a while to install.

Source: Windows Isn’t a Service; It’s an Operating System

F-35’s Hacking Vulnerability | Could the F-35 Be Hacked?

Every F-35 squadron, no matter the country, has a 13-server ALIS package that is connected to the worldwide ALIS network. Individual jets send logistical data back to their nation’s Central Point of Entry, which then passes it on to Lockheed’s central server hub in Fort Worth, Texas. In fact, ALIS sends back so much data that some countries are worried it could give away too much information about their F-35 operations.

Source: F-35’s Hacking Vulnerability | Could the F-35 Be Hacked?

Hackers could conceivably introduce bad data in the JRE that could compromise the safety of a mission, shortening the range of a weapon system so that a pilot thinks she is safely outside the engagement zone when she is most certainly not.

It’s highly likely these vulnerabilities are a known detectable exploit vector.  Any military aircraft  should be able to perform its mission disconnected from a network — except for perhaps drones.

HTTP-over-QUIC to be renamed HTTP/3

QUIC stands for “Quick UDP Internet Connections” and is, itself, Google’s attempt at rewriting the TCP protocol as an improved technology that combines HTTP/2, TCP, UDP, and TLS (for encryption), among many other things.

Source: HTTP-over-QUIC to be renamed HTTP/3 | ZDNet

Since then, HTTP-over-QUIC support was added inside Chrome 29 and Opera 16, but also in LiteSpeed web servers. While initially, only Google’s servers supported HTTP-over-QUIC connections, this year, Facebook also started adopting the technology.

The first detailed look at how Elon Musk’s space internet could work

When sending an internet message via Starlink, a ground station will begin by using radio waves to talk to a satellite above it. Once in space, the message will be fired from satellite to satellite using lasers until it is above its destination. From there, it will be beamed down to the right ground station using radio waves again.

Source: The first detailed look at how Elon Musk’s space internet could work | New Scientist

Between distant places, this will allow messages to be sent about twice as fast as through the optical fibres on Earth that currently connect the internet, despite having to travel to space and back. This is because the speed of the signal in glass is slower than it is through space.

To Keep Pace With Moore’s Law, Chipmakers Turn to ‘Chiplets’

The new approach comes with a snappy name: chiplets. You can think of them as something like high-tech Lego blocks. Instead of carving new processors from silicon as single chips, semiconductor companies assemble them from multiple smaller pieces of silicon—known as chiplets.

Source: To Keep Pace With Moore’s Law, Chipmakers Turn to ‘Chiplets’ | WIRED

A powerful new battery could give us electric planes that don’t pollute

Planes are rarely used for regional travel, representing less than 1% of trips under 500 miles, according to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Airlines have shied away from shorter flights largely because most of the fuel is burned during takeoff, meaning longer routes are far more economical. And given the high costs and hassles of flying, consumers largely opt for cars, trains, or buses instead for this travel range.

Source: A powerful new battery could give us electric planes that don’t pollute – MIT Technology Review

Vigilante engineer stops Waymo from patenting key lidar technology

The USPTO was not impressed. In March, an examiner noted that a re-drawn diagram of Waymo’s lidar firing circuit showed current passing along a wire between the circuit and the ground in two directions—something generally deemed impossible. “Patent owner’s expert testimony is not convincing to show that the path even goes to ground in view of the magic ground wire, which shows current moving in two directions along a single wire,” noted the examiners dryly.

Source: Vigilante engineer stops Waymo from patenting key lidar technology | Ars Technica

Self-driving startups should not take this legal confusion as carte blanche to use the lidar technology described in Waymo’s and Velodyne’s patents, warns Brian Love, co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at the Santa Clara University School of Law. “There’s a joke among patent lawyers that a final rejection is anything but final, because owners still have options even after a final rejection,” he tells Ars. “And to get an award in a patent action, you only have to show infringement of one claim in one patent. The fact that there’s even one claim left in Waymo’s patent means there’s one shot for arguing that someone infringes that claim.”