Category: Technology

Cyber Attacks – A Growing Threat to Technology

In a society where technology dominates, cybercrime is already a big problem, and growing continuously. Cyber-attacks are particularly dangerous because they can be done from anywhere in the world, and the perpetrators are rarely caught. Many of these take place against large companies, or financial institutions, that have detailed information about their clients. Once their data is accessed, individuals may have difficulty getting their lives back on track. Organizations are becoming aware of the need to keep their customers’ information as safe as possible, by putting as much cyber security in place as they can.

Cyber-attacks require extensive knowledge of an organization’s systems, and between 50 and 80% of them have access to insider information. A significant percentage of cybercrime is accomplished by phishing emails, of which the most successful are Spear Phishing. These emails are careful crafted to appear like they are coming from a legitimate source, such as known company executives, and may include detailed information about the person and their job. These sophisticated attacks often require multi-pronged responses. After a cyber-attack, major companies have suffered reputational damage which can be just as devastating. Companies are finding that as their technology increases, they also have to employee increasing cyber security measures which may offset profits.

Cyber-attacks may also extend further than personal information, compromising the national security of the country. Governments have also begun taking extensive measures to ensure that attacks do not get passed their security. Methods that were previously reserved for authoritarian regimes, such as a ‘national firewall,’ are being employed. Governments, large corporations and advanced academics are also combining forces to increase cyber security. In addition to businesses and governments, there are other potential cyberthreats, including evidence of hackers aiming attacks directly at the companies that provide critical internet infrastructure, putting the entire internet at risk if they are successful.

Most cybercrime takes place using malicious software that attacks computers, through various methods, which includes:

Viruses – This software is found in file downloads or email attachments and attaches itself to another file or program and reproduces. When the attachment is clicked, or the download started the file duplicates itself and is sent to all contacts.

Worms – This type of software is capable of being spread without the help of another file or program. It can also collect and send data to a specified location using information about the network it’s on. Worms are often the cause of cyber attacks on a large scale as they spread through the entire network.

Trojan Horses – An attack that normally looks perfectly legitimate, so many aren’t aware of the breach, until it goes into action.

Enchroma Glasses – Seeing Color through a Different Lens

Color blindness, which is also called color vision deficiency, affects approximately 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women, worldwide. Although most cases are genetic, there are other reasons people may lose their color vision, such as diabetes, aging or medication. Most people suffering from color blindness can see objects clearly, but are unable to see red, green or blue light distinctly. Extreme cases, in which the person cannot see any color at all, are possible but extremely rare. Likewise, there are very mild cases, where the affected individual may be unaware that they are color blind. The majority of those affected can see certain colors but are often unable to tell similar colors apart.

In 2010, Andrew Schmeder and Don McPherson founded Enchroma Inc., to perfect technology which could be used to enhance color, for those previously unable to see it. They created lenses by combining optic technology with the latest discoveries in color perception neuroscience. Humans see when our eyes project light onto our retina, which use six million cone cells to transfer the image into neural signals. These signals are transmitted to the visual cortex, where we interpret them as images. Each cell is color specific and responds to light of a different frequency, which corresponds to the primary colors of light: red, green and blue.

Color blindness is caused when an individual’s retinal cone cells respond to light in an abnormal manner. There are three types of color blindness, which are determined by the cones that are affected: for red-light cells, it is protan-type; green-light cells, deutan-type and blue-light cells tritan-type. Most color blindness is caused by red and green sensitive retinal cones having an overlapping response to light. Enchroma lenses are designed to remove wavelengths of light, exactly where the overlap occurs, and are expected to be able to help 80% of people with color vision deficiencies. This can be determined by getting a personal assessment done, by a qualified Enchroma specialist.

The glasses are also available in chic, consumer grade designs, which reveal vibrant, true-to-life colors to many who have never had this experience. Not only is the world a brighter, more beautiful place when seeing in color, but in many ways this has become a necessity in modern society. The ability to read and interpret signs and colored lights can be the difference between life and death. As research continues, the company hopes to find a way to bring color vision to all those affected without it and bring the true range of color to the entire world.

Drone Tracking – Increasing Safety by Regulating Airways

The number of drones being used worldwide is increasing rapidly, both for commercial and personal reasons. Businesses are making long-term investments, and the small aircrafts are quickly becoming the chosen method of delivery. With this increase in the number of drones, comes the need to develop a way of regulating the area that they will operate in. In 2017, SESAR Joint Undertaking, drafted a blueprint for a project, known as U-Space, which will regulate and monitor the airspace for drone operation. The blueprint outlines the stages in which the services will be implemented, to support the EU aviation strategy, while creating a regulatory framework for the drones. These sections will be put into effect between 2018 and 2022, and are:

U1 – Foundation services which would cover registration and identification of the drones. In addition, implementing spaces which will be inaccessible to the drones, geofencing, will also take place.

U2 – Initial services for the drone operation, which includes flight planning and approval, tracking and interfacing with air traffic control. This management system will be essential for U-Space to accomplish another one of their goals, which is introducing more drones to businesses.

U3 – Advanced services designed to support more complex operations in dense areas. This would include assistance for conflict detection and automated detect and avoid.

U4 – This final stage would include full services such as high levels of automation, connectivity and digitalization.

The benefits of the U-Space project, which is designed to increase the safety of European airspace for drones and their operators, would include:

  • Fair, flexible and open access to airspace, which will allow for the expansion of the drone market.
  • Noise and visual pollution can be monitored and limited, as well as offering new services to citizens.
  • Regulatory authorities would be able to maintain control over the airspace, and ensure that the privacy, safety and security of citizens, and drone users, is maintained. Registration and identification of drones will be enforced.
  • The project will also facilitate the development of new models, opening up the use of drones for business purposes. This will help to increase the growth of the business sector, and support the movement towards automation and digitalization.

Switzerland has recently begun implementing their U-Space strategies, via a joint effort with Skyguide, a Swiss air traffic control operator, and Airmap, the organization responsible for management platforms for drones. After the first phase (U1) has been implemented, there is the expectation that more drones will enter the Swiss airspace and market. The system is currently being used for ‘automated flight authorization and cataloging for drones,’ until further expansion can take place. The project will continue to grow, and Switzerland deserves congratulations for being one of the first countries to take the initiative to make their airspace safer for all.

Fusion Power – Possible Success in Harnessing the Energy of the Sun

The ability to successfully harness fusion power, the energy source of the stars, would change the future of the entire world. Tremendous amounts of energy are formed when lighter atoms, such as hydrogen, smash together to form heavier ones. This energy release takes place at temperatures of hundreds of millions of degrees, which would cause it to melt every material we currently have available to us on earth. In an effort to harness fusion power, researchers use magnetic fields to keep it away from the walls of any chamber in which it is being produced. These efforts have all resulted in more energy being expended, than being harvested, for our use.

MIT has collaborated with a new company, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), in the hopes of bringing the world’s first successful fusion power plant to working order within the next 15 years. The collaboration is using a unique form of production, called SPARC, which will build smaller, more powerful field magnets using new high-temperature superconductors. The material that will be used in their creation has recently been introduced to the market, and will result in the magnets being four times stronger than any previously used in fusion experiments. Development time for these has been estimated to be within the next three years.

These superconducting electromagnets are the key component towards creating a more compact version of a fusion device, known as a tokamak. This will result in more than tenfold the amount of power the tokamak will produce. The magnets would also make it possible to build smaller plants to achieve the required amount of energy. SPARC is expected to produce, in 10 second pulses, as much power as is used by a small city. The success of the magnets would result in fusion power being used as an alternative energy source, helping to decrease climate change due to its lack of emissions.

MIT and CFS plan to carry out rapid research, which would lead to the formation of these new plants. CFS has already attracted a $50 million investment from Italian energy company, Eni, and  continues to seek further investments. The collaboration’s ultimate goal is to establish a new industry by commercializing fusion power. Eni CEO, Claudio Descalzi, pointed out that fusion is the energy source of the future as it is completely sustainable, does not release emissions or long term waste, and is potentially inexhaustible. After SPARC has proven successful, the collaboration will begin its final construction of a new power plant approximately twice the size of SPARC’s diameter. The plant would be the first true fusion power plant in the world, and would have the ability to produce a capacity of 200 MW of electricity.

The Future of the Internet – Google’s Quick-Loading AMP Pages

Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages project is designed to bring a faster web browsing experience to mobile devices. The company has been using the technology for a while, but wants to expand the number of users. The speed at which many websites load on mobiles is significantly slower than on computers, because of the design and the high number of advertisements on these pages. Google praised their solution, AMP, as an open-source website-publishing technology that will be available for all site owners to take advantage of. It will allow them to increase the speed of their pages, without losing the value of having ads on their website.

To take advantage of the product, developers would need to make an alternate version of their website using the open-source library provided by AMP. It is advertised as being compatible with most browsers, and having the ability to work across multiple platforms. In addition to being mobile friendly, some of the other advantages of AMP are: the inclusion of ads and analytics, shorter loading times, a lower bounce rate, enhanced SEO and compatibility with any browser. AMP would enable articles on all websites to load as quickly as on Facebook, which applies a similar technology.

Google is placing emphasis on the product’s benefits, in an effort to convince the company that controls the internet’s web standards to adopt this technology for the benefit of all. The tech lead for the AMP project, Malte Ubl, has written ’We now feel ready to take the next step and work to support more instant-loading content not based on AMP technology in areas of Google Search designed for this.’ The blog post in which this was addressed also noted that Google has learnt a significant amount from their research and application.

Many people question Google’s motives, however, as there is the widespread belief that the company pushes new technology for selfish reasons, rather than in an effort to make the internet better for all users. Web developers and publishers, although excited about the product, have expressed their concern about the implications of Google leading the way with AMP technology. An open letter was written in which the company was accused of planning to use this as a method of keeping users ‘within Google’s domain’ and diverting traffic away from other websites. Arguments against the product also state that even though it is open-source, doesn’t mean it is impartial.

Google is already one of the biggest controllers of the internet, and the major fear is that this will increase their dominance. The company has denied that this is the reason behind their pushing of the product. The controversy continues as they try to find ways of proving how genuine their intention is, while many experts urge companies to increase their website’s speed by simply ‘not doing things that are slow.’

Elon Musk’s Q & A – An SW Tech Conference to Remember

Worldwide interest in the achievements being made by Elon Musk’s companies is at an all-time peak. It therefore comes as no surprise that the vast majority of his followers pay close attention to his every move. The entrepreneur recently treated them to a Q & A session at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Tech Conference, held on March 11, 2018, in Austin, Texas. The announcement had been made the night before, via email, and the audience’s questions were thrown at him by Jonathan Nolan, the co-writer of Interstellar. Musk’s answers shed light on the progress already made by his companies, and showed the direction each one would be moving in.

SpaceX, one of his companies with a shaky past, has surpassed expectations with its recent achievements. In February it achieved a successful launch of Falcon Heavy, and Musk said that their new aim was to complete the BFR in the shortest amount of time possible. The goal is for this rocket to be the first to transport humanity to Mars, which Musk believes is essential to the survival of our species. He declared that test flights are expected in 2019, even though he did acknowledge that his enthusiasm does sometimes result in unrealistic deadlines. In addition to the test next year, SpaceX is expected to conduct their first cargo journey to Mars in 2022, with crewed missions following by 2024.

Musk believes that the distance between the Earth and Mars makes it the perfect place to begin setting up a self-sustaining base, as it is more likely to survive a catastrophic event than a base on the moon. The entrepreneur insisted that we needed ‘enough of a seed of human civilization somewhere else to bring it back and shorten the length of the dark ages,’ in the event of a disaster wiping out our species. Musk believes that there are several scenarios that might cause this, including a third World War, and the irresponsible development of artificial intelligence. This led him to stress the importance of developing AI safely, a field in which he is ‘very close to the cutting edge.’ It was apparent in his manner, however, that this concept both fascinated and terrified him simultaneously. In Musk’s own words, ‘AI is much more dangerous than nukes,’ and requires a ‘regulatory oversight.’

On the other hand, Musk spoke about the same technology being applied to the advancement of autonomous cars. Within 18 months, Musk believes that self-driving technology will be applicable to all vehicles, increasing road safety between 100 and 200%. He spoke about Tesla’s autonomous driving system, Autopilot 2.0, being 2 – 3 times safer than the average human driver. Tesla is currently working towards achieving Level 5 (full) autonomy, in their vehicles. In addition to these projects, Musk has others that are changing the way technology is developing and followers look forward to his next (spontaneous) Q & A session.