Category: Technology

Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg didn't shy away from her company's ongoing privacy scandal in a Friday commencement speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Instead, she turned it into a lesson about accountability. Sandberg, the company's chief operating officer, repeatedly warned graduates that even technology created with the best intentions can be twisted to do harm, a lesson that she said hits close to home, "given some of the issues Facebook has had." "At Facebook, we didn't see all the risks coming, and we didn't do enough to stop them," Sandberg said. "It's hard when you know you let people down." Echoing previous comments from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Sandberg went on to emphasize the importance of taking full responsibility for mistakes. "When you own your mistakes, you can work…

Chinese government hackers breached the computer system of a Navy contractor and stole large amounts of sensitive data, The Washington Post reports. The Post said the hacking took place in January and February, according to U.S. officials speaking on the condition of anonymity. It said the stolen information amounted to 614 gigabytes of material, including secret plans to develop a supersonic anti-ship missile for use on U.S. submarines by 2020. Other information stolen included signal and sensor data for submarines, information relating to cryptographic systems, and a Navy electronic warfare library. The Post said details on hundreds of mechanical and software systems were compromised in the hacking. The paper said the data was highly sensitive despite being on a contractor's unclassified computer network. It said U.S. officials did not identify…

North Korea’s senior leadership has been exploiting loopholes in international sanctions to obtain the U.S. technology that Pyongyang uses to conduct “destructive cyber operations,” according to a global cyberthreat intelligence company. Recorded Future, based in Massachusetts, found that while export bans and restrictions are somewhat effective in keeping North Korea from acquiring technology for its nuclear weapons program, sanctions fail when it comes to regulating computer products from entering into North Korea. “Because of the globalized nature of technology production and distribution, the traditional export control is not really working for [computer] technology,” said Priscilla Moriuchi, one of the authors of “North Korea Relies on U.S. Technology for Internet Operations.” “It may work quite well for ballistic missile parts or fissile material, but the system is not designed to limit technology…

Growing up on Mount Boutmezguida in southwest Morocco on the edge of the Sahara desert, Khadija Ghouate never imagined that the fog enveloping the nearby peaks would change her life. For hours every day and often before sunrise, Ghouate and other women from nearby villages would walk 5 km (3 miles) to fetch water from open wells, with girls pulled out of school to help and at risk of violence on the lonely treks. But with groundwater levels dropping due to overuse, drought and climate change, the challenge to get enough water daily was becoming harder, and almost half of people in the local area sold up and quit rural life after generations for the city. As the future of the traditional Berber region by Mount Boutmezguida floundered, a mathematician…

Facebook said a software bug led some users to post publicly by default regardless of their previous settings. The bug affected as many as 14 million users over several days in May.   The problem, which Facebook said it has fixed, is the latest privacy scandal for the world's largest social media company.   It said the bug automatically suggested that users make new posts public, even if they had previously restricted posts to "friends only" or another private setting. If users did not notice the new default suggestion, they unwittingly sent their post to a broader audience than they had intended.   Erin Egan, Facebook's chief privacy officer, said the bug did not affect past posts. Facebook is notifying users who were affected and posted publicly during the time…

As the internet continues to revolutionize communications, the next world-changing technology may already be here. Blockchain, a way of recording data and automatically storing it on computers around the world, has the potential to change everything from collecting crime scene evidence to creating new digital currencies. VOA's Jill Craig visited a blockchain hackathon in Memphis, Tennessee, to learn more. ...

Major changes could be ahead for the International Space Station but there will always be an American astronaut in orbit, NASA’s new boss said Wednesday. The space agency is talking with private companies about potentially taking over the space lab after 2025, but no decision will made without the other 21 countries that are partners in the project, NASA Administrator James Bridenstine said in his first briefing with reporters. President Donald Trump’s recent budget requests have put discussions about the station’s future “on steroids,” he said. Under Trump’s 2019 proposed budget, U.S. funding for the space station would end by 2025. The U.S. has spent more than $75 billion on the space station. Options include splitting the station into different segments or reducing its size by breaking it up and…

Passenger jets of the future will be safer, lighter, faster, more fuel-efficient and ... windowless. So predicts Emirates Airlines chief Tim Clark. The Dubai-based airline has already introduced virtual windows in the first-class suites of its newest planes.  Instead of being able to see out a conventional window, the passengers will be able to enjoy the view on a full display of windows that will project live camera feeds on a high-definition screen.  Clark said the images are "so good, it's better than with the natural eye." Clark told the BBC that the ultimate goal was to have a completely windowless plane.  "Now you have a fuselage which has no structural weaknesses because of windows. The aircraft are lighter, the aircraft could fly faster, they'll burn less fuel and fly…

The former head of Cambridge Analytica admitted on Wednesday his firm had received data from the researcher at the center of a scandal over Facebook users' personal details, contradicting previous testimony to lawmakers. Cambridge Analytica, which was hired by Donald Trump in 2016, has denied its work on the U.S. president's successful election campaign made use of data allegedly improperly harvested from around 87 million Facebook users. Former chief Alexander Nix, in earlier testimony to parliament's media committee, also denied the political consultancy had ever been given data by Aleksandr Kogan, the researcher linked to the scandal. On Wednesday he said it had received data from Kogan. "Of course, the answer to this question should have been 'yes,'" Nix said, adding that he thought he was being asked if Cambridge…

A surge in participation by startup companies this week, at a highlight of Asia’s biggest annual tech event, shows an increased reliance on young entrepreneurs to come with the IT industry’s strongest ideas for connected devices and artificial intelligence. The InnoVEX segment of Taipei Computex 2018 brought together 388 startups, a term usually defined as founder-owned firms of three to five years old. That number is a jump from 272 at the same event a year ago. Venture capitalists, including at least one with half a billion dollars in investment funds, evaluated them one-on-one and at formal pitching events. Startups are catching attention as inventors of Internet-of-things technology because there's no market leader yet, said Jamie Lin, founding partner of AppWorks Ventures, a startup accelerator in Taipei. That technology refers to…

Facebook has admitted that it had a data sharing agreement with four Chinese technology companies, including one considered a national security threat by the U.S. intelligence community, raising new concerns about the social media giant's handling of its consumer's personal information. The admission by the U.S.-based social media giant Tuesday came two days after The New York Times revealed that Facebook had struck special data-sharing deals with as many as 60 device makers, including Huawei, Lenovo, OPPO and TCL, to make it easier for Facebook users to access their accounts on a wide array of devices. U.S. intelligence officials have raised concerns for years about Huawei, fearing the Chinese government could demand access to data stored on their devices or servers. The concerns prompted the U.S. military to ban the…

For Apple users worried about how much time they and their children spend posting photos and videos to their devices, help is on the way. Apple has announced new controls that will allow parents to remotely limit the amount of time their offspring spend on iPhones and iPads, as well as hold up a mirror to their own online habits. The feature will be available in the next software update. The move comes as the tech industry faces criticism that it has successfully made its smartphones and apps addictive with little thought for how people's lives may be negatively affected by the distraction of constantly checking their devices. Smartphone addiction Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke about his own habits at an Apple developers conference this week. After trying out Apple's…

India is the global host of the 2018 World Environment Day. Highlighting its theme “Beat Plastic Pollution,” environmentalists will urge everyone, from those in government, industry as well as ordinary citizens, to reject the so-called ‘single-use plastic’ items which are slowly choking the planet’s waters and the animals that live in them. VOA’s George Putic reports. ...

Microsoft on Monday said it will buy software development platform GitHub, in a deal worth $7.5 billion which will blend two opposite corporate cultures. The tech giant, based in Washington state, is a heavyweight in terms of software whose source codes are not openly available or modifiable, exactly the counter of GitHub's philosophy. Created in 2008, GitHub allows developers to cooperatively manage software and has more than 28 million users around the world. "Microsoft is a developer-first company, and by joining forces with GitHub we strengthen our commitment to developer freedom, openness and innovation," Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said in a statement. "We recognize the community responsibility we take on with this agreement and will do our best work to empower every developer to build, innovate and solve the…

Facebook is pushing back against a media report saying that it provided extensive information about its users and their friends to third parties like phone makers.   The New York Times reported Sunday that Facebook struck data-sharing deals with at least 60 device makers, including Apple and Amazon, raising more concerns about what users give up when they use Facebook.   Facebook says it disagrees with reporting by the paper regarding software it rolled out 10 years ago that helped get Facebook on to devices like iPhones. Ime Archibong, vice president of product partnerships, said in blog post that Facebook has maintained tight control over the technology, known as application programming interfaces, or APIs, and that it is not aware of any abuse by the companies that it teamed with.…

Three astronauts from the International Space Station have safely returned to Earth after completing a five-month mission.  American Scott Tingle, Russian Anton Shkaplerov and Japan's Norishige Kanai touched down at 12:39 UTC Sunday in Kazakhstan. Shkaplerov, who was the first to be helped out of the Russian Soyuz space capsule, said, "We are a bit tired but happy with what we have accomplished and happy to be back on Earth. We are glad the weather is sunny." The trio will undergo medical tests in the Kazakh city of Karaganda before flying on to Moscow or Houston.  Shkaplerov will return to Moscow with a football he brought back from the space station. He and another cosmonaut were filmed practicing with the ball aboard the ISS. The Russian news agency Tass reported…

An accident, a stroke, or a disease can leave someone paralyzed and unable to walk. That happens to more than 15 million people around the world each year. But new technological advances and physical therapy could help some of them walk again.   Among the most promising is the use of robotic exoskeletons, like one made by Ekso Bionics. It looks a bit like a backpack that straps on the user’s back and around the midsection. Robotic ‘legs’ complete with foot panels extend from either side of the pack and wrap around the patient’s legs. A video game-style controller attaches to the pack with a long cord. “I’m going to be a robot!” Lindsey Stoefen has been doing physical therapy with the exoskeleton for an hour a day, as she…

Every year more than 15 million people worldwide suffer injuries and illnesses that leave them unable to walk according to the World Health Organization. But new technological advances and physical therapy could help some of them walk again. Among the most promising - is the use of robotic exoskeletons. As Erika Celeste reports, scientists at the University of Notre Dame are leading the way with their work on wearable robots that allow patients to regain some or all of their mobility. ...

The government Papua New Guinea is considering blocking Facebook while it investigates how to best to regulate the social networking site. Critics say the move would be authoritarian. Authorities in Papua New Guinea, or PNG, say Facebook has become a magnet for illegal and unsavory activity. The government is considering a temporary ban on the site while it works out the best way to regulate the social media platform. Only about 10 percent of the nearly 7 million people in PNG use Facebook, but some officials have become increasingly agitated by content being posted online.They have asked experts to help in their search for the best way to impose controls on the social media site. PNG Communications Minister, Sam Basil, says illegal use of Facebook must be curbed. "Defamatory publications…

Birds and airplanes share the sky, so inevitably collisions occur. But airport authorities try to limit those encounters because bird strikes cause costly damage to jet engines and can lead to crashes. Some airports employ trained dogs, others use loud noises to frighten birds away. A company in the Netherlands says its robotic predator Robird is much more efficient. VOA's George Putic has more. ...

Google says it will not extend a contract into next year to help the U.S. military analyze drone videos following complaints from company employees. U.S. media reports said Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., told Google employees about the decision Friday. The development was first reported by tech publication Gizmodo. Google employees say the tech giant will continue to work on the Maven Project until the contract ends next March. The military project uses artificial intelligence to increase defense capabilities, including using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze aerial drone imagery. Thousands of Google employees signed a petition urging the company to cancel the contract, arguing that helping the military would violate Google’s motto of “Don’t be evil.” Reuters reports that several hundred Google employees had planned to hold a public rally…

Outside Facebook's annual shareholders meeting Thursday, a lone protester paced on the sidewalk, carrying a U.S. flag and a sign that read "Zuckerberg destroys shareholder value." Above, a small plane pulled a banner that read "You Broke Democracy." Inside, Facebook shareholders offered both praise and criticism of the company's leadership. The social media giant has been in a constant spotlight over how foreign actors used its service to try to influence elections worldwide. It suffered a double blow when it was revealed that 87 million users' information had gone to a political consulting firm without the users' knowledge.  The company continues to face inquiries from federal and state regulators about privacy and user data issues. And Mark Zuckerberg, its chief executive, recently testified in front of the European Parliament after appearing…

In today's energy-hungry world, scientists are constantly revisiting every renewable resource looking for ways to increase efficiency. One researcher in the Netherlands believes even gravity can be harnessed to produce free electricity on a scale sufficient to power small appliances. VOA's George Putic has more. ...

A U.S. federal judge on Wednesday dismissed two lawsuits by Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab that sought to overturn bans on the use of the security software maker's products in U.S. government networks. The company said it would seek to appeal the decision, which leaves in place prohibitions included in a funding bill passed by Congress and an order from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The bans were issued last year in response to allegations by U.S. officials that the company’s software could enable Russian espionage and threaten national security. “These actions were the product of unconstitutional agency and legislative processes and unfairly targeted the company without any meaningful fact finding,” Kaspersky said in a statement. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington said Kaspersky had failed to show that Congress…

A Canadian accused of helping Russian intelligence agents break into email accounts as part of a massive 2014 data breach at Yahoo was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine. Karim Baratov, who pleaded guilty in November 2017 in San Francisco, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Baratov, a Canadian citizen born in Kazakhstan, was arrested in Canada in March 2017 at the request of U.S. prosecutors. He later waived his right to fight a request for his extradition to the United States. Lawyers for Baratov in a court filing had urged a sentence of 45 months in prison, while prosecutors had sought 94 months. "This case is about a young man, younger than most of the defendants in hacking cases throughout this…

The U.S. government on Tuesday released an alert with technical details about a series of cyberattacks it blamed on the North Korean government that stretch back to at least 2009. The warning is the latest from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation about hacks that the United States charges were launched by the North Korean government. A representative with Pyongyang's mission to the United Nations declined comment. North Korea has routinely denied involvement in cyberattacks against other countries. The report was published as U.S. and North Korean negotiators work to resuscitate plans for a possible June 12 summit between leaders of the two nations. The FBI and DHS released a similar report in June 2017, when relations were tense between Washington and Pyongyang due to…

France’s Interior Ministry announced plans on Tuesday to beef up its emergency alert system to the public across social media. The ministry said in a statement that from June during immediate threats of danger, such as a terror attack, the ministry’s alerts will be given priority broadcast on Twitter, Facebook and Google as well as on French public transport and television. The statement said that Twitter will give “special visibility” to the ministry’s alerts with a banner. In a specific agreement, Facebook will also allow the French government to communicate to people directly via the social network’s “safety check” tool, created in 2014.  The ministry said that this is the first time in Europe that Facebook has allowed public authorities to use this tool in this way. This announcement comes…

The Trump administration is trying to give private companies a boost in their efforts to capitalize on space as a business venture. U.S. President Donald Trump Thursday signed a space policy directive aimed at streamlining regulations on commercial use of space. Trump signed the directive just days after Space X launched another rocket from California carrying satellites into orbit. WATCH: Trump space policy The launch and several others planned for June are examples of private industries' growing interests in space for commercial and scientific research. "It's a bit of a renaissance, a bit of a space 2.0. Finally, the commercial sector is starting to come back and do some really interesting things," said Will Marshall, co-founder and chief executive officer of Planet, a leading provider of geospatial data. The company…