Zerodium Boosts Payouts for Zero Day Exploits to US$2 Million
January 14, 2019
The Hacker News reported that Zerodium will pay up to $2 million for an iPhone zero day exploit. The idea is that the market for iPhone hacks is robust even if Apple is struggling to hits its internal sales targets. The write up states:
Zerodium—a startup by the infamous French-based company Vupen that buys and sells zero-day exploits to government agencies around the world—said it would now pay up to $2 million for remote iOS jailbreaks and $1 million for exploits that target secure messaging apps.
The big payout is for a remote hack which jailbreaks an iPhone. The idea is that an entity can access an iPhone remotely and perform actions on that iPhone with having direct physical access to the device. The approach is known as a “zero click” exploit; that is, no user interaction required.
The company is also offering a payout of $1 million for WhatsApp exploits.
The reason? Hacker News explains:
The hike in the price is in line with demand and the tougher security of the latest operating systems and messaging apps, as well as to attract more researchers, hackers and bug hunters to seek complex exploit chains.
DarkCyber anticipates more price increases as bad actors shift to encrypted messaging for certain types of communications and transactions.
Stephen E Arnold, January 14, 2019
Amazon Fear: A New Marketing Hook for Google and the Softies
January 14, 2019
With the Amazon AWS bulldozer grinding away, some animals are fleeing the crushing power of the machine. Others are adopting a different tactic. “At NRF 2019, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform Court Retailers Wary of Amazon” explains that their services offer a quiet place in the jungle.
The write up explains:
Retail is one of the few industries where AWS isn’t likely to have a huge lead. That reality means Google and Microsoft can pitch their AI and cloud wares to a receptive audience.
Will Google and Microsoft adopt the IBM FUD approach? Will retailers who want to sell to the federal government become more flexible when Amazon’s GovCloud becomes more dense?
DarkCyber anticipates changes which will pose considerable hurdles to Google and Microsoft as places to sell and relax in the Amazon rain forest.
Stephen E Arnold, January 14, 2019
Amazonia for January 14, 2018
January 14, 2019
Tired of buying stuff on Here’s some Amazonia to start your week off the Amazon way.
Management Romance?
“Did the ‘National Enquirer’ Finally Get One Right with Its Sensational Exposé of Bezos’s Affair?” reveals some interesting information. DarkCyber has no comment.
Buying Technology
Amazon purchased the Israel based CloudEndure. I did not know that clouds could “endure”. I get the idea though. With this technology, Amazon is able to deliver better disaster recovery. Is the technology better than that from every other cloud outfit? It may be because most cloud disaster recovery systems are not exactly the same as opening the refrigerator door. Additional details are available from GeekWire; for example, the estimated purchase price of a tiny fraction of the Bezos divorce settlement.
Yes, One Million
According to the Verge, more than one million people have preordered the Echo Auto device. It is less expensive than purchasing a Tesla. Since an errant 90 year old smashed my beloved Kia in a parking lot, I don’t think much about automobiles. But obviously a million people do and trust Amazon to deliver a better auto experience.
Amazon Partner Marketing
Becoming an Amazon partner may be a step some outfits may want to consider. Coupa, a financial outfit, is ramping up its Amazon love. According to Pymnts:
Coupa users can link their accounts to Amazon Web Services to automatically have AWS invoices sent to the Coupa platform. The integration means companies using both Coupa and AWS can more quickly process those invoices, while gaining enhanced visibility into their spend with AWS services. The integration deploys Coupa’s InvoiceSmash solution, which accelerates invoice processing and payments for users, aimed at enabling companies to capture early payment discounts from their suppliers.
Many of Amazon’s partners are companies which have for many observers a low profile. DarkCyber Annex believes that if Amazon gains traction in the business sector, getting into the Amazon partner arena may be a wise move.
Amazon and Its Satellite Play
Why is Amazon embracing satellites? One answer may be is that cloud computing can reach into the great beyond. According to Formtek:
Amazon AWS brings new meaning to SaaS. It’s Satellite as a Service, actually named AWS Ground Service. Ground Station attempts to make the world of satellite data capture and processing into a utility service, something that can be easily turned on and off without up-front capital expenditures. Their target audience are businesses, researchers, governments and space agencies. The goal is to make the upload and download of data from satellites simpler and cost effective.
DarkCyber Annex knows that Google loves those balloons. Facebook once had solar powered gizmos. Microsoft has ground based Azure. Amazon appears to have some folks who wants to do the final frontier thing whether these is a demand or note.
The Future of Software Innovation
DarkCyber Annex believes that the future of software innovation is to use AWS. An interesting example is documented in Diginomica. The news service reports:
The way that Zendesk has built its new Sunshine platform on AWS is a groundbreaking new take on enterprise SaaS that looks to the future of CRM.
Amazon’s infrastructure will enable more than CRM.
Amazon’s Content Management Play
Amazon could print ebooks. But the company did not have a robust, ready-to-use document management system. OpenText and its like were happy with this state of affairs. Unfortunately, both open source centric and proprietary document management outfits may face a new reality. Their world has changed. ZDNet ran a story with the title “Watch Out MongoDB.AWS Launches Fully Managed Document Database Service.” The problem is that the target is not just open source database systems. Those under threat include the folks who rarely think about Amazon as much more than a glorified eCommerce site. I would wager $1 that the Omnifind crowd at IBM is unlikely to change its stripes because of this announcement. Perhaps this indifference may be a misstep?
Amazon and the Microsoft Compatibility
Amazon seems to be neutral when it comes to criticizing its cross town rival. But Amazon partners are not subject to the same management restraint. DarkCyber Annex noted that Yahoo reported via Business Wire:
ECS, a leading provider of advanced technology, science, and engineering solutions, and a Premier Consulting Partner in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN), announced that it is a launch partner of the new file-sharing system Amazon FSx for Windows File Server. An automatically scaled and fully managed file system, Amazon FSx has native compatibility supporting the features, performance, and security capabilities most used by commercial and public sector customers. The system automates time-consuming administration tasks such as hardware provisioning, software configuration, patching, and backups.
Another AWS ecosystem partner. This one is edging into Microsoft’s sacred territory. “Plug compatible” — those words signaled a change for IBM. AWS partner may be a similar token.
Stephen E Arnold, January 14, 2019
Search Wars: The Open Source Front
January 13, 2019
Last year I pointed out that enterprise search and Web search were for me dead ends. There have been some howls from LinkedIn enterprise search members who want the good, old days to return.
Well, maybe enterprise search can cook up another run at off Broadway fame. To recap, if one wants search, one uses Lucene/Solr. Sure, there are options, but Google style wizards are needed to get these puppies to behave.
I learned that Toshi search aims to challenge Elasticsearch, Shay Banon’s personal Act II in the search tragedies which were packing them in in the early 2000s. Ah, how “fast” time gains its “autonomy.” Few “inquire” about the mechanisms of overpromising and then under-delivering. We could ask the oracle of “Delphis” I suppose. (Not the god, the super hyped search engine from innovators in Canada, one of the most free country in the world.
If you want to know more about Toshi, your first stop should be the Toshi github page at this link. Download the give it a whirl.
Is Elastic worried? Nope, incumbent leaders ignore challengers. Then the Harvard MBA wonks point out the flaws of this type of Henry James’s “a certain blindness.”
Stephen E Arnold, January 13, 2019
IBM Shares Big Data Analytics Test Results
January 12, 2019
Big data, big data, big data! Why does everyone assume that big data analytics is going to save the world? There are limited to big data’s power and most related projects have an 85% failure rate, according to Gartner. One reason is that few people know how to correctly implement big data projects, including vendors. There is hope on the horizon for big data companies, because IBM is making itself a guinea pig.
According to the Silicon Angle’s article, “IBM Is Its Own AI Guinea Pig, Shares Successes From The Test Results.” IBM’s Big Blue has tested big data businesses and it has recorded its failures and successes in tools, technologies, and working methods. IBM is packaging what Big Blue has learned and selling it to customers.
“ ‘What we can do is pull together the right breadth and depth of IBM resources, deploy it and customize it to customer needs and really hopefully accelerate and apply a lot of what we’ve learned, a lot of what our clients have learned to accelerate their own artificial intelligence transformation journey,’ said Caitlin Halferty (pictured, left), client engagement executive, global chief data office at IBM.”
IBM’s big data secret is metadata, because to have the right data governance plan you need to have the right metadata. IBM has a tool for that:
“IBM showcased its automated metadata generation tool at the summit. It leverages automation and AI to slice through some dense metadata-curation blocks. It shortens the often tedious, manual process of data labeling, she said. This helps data officers begin a project with clean, labeled data from the get-go.”
IBM’s key for big data success is buying their big data package and automated metadata tool. How much are the price tags on those? Also even if you do cough up the greenbacks for them do you actually know how to use the data?
Whitney Grace, November 22, 2018
Rewarding Questionable Behavior: The Google Method
January 11, 2019
I read the Bloomberg write up “Google Board Sued for Hushing Claims of Executive Misconduct.” I do recall that Bloomberg created a stir with its really factual write up about mystery components, but this is about humans and their propensity to behave in interesting ways. I assume, therefore, that most of the information is sort of accurate.
The write up informs me amidst green ads and yellow banners of semi information unrelated to the actual news item that:
Alphabet Inc.’s directors were sued by shareholders for approving a $90 million exit payment to Andy Rubin, the creator of the Android mobile software, while helping cover up his alleged misconduct and similar misbehavior by other executives. The investors claimed the board failed in its duties by allowing harassment to occur, approving big payouts and keeping the details private.
Let’s assume that the assertion, the behavior, and the litigation are factualities.
On the surface, it is possible to formulate these hypotheses:
- What happens in the high school science club environment stays in the science club until it doesn’t
- The high school science club approach to handling “issues” is to make life pretty good for well liked science club members. (One assumes that birds of a feather flock together may want the flock and the errant bird to thrive.)
- The high school science club method can be misunderstood by the lowly beings who purchase shares in an enterprise. Litigation is sour grapes.
From my vantage point in the anti Silicon Valley in Harrod’s Creek, Kentucky, it sure looks like some hanky panky has been practiced.
Revenue growth? Whatever it takes I assume. If Amanda Rosenberg lived in the muddy hollow, I would ask her. I wonder if the real news outfit Bloomberg might consider such an interview a way to collect useful information?
Stephen E Arnold, January 11, 2019
Google: AI in the Spotlight
January 11, 2019
Google is on top of many tech mountains, that’s for certain. However, none may be as big as its far-reaching artificial intelligence sector. That future doesn’t look as solid as it once did, thought, because of some hard charging competition, as we discovered in a recent Eyerys article, “With Google Dominating AI, Microsoft and Facebook Want to ‘Defrag Some of the Complexity.’”
According to the story:
“Microsoft is showing that it rather help others rather than purely focusing on its own projects.
“There are reasons behind the partnership.
“First of all, Microsoft’s AI has its own strengths. For example, it’s particularly great for building speech recognition systems. Second, Facebook’s PyTorch has gained popularity and has some interesting technical capabilities on its own.”
This is intriguing news, considering a three-horse race between these giants would likely result in some incredible advances. But, if you ask Google, you shouldn’t expect the world to change overnight. In fact, the leader in AI actually says artificial intelligence is “very stupid” compared to humans. Is this for real or a misdirection? It’s hard to say, but there’s no doubt that this rivalry is heating up, we predict AI will not be dumb for much longer.
Will Facebook hire some of DeepMind’s talent? We think that’s in the “book”.
Patrick Roland, January 11, 2019
CEO Pichai Asserts Google is Transparent on User Data
January 11, 2019
When I think of Android, I do not automatically think “transparent”. Maybe you do? Great.
You read every word of every user agreement, right? Apparently, that’s what Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, thinks. TechCrunch reports, “Google’s CEO Thinks Android Users Know How Much Their Phones Are Tracking Them.” When brought before the House Judiciary committee on matters of transparency and accountability, Pichai stated, “For Google services, you have a choice of what information is collected, and we make it transparent.” However, writes reporter Sarah Parez:
“The reality is that most people don’t read user agreements in full, and aren’t fully aware of what data their phones and apps are able to access. Even on Apple’s platform, known to be fairly privacy-forward, apps have been collecting user data — including location — and selling it to third parties, as noted by a recent New York Times investigation. Google’s defense on the data collection front is similar to Facebook’s — that is, Pichai responded that Google provides tools that put users in control. But do they actually use them? … The 160 million users [who had navigated to ‘My Account settings’ in the previous month] sounds like a large number, but at Google’s scale, where numerous products have over a billion users apiece, it’s not as big as it seems. In addition, it has become clear that simply opting out of Google’s data collection methods is not always enough. For example, earlier this year, it was discovered that Google was continuing to track users’ location even when users had explicitly turned the Location History setting off — a clear indication they did not want their data collected or shared.”
Indeed. When pressed, Pichai admitted Google’s UI could be simplified to make it easier to find these settings, and pledged the company is working on it. But we wonder—is Google being completely transparent about its stance on transparency?
Cynthia Murrell, January 11, 2019
We Have Said It Many Times, “Old People Are Stupid”
January 10, 2019
Yep, get old, get stupid. Not only am I old, I am stupid. Many people, but mostly younger folks, have told me I was indeed stupid. I was stupid when Linda Rosen and I wrote “Managing the New Electronic Products” and pointed out that control was darned near impossible. Yep, stupid, but she got hired by Microsoft. Go figure.
I was stupid when I published “The Google Legacy” in 2004. How could a five or six year old company put a legacy in place. Yep, stupid even though Google technology is pervasive today. How is that Android phone data slurping working out for you. Yep, stupid.
I was stupid when I pointed out that Amazon’s policeware would destabilize the cozy world of law enforcement and intelligence software. I began explaining this in 2017 and one conference organizer told me, “You are stupid. Quantum computers are more important.” How is that JEDI procurement doing? Oracle? Microsoft? Any thoughts. Yep, stupid. But that individual can buy an IBM Q computer for his home I suppose. Stupid? Meh.
Quite a track record of being told I am stupid.
I read “People Older Than 65 Share the Most Fake News, a New Study Finds.” See I just shared this write up. Stupid, right?
Stephen E Arnold, January 10, 2019
Amazon Web Services Finally Makes Handwriting of the Gods Legible
January 10, 2019
The old age joke is that doctors do not know how to write. They know the alphabet, how to read, and how to make the letters, but they do not know write legible chicken scrawl. Legible handwriting is extremely important in the medical industry, because misreading one word means the difference between life and death. ZDNet explains how Amazon is trying to resolve that problem in the article, “AWS Launches Comprehend Medical, Applies Natural Language Processing To Medical Records.”
Amazon Web Services has already piloted a recognized natural language processing program called Comprehend, now they want to apply the program to the medical field. The new endeavor called Amazon Comprehend Medical will extend the natural language processing services specifically for the medical field, primarily for medical records.
“The importance of the service is that it is another toward applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to healthcare. The ability to automate medical record reading and x-ray and MRI analysis could save time for patients as well as physicians. Comprehend can model topics, detect language, conduct sentiment analysis and extract phrases.”
AWS is building a Comprehend model that understands medical terminology, medications, and other information for accurate medical records. The biggest hurdle is making Comprehend HIPAA compliant, which means making sure it is secure and can protect patients’ information. Comprehend Medical is HIPAA eligible, but not HIPAA complaint at the moment. AWS can resolve that it during the test trials and add extra security levels.
What other handwriting will Amazon be able to read?
Whitney Grace, January 10, 2019
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