Author: esimantiras

What is a Data Lakehouse? Definition, Benefits & Features

Posted on by esimantiras

What is a Data Lakehouse? Definition, Benefits & Features

source: eweek.com  | image: pexels.com

 

A data lakehouse is a hybrid data management architecture that combines the best features of a data lake and a data warehouse into one data management solution.

A data lake is a centralized repository that allows storage of large amounts of data in its native, raw format. On the other hand, a data warehouse is a repository that stores structured and semi-structured data from multiple sources for analysis and reporting purposes.

A data lakehouse aims to bridge the gap between these two data management approaches by merging the flexibility, scale and low cost of data lake with the performance and ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) transactions of data warehouses. This enables business intelligence and analytics on all data in a single platform.

 

What is a lakehouse?

A data lakehouse is a modern data architecture that creates a single platform by combining the key benefits of data lakes (large repositories of raw data in its original form) and data warehouses (organized sets of structured data). Specifically, data lakehouses enable organizations to use low-cost storage to store large amounts of raw data while providing structure and data management functions. Continue reading “What is a Data Lakehouse? Definition, Benefits & Features” →

How Einstein…Could Help Vividly Image Alien Worlds

Posted on by esimantiras

How Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity Could Help Vividly Image Alien Worlds

source: cnet.com  |  image: pexels.com

One day, a mind-bending device called the gravity telescope might bring us visceral pictures of exoplanets far beyond our solar system.

 

Christmas Eve, 1968 — Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders took a picture that would soon reframe humanity’s view of the universe. It was an image of Earth, but from the moon’s vantage point. 

When you look at this picture, a crisp planet stares back at you, levitating just above the lunar horizon like a turquoise sunrise. And this very resemblance earned Anders’ photograph the perfect name: “Earthrise.” 

Since the time Anders took his shot from a moon-orbiting spacecraft, scientists have procured absolutely mind-blowing pictures of Saturn’s rocky rings, Neptune’s azure hues and even Jupiter’s orange marbled stripes— but these photos barely scratch the surface of our universe’s planetary society. 

There are thousands more alien worlds floating beyond our solar system, but they remain hidden to the human eye because they’re light-years on light-years away from us. Our telescopes are too far away to capture their beauty. They show up only as blurry dots of light — if they show up at all. Continue reading “How Einstein…Could Help Vividly Image Alien Worlds” →

Meta disrupts China-based influence campaigns

Posted on by esimantiras

Meta disrupts China-based influence campaigns

source: Axios.com (contributed by Bill Amshey  |  image: pexels.com

 

Facebook and Instagram parent Meta has shut down at least five China-based political influence campaigns on its platforms this year, the company said in a report Thursday, according to Axios’ Jacob Knutson.

Why it matters: Meta claims that China has become the most prolific source of operations that seek to exploit U.S. political divisions and that those campaigns typically include content beneficial to China’s interests in different regions.

  • The company also disrupted operations originating in Russia and Iran, it said.

The big picture: With several high-profile elections around the world coming next year, including the presidential race in the U.S., Meta said it expects new campaigns will attempt to hijack authentic partisan debate to inflame tensions in target countries.

  • It also warned that actors could flood platforms with large volumes of convincing content created by rapidly advancing generative AI tools to influence voters or for financial gain.

How it works: The influence operations violate Meta’s rule against coordinated inauthentic behavior, which is a manipulative communication tactic used to harass, harm or mislead online debate about crucial issues.

  • In addition to cracking down on campaigns to spread government propaganda, Meta has also cracked down on financially motivated schemes, like clickbait farms.

Details: Meta said it disrupted two China-based operations across its social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Threads in the third quarter. The campaigns largely failed to build authentic audiences, it said.

  • Some of the posts involved in the operations defended China’s human rights record in Xinjiang and Tibet and attacked critics of the Chinese Communist Party.
  • Others focused on U.S. domestic politics and China’s strategic rivalry with the U.S. in Africa and Central Asia.
  • To disrupt the campaigns, the company removed more than 4,800 accounts and seven Facebook groups, it said. Some of the removed accounts had posed as journalists, lawyers and human-rights activists.

Yes, but: Meta did not say whether the campaigns were directed by the Chinese government.

The surprising threat lurking even in your ‘secure’ work environment

Posted on by esimantiras

The surprising threat lurking even in your ‘secure’ work environment

source: fastcompany.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

When Netflix released The Most Hated Man on the Internet, we got an up-close glimpse of the harm that nefarious people can do by exposing the personal information of others online. The series illustrated how Hunter Moore used stolen or hacked images to populate a pornographic website, targeting women who did not consent for their images to be used—and introducing many people to the concept of “doxing.” 

Derived from 1990s hacker culture, doxing is a play on the word document or dossier, referring to compiling data on a person or company. It gained greater visibility in 2014 when a group released the private information of women who they perceived as receiving favoritism in the gaming journalism industry. The incident, titled GamerGate, exposed the dangers of being targeted by bad actors and the potential for negative psychological outcomes. Continue reading “The surprising threat lurking even in your ‘secure’ work environment” →

This Cryptomining Tool Is Stealing Secrets

Posted on by esimantiras

This Cryptomining Tool Is Stealing Secrets

 

source: wired.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

As the Israel-Hamas war raged on this week and Israel expanded its ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, the territory’s compromised internet infrastructure and access to connectivity went fully dark on Friday, leaving Palestinians without access to ground or mobile data connections. Meanwhile, researchers are bracing for the fallout if Hamas makes good on its threats to distribute hostage execution videos online. And TikTokkers are using a niche livestreaming feature and exploiting the Israeli-Hamas conflict to collect virtual gifts from viewers, a portion of which goes to the social media company as a fee.

As the worst mass shooting in Maine’s history unfolded this week and the gunman remained at large, disinformation about the situation and the suspect flooded social media, adding to the already chaotic and horrific situation. Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter) posted remarks earlier this month mocking Ukrainian president Vlodymr Zelensky that were met with a flood of support and enthusiasm from Russian trolls and accounts distributing pro-Russia propaganda.

Continue reading “This Cryptomining Tool Is Stealing Secrets” →

Surgeons in New York announce world’s first eye transplant

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Surgeons in New York announce world’s first eye transplant

source: reuters.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

Nov 9 (Reuters) – Surgeons in New York have performed the first-ever whole-eye transplant in a human, they announced on Thursday, an accomplishment being hailed as a breakthrough even though the patient has not regained sight in the eye.

In the six months since the surgery, performed during a partial face transplant, the grafted eye has shown important signs of health, including well-functioning blood vessels and a promising-looking retina, according to the surgical team at NYU Langone Health.

“The mere fact that we transplanted an eye is a huge step forward, something that for centuries has been thought about, but it’s never been performed,” said Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, who led the team.

Until now, doctors have only been able to transplant the cornea, the clear front layer of the eye.

Continue reading “Surgeons in New York announce world’s first eye transplant” →

Casino Breaches Expose Why Identity Management Is at a Crossroads

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Casino Breaches Expose Why Identity Management Is at a Crossroads

 

source: technewsworld.com  |  image: pexels.com

 

As cyberthreats become more prevalent, the tangible losses from identity access management-related breaches underline the critical need to reform this cornerstone of digital security.

By now, many have heard about the massive cyberattacks that affected casino giants MGM Resorts and Caesars, leaving everything from room keys to slot machines on the fritz. Like many recent breaches, it’s a warning to improve security around digital identities — because that’s where it all started.

The origin story of this breach is similar to many we have seen lately: social engineering and impersonation attacks.

Hackers called MGM’s IT department and tricked the help desk into resetting legitimate logins, which they then used to launch a ransomware attack. The same group allegedly staged a rash of similar attacks across various other sectors, including a breach at casino rival Caesars Entertainment, which reportedly paid $15 million to get its data back days before the MGM attack.

Continue reading “Casino Breaches Expose Why Identity Management Is at a Crossroads” →

A New AI Arms Race

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A New AI Arms Race

 

source: cyberdefensemagazine.com  |  image: pixels.com

 

The internet has seen its share of arms races in recent decades. The advent of viruses resulted in an ongoing battle between those who make viruses and those who make antiviruses. The increase in spam made our email accounts unusable without spam filters. The proliferation of annoying ads made ad blockers necessary to maintain any semblance of sanity while browsing the web.\

What is the most likely scenario, then, with regards to the recent breakthroughs in AI technology – namely the large language models (LLMs) that most people know as ChatGPT or Bard?

Predictions vary from the catastrophic to the utopian. And to be sure, both scenarios are possible. But I would suggest that the most predictable outcome is substantially more mundane than either of these options.

Continue reading “A New AI Arms Race” →

Facebook’s In-app Browser on iOS Tracks ‘Anything You Do on Any Website’

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Facebook’s In-app Browser on iOS Tracks ‘Anything You Do on Any Website’

 

source: threatpost.com  | image:  pixabay.com

 

Researcher shows how Instagram and Facebook’s use of an in-app browser within both its iOS apps can track interactions with external websites.

Users of Apple’s Instagram and Facebook iOS apps are being warned that both use an in-app browser that allows parent company Meta to track ‘every single tap’ users make with external websites accessed via the software.

Researcher Felix Krause, who outlined how Meta tracks users in a blog posted Wednesday, claims that this type of tracking puts users at “various risks”. He warns both iOS versions of the apps can “track every single interaction with external websites, from all form inputs like passwords and addresses, to every single tap” via their in-app browsers.

iOS users’ concerns over tracking were addressed by Apple’s 2021 release of iOS 14.5 and a feature called App Tracking Transparency (ATT). The added control was intended to require app-developers to get the user’s consent before tracking data generated by third-party apps not owned by the developer.

Krause said that both iOS apps Facebook and Instagram are using a loophole to bypassed ATT rules and track website activity within their in-app browsers via the use of a custom JavaScript code used in both in-app browsers. That means, when an iOS user of Facebook and Instagram click on a link within a Facebook and Instagram post (or an ad), Meta launches its own in-app browser which can then track what you do on external sites you visit.

Meta’s Use of a JavaScript Injection 

“The Instagram [and Facebook] app injects their JavaScript code into every website shown, including when clicking on ads. Even though pcm.js doesn’t do this, injecting custom scripts into third party websites allows them to monitor all user interactions, like every button & link tapped, text selections, screenshots, as well as any form inputs, like passwords, addresses and credit card numbers,” Krause wrote.

Continue reading “Facebook’s In-app Browser on iOS Tracks ‘Anything You Do on Any Website’” →

Fingerprint Theft Just a Shutter Click Away

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Fingerprint Theft Just a Shutter Click Away

source: technewsworld.com  |  image: pixabay.com

 

Ever since smartphone makers started incorporating fingerprint scanners as a means of unlocking mobile phones, the Chaos Computer Club has attacked the technology with vigor. 

Not long after Apple added Touch ID to its iPhones, the German hackers demonstrated how to lift prints from a surface and create a flexible pad containing the print that could be used to break into a phone.

Now the CCC hacker known as “Starbug” has used digital photography to perform the same trick without lifting any prints at all. At a recent cybersecurity conference, Starbug demonstrated how he created the thumb print of German Minister of Defense Ursula von der Leyen from several news photos.

“After this talk, politicians will presumably wear gloves when talking in public,” Starbug said.

Continue reading “Fingerprint Theft Just a Shutter Click Away” →