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November 13, 2017 Comments closed

Cyber Security News Roundup: Big Bad Blockchain Edition

in Hashing Out Cyber Security

The most interesting cyber security news from the past weekend.

We’re counting down the weeks until Christmas at this point. It’s Monday, November 13, 2017 and there’s plenty to catch up on from that past weekend in cyber security news.

As usual, we haven’t selected the biggest stories, per se. You can find that anywhere. We curate our news based on what we find interesting. After all, the weird news is the fun stuff anyway. Today we’ve got four interesting news stories for you. We’ve got a group of hackers that already claim to have cracked the new iPhone X facial recognition software. We’ve got a couple of cool block chain stories and then we’ve got the Wild West of children’s content that is YouTube Kids.

Happy Monday!

Hackers Fool Apple iPhone X Facial Recognition

It was only a matter of time before someone won the race to unlock the new iPhone. Apple touted its new facial scan technology as being nigh unbreakable. But, within a week hackers halfway around the world have already delivered a proof concent that requires: “a composite mask of 3-D-printed plastic, silicone, makeup, and simple paper cutouts.” The exploit has yet to be confirmed, but right now it doesn’t look great for Apple.

[Source: Wired]

Only 8% of Blockchain Projects Succeed

Some interesting statistic regarding Blockchain projects have emerged from a study that is being hailed as “The First Empirical Attempt to Understand the Evolution of Blockchain.” The study found that there are currently over 86,000 blockchain projects in existence, with an average of about 8,603 new projects per year and a high of 26,885 in 2016. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the projects never go anywhere. Just 8% survive and most are dead within six months.

[Source: News.Bitcoin]

UN Agencies Turn to Blockchain In Fight Against Child Trafficking

The United Nations has announced a partnership with the World Identity Network to develop a blockchain identity pilot that will aid in the battle against child trafficking. Announced during the Humanitarian Blockchain Summit in New York on Friday, the pilot involves participation from the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology (UN-OICT), according to a press release from the event.

[Source: CoinDesk]

YouTube to Crack Down on Videos Targeting Kids

This one is near and dear to my heart as the father of a beautiful three year-old son. YouTube Kids is crazy. Like so many things in life, what was originally well-intentioned has been turned into something else entirely as a ad revenues and algorithms get involved. Now you get a rash of cheaply made videos using either cut-rate CGI or real human actors to open little plastic eggs or to sing eerily-arranged children’s songs. If you’ve never heard “daddy finger” count yourself lucky, but it’s like the unofficial anthem of YouTube Kids. The problem is that YouTube Kids serves as a de facto babysitter for too many children and the videos YouTube Kids is selecting for these children to watch are chosen based on a bunch of factors (some mixture of video SEO, trending topics, preferences from previous videos) that aren’t even remotely concerned with what’s best for the child watching it. Google, which owns YouTube has announced that it will be cracking down on certain kinds of videos that provide absolutely no educational value and may actually be scaring kids.

[Source: Naked Security]

• #News Roundup