Thursday, October 19, 2017

On Monday, digital security researchers Mathy Vanhoef and Frank Piessens of Belgium’s KU Leuven university publicly disclosed a security vulnerability in the WPA2 Wi-Fi (wireless local-area networking) protocol, which they called KRACK (for Key Reinstallation Attack). Their study claimed KRACK affects every modern device using Wi-Fi; it can be fixed by a software update, researchers said.

Vanhoef wrote, “Attackers can use this novel attack technique to read information that was previously assumed to be safely encrypted. This can be abused to steal sensitive information such as credit card numbers, passwords, chat messages, emails, photos and so on.” Vanhoef notified vendors about the flaw in July, including UNIX-like operating system OpenBSD. “If your device supports Wi-Fi, it is most likely affected. […] In general, any data or information that the victim transmits can be decrypted”, he wrote.

The study papers, which were submitted for review on May 19, were kept in confidence allowing companies to fix the security flaw. The United States-based Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) informed vendors on August 28. The Wi-Fi Alliance said it “could be resolved through a straightforward software update.” OpenBSD released their software patch on August 30.

Exploring the flaw which affected every device the researchers had tested, National Cyber Security Centre of the UK said “the attacker would have to be physically close to the target”. But due to this flaw, an attacker can send malware or ransomware on the websites, Vanhoef claimed.

Linux-based operating systems including Android v6.0 and higher are especially affected by this flaw, while Windows and iOS are not as vulnerable as Android by this flaw as they do not fully implement WPA2.

Microsoft reportedly has released security patches for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10. Google said Android operating systems would receive the updates in the software update scheduled to be made available on November 6. Apple has implemented the patch in the beta versions of their operating system iOS, macOS, tvOS and watchOS, however it is yet to roll out patches for stable operating systems.

WPA2 protocol has been used for more than a decade, and has been compulsory for Wi-Fi since 2006. KRACK would also affect various home appliances which can be controlled over Wi-Fi, within the so-called “Internet of things”. Andrew Martin from Oxford University said, “We can be sure a lot of these devices won’t be patched[…] Whether that matters for this attack or only for some future attack is yet to be seen.”

The study and its findings are scheduled for presentation at the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Computer and Communications Security conference on November 1.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

A man wearing a ski mask and carrying an assault rifle apparently killed himself in the library of the University of Texas in Austin, Texas earlier today.

The university was placed under lockdown and all classes were canceled as a result of the incident. Nobody else was hurt, but police are still looking for a possible second gunman. Art Acevedo, the chief of Austin police, said that officials are also considering the possibility of explosives left by the suspect. Armored vehicles were seen moving around the campus in response to the event, as well as {{w|SWAT team|SWAT teams}, bomb-sniffing dogs, and police helicopters. An ambulance was seen around 9:00 a.m. CDT (1400 UTC) at the University of Texas’ Perry-Castaneda library.

The school’s website included a notice this morning, which read: “The person involved in this morning’s shooting on campus has been confirmed dead on the sixth floor of the Perry-Castaneda Library from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Law enforcement are searching for a second suspect. If you are off campus, STAY AWAY. If you are on campus, lock doors, do not leave your building.” The gunman was reportedly killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and no shots had been fired by law enforcement officials.

The shooter has not yet been identified, and the reason behind the incident is not yet known. Witnesses described the man as wearing a dark suit and ski mask, and carrying an assault rifle. Randall Wilhite, a professor at the university, said that he heard gunshots while going to class and saw the suspect heading toward the library just after 8:00 a.m. CDT (1300 UTC). The gunman appeared to be firing shots randomly. “When I pulled up in my car, he stood right in front of me and didn’t stop running but turned in my direction, fired three shots into the ground to the left of my car and kept running,” said Wilhite. The gunman had the chance to shoot students, added Wilhite, but he did not appear to be targeting them.

The school, which has around 50,000 students, sent out an alert around that time warning students to stay where they were. Robby Reeb, a senior at the school, said that “a guy sprinted past me screaming, ‘There’s a guy with a gun.’ I looked up and saw a man in a ski mask, wearing a suit, and carrying an assault rifle. And I called 911.”

Police said that the gun used in the shooting was an AK-47, and that they were examining two different crime scenes: where the shots were fired outside, and where the gunman was found dead in the library. Police would not say whether he was attending the university. Chief Acevado said that there were “reports of a second suspect that was wearing a beanie with a long rifle, wearing blue jeans and a black top” that “may or may not be a white male.”

Several hours after the lockdown began, police allowed students to leave the university’s campus, although nobody is still allowed to enter.

The school was also the site of a shooting spree on August 1, 1966, in which university student Charles Whitman fatally shot fourteen to sixteen people and wounded another 32 before being himself killed by law enforcement authorities; reports of the exact death toll are inconsistent. Whitman, a former U.S. Marine, shot students from the observation platform of the school’s tower. That event was the deadliest school shooting in the United States until the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Journalist, counselor, painter, and US 2012 Presidential candidate Joe Schriner of Cleveland, Ohio took some time to discuss his campaign with Wikinews in an interview.

Schriner previously ran for president in 2000, 2004, and 2008, but failed to gain much traction in the races. He announced his candidacy for the 2012 race immediately following the 2008 election. Schriner refers to himself as the “Average Joe” candidate, and advocates a pro-life and pro-environmentalist platform. He has been the subject of numerous newspaper articles, and has published public policy papers exploring solutions to American issues.

Wikinews reporter William Saturn? talks with Schriner and discusses his campaign.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Saturday in a game played at Colegio San Agustin in Madrid in Spain’s top level wheelchair basketball league, CD Fundosa ONCE decisively beat Getafe BSR 86–36. ONCE, with 2012 Summer Paralympics Australian international Bill Latham and British international Terry Bywater, came into the game with a multi-game winning streak in which they averaged 79 points while holding their opponents to an average of 31.5 points.

Coming to the game with several loud chanting fans and a drum, Getafe scored the first point of the game about 15 seconds into it off a free throw made by Polish player Krzysztof Bandura. ONCE got the ball, and quickly scored 2 points.

With 8:34 left in the first quarter, Getafe led 3–2. Cuidad Real local Francisco S. Lara was doing a lot of early shooting and rebounding for Getafe.

By the time there was 6:42 left in the first quarter, ONCE had pulled ahead with an 8–5 lead. Gexto native Carlos Medina kept his team in it, scoring two points with 5:10 left in the first. Terry Bywater tried a behind the back pass at 4:45 left in the first that resulted in turning the ball over to Getafe. With 4:08 left in the first, Bywater made a 3 pointer that tied the score up at 13–13. Shortly after that, ONCE had a player get a personal foul, turning the ball over to Getafe who were unable to hold onto it.

With 2:20 left in the first, ONCE led 15–13 and a timeout was called. Players took the opportunity to re-hydrate. From this point, ONCE never lost the lead. A few seconds after the timeout, they made a 2 pointer to bring the score to 17–13. They built on that for a score of 19–13 with 1:00 minute left in the first. Bywater committed a personal foul in the remaining minute, falling over in his wheelchair while committing it.

With a few seconds left in the first, ONCE scored and Getafe was unable to get a shot up in the remaining seconds. The first quarter ended 21–13.

Getafe scored first in the second quarter. ONCE was unable to answer back on their run down the court, with Getafe getting the ball back and also being unable to score. The start of the second saw ONCE more aggressive than Getafe, earning a few personal fouls.

The Getafe coach verbally expressed his frustration his team’s lack of rebounding at 7:42 in the second. Shortly after that, he made a substitution. By the time there was 7:09 left in the second, ONCE led 26–17. They added another two points at 6:09 to bring the score to 28–17.

With 5:17 left in the second, ONCE forced a turn over, and made a substitution with Spanish international Paul Zarzuela coming out. Getafe committed personal fouls at 4:00 and 3:46 left in the second. With 3:39 left on the clock, the score was 30–17. Jerez de la Frontera native Alejandro Zarzuela made a pair of free throws shortly after that to bring the score to 32–17.

Getafe took a timeout, and made a substitution, bringing in Virginia Perez, the team’s only female player. With 3:11 left in the second quarter, Spanish international Rafael Muiño scored an easy layup for ONCE to bring the score to 34–17. With 2:47 left, Getafe made another substitution, taking Swiss international Maurice Amacher out.

Getafe sent ONCE to the free throw line at 2:31 but ONCE was unable to make either basket. With 2:29 left in the second, Zarzuela needed a wheel change. At 2:17, Connecticut native Ryan T. Martin shot an air ball. At 2:09, Bill Latham was at the line for ONCE, making his first free throw but missing his second. With 1:44 left, Getafe scored for the first time since the eighth minute of the second quarter. Getafe fouled Latham, who went to line and successfully converted the three-point play.

With 1:11 left in the second and the score at 41–19, the Getafe coach threw his clipboard on the ground. With less than a minute left in the half, Getafe spent a lot of time playing with the ball and almost had a shot clock violation, before turning the ball over. ONCE capitalized on it to score, ending the half with a score of 43–19.

The third quarter started with Getafe possession, but the team quickly turned the ball over, followed by Canary Islands native Daniel Serapio committing a foul against ONCE. At 9:21 left in the third, the first points of the quarter were scored, bringing the game to 45–19 in a three point play that Latham successfully finished to bring the score to 46–19. At 8:49, Medina took a shot for Getafe and missed. ONCE got the rebound, only for Getafe to foul them. At 8:33, Getafe made a substitution, taking Serapio out and putting Madrid native Angel Silvela in. At 8:00 left, Getafe got their first points of the quarter when Medina made two points to bring the score to 46–21.

At the 7:29 mark in the third, Getafe got a rebound off an ONCE shot turned the ball over to ONCE who then scored two points bringing the score to 48–21. At 7:11 left, Czech player Petr Tucek subbed out after his behind small wheel came off.

ONCE subbed three people in at the 6:17 mark, bringing in Madrid native Carlos Vera, Barcelona native Jaume Llambi, and Pablo Zarzuela. Alejandro Zarzuela scored one of his two free throw attempts at 6:09 to bring the score to 49–23. ONCE scored another basket at the 5:39 mark. Getafe’s Medina made a pass to no one at 5:18, but his team managed to get the ball back — but were unable to get their own rebound. Getafe made a substitution at the 5:01 mark, with Lara coming in for Madrid native Jose Angel Mingo.

Pablo Zarzuela went to the free throw line for ONCE, missing both shots for score of 52–23. He recovered his rebound, missed with Latham getting the rebound and making the shot at the 4:34 mark in the third.

Bandura got a shot up for Getafe at the 4:29 mark but missed. ONCE scored 2 points at 4:05 to bring the score to 56–23. Bandura scored Getafe’s next points at the 3:29 mark for the game to be 58–25. At 3:07, the score is 58–27. At the 2:28 mark, Rodríguez gets an ONCE rebound, Latham gets the ball, shoots and misses. ONCE got their own rebound and scored 2 points to bring the game to 60–27 at the 2:15 mark. They quickly got another 2 points, and a timeout was called at 1:57 left in the third. Tucek had successfully re-attached his wheel but was not subbed in. Getafe’s Iranian international Morteza Gharibloo made a three point shot attempt that was an airball at the 1:36 mark, with ONCE picking the up the rebound. ONCE turned the ball over, with Getafe regaining possession only to lose it because of a shot clock violation. The third quarter ended 62–27.

45 seconds into the fourth quarter, ONCE subbed Vera out, bringing Alejandro Zarzuela in. Tucek scored for ONCE at the 9:05 mark. With 8:45 left in the game, Martin took a shot and missed. At the 8:36 mark, a technical was called against Getafe with Bywater taking both shots. Making both, the score was then 66–29. Latham scored for ONCE at 8:23. Swiss international Philipp Häfeli was double teamed, and fouled at 8:07. By the time 6:59 was left in the game, the score was 72.33. Latham scored for ONCE at the 6:15 mark following a missed shot by Rodríguez.

Llambi went to the line for a pair of shots at the 6:02 mark, missing both free throws. At the 5:43 mark, Latham was fouled. Rodríguez brought the ball in for his team. Bywater put up a three point shot, but missed. Gharibloo got the rebound for Getafe, took a shot and also missed.

With 4:54 left, ONCE scored for the score to be 76–34. At the 3:24 mark, Spanish international Almudena Montiel entered the game for the first time following a timeout. Montiel was the only woman on the ONCE team. ONCE then scored with 3:14 left in the game, bringing the score to 80–34. The game would go on to end 86–36 following a basket made by Llambi with 0:15 left in the game.

Next week, ONCE is scheduled to play Adapted Sports Cai Zaragoza in a fourth round game played at home.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Wikinews will be attending The 2007 MuchMusic Video Awards this weekend, a popular annual event in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. True stars will be out to play, present, and else wise schmooze at the CHUM-City Building just above the city’s Entertainment District in the Queen Street West neighbourhood.

MuchMusic is the most popular music channel in Canada, and has been holding the event since 1990. Roughly 6000 fans line the streets surrounding Much headquarters each year, and 1200 more score “the wristband” and enjoy a free festival-style show in the parking lot, watching four outdoor performance areas spread out in the downtown location. New this year is a special roof-top stage, on the top of the building.

Last year’s show reached 3.5 million viewers in Canada and 100 million around the globe, with broadcasts in 65 countries.

Performing at the show will be Avril Lavigne, Fergie, Billy Talent, Hilary Duff, Alexisonfire, Maroon 5, Belly, The Used, and Finger Eleven.

On stage presenting will be Nickelback, Jay Manuel (Canada’s Next Top Model, America’s Next Top Model), Tara Reid (American Pie, this fall’s Land of Canaan), Joss Stone, Sum 41, Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia, Grudge 2), Hedley, Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors), Sean Avery (New York Rangers), George, Sam Roberts, Emilie de Ravin (LOST), Marianas Trench, and Kardinal Offishall.

Photographer Robin Wong will be photographing the red carpet of the MMVAs for Wikinews and Wikipedia. He first helped the sites in April of this year, photographing Hilary Duff at MuchMusic. Wong’s extensive client list includes Fidelty Investments, Flare Magazine, Masterfile, First Light, Fashion Television, FCB Canada, Profit Magazine, Financial Post, and Publicis. His works have appeared in the 2004 and 2005 Applied Arts Awards Annual, the top publication for the creative industry.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

January’s second Interview of the Month was with Danny O’Brien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on 23 January in IRC.

The EFF is coming off a series of high-profile successes in their campaigns to educate the public, press, and policy makers regarding online rights in a digital world, and defending those rights in the legislature and the courtroom. Their settlement with Sony/BMG, the amazingly confused MGM v Grokster decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, and the disturbing cases surrounding Diebold have earned the advocacy organization considerable attention.

When asked if the EFF would be interested in a live interview in IRC by Wikinews, the answer was a nearly immediate yes, but just a little after Ricardo Lobo. With two such interesting interview candidates agreeing so quickly, it was hard to say no to either so schedules were juggled to have both. By chance, the timing worked out to have the EFF interview the day before the U.S. Senate schedule hearings concerning the Broadcast flag rule of the FCC, a form of digital rights management which the recording and movie industries have been lobbying hard for – and the EFF has been lobbying hard to prevent.

Friday, January 12, 2007

The iPhone only made its appearance as a prototype and there have been controversies aroused.

The dispute has come up between the manufacturer of the iPhone (which was resented on Wednesday for the first time) – Apple Inc. – and a leader in network and communication systems, based in San Jose – Cisco. The company claims to possess the trademark for iPhone, and moreover, that it sells devices under the same brand through one of its divisions.

This became the reason for Cisco to file a lawsuit against Apple Inc. so that the latter would stop selling the device.

Cisco states that it has received the trademark in 2000, when the company overtook Infogear Technology Corp., which took place in 1996.

The Vice President and general counsel of the company, Mark Chandler, explained that there was no doubt about the excitement of the new device from Apple, but they should not use a trademark, which belongs to Cisco.

The iPhone developed by Cisco is a device which allows users to make phone calls over the voice over Internet protocol (VoIP).