Here are five short ITGS news articles you may have missed over the summer holidays:
Researchers ‘hack’ into drone
Researchers in the US managed to take control of a US flying drone by hacking into its GPS system. The hack allowed them to direct the drone where they wished. However, unlike the drones used in the military, the system used in the demonstration attack used unencrypted GPS signals. (Read more)
Court victory for Twitter airport bomb joker
Paul Chambers, the British man who two years ago tweeted that we would blow up an airport, has finally been cleared by the High Court. The court accepted that the tweet, which read “Crap! Robin Hood Airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together otherwise I am blowing the airport sky high!” was clearly intended as a joke. Chambers had been convicted of sending a message of a “menacing character” and fined £385 plus £600 costs (~$1500). (Read more)
Apple u-turn as Mac maker rejoins EPEAT green registry
Apple made a quick turn-around in July, withdrawing from an environmental registry and then quickly rejoining it a week later after a customer backlash. The change of heart suggests consumers are becoming more aware of the environmental impact of technology, particularly with regards to e-waste and recycling. In recent years Apple has improved in Greenpeace’s ratings of electronics companies, and has made a number of improvements aimed at reducing its environmental footprint. (Read more)
Huge spam botnet Grum is taken out by security researchers
A botnet of more than 120,000 computers, controlled from Russian and the Ukraine and thought to be responsible for 18% of worldwide spam, was shut down in mid-July. The Grum botnet could have generated more than £80,000 per month for its creators. (Read more)
Pirate Bay block effectiveness short-lived, data suggests
A major UK Internet Service Provider (ISP) has said traffic to The Pirate Bay, which was blocked by court order in May, has returned to virtually the same level by early July. Shortly after the block on the site, the Internet was awash with information about how to bypass the restriction – the most common method being to use a proxy. (Read more)
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