Homage to Pierre Laffitte, founder of Sophia-Antipolis and former Senator

Sophia Antipolis, 8 July 2021

We were very sad to hear that Pierre Laffitte passed away on 7 July, at the age of 96. President and founder of the Sophia-Antipolis technopole, a scientist and politician, he has spent countless hours contributing to making Sophia-Antipolis the largest technopole in Europe.

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ETSI Encrypted Traffic Integration group extends term to work on cryptographic and key management models

Sophia Antipolis, 2 August 2022

ETSI has recently extended the term of its Industry Specification Group Encrypted Traffic Integration (ISG ETI) for a two-year period through to mid-2024 to work on specific cryptographic and key management models.

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Job Summary  The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks a highly motivated Graphic Designer II to join our Communications and Public Affairs team. This position is a one-year, renewable appointment, based in its New Delhi office, India and report to the Manager for Creative Solutions, who is based in Washington, DC. The Graphic Designer will produce high-quality and professional visual communication products to promote IFPRI's research to a diverse range of target audiences and through multiple channels. The successful candidate will be an enthusiastic, creative, and team-oriented individual with experience designing and delivering compelling visual communication outputs in a dynamic environment.  Interested candidates should submit a resume, cover letter, and a portfolio demonstrating their graphic design work. The portfolio should include a variety of projects showcasing skills in typography, layout, creativity, and use of design software (Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Canva) and include. links to digital portfolios or PDF attachments. Applications without a portfolio will not be considered. Interested applicants must have work authorization to work in India. Essential Duties:  Specific duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to: Design both print and digital visual communication products: Develop multiple design concepts and carry them through to final delivery, including but not limited to conference banners, brochures, data visualizations, flyers, posters, presentations, research reports, and websites. Layout print publications: Design and layout policy papers and reports while assisting in the creation of flexible InDesign templates. Create engaging digital content: Design visual content for the IFPRI website, interactive applications, social media, and email campaigns. Apply design principles: Utilize knowledge of layout, color theory, typography, and iconography to execute a wide variety of graphic design projects for both print and digital media. Provide branding guidance: Insure IFPRI products adhere to a consistent visual style and uphold professional standards, providing branding guidance to staff as needed. Brand design: Develop and execute creative concepts for branding, including logos, typography, color palettes, and overall visual identity. Innovate in interactive design: Lead initiatives on using innovative methods of interactive design to communicate research findings to both new and established audiences. Web Design: Develop visual design for IFPRI’s main website and microsites, ensure adherence to style guidelines. Coordinate printing: Manage the printing process of IFPRI publications and materials with local and international vendors. Collaborate effectively: Work collaboratively across the institution to ensure the timely delivery of high-quality design deliverables. Monitor and educate on digital trends: Stay updated on current digital trends, technologies, and industry standards, and educate both the team and IFPRI staff on best practices. Required Qualifications:  Bachelor's Degree in Art Design, Fine arts, Communications, Marketing or related field plus five years of relevant professional experience or Master’s plus three years in related field. Experience in graphic design, producing high-quality artwork, illustrations, and other graphics for communication purposes, including websites. Proven graphic design experience with a strong portfolio demonstrating excellent typography, layout, and creativity. Extensive experience with Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop. Basic knowledge/understanding of DTP software like Corel Draw.  Proficiency in using Canva for creating and managing visual content. In-depth knowledge and understanding of social media and web platforms, with demonstrated experience generating engaging content. Familiarity with designing within PowerPoint and MS Word. Ability to work quickly to meet tight deadlines and handle multiple projects simultaneously. Outstanding organizational and planning skills, with exceptional attention to detail. Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills; proven ability to be flexible in a team-oriented environment with diverse groups of people. Physical Demand & Work environment: Employee will sit in an upright position for a long period of time.  Employee will lift between 0-10 pounds.  Employee is required to have close visual acuity to perform activities such as: data preparation, web-scraping, preparing, and analyzing data and figure s; dashboard; viewing computer terminal; extensive coding.  

CISA is warning about a spear-phishing campaign that spreads malicious RDP files. Plus, OWASP is offering guidance about deepfakes and AI security. Meanwhile, cybercriminals have amplified their use of malware for fake software-update attacks. And get the latest on CISA’s international plan, Interpol’s cyber crackdown and ransomware trends.

Dive into six things that are top of mind for the week ending Nov. 8.

1 - CISA: Beware of nasty spear-phishing campaign

Proactively restrict outbound remote-desktop protocol (RDP) connections. Block transmission of RDP files via email. Prevent RDP file execution.

Those are three security measures cyber teams should proactively take in response to an ongoing and “large scale” email spear-phishing campaign targeting victims with malicious RDP files, according to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

A foreign threat actor is carrying out the campaign. Several vertical sectors, including government and IT, are being targeted.

“Once access has been gained, the threat actor may pursue additional activity, such as deploying malicious code to achieve persistent access to the target’s network,” CISA’s alert reads.
 

Other CISA recommendations include:

• Adopt phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (MFA), such as FIDO tokens, and try to avoid SMS-based MFA
• Educate users on how to spot suspicious emails
• Hunt for malicious activity in your network looking for indicators of compromise (IoCs) and tactics, techniques and procedures

Although CISA didn’t name the hacker group responsible for this campaign, its alert includes links to related articles from Microsoft and AWS that identify it as Midnight Blizzard. Also known as APT29, this group is affiliated with Russia’s government.

To get more details, check out the CISA alert “Foreign Threat Actor Conducting Large-Scale Spear-Phishing Campaign with RDP Attachments.”

For more information about securing RDP tools:

• “Commonly Exploited Protocols: Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)” (Center for Internet Security)
• “What is remote desktop protocol (RDP)?” (TechTarget)
• “Wondering Whether RDP IS Secure? Here's a Guide to Remote Desktop Protocol” (AllBusiness)
• “Why remote desktop tools are facing an onslaught of cyber threats” (ITPro)
• “'Midnight Blizzard' Targets Networks With Signed RDP Files” (Dark Reading)

2 - OWASP issues AI security resources

How should your organization respond to deepfakes? What’s the right way of establishing a center of excellence for AI security in your organization? Where can you find a comprehensive guide of tools to secure generative AI applications?

These questions are addressed in a new set of resources for AI security from the Open Worldwide Application Security Project’s OWASP Top 10 for LLM Application Security Project. 

The new resources are meant to help organizations securely adopt, develop and deploy LLM and generative AI systems and applications “with a comprehensive strategy encompassing governance, collaboration and practical tools,” OWASP said in a statement.

These are the new resources:

• “The Guide for Preparing and Responding to Deepfake Events,” which unpacks four types of deepfake schemes – financial fraud, job interview fraud, social engineering and misinformation – and offers guidance about each one in these areas:
  • preparation
  • detection and analysis
  • containment eradication and recovery
  • post-incident activity
• “The LLM and GenAI Center of Excellence Guide,” which aims to help CISOs and fellow organization leaders create a center of excellence for generative AI security that facilitates collaboration among various teams, including security, legal, data science and operations, so they can develop:
  • Generative AI security policies
  • Risk assessment and management processes
  • Training and awareness
  • Research and development
• “The AI Security Solution Landscape Guide,” which offers security teams a comprehensive catalog of open source and commercial tools for securing LLMs and generative AI applications.

To get more details, read OWASP’s announcement “OWASP Dramatically Expands GenAI Security Guidance.”

For more information about protecting your organization against deepfakes:

• “How to prevent deepfakes in the era of generative AI” (TechTarget)
• “Deepfake scams escalate, hitting more than half of businesses” (Cybersecurity Dive)
• “The AI Threat: Deepfake or Deep Fake? Unraveling the True Security Risks” (SecurityWeek)
• “How deepfakes threaten biometric security controls” (TechTarget)
• “Deepfakes break through as business threat” (CSO)

3 - Fake update variants dominate list of top malware in Q3

Hackers are doubling down on fake software-update attacks.

That’s the main takeaway from the Center for Internet Security’s list of the 10 most prevalent malware used during the third quarter.

Malware variants used to carry out fake browser-update attacks took the top four spots on the list: SocGholish, LandUpdate808, ClearFake and ZPHP. Collectively, they accounted for 77% of the quarter’s malware infections. It's the first time LandUpdate808 and ClearFake appear on this quarterly list.

^{(Source: “Top 10 Malware Q3 2024”, Center for Internet Security, October 2024)}

In a fake software-update attack, a victim gets duped into installing a legitimate-looking update for, say, their preferred browser, that instead infects their computers with malware.

Here’s the full list, in descending order:

• SocGholish, a downloader distributed through malicious websites that tricks users into downloading it by offering fake software updates 
• LandUpdate808, a JavaScript downloader distributed through malicious websites via fake browser updates
• ClearFake, another JavaScript downloader used for fake browser-update attacks
• ZPHP, another JavaScript downloader used for fake software-update attacks
• Agent Tesla, a remote access trojan (RAT) that captures credentials, keystrokes and screenshots
• CoinMiner, a cryptocurrency miner that spreads using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
• Arechclient2, also known as SectopRAT, is a .NET RAT whose capabilities include multiple stealth functions
• Mirai, a malware botnet that compromises IoT devices to launch DDoS attacks
• NanoCore, a RAT that spreads via malspam as a malicious Excel spreadsheet
• Lumma Stealer, an infostealer used to swipe personally identifiable information (PII), credentials, cookies and banking information

To get more information, the CIS blog “Top 10 Malware Q3 2024” offers details, context and indicators of compromise for each malware strain.

For details on fake update attacks:

• “Fake browser updates spread updated WarmCookie malware” (BleepingComputer)
• “Beware: Fake Browser Updates Deliver BitRAT and Lumma Stealer Malware” (The Hacker News)
• “Hackers Use Fake Browser Updates for AMOS Malware Attacks Targeting Mac Users” (MSSP Alert)
• “Malware crooks find an in with fake browser updates, in case real ones weren't bad enough” (The Register)
• “Fake Google Chrome errors trick you into running malicious PowerShell scripts” (BleepingComputer)

VIDEO

Fake Chrome Update Malware (The PC Security Channel)

4 - CISA’s first international plan unveiled

CISA has released its first-ever international plan, which outlines a strategy for boosting the agency’s collaboration with cybersecurity agencies from other countries.

Aligning cybersecurity efforts and goals with international partners is critical for tackling cyberthreats in the U.S. and abroad, according to the agency.

The three core pillars of CISA’s “2025 - 2026 International Strategic Plan” are:

• Help make more resilient other countries’ assets, systems and networks that impact U.S. critical infrastructure
• Boost the integrated cyber defenses of the U.S. and its international partners against their shared global cyberthreats
• Unify the coordination of international activities to strengthen cyberdefenses collectively

The plan will allow CISA to “reduce risk to the globally interconnected and interdependent cyber and physical infrastructure that Americans rely on every day,” CISA Director Jen Easterly said in a statement.

5 - Interpol hits phishers, ransomware gangs, info stealers

Interpol and its partners took down 22,000 malicious IP addresses and seized thousands of servers, laptops, and mobile phones used by cybercriminals to conduct phishing scams, deploy ransomware and steal information.

The four-month global operation, titled Synergia II and announced this week, involved law enforcement agencies and private-sector partners from 95 countries and netted 41 arrests.

“Together, we’ve not only dismantled malicious infrastructure but also prevented hundreds of thousands of potential victims from falling prey to cybercrime,” Neal Jetton, Director of Interpol’s Cybercrime Directorate, said in a statement.

In Hong Kong, more than 1,000 servers were taken offline, while authorities in Macau, China took another 291 servers offline. Meanwhile, in Estonia, authorities seized 80GB of server data, which is now being analyzed for links to phishing and banking malware.

For more information about global cybercrime trends:

• “AI-Powered Cybercrime Cartels on the Rise in Asia” (Dark Reading)
• “AI Now a Staple in Phishing Kits Sold to Hackers” (MSSP Alert)
• “The Business of Cybercrime Explodes” (BankDirector)
• “Nation state actors increasingly hide behind cybercriminal tactics and malware” (CSO)

6 - IST: Ransomware attacks surged in 2023

Ransomware gangs went into hyperdrive last year, increasing their attacks by 73% compared with 2022, according to the non-profit think tank Institute for Security and Technology (IST).

The IST attributes the sharp increase in attacks to a shift by ransomware groups to “big game hunting” – going after prominent, large organizations with deep pockets. 

“Available evidence suggests that government and industry actions taken in 2023 were not enough to significantly reduce the profitability of the ransomware model,” reads an IST blog.

Global Ransomware Incidents in 2023

Another takeaway: The ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) model continued to prove extremely profitable in 2023, and it injected dynamism into the ransomware ecosystem. 

The RaaS model prompted ransomware groups “to shift allegiances, form new groups, or iterate existing variants,” the IST blog reads.

The industry sector that ransomware groups hit the hardest was construction, followed by hospitals and healthcare, and by IT services and consulting. Financial services and law offices rounded out the top five.

To learn more about ransomware trends:

• “Ransomware Is ‘More Brutal’ Than Ever in 2024” (Wired)
• “Ransomware on track for record profits, even as fewer victims pay” (SC Magazine)
• “How Can I Protect Against Ransomware?” (CISA)
• “How to prevent ransomware in 6 steps” (TechTarget)
• “Steps to Help Prevent & Limit the Impact of Ransomware” (Center for Internet Security)

"Founded in Oakland, California, in 1966, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was a radical political organization that stood in defiant contrast to the mainstream civil rights movement. This gripping illustrated history explores the impact and significance of the Panthers, from their social, educational, and healthcare programs that were designed to uplift the Black community to their battle against police brutality through citizen patrols and frequent clashes with the FBI, which targeted the Party from its outset. Using dramatic comic book-style retellings and illustrated profiles of key figures, The Black Panther Party captures the major events, people, and actions of the Party, as well as their cultural and political influence and enduring legacy." -- Page [2] of cover.

"It's been a year since the horrific events at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, and Charlie is just trying to move on. Even with the excitement of a new school and a fresh start, she's still haunted by nightmares of a masked murderer and four gruesome animatronic puppets. Charlie thinks her ordeal is over, but when a series of bodies are discovered near her school bearing wounds that are disturbingly familiar she finds herself drawn back into the world of her father's frightening creations. Something twisted is hunting Charlie, and this time if it finds her, it's not letting her go." -- Publisher's description.

Selina Kyle returns to Gotham City as new socialite Holly Vanderhees, but she needs to outsmart rival Batwing to rise to the top of the city's criminal underbelly.

Guggenheim Museum presents “Harmony and Dissonance: Orphism in Paris, 1910–1930” From 8 November 2024 to...

Potential impact of zinc-enriched rice on zinc intakes in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines

Nutritional benefits of enhanced biofortification.

The post Potential impact of zinc-enriched rice on zinc intakes in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines appeared first on IFPRI.

From the Yangtze to the Yellow River, China is traversed by great waterways, which have defined its politics and ways of life for centuries. Water has been so integral to China’s culture, economy, and growth and development that it provides a window on the whole sweep of Chinese history. In The Water Kingdom, renowned writer Philip Ball opens that window to offer an epic and powerful new way of thinking about Chinese civilization.

Event Begins: Wednesday, November 13, 2024 8:00pm
Location: Earl V. Moore Building
Organized By: School of Music, Theatre & Dance

Conducted by SMTD graduate student conductors, members of the Campus Philharmonia will perform a program of chamber music.

Kendra Chao & Evan Hagan, conductors

The U-M Campus Orchestras are made up of two main orchestras: Campus Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and Campus Philharmonia Orchestra (CPO). Both groups are comprised of non-music major students, faculty members, staff, and alumni of the University of Michigan.

Event Begins: Wednesday, November 13, 2024 6:00pm
Location: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building
Organized By: Michigan Computer Graphics

At Michigan Computer Graphics (MCG), our goal is to offer all interested campus members a unique platform to explore, learn, discuss, and engage with the various disciplines of computer graphics (CG). You'll have the opportunity to collaborate on exciting projects, develop creative skills, and expand your network within the industry and beyond.

This is MCG's weekly general meeting. Join us for a variety of content and events, including introductory presentations, hands-on projects, and guest speakers!

https://michigancg.org/

The Role of Private Philanthropy in Funding Climate Solutions

The Linkages Series is a mini-conference format designed to spark learning and action around current issues shaping the field. Together, they bridge funder, practitioner, & network constellations. Join this virtual conference for a deep dive into how and where private philanthropy plays a key role in funding climate change solutions globally and hear from leaders […]

The post The Role of Private Philanthropy in Funding Climate Solutions appeared first on IFPRI.

Integrated Proteomics and Metabolomics Reveal Altered Metabolic Regulation of Xanthobacter autotrophicus under Electrochemical Water-Splitting Conditions  ACS Publications

Quantitative proteomics reveals tissue-specific, infection-induced and species-specific neutrophil protein signatures  Nature.com

Graphite is sort of the one-hit wonder of minerals. And that hit? Pencils. Everyone loves to talk about pencils when it comes to graphite. If graphite were to perform a concert, they'd close out the show with "pencils," and everyone would clap and cheer. But true fans of graphite would be shouting out "batteries!" Because graphite is a key ingredient in another important thing that we all use in our everyday lives: lithium ion batteries.

Almost all of the battery-ready graphite in the world comes from one place: China. That's actually true of lots of the materials that go into batteries, like processed lithium and processed cobalt. Which is why it was such a big deal when, earlier this year, President Biden announced a tariff package that will make a bunch of Chinese imports more expensive. Included in this package are some tariffs on Chinese graphite. He wants to create a new battery future—one that doesn't rely so much on China.

In this episode, we get down on the ground to look at this big supply chain story through the lens of one critical mineral. And we visit a small town that realizes that it might be the perfect place to create an American graphite industry. And we find that declaring a new battery future is one thing, but making it happen is another thing entirely.

Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

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A new box set chronicles Elvis Presley's time in Grind City.

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Denver's iconic outdoor venue comes with a unique set of challenges.

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Shapiro, who for more than half a century played an immense role in the life of campus as a donor, volunteer, mentor and advisor, died Aug. 14.

Rosenfeld, who earned his bachelor's degree at UCLA in 1956 thanks to a $50 scholarship, transformed the campus with his giving and leadership.

On this episode, we hear two stories about new years and new beginnings. This episode is hosted by Michelle Jalowski.

Storytellers:

Dan Kennedy tries to make his new years’… explosive.

Ophira Eisenberg has a magical new years in a magical city.

Dolphin Wave by Kitty Cantrell is a(n) Limited Edition. The Edition is Limited to Limited Edition pcs

Dolphin Domain by Dan Medina is a(n) Limited Edition. The Edition is Limited to Limited Edition of 2001 pcs

While exterior pollutants, such as smog and CO, may receive more attention, IAQ within a home can have serious effects on our physical and mental health, as well.

IAQ-conscious homeowners might be interested to know how humidification can preserve not only their health but the health of their home, too.

Live chat can have a huge impact on your customer satisfaction rate.

I love fixing things. I always have. But what is super exciting to me is the frontier. This field is changing daily, and new technology is everywhere.

67% of contractors see digital transformation as important to their success.

Each service vehicle is a technician's roaming office. It can be a source of added expense and risk, or it can be managed with resourse like GPS and data-based solutions for the safest and most profitable use. Here's a bird's-eye view of what one fleet management software company sees in its customers.

Azuga studied 3.6 million driver behavior datasets from its GPS fleet tracking devices over the first five months of 2019.

This product is integrated to help users work toward earning LEED requirements and other sustainability and accreditation and education agendas.

On Dec. 17, 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) finalized new negotiated energy conservation standards for commercial air conditioners, heat pumps, and commercial warm-air furnaces, otherwise known as rooftop units (RTUs).

Philip Zeyliger of Cloudera discusses the Hadoop project with Robert Blumen. The conversation covers the emergence of large data problems, the Hadoop file system, map-reduce, and a look under the hood at how it all works. The listener will also learn where and how Hadoop is being used to process large data sets.

Sven Johann talks with Andrew Phillips about DevOps. First, they try to define it. Then, they discuss its roots in agile operations, its relationship to lean development and continuous delivery, its goals, and how to get started. They proceed to system thinking and what “You build it, you run it” means for a system when developers have pager duty.

They continue with the diversity of DevOps requirements among companies and industries; copying ideas versus finding your own way; culture, mindset, and recommended practices; and the mandatory tool chain. They wrap up by discussing architectural styles that support DevOps and DevOps costs versus benefits.

Charles Anderson talks with James Phillips about service discovery and Consul, an open-source service discovery tool. The discussion begins by defining what service discovery is, what data is stored in a service discovery tool, and some scenarios in which it’s used. Then they dive into some details about the components of a service discovery tool and how reliability is achieved as a distributed system. Finally, James discusses Consul, the functions it provides, and how to integrate it with existing applications, even if they use configuration files instead of a service discovery tool.

Eberhard Wolff talks with Phillip Carter about F# - a multi-paradigm programming language supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming paradimgs. Its unique features make it especially fit for parallel programming or DSLs.

Phillipp Krenn talks with SE Radio’s Jeff Meyerson about Elasticsearch, a scalable search index. The conversation begins with a discussion of search, how it compares to database queries, and what an inverted index is. Phillipp introduces Wikipedia as an example that runs throughout the episode because Wikipedia uses Elasticsearch to power its full-text search. A discussion of Elasticsearch’s scalability ensues, including basic terminology and an explanation of other applications of Elasticsearch.

Philip Kiely discusses his book Writing for Software Developers. Software development primarily involves writing code but strong written communication skills are critical. Technical comprehension is vital but solid written communication skills are also...

John Ousterhout, professor of computer science at Stanford University, joined SE Radio host Jeff Doolittle for a conversation about his book, A Philosophy of Software Design. They discussed the history and ongoing challenges of software system design, especially the nature of complexity and the difficulties handling it. The conversation also explored various design concepts from the book, such as modularity, layering, abstraction, information hiding, maintainability, and readability.

Phillip Mayhew of GameDriver discusses test automation for games and game-like applications. Host Philip Winston spoke with Mayhew about the increasing role of test automation in modern game development, the impact on the QA role, how to run tests...

We talk with John deVadoss about the philosophies underlying the development of .NET and Azure software. We discuss the "Fiefdoms and Emissaries" concept of building loosely coupled systems, talk about strengths and drawbacks and how to build services...

Phillip Carter, Principal Product Manager at Honeycomb and open source software developer, talks with host Giovanni Asproni about observability for large language models (LLMs). The episode explores similarities and differences for observability with LLMs versus more conventional systems. Key topics include: how observability helps in testing parts of LLMs that aren't amenable to automated unit or integration testing; using observability to develop and refine the functionality provided by the LLM (observability-driven development); using observability to debug LLMs; and the importance of incremental development and delivery for LLMs and how observability facilitates both. Phillip also offers suggestions on how to get started with implementing observability for LLMs, as well as an overview of some of the technology's current limitations. This episode is sponsored by WorkOS.

The Philips Performance Wireless TAPH805BK are wireless headphones with battery life that will knock your socks off, but the sound quality has a lot of room for improvement.... [PCSTATS]

There have been a number of articles about the growth of ESL teaching in the Philippines like this, but some of what they are stating don't strike me as right. The Philippines does have potential and in the drive to reduce costs, it is clearly a place to watch out for.

This online resource for KS1 and KS2 is suitable for Literacy, ICT, Science, Art and Citizenship. Activities include an interactive e-card to help spread the message about environmental awareness.

Tue 16 Oct: Sophie Scholl + introduction at the Coventry Warwick Arts Centre