Intel Surfs Millimeter Waves to 5G

 After leading a successful charge to bring 60 GHz to wireless LANs, an Intel executive is driving research to define a proposal for using millimeter wave wireless in next-generation cellular systems.

The technology "will play a very serious role as an augmentation of the cellular infrastructure, but it won't replace it in the same way that WiGig augments WiFi," Ali Sadri, a senior director of millimeter wave standards in Intel's mobile and wireless group, told us.

Sadri led the WiGig effort that defined a specification for 60 GHz as a local-area network. The spec became the basis for today's IEEE 802.11ad standard, and the WiGig group was folded into the WiFi Alliance last year.

Sadri's team is now working on a tech demo of 60 GHz as a backhaul link for so-called small cell base stations that could be shown at the Mobile World Congress in February. The team is also researching 28 GHz and 39 GHz as access links to mobile devices, targeting a throughput of 1 Gbit/s or more at distances of at least 200 meters. 

"Our target is to start working on new media access controller and physical layer chips in 2016-2017, and we are also shooting for a project the industry can launch in 2020."

Intel is among the growing ranks of companies that say 5G cellular systems will need to use millimeter wave links to meet rising numbers of subscribers using more mobile data. Late last year, the European Commission kicked off a $1.8 billion 5G research effort that includes plans for millimeter wave research. Forums in Asia are pursuing similar goals.

The higher frequencies promise more spectrum and faster data throughput, though at shorter ranges. They also pose significant technical and regulatory challenges.

As part of his efforts, Sadri went to CES to have dinner with Federal Communications Commission officials. "We're at the educational level. A lot of study has to be done, shared simulations and test deployments, so it will be a couple years before the FCC can consider rule changes" to open up millimeter wave spectrum.

Intel is working with two consortia in Europe and has collaborated with Samsung and others on 5G millimeter projects. It is also tracking 5G efforts in places like China and Korea. "It's a huge project. It will be by far one of the most extensive and complex project in wireless to date."

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Nvidia Unveils 192-Core Processor

Nvidia introduced its next-generation mobile processor, Tegra K1, at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The 192-core super chip, built on Kepler architecture, brings “the heart of GeForce and the soul of Tesla to mobile computing,” said Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang at the company's press event on Sunday.

The Tegra K1 comes in two versions: a 32-bit, quad core 4-Plus-1 ARM Cortex A15 CPU, slated to go into production in the first half of 2014, and a 64-bit version built on dual Denver CPUs to be available in the latter half of 2014. The 64-bit Tegra is designed for “high performance single threaded and very high performance multithreaded processes,” Huang said.

At the most basic level, Tegra (and a combination of other Nvidia products such as Shield, which allows for ultra-high quality game streaming) enables console and computer games to be played on a mobile platform without quality degradation. 

Tegra K1 is the first mobile processor to deliver the same graphics features as consoles such as the Xbox and PlayStation, but with faster performance.

“We can take absolutely anything that runs on PC or high-end console and run it on Tegra… I didn’t think that we’d be at this level on mobile for another three to four years,” Epic Games Founder Tim Sweeney said.

The processor is a major step forward in game development, allowing for a new level of graphics display that solves the problem of frame stutter and lag. Huang showed Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4 running on a Tegra K1 mobile processor, highlighting capabilities for photo-real displays alongside global illumination and physics simulations using multiple render targets.

“Tegra K1 makes possible and turns your PC into an amazing game console,” Huang said. “It self-detects and reconfigures games so you can get best game rate.” 

Nvidia introduced its next-generation mobile processor, Tegra K1, at International CES. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said the 192 core super chip, built on Kepler architecture, brings “the heart of GeForce and the soul of Tesla to mobile computing.”

Huang demonstrated several real-time generated graphics, including a face with subtle shadows and changes in skin coloration based on lighting. Other demonstrations highlighted texture and pupil adaptation. These aimed to simulate the variations in detail we see in different light.

An automotive Tegra platform is already sampling and “makes it possible to run the types of applications that dedicated (automated driver assistance systems) boxes do today,” Huang said. Pedestrian detection, blind-spot monitoring, lane departure warning, and other signals would be made possible through optical flow, histogram, and feature detection on Tegra’s programmable platform.

“We will see a rapid rate of algorithm advancement,” Huang said. “This brings to bear our last decade of work in computer vision and GPU computing.”

"To process the steady deluge of sensor and camera data required by a self-driving car, NVIDIA is bringing highly energy-efficient supercomputer technology inside the vehicle," said Taner Ozcelik, vice president and general manager of the automotive business at NVIDIA. "Tegra K1 solves this by providing 10 times the computing power of previous mobile processors without consuming additional energy."

Additionally, the Tegra K1 Visual Computing Module brings real time rendering to car design. Dubbed “Project Mercury,” Nvidia’s CES demonstration included customizable digital dashboards and photo-realistic rendered materials.

“We see no reason why industrial design should end at physical construction of the car,” Huang said.

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Selling social media clicks becomes big business

Celebrities, businesses and even the U.S. State Department have bought bogus Facebook likes, Twitter followers or YouTube viewers from offshore "click farms," where workers tap, tap, tap the thumbs up button, view videos or retweet comments to inflate social media numbers.

Since Facebook launched almost 10 years ago, users have sought to expand their social networks for financial gain, winning friends, bragging rights and professional clout. And social media companies cite the levels of engagement to tout their value.

But an Associated Press examination has found a growing global marketplace for fake clicks, which tech companies struggle to police. Online records, industry studies and interviews show companies are capitalizing on the opportunity to make millions of dollars by duping social media.

For as little as a half cent each click, websites hawk everything from LinkedIn connections to make members appear more employable to Soundcloud plays to influence record label interest.

"Anytime there's a monetary value added to clicks, there's going to be people going to the dark side," said Mitul Gandhi, CEO of seoClarity, a Des Plaines, Ill., social media marketing firm that weeds out phony online engagements.

Italian security researchers and bloggers Andrea Stroppa and Carla De Micheli estimated in 2013 that sales of fake Twitter followers have the potential to bring in $40 million to $360 million to date, and that fake Facebook activities bring in $200 million a year.

As a result, many firms, whose values are based on credibility, have entire teams doggedly pursuing the buyers and brokers of fake clicks. But each time they crack down on one, another, more creative scheme emerges.

When software engineers wrote computer programs, for example, to generate lucrative fake clicks, tech giants fought back with software that screens out "bot-generated" clicks and began regularly sweeping user accounts.

YouTube wiped out billions of music industry video views last December after auditors found some videos apparently had exaggerated numbers of views. Its parent-company, Google, is also constantly battling people who generate fake clicks on their ads.

And Facebook, whose most recent quarterly report estimated as many as 14.1 million of its 1.18 billion active users are fraudulent accounts, does frequent purges. That's particularly important for a company that was built on the principle that users are real people.

Twitter's Jim Prosser said there's no upside. "In the end, their accounts are suspended, they're out the money and they lose the followers," he said.

LinkedIn spokesman Doug Madey said buying connections "dilutes the member experience," violates their user agreement and can also prompt account closures.

Google and YouTube "take action against bad actors that seek to game our systems," said spokeswoman Andrea Faville.

Dhaka, Bangladesh, a city of 7 million in South Asia, is an international hub for click farms.

The CEO of Dhaka-based social media promotion firm Unique IT World said he has paid workers to manually click on clients' social media pages, making it harder for Facebook, Google and others to catch them. "Those accounts are not fake, they were genuine," Shaiful Islam said.

A recent check on Facebook showed Dhaka was the most popular city for many, including soccer star Leo Messi, who has 51 million likes; Facebook's own security page, which has 7.7 million likes; and Google's Facebook page, which has 15.2 million likes.

 

In 2013, the State Department, which has more than 400,000 likes and was recently most popular in Cairo, said it would stop buying Facebook fans after its inspector general criticized the agency for spending $630,000 to boost the numbers.

In one case, its fan tally rose from about 10,000 to more than 2.5 million.

Sometimes there are plausible explanations for click increases.

For example, Burger King's most popular city was, for a few weeks this year, Karachi, Pakistan, after the chain opened several restaurants there.

While the Federal Trade Commission and several state attorney generals have cracked down on fake endorsements or reviews, they have not weighed in on clicks. 

Meanwhile, hundreds of online businesses sell clicks and social media accounts from around the world.

BuyPlusFollowers sells 250 Google+ shares for $12.95. InstagramEngine sells 1,000 followers for $12. AuthenticHits sells 1,000 SoundCloud plays for $9.

It's a lucrative business, said the president and CEO of WeSellLikes.com.

"The businesses buy the Facebook likes because they're afraid that when people go to their Facebook page and they only see 12 or 15 likes, they're going to lose potential customers," he said. The company official spoke on condition of anonymity, saying he recently moved his company offshore to avoid litigation or cease-and-desist notices.

In Indonesia, a social media-obsessed country with some of the largest number of Facebook pages and Twitter users, click farms proliferate.

Ali Hanafiah, 40, offers 1,000 Twitter followers for $10 and 1 million for $600. He owns his own server, and pays $1 per month per Internet Protocol address, which he uses to generate thousands of social media accounts.

Those accounts, he said, "enable us to create many fake followers."

During an interview at a downtown Jakarta cafe, Hanafiah — wearing a Nike cap, blue jeans and a white T-shirt — said large social networks can boost a business' public profile.

"Today, we are living in a tight competition world that is forcing people to compete with many tricks," he said.

Tony Harris, who does social media marketing for major Hollywood movie firms, said he would love to be able to give his clients massive numbers of Twitter followers and Facebook fans, but buying them from random strangers is not very effective or ethical.

"The illusion of a massive following is often just that," he said.

The fake click market has generated another business: auditors.

Robert Waller, founder of London-based Status People, helps clients block fakes. "We have had a lot of people who have bought fake accounts, realized it's a stupid idea and they're looking for ways to get rid of them," he said.

David Burch, at TubeMogul, a video marketing firm based in Emeryville, Calif., said that buying clicks to promote clients is a grave error. "It's bad business," he said, "and if an advertiser ever found out you did that, they'd never do business with you again."

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Yahoo hit by malicious software attack

It’s been a rough couple of months for Yahoo. A scourge of technical difficulties caused a multi-day outage of the site’s email service just last month, an email service that itself adopted a controversial redesign back in October. Now, according to a report from the Washington Post, an even more serious issue has struck Yahoo and its users: a large-scale malware attack.

Supposedly, the malware attack was the work of hackers who effectively took control of Yahoo’s advertising network and used it to spread malicious software to the computers of hundreds of thousands of Yahoo users throughout the first few days of the year. The security hole was reported originally by Fox-IT, a security firm that published a blog post highlighting the malicious advertisements that users should try to avoid.

The malicious advertisements took various forms, including a film website and one which appears to be pornographic. All of the ads, when clicked on, would “exploit vulnerabilities in Java” and install malware on users’ computers. The domains behind the ads appear to be hosted in the Netherlands, where the culprit behind the hacking scheme is likely located.

Fox-IT theorized about just how productive the attack would prove to be fore the hackers, indicating that infections had begun on December 30th and continued, more or less unchecked, over the next few days. When Fox-IT discovered the issue on Friday – Yahoo was apparently unaware of the issue prior to the security firm’s discovery – roughly 300,000 users were seeing the fake ads in any given hour.

The security firm also estimated that only about nine percent of users seeing the ads clicked on them and were infected, a number that seems low, but still lands at 27,000 computers per hour. Over the weekend, the infections have largely been scaled back, thanks to a growing awareness among internet users about the issue and an effort by Yahoo’s security team to eradicate the dangerous advertisements. The overarching goal of the hack has not yet been revealed, but Fox-IT thinks that whoever is behind the attack may be using malicious software to gain access and control of Yahoo users’ computers and then selling that control to other internet lowlifes in an effort to build profit.

Regardless if what these internet criminals want, the Washington Post saw the Yahoo attack as proof that Java needs a security overhaul. The software, which the Post says was originally developed as “a way to make websites more interactive,” has become a security liability since being replaced by Flash and JavaScript. Hackers know how to manipulate vulnerabilities in Java to gain access to computers, and users need to be especially careful if their computer still uses the software.

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Software firm buys emergency responder

In a deal that could have broad repercussions for companies and governments fending off sophisticated hackers and state-sponsored digital attacks, FireEye, a provider of security software, has acquired Mandiant, a company known for emergency responses to computer-network breaches.

The deal, in both cash and stock, is worth more than $1 billion, based on the current value of shares in FireEye.

The acquisition, which closed last Monday but was not publicly announced until after the markets closed on Thursday, was the biggest security deal of 2013. It merges two darlings in the $67 billion global computer-security market that together could form a formidable competitor to antivirus giants such as Symantec and Intel’s McAfee.

David G. DeWalt, FireEye’s chairman and chief executive, ran McAfee before it was sold to Intel in 2010. DeWalt was rumored to be a contender for the top job at Intel, but he surprised company insiders when he left to join FireEye in 2012.

Mandiant is best known for sending in emergency teams to root out attackers who have implanted software into corporate computer systems. Much of its work focused on attacks from China.

The combination of the two companies — one that detects attacks in a novel way, another that responds to attacks — comes at a moment when corporate America is increasingly wary of relying on the federal government to monitor the Internet and warn of incoming attacks.

That wariness has increased since the revelations of Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who removed thousands of documents before he took temporary refuge in Moscow.

“After the Snowden events, in the current political climate no one can say to the government, ‘ Please, come on in and monitor our networks,’” said Kevin Mandia, the founder of Mandiant, who is becoming chief operating officer of the combined company.

FireEye’s success has depended on a technology for detecting attacks that works quite differently from most antivirus products. FireEye’s software isolates incoming traffic in virtual containers and looks for suspicious activity in a sort of virtual petri dish before deciding whether to let the traffic through.

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FireEye computer security firm buys Mandiant

In a deal that may have broad repercussions for companies and governments fending off sophisticated hackers and state-sponsored digital attacks, FireEye Inc., a provider of security software, has acquired Mandiant Corp., a company known for emergency responses to network breaches.

The deal, in both cash and stock, is worth more than $1 billion, based on the current value of shares in FireEye.

The acquisition, which closed Monday but was not publicly announced until after the markets closed Thursday, was the biggest security deal of 2013. It merges two darlings in the $67 billion global computer security market that together could form a formidable competitor to antivirus giants like Symantec and Intel’s McAfee.

David G. DeWalt, FireEye’s chief executive, ran McAfee before it was sold to Intel in 2010. DeWalt was rumored to be a contender for the top job at Intel, but surprised company insiders when he left to join FireEye in 2012.

Mandiant is best known for sending in emergency teams to root out attackers who have implanted software into corporate computer systems. Much of its work focused on attacks from China, and last year it made headlines with a detailed study of a hacking group known as “Comment Crew” that provided the strongest evidence yet that the hackers were closely linked to a cyberunit of China’s People’s Liberation Army, outside of Shanghai.

The combination of the two companies — one that detects attacks in a novel way, another that responds to attacks — comes at a moment when corporate America is increasingly wary of relying on the federal government to monitor the Internet and warn of incoming attacks.

That wariness has increased since the revelations of Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who removed thousands of documents before he took temporary refuge in Moscow.

The documents have made it evident to companies that the United States monitors adversaries as well as its allies, including friendly governments, international organizations, and the networks of some Internet companies. Some of them could turn to companies like FireEye and Mandiant for protection, an interesting twist as many of Mandiant’s employees come out of the US intelligence world.

“After the Snowden events, in the current political climate no one can say to the government, ‘Please, come on in and monitor our networks’,” said Kevin Mandia, the founder of Mandiant, who is becoming chief operating officer of the combined company.

Mandiant is privately held, and the big winners in the acquisition will clearly be Mandia and the company’s venture backers. Mandiant has raised $70 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the venture capital firm, and One Equity, an investment arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

FireEye’s success has depended on a technology for detecting attacks that works quite differently from most antivirus products. The majority of antivirus products, both inexpensive versions for individuals and more sophisticated filtering systems for companies, monitor the Web and identify malicious software that has begun to hit victims around the world.

But by the time the attack has been identified and blocked, the malicious software has had a chance to do damage — siphoning a company’s trade secrets, erasing data or emptying a customer’s bank account.

FireEye’s software works differently. It isolates incoming traffic in virtual containers and looks for suspicious activity in a sort of virtual petri dish before deciding whether to let the traffic through.

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HTC reveals painful Android update process

In February, smartphone maker HTC promised the Federal Trade Commission that it would clean up its act when it came to customer security. With its FTC troubles behind it, HTC has become very open with the difficulties in getting out Android updates.

FTC charges

The FTC charged HTC with designing and customizing smartphone software that failed to protect customers' personal data and privacy. In settling the complaint, HTC agreed to put in place a process for fixing security vulnerabilities, which included getting out Android updates in a timely manner.

HTC has released a detailed infographic explaining when customers can expect to get the Android 4.4 KitKat, which Google released in October. While two months may seem like a long time, HTC actually appears to be moving as fast as it can.

Carriers remain the biggest bottleneck to getting out timely updates. While HTC updated its software quickly, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon are still working on their own apps and services for the new OS. When they are done, all changes will have to be tested for bugs and then certified by Google.

 

Slow updates

This slow process only applies to carrier-branded HTC One models. For the HTC One Google Play Edition running stock Android, which does not involve carriers, HTC had its code ready within 15 days of the release of KitKat and updated the smartphone soon after.

Carrier-branded models won't start to get updated until late January, according to HTC. However, this timetable may be optimistic.

While the manufacturer had expected HTC One smartphones to be updated to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean by late September, carrier-distributed updates didn't start until a month later. Verizon started sending out updates this month.

So HTC One users who bought their phones from carriers can only hope that they receive KitKat before Google releases the next version of Android. But I'm giving HTC credit for laying out the updating process and giving customers an idea of when updates will arrive.

Whether HTC's transparency is the result of the FTC settlement is hard to say. But the agreement certainly supplied some encouragement.

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The NSA developed software for backdoor access to iPhones

The U.S. National Security Agency was developing in 2008 a software implant for Apple iPhones that allowed the agency to take almost total control of the device, including retrieving text messages and voicemail and remotely turning on its microphone and camera, according to a report by Der Spiegel.

The implant, code-named DROPOUTJEEP, was "in development" and initially intended for "close access" installation on a phone, with remote installation being planned for a future release, according to an alleged NSA document with the date Oct. 1, 2008, that Der Spiegel included in a graphic with its recent NSA report.

DROPOUTJEEP's other capabilities included remotely pushing and pulling files from an iPhone, retrieving the phone's contact list and identifying the device's location and the location of the nearest cell tower, the document said. The implant could do all this without the phone user's knowledge, over SMS (Short Message Service) or a GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) data connection. All the software implant's communications would be "covert and encrypted," the document said.

GPRS was a pre-3G mobile data technology with speeds much lower than today's LTE networks. The first-generation iPhone was introduced in 2007, and the iPhone 3G came out in mid-2008.

Apple could not immediately be reached for comment on the report. In a statement reported by the Wall Street Journal, the company said it was unaware of the project and had never worked with the NSA and had never worked with agency to create a backdoor to any of its products.

The alleged NSA document describing DROPOUTJEEP was included in an interactive graphic published alongside a Dec. 30 Der Spiegel report on a special hacking unit of the agency, which reportedly intercepts deliveries of computer equipment and installs spyware on it before it's delivered to the recipients. The report cited internal NSA documents that Der Spiegel said it had viewed. The graphic included links to numerous documents about technologies that the hacking unit developed for infiltrating servers, firewalls, routers, wireless LANs, PCs, peripherals and cellphone networks.

Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's e-mail address is stephen_lawson@idg.com

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Computer security group alleges Snapchat software flaw

The popular cellphone app Snapchat is facing some security risks.

The app allows the exchange of pictures and videos for only a few seconds before disappearing.

Back in August, computer security group Gibson Security released a report pointing out flaws in Snapchat's application programming interface (API)

The group says the flaw could potentially be used to "build a database of Snapchat usernames and phone numbers, connecting names to aliases easily, and with further work connecting social media accounts to entries."

This last week Gibson Security published a full disclosure of what they found four months ago.

Snapchat responded on their website Friday afternoon: "Theoretically, if someone were able upload a huge set of phone numbers, like every number in an area code or every possible number in the U.S., they could create a database of the results and match user names to phone numbers that way."

They also stated they have put in more safeguards to make number collection more difficult to do.

KRTV also asked viewers on Facebook about what they thought about the potential breach. Several pointed out that sharing personal information on the internet brings the risk of having that info stolen.

According to the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, at least a fourth of cell phone owners between the age 18 and 29 use the app.

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Free Chinese-made software poses security risk

A Japanese-language input program — potentially installed on millions of computers, including those used at government agencies — sends every character typed to the software provider’s server without the user’s consent.

The Baidu IME program for Windows computers is distributed for free on the Internet by Baidu Japan Inc., the Japanese arm of China’s Baidu Inc., operator of 

China’s most popular Internet search engine.

Baidu Japan says the program, often installed with other downloadable software, is used by 4 million people.

The program is an input method editor (IME), which is required on a computer when entering Japanese characters. Baidu IME has cloud functionality that makes use of resources on the Internet in converting keystrokes into kanji, hiragana and other characters used in Japanese text.

The government’s National Information Security Center has warned all government agencies not to use IMEs with Internet connection functionality when creating confidential documents, or at least take the computer offline, according to Yuji Mizuta, a counselor at the Cabinet Secretariat.

“We are aware some IMEs send out entered characters over the Net,” Mizuta said. 

“We are alarmed by the risk of information leakage through users failing to turn off Internet connection functions.”

The NISC has confirmed that Baidu IME was installed on five computers belonging to the Foreign Ministry, but no information was sent out over the Internet, according to Mizuta. He also said there has been no report that any confidential information has leaked from any government agency through an IME.

According to NetAgent Co., a Tokyo information security company that analyzed Baidu IME, all Japanese characters entered via the program are sent to Baidu’s server located in Japan even when the application’s cloud function is turned off.

NetAgent meanwhile confirmed that Simeji, another Japanese input program from Baidu Japan used on Android smartphones, also sends Japanese characters even when the cloud function is off.

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Barry University’s Computer System Hacked

Barry University is notifying patients of its Foot and Ankle Institute that their personal information and medical records may have stolen after the institute’s computer system was hacked.

The university announced Monday that the security breach was detected around May 14.

Officials say a school laptop infected by a form of malware software was used to gain access to private computer systems. CBS4 news partners The Miami Herald reports the university launched an investigation, hiring an outside computer forensic company.

The affected files have been restored to their original state.

The investigation revealed that some sensitive patient information may have been compromised. The number of patients affected was not made available.

The university is offering a complimentary 12-month credit monitoring service to those whose information was at risk.

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M'ville to open computer lab for senior citizens, students

Senior citizens and Merrillville students would benefit from a new program the town plans to offer.

Clerk-Treasurer Eugene Guernsey said Merrillville is in the process of opening a new computer lab at Town Hall. He wants to have the facility in place in January.

During the day, the computer lab would be open to senior citizens.

Guernsey said there are many tasks that are done using computers. He said some senior citizens might not have computers or they might not know how to use some programs, such as video chatting software to talk to relatives who don't live nearby.

"There are a lot of people who are not computer savvy," Guernsey said.

He said volunteers would host computer classes for senior citizens to help them learn how to use a variety of programs.

After school, computers would be open to Merrillville students, Guernsey said.

He also wants the town to hire Merrillville high school students to provide tutoring sessions at the computer lab.

He said he will collaborate with the high school to find students for the part-time jobs.

Guernsey said there would be no cost to senior citizens using the computers, but there would be a minimal charge to children coming in for tutoring.

Funds received from the fee would be used to pay the high school students, Guernsey said.

Guernsey said he hasn't yet determined where the center will be located inside of Merrillville's municipal complex.

"We're gonna find room in that Town Hall," Town Council President Carol Miano said.

Equipment for the computer lab will be purchased with money from a $30,000 donation Comcast contributed for the project, Guernsey said.

Miano said she is appreciative of businesses that are taking an active role to improve the community.

She said Merrillville's computer facility would be named the Comcast Computer Center.

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Astronomy software firm goes mobile with SkySafari acquisition

SkySafari is a mobile app for astronomy enthusiasts.

A Twin Cities developer of astronomy-education software will rocket into the mobile market after acquiring SkySafari, an app for stargazers.

Minnetonka-based Simulation Curriculum, best known for its Starry Night line of educational software, snapped up SkySafari in a bid to quickly enter the mobile arena, said CEO and Co-founder Michael Goodman in an interview. The company makes computer software, but has yet to create apps for mobile devices. Goodman said he pursued SkySafari, developed by San Francisco-based Southern Stars, after hearing good things about it from customers.

Astronomy enthusiasts use SkySafari to peruse sky charts and control telescopes with their mobile devices. Simulation Curriculum will integrate features from its desktop software into the app, Goodman said.

The companies didn’t disclose financial terms of the deal, but said SkySafari’s developers, Tim DeBenedictis and Bill Tschumy, will join the Simulation Curriculum’s staff. (The duo mounted a fun crowdfunding campaign that raised $117,000 to launch a nano-satellite into space.)

Venture Bank helped finance the acquisition.

Goodman launched Simulation Curriculum in 2008 after buying the business from Imaginova Corp. The company raised about $1 million in capital to fund the launch of an earth sciences line of software.

Simulation Curriculum now has 12 employees, up from two when it started.

The company plans to expand into biology, chemistry and other educational fields and also next year will launch a new version of its flagship Starry Night software, Goodman said.

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Microsoft files for a number of 'mod' trademarks in December

The world of trademarks is an interesting one. Companies frequently trademark words and phrases that relate to products they have either released or intend to release, but the application for a trademark could equally mean nothing. Throughout December Microsoft has filed for a number of trademarks centering around the word 'mod'. Could this be a reference to modern apps? We don’t know yet, but it's certainly possible.

Since the beginning of the month, Microsoft has filed the Mod, Microsoft Mod, Windows Mod and Microsoft Office Mod trademarks. There are listings for these trademarks on the US Patent and Trademark Office website but very little is given away.

It is clearly something software-related, but it is difficult to get more than this from the information given. According to the listings, the trademarks relate to "Computer operating system software; computer software; computer hardware; computer peripherals; computer accessories; mobile computing devices; mobile communication devices". So that clears that up!

More recently, there has been another filing for the Throne Together trademark. This is listed as relating to "Game software", so it is likely to be an upcoming Xbox One title -- perhaps a Game of Thrones tie-in?

There has been no official announcement from Microsoft yet, but as soon as we hear anything, we'll let you know!

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Tech Companies Work to Combat Computer Science Education Gap

Douglas Poland teaches an AP computer science class at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, Va. As a part of Microsoft's TEALS program, professional software engineers help teach the class.

Three numbers are written on the board in Doug Poland's classroom at Stone Bridge High School: two, four and six.

"You have one guess to figure out the rule," he tells his Advanced Placement Computer Science class on a Friday morning before winter break.

The students -- sophomores, juniors and seniors -- team up to test patterns of numbers they think will either fit or fail the rule Poland has written down on a piece of paper ("ascending numbers").

As Poland circles the classroom, he tells the students they're "thinking too logically." 

These are the kinds of "warm up" activities Poland says he likes to use to encourage his students to think creatively. Then, after a short lecture on a new subject or particularly challenging topic from a previous class, Poland lets the students loose to program for the remaining hour of class time.

"They want to be hands on, they want to be doing as much as possible," Poland says.

The computer science program at Stone Bridge High School is an outlier compared to other high schools throughout the nation. Students at the high school in Ashburn, Va., have the opportunity to take introductory and advanced placement computer science classes, and can also participate in a computer programming club.

But in nine out of 10 high schools in the United States, there are no computer science classes offered, according to Code.org, an organization that encourages more students to learn programming and coding skills. Additionally, in 33 of 50 states, computer science classes do not count towards high school math or science graduation requirements.

That lack of opportunity is adding to a growing concern among educators and industry professionals who worry there will not be enough educated workers to fill the ballooning number of computer science jobs.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show, for example, that by 2020, there will be 1.4 million new computer science jobs, but only 400,000 computer science students. The number of computer science jobs, according to Code.org, is growing at a pace two times the national average for job growth.

That's why companies such as Microsoft have implemented programs to help engage more students in computer science at a younger age. The company's Technology 

Education and Literacy in Schools program (TEALS) pairs 70 schools in 12 states with nearly 300 professional software engineers who volunteer to help start computer science programs or further develop existing programs, such as the one at Stone Bridge.

"TEALS came to us through one of our computer science engineers who...had a particular passion around the need to help feed the future pipeline of computer science engineers," says Lori Harnick, Microsoft's general manager for citizenship and public affairs. "He saw that young people, particularly high school students, don't always have access in schools. So he decided on his own that he would stop by his neighborhood school and volunteer to teach alongside the teacher."

Microsoft executives caught wind of the effort as more employees began volunteering. By the 2011-12 school year, TEALS volunteers were in 13 schools, reaching more than 800 students. This year, more than 3,000 students are in computer science classes with TEALS volunteers, both from Microsoft and other companies in the industry, such as Amazon, Dell, Google and HP.

"In recent years we have seen a growing need and demand for computer science professionals. Of course we get those typically out of college, or graduate engineering programs," Harnick says. "But we've started to recognize that that spark starts much earlier. If you haven't been exposed to computer science until university, it probably won't be a field you choose to pursue."

While the technical expertise TEALS volunteers can offer is key -- because many teachers don't have a background in the field -- it's also important for students to see that computer science fields can lead to real careers outside of the tech sector, says Dan Kasun, a TEALS volunteer at Stone Ridge.

Kasun said skills students develop while learning computer science can help them find careers not only in information technology and software engineering, but also in games and digital application development, data analytics and cyber security.

By 2018, for example, there are expected to be as many as 190,000 unfilled positions in the data analytics field alone, says Jim Goodnight, chief executive officer of the data analytics company SAS.

"There's a huge, huge demand for people with these particular skills, the ability to handle and work with large amounts of data to do the analytics, to do forecasting and prediction," Goodnight says. "And there's just a tremendous shortage right now. 

Every company out there is really interested in analytics -- they want people with analytical talent."

As a way to reach more students, SAS helped institute a program at North Carolina State University which admits about 80 students each year to learn how to use the SAS analytics software and gain day-to-day work experience in the field, Goodnight says.

 

"The thing that you want to do and the jobs you want to pursue, in whatever industry, software is a big piece," Kasun told Poland's introductory computer science class. "If you love football, great. You can do data analytics and make tremendous advancements. The career opportunities are absolutely huge."

Although computer programming is a science by nature, it's the challenge, creativity and unpredictability involved in learning how to code that drew many of Poland's students to his class.

"It's a microcosm of the whole school," Poland says. "There's someone from just about every subgroup. You have students working with students they wouldn't normally associate with."

For students who are more artistically inclined, Poland says, designing games and applications is appealing as a creative outlet.

Jeanette Forbes, a senior in Poland's AP class, says it's fulfilling to see a game she designed run well. But while traditional games typically require the player to achieve a goal or complete an objective, Forbes says she approaches the task a bit differently.

"I like to work on plot and how it feels to play, rather than doing main objectives and goals," she says.

Jenny Xing, on the other hand, says she's more drawn to the software development aspect of computer science. Now a freshman at the University of Virginia studying computer science, Xing compares software development to working "behind the scenes" and says she enjoys thinking analytically to develop software.

"Just being in a computer science class gives you an advantage not only in college but also in life. Even if you don't like what you're doing in the computer math class, at least you're exposed to it," Xing says. "You have math and biology and all the sciences, but computer science is a field of its own, so just knowing a little bit of it puts you ahead."

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Microsoft's cybercrime unit files case

When Microsoft opened its sleek new Cybercrime Centre last month, the company said it was designed to showcase some of its latest technologies and to bring together different units that work on fighting everything from malware to intellectual-property theft.

Now, Microsoft is filing its first case emerging from the work of the Cybercrime Centre team.

It's now filed a civil lawsuit in the US District Court of Western Washington against Sichuan Changhong Electric Co, a China-based manufacturer of household appliances such as refrigerators and TVs.

Microsoft accuses Changhong of using product keys - a series of numbers and letters that a user enters into a computer in order to activate Microsoft software - that were stolen from organisations that had legitimately purchased licences for the software.

Those organisations include a US public university, a US public-school district, a 

US-based engineering company and an Asia-based semiconductor manufacturer, all unidentified in the suit.

Microsoft says it doesn't know how those product keys were stolen and believes that will be made clear during the discovery process.

Microsoft contends that, since 2011, Changhong's employees, contractors or other agents have activated numerous copies of Microsoft software products using stolen product-activation keys.

Representatives of Changhong could not immediately be reached for comment.

Microsoft believes it's the first time a company has used the Computer Fraud and 

Abuse Act to go after those allegedly stealing software product keys. The law prohibits unauthorised access to a protected computer system such as those used in interstate commerce.

The level of proof required under that law to show product keys were stolen would not have been possible even a few years ago, Microsoft says.

It's now possible, the company says, because of technological advances used in the field of cyberforensics - the gathering and analysis of digital evidence and data to prove cases.

 

The cybercrime team first got suspicious about eight months ago when they were looking into patterns involving a known stolen product key.

They traced the key back to an educational institution in the US that had legitimately purchased licences to use Microsoft's software.

The cyberforensics team then plotted onto maps where that organisation's licences were being activated. Those maps showed big spikes in activation attempts in places far from the US.

They then started looking for "a pattern under the map," said Zoe Krumm, a member of the cyberforensics team.

Microsoft's analysis showed, for instance, that within short periods of time, computers controlled by Changhong had tried to activate different product keys for certain Microsoft programs, such as Office or Project. Some of the attempts failed, and the user kept trying until he or she succeeded with a key that Microsoft had not yet blocked.

"That's what I'm looking for," Krumm said. "They try multiple keys within minutes of each other until they find a pass."

Microsoft says in its lawsuit that its analysis also showed the activation attempts took place on "numerous devices controlled by Changhong" during regular business hours in China.

The data collected, along with data visualisation tools and the work of data scientists and investigators, "allowed us to know when a company like Changhong has attempted over 2,000 times to activate unlicensed software with over 200 product keys," said Matt Lundy, Microsoft's assistant general counsel for the digital-crimes unit.

While the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act has been used commonly in cases involving malware, "there's a good reason" the law has most likely not been used in stolen software-product key cases before, said Rob McKenna, former Washington state attorney general who's now a partner specialising in technology and intellectual property with law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

"It's the proof problem - collecting the evidence and documenting that a computer used stolen licence keys to gain unauthorised access to Microsoft servers " said McKenna, who is not working on this case but has been briefed on it by Microsoft. He also works with Microsoft on other cases.

Microsoft is seeking a jury trial and a judgment barring Changhong from using product keys that it hasn't purchased to access Microsoft's servers in the future.

It's also seeking an unspecified amount for damages.

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Ten held after customs raid firms using pirated software

Customs officers have arrested 10 people and seized HK$360,000 worth of computer gear in a series of raids on small businesses using pirated software.

Those targeted included engineering, design, advertising, printing and catering companies.

Officers acting on a tip-off searched offices and seized 85 computers from seven businesses that were running pirated operating systems and office application software.

Seven of the suspects, aged between 25 and 56, are company directors and the remaining three employees. Two are women. All are on bail pending further investigation.

Customs' intellectual property investigation (operations) group head Michael Kwan Yuk-kwan said no complaints were received against large- sized enterprises. 

"Generally, large-sized enterprises pay more attention to the computer software used in their offices," Kwan said. "Unfortunately, some small- sized enterprises want to reduce their expenses by installing pirated software."

From January to November this year, customs received 92 complaints concerning corporate piracy. This compared with 87 complaints received for the same period last year.

Customs said they will monitor the situation closely and strengthen communications with the industry to collect more intelligence. Kwan appealed to company directors or partners to respect intellectual property rights.

Under the copyright ordinance, anyone in possession of an infringing copyright work in the course of trade or business commits an offense.

The maximum penalty is four years' imprisonment and a fine of HK$50,000 per infringing copy.

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