O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: NASA

  • Three U.S. agencies begin investigations into TP-Link, cite security concerns

    Three U.S. agencies begin investigations into TP-Link, cite security concerns

    One of the most popular home internet router brands in the U.S. could be banned from sale in the country following fears that the routers could present a threat to national security.

    According to the Wall Street Journal, three separate U.S. agencies have opened investigations into TP-Link routers. The routers, which account for 65 percent of the U.S. market, are also provided to customers of more than 300 internet service providers.

    Per the Wall Street Journal:

    “U.S. authorities are investigating whether a Chinese company whose popular home-internet routers have been linked to cyberattacks poses a national-security risk and are considering banning the devices […]”

    Investigators at the Commerce, Defense, and Justice departments have opened their own probes into the company, and authorities could ban the sale of TP-Link routers in the U.S. in 2025, according to sources close to the story.

    The issue seems to stemp from security flaws which TP-Link has failed to patch. The routers have also been purchased by sensitive government agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Defense Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, while the routers are sold at online military exchanges.

    In addition, the Wall Street Journal article has noted that TP-Link routers may have effectively been used as a botnet to carry out cyber attacks on US organizations, including suppliers to the Department of Defense.

    An analysis from Microsoft published in October found that a Chinese hacking entity maintains a large network of compromised network devices mostly comprising thousands of TP-Link routers. The network has been used by numerous Chinese actors to launch cyberattacks. These actors have gone after Western targets including think tanks, government organizations, nongovernment organizations, and Defense Department suppliers.

    The Justice Department has also begun investigating whether the price discrepancies violate a federal law that prohibits attempts at monopolies by selling products for less than they cost to make, according to an anonymous source. A TP-Link spokeswoman said the company doesn’t sell products below cost and is committed to compliance with U.S. laws, including antimonopoly laws.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Mac and The Wall Street Journal

  • Apple hires Jaime Waydo, previously of Alphabet’s Waymo and NASA, to assist with self-driving car project

    Apple’s added another powerhouse staff member to its self-driving car team lineup in the form of Jaime Waydo, previously a senior engineer at Alphabet’s Waymo as well as NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

    Waydo was “instrumental” at Waymo, some of her former coworkers have stated. Specifically, she was responsible for checking the safety of prototypes, and helped coach the company on when it was okay to begin real-world road tests in Phoenix.

    Prior to her experience at Google, Waydo worked at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab for more than 10 years, developing one of NASA’s Mars rovers.

    (more…)

  • Picture: MacBook Pros galore helped Curiosity get to Mars

    By the time I graduated from high school in 1996, I was one of two people in my school routinely carrying a notebook computer through the halls of Providence Country Day in East Providence, Rhode Island. I carried a PowerBook 150 and one of my best friends, Josh Ledgard, carried a white Toshiba notebook that he had named “Herbie”.

    It was also around this time that Apple was at its lowest point, Steve Jobs had yet to officially return in any capacity and people wondered aloud if Apple would die and why I didn’t carry a Windows PC notebook?

    A picture’s worth a thousand words, ladies and gentlemen, and via the extremely cool cats at 9to5 Mac, there’s the following killer picture of not just a few MacBook Pro notebooks helping to land Curiosity on Mars last night:



    And yes, I know some of them may have booted Linux or Windows partitions at the time, so that joke still stands…

    Happy Curiosity Day, guys!!!

  • EFF Publishes Full Apple iPhone Developer Agreement, Blasts Apple Over Key Points

    Yesterday, the Electronic Frontier Foundation both posted a recent version of Apple’s confidential license agreement to which all iPhone, iPad and iPod touch developers must agree as well as took a critical stance against the document.

    Per AppleInsider, the foundation came to the conclusion that by controlling the App Store and preventing rival competition by blocking competing options, Apple’s “future of computing” is headed towards an era that could stifle innovation. It suggested the Cupertino, Calif., company’s actions have been that of a “jealous and arbitrary feudal lord.”

    “Overall, the Agreement is a very one-sided contract, favoring Apple at every turn,” the EFF wrote. “That’s not unusual where end-user license agreements are concerned (and not all the terms may ultimately be enforceable), but it’s a bit of a surprise as applied to the more than 100,000 developers for the iPhone, including many large public companies.

    “How can Apple get away with it? Because it is the sole gateway to the more than 40 million iPhones that have been sold. In other words, it’s only because Apple still “owns” the customer, long after each iPhone (and soon, iPad) is sold, that it is able to push these contractual terms on the entire universe of software developers for the platform.”

    The EFF noted that public copies of the license agreement are “scarce,” in part because the agreement itself prohibits its release. The foundation managed to obtain a copy by making a request to NASA under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, and presented what it felt were “a few troubling highlights.” They include:

    – Developers, including government agencies such as NASA, cannot make public statements about the iPhone OS developer agreement.

    – Applications created through the development kit can be sold on the App Store only.

    – The iPhone OS cannot be reverse engineered, and the foundation asserts this even applies to methods that courts have recognized as fair use.
    – Apple can remove an application at any time. In 2008, a researcher discovered a “kill switch” in the iPhone software that would allow the company to remotely deactivate an application.

    – No matter what, Apple is never liable to a developer for more than $50 in damages. “That’s pretty remarkable,” the foundation said, “considering that Apple holds a developer’s reputational and commercial value in its hands — it’s not as though the developer can reach its existing customers anywhere else.”

    Stay tuned for additional information as it becomes available and if you have something to offer on this, please let us know.

  • Apple Revises “Wet iPhone” Policy Terms

    3giphone.jpg
    Over the past couple of years, some of my clients have inadvertently soaked their iPhones (the rocket scientist who routinely works for NASA managed to marinate his in a gym bag filled with Gatorade and the other stories are even more obscure).
    Given this situation, the result from Apple was fairly punitive: time to shell out for a new iPhone as well as a new AT&T contract.
    According to PC World, Apple has revised its “wet iPhone” policy. Now, if you’ve soaked the handset, just walk into an Apple Store location, belly on up to the Genius Bar and they’ll replace it out for you for US$199 without needing to renew the standard two-year contract.
    Otherwise, do what you can to keep it not-moist and you should be in business.