Jun 18, 2020 11:04 PM
(This post was last modified: Jun 19, 2020 12:05 AM by C C.)
Massive spying on users of Google's Chrome shows new security weakness
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/googl...-1.5617597
INTRO: A newly discovered spyware effort attacked users through 32 million downloads of extensions to Google's market-leading Chrome web browser, researchers at Awake Security told Reuters, highlighting the tech industry's failure to protect browsers as they are used more for email, payroll and other sensitive functions.
Alphabet Inc's Google said it removed more than 70 of the malicious add-ons from its official Chrome Web Store after being alerted by the researchers last month. "When we are alerted of extensions in the Web Store that violate our policies, we take action and use those incidents as training material to improve our automated and manual analyzes," Google spokesperson Scott Westover told Reuters.
Most of the free extensions purported to warn users about questionable websites or convert files from one format to another. Instead, they siphoned off browsing history and data that provided credentials for access to internal business tools. Based on the number of downloads, it was the most far-reaching malicious Chrome store campaign to date, according to Awake co-founder and chief scientist Gary Golomb... (MORE)
Researchers discover unique material design for brain-like computations
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/...061820.php
RELEASE: Over the past few decades, computers have seen dramatic progress in processing power; however, even the most advanced computers are relatively rudimentary in comparison with the complexities and capabilities of the human brain. Researchers at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory say this may be changing as they endeavor to design computers inspired by the human brain's neural structure.
As part of a collaboration with Lehigh University, Army researchers have identified a design strategy for the development of neuromorphic materials. "Neuromorphic materials is a name given to the material categories or combination of materials that provide both computing and memory capabilities in devices," said Dr. Sina Najmaei, a research scientist and electrical engineer with the laboratory.
Najmaei and his colleagues published a paper, Dynamically reconfigurable electronic and phononic properties in intercalated Hafnium Disulfide (HfS2), in the May 2020 issue of Materials Today. The neuromorphic computing concept is an in-memory solution that promises orders of magnitude reductions in power consumption over conventional transistors, and is suitable for complex data classification and processing. The limited power efficiency in conventional transistors is a fundamental technology shortcoming impeding future progress in computing.
Neuromorphic materials research conducted over the past 10 years has focused on understanding the unique properties of 2-D materials and their van der Waals multilayered structures. "The findings show great promise for these materials in electronic applications, but also show the unique interfaces in these materials provide an unprecedented opportunity for design of material properties," Najmaei said.
Over the past four years, the team conducted an effort focused on the design of material properties for high-performance electronic applications. "Our research led to our Materials Today paper, which expands this effort to design of reconfigurable properties in these materials based on van der Waal/organometallic hybrid systems and neuromorphic material design," Najmaei said.
Neuromorphic computing processes information using new models of computing similar to the brain's cognitive processes. "In order to process and make rational inferences from the input, information and a new paradigm of computing is needed," Najmaei said. "Neuromorphic hardware with in-memory computer capabilities promises to bridge this ever-growing technology gap."
This research is an important stepping stone towards development of in-memory computing in hybrid devices with unique functional properties for integration in cognitive sensory devices and overcomes significant technical challenges that impede a bottom up approach for streamlining of brain-inspired computing hardware, he said. If the researchers can ultimately develop a computer that can behave like the brain, it would be extremely useful to the warfighter, Najmaei said.
Neuromorphic computing, like a neural system, would offer computing capability complete with perks, such as robustness to damage, ability to learn, adaptability to change and others. It would have the potential to reduce operational power by a magnitude of 1,000 to 1 million times in comparison to today's computing paradigms. This level of processing would be highly desirable for image recognition in autonomous systems, and for artificial intelligence in general. Given the significance of AI and autonomous systems in modern day warfare, neuromorphic computing may very well be a cornerstone for a wide range of future leap-ahead warfighting capabilities, Najmaei said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/googl...-1.5617597
INTRO: A newly discovered spyware effort attacked users through 32 million downloads of extensions to Google's market-leading Chrome web browser, researchers at Awake Security told Reuters, highlighting the tech industry's failure to protect browsers as they are used more for email, payroll and other sensitive functions.
Alphabet Inc's Google said it removed more than 70 of the malicious add-ons from its official Chrome Web Store after being alerted by the researchers last month. "When we are alerted of extensions in the Web Store that violate our policies, we take action and use those incidents as training material to improve our automated and manual analyzes," Google spokesperson Scott Westover told Reuters.
Most of the free extensions purported to warn users about questionable websites or convert files from one format to another. Instead, they siphoned off browsing history and data that provided credentials for access to internal business tools. Based on the number of downloads, it was the most far-reaching malicious Chrome store campaign to date, according to Awake co-founder and chief scientist Gary Golomb... (MORE)
Researchers discover unique material design for brain-like computations
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/...061820.php
RELEASE: Over the past few decades, computers have seen dramatic progress in processing power; however, even the most advanced computers are relatively rudimentary in comparison with the complexities and capabilities of the human brain. Researchers at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory say this may be changing as they endeavor to design computers inspired by the human brain's neural structure.
As part of a collaboration with Lehigh University, Army researchers have identified a design strategy for the development of neuromorphic materials. "Neuromorphic materials is a name given to the material categories or combination of materials that provide both computing and memory capabilities in devices," said Dr. Sina Najmaei, a research scientist and electrical engineer with the laboratory.
Najmaei and his colleagues published a paper, Dynamically reconfigurable electronic and phononic properties in intercalated Hafnium Disulfide (HfS2), in the May 2020 issue of Materials Today. The neuromorphic computing concept is an in-memory solution that promises orders of magnitude reductions in power consumption over conventional transistors, and is suitable for complex data classification and processing. The limited power efficiency in conventional transistors is a fundamental technology shortcoming impeding future progress in computing.
Neuromorphic materials research conducted over the past 10 years has focused on understanding the unique properties of 2-D materials and their van der Waals multilayered structures. "The findings show great promise for these materials in electronic applications, but also show the unique interfaces in these materials provide an unprecedented opportunity for design of material properties," Najmaei said.
Over the past four years, the team conducted an effort focused on the design of material properties for high-performance electronic applications. "Our research led to our Materials Today paper, which expands this effort to design of reconfigurable properties in these materials based on van der Waal/organometallic hybrid systems and neuromorphic material design," Najmaei said.
Neuromorphic computing processes information using new models of computing similar to the brain's cognitive processes. "In order to process and make rational inferences from the input, information and a new paradigm of computing is needed," Najmaei said. "Neuromorphic hardware with in-memory computer capabilities promises to bridge this ever-growing technology gap."
This research is an important stepping stone towards development of in-memory computing in hybrid devices with unique functional properties for integration in cognitive sensory devices and overcomes significant technical challenges that impede a bottom up approach for streamlining of brain-inspired computing hardware, he said. If the researchers can ultimately develop a computer that can behave like the brain, it would be extremely useful to the warfighter, Najmaei said.
Neuromorphic computing, like a neural system, would offer computing capability complete with perks, such as robustness to damage, ability to learn, adaptability to change and others. It would have the potential to reduce operational power by a magnitude of 1,000 to 1 million times in comparison to today's computing paradigms. This level of processing would be highly desirable for image recognition in autonomous systems, and for artificial intelligence in general. Given the significance of AI and autonomous systems in modern day warfare, neuromorphic computing may very well be a cornerstone for a wide range of future leap-ahead warfighting capabilities, Najmaei said.