For at least the past six years, the National Security Agency has used secret radio signals to monitor nearly 100,000 computers around the world without the need of an Internet connection, reports The New York Times. Unlike the NSA’s other surveillance activities, however, this effort appears to have left Americans off the watch list.
To access so-called “air gapped” computers – PCs that do not connect to the global Internet – the NSA inserts a USB drive or cable that’s outfitted with a “tiny transceiver” that gives NSA spies access to infected computers. Sometimes the transceivers are installed directly into the machines. Once a computer has been outfitted with the transceiver, the NSA can then monitor all activity on the machine from a “briefcase-sized relay station” from up to eight miles away.
In addition to monitoring activity on targeted computers, the NSA can also use the machines to wage cyberattacks. According to the Times, it was through the use of this technology that the US launched the infamous Stuxnet strike on nearly 1,000 of Iran’s nuclear centrifuges – a detail the publication knew of at the time, but withheld at the request of American officials.
The most common target is reportedly the Chinese Army, which has launched similar attacks against the US, according to the federal government. But the technology, which falls under an NSA program called “Quantum,” has also been used against “Russian military networks and systems used by the Mexican police and drug cartels, trade institutions inside the European Union, and sometime partners against terrorism like Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan,” the Times reports.
The latest NSA spying revelations are based partially on documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden, and expand upon earlier reports by German news magazine Der Spiegel, which uncovered a cache of technologies used by the NSA under a program called ANT.
Speaking with the Times, NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines defended the Quantum program, and asserted that the agency does not use the technology to spy on American citizens, nor does it pass intelligence onto U.S. companies.
“NSA’s activities are focused and specifically deployed against – and only against – valid foreign intelligence targets in response to intelligence requirements,” said Vines. “We do not use foreign intelligence capabilities to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies on behalf of – or give intelligence we collect to – U.S. companies to enhance their international competitiveness or increase their bottom line.”
Compared to previous NSA revelations, this one seems to us fairly innocuous, at least as far as American citizens are concerned. In fact, it’s kind of awesome – the type of James Bond-level tech we’d expect from the world’s most powerful spy agency. So it’s cool – as long as, you know, they don’t use it against us. Fingers crossed!
[Image via gresei/Shutterstock]
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.