State-backed spyware targets antivirus maker, Iranian nuclear talks

The threat posed by state-sponsored malware might be even larger than first thought. Antivirus developer Kaspersky Lab says it discovered an attack on its network by allegedly government-made spyware that appears to be an upgraded version of Duqu, the Stuxnet-based worm used by Israel and the US to derail Iran’s nuclear efforts. This “Duqu 2.0″ not only tried to obtain details about Kaspersky’s investigations and detection abilities, but remained remarkably stealthy. Pre-release software was necessary to catch it, and there were attempts to throw researchers off the scent by suggesting that China or Eastern Europe was to blame.

While there’s no smoking gun proving who was responsible, the list of additional victims narrows the possible culprits. There were less than 100 targets, including participants in negotiations surrounding Iran’s nuclear program — it’s easy to see Israel or the US once again being involved. The scope of the attack is likely “much wider,” according to Kaspersky, and its competitor Symantec suspects that the snoops were using their tool for “multiple intelligence gathering campaigns.”

The good news? While it’s not certain just what the intruders collected, the immediate damage is relatively minimal. Kaspersky says that Duqu 2.0 didn’t compromise its customers or products, and Microsoft just recently patched the Windows vulnerability that let the attackers in. It almost goes without saying that Kaspersky’s antivirus tools now know to look for the offending software. However, the implications of the breach are severe. They suggest that a government body was willing to compromise a security company, one of its supposed allies, in the name of developing harder-to-find hacking technology — an “outrageous” idea in Kaspersky’s eyes. It’s now less likely that private security researchers will cooperate on cyberdefense issues, which could worsen the situation for everyone.

[Image credit: Image credit: IIPA via Getty Images]

Filed under: Internet

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Via: Ars Technica

Source: Kaspersky Lab

OUYA possible acquisition target for Razer

There is no hiding that OUYA has struggled since its launch in 2013. The Android-powered video game console, despite raising $8 million in a Kickstarter campaign, has struggled to be a hit with consumers and the company failed to repay investors that helped bring the product to life. Among the investors is Alibaba who made a $10 million investment as recent as January. Julie Uhrman, OUYA’s chief executive officer, sent an internal memo to employees in April stating that being sold is the only way to solve their problems.

OUYA could finally be acquired soon as another company in the gaming industry has been involved in negotiations.

Razer, the company behind various computer and gaming equipment, is working on a deal to absorb OUYA’s technology and staff. Razer does have limited experience in video game consoles based on Android, too. Last month, the company released its Forge TV set-top box that runs Android TV. While it does not contain groundbreaking components like NVIDIA’s SHIELD, the Forge TV does allow streaming a PC games. Merging OUYA’s backbone with Android TV could result in a more impressive ‘microconsole’.

Don’t have an OUYA or Android TV device? You can still play high-end games on your phone or tablet.

Source: CNET

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