Summer 2012 Grab Bag

Summer Grab Bag

Tech tidbits from Apple to Raspberry Pi, Flames to Flashbacks

It’s summer grab bag time! All kinds of tech stories have crossed my desk over the last few months so it’s time to give some attention to the noteworthy ones.

Mac OS a Security Target

The Apple community has long lived under the delusion that their systems are immune to the security threats that have long plagued Microsoft Windows: viruses, worms, rootkits and botnets.

Last year, many Macs fell victim to an extortionware attack called MacDefender, which infected machines with a fake antivirus software program that asked for money to install “protective software.” This year, a new threat called Flashback enslaved some 600,000 Mac computers into a botnet — a network of hijacked computers for spam, attacks, and the capturing of user identities.

The Mac’s malware grace period is over. Apple’s internal support systems have to play catch-up with the security fixes and patches of Microsoft. Further, Apple’s user-base will have to unlearn its bad habits, beginning with the absurd notion that their systems are immune to computer viruses.

Flame Hits Iran

Two years ago, the Iranian nuclear industry was the target of a rather devious computer worm, now known as Stuxnet, which attacked equipment control systems (made by Siemens) for the operation of industrial equipment. The equipment most affected were components used to make enriched uranium fuel for Iran’s nuclear power plants. While, technically, no one knows who developed the worm, Israel and the United States appear to have had a hand in its development.

This year, the premier antivirus lab in Europe and Russia, Kaspersky, identified a new worm called Flame that carries on the Stuxnet tradition, targeting the nuclear industry equipment of Iran. Some of those movies from the last few decades, like Wargames and Sneakers, don’t seem so far-fetched anymore.

World’s First Driver’s Licence Issued for Driver-less Car

The State of Nevada is the first jurisdiction to officially issue a driver’s licence for a driver-less car. Google received the honour for its computerized Prius. Studies show that automated cars operate more safely than their human-driven counterparts.

In fact, the only driving infraction or safety issue to ever occur with one of Google’s vehicles happened when the human test driver overruled the car. California will likely be the next state to license a Google car.

Google Drive

Speaking of driving and Google, the company just released its latest attempt to provide Cloud-based online storage, called Google Drive, which will allow users to store all kinds of data (files, pictures, music) for use across all kinds of devices (desktops, smartphones and tablets). Google Drive becomes the latest corporate offering for free online storage space. A month or so earlier, Microsoft improved its free cloud virtual storage space, SkyDrive. Their competition is an effort to unseat popular Dropbox as the darling of online storage space.

Raspberry Pi, Anyone?

In the quirky category, UK-based Raspberry Pi Foundation has launched a small, credit card-sized, no-frills circuit board that is capable of playing high definition video, web browsing and document authoring via its Linux-based operating system.  Complete with two USB ports, an HDMI port for outbound audio/video and a secure digital (SD) memory card port, the unit sells for US$35.

The Raspberry Pi was intended as an inexpensive computer to teach children how to program code but its novelty is attracting considerable attention in the U.K. So much so that the two companies making the device for the Foundation have had more demand than they can produce.

ASUS Prototypes First Windows 8 Tablet

Often a leader out of the gate, the Taiwanese electronics maker ASUS has just released specifications for a Windows 8 tablet. The tablet will come with a removable keyboard, to function as a light laptop, and will feature a 10.1 inch screen. It will run on an ARM-based processor, the chip that powers the iPad and some Android tablets, and is supposed to have “days” of battery life (obviously depending on the intensity of its use).

Because of the ARM-based processor, the tablet will sport the Windows RT operating system, a variation of Windows 8 made specifically for devices powered by ARM chips. (For more on Windows 8 and its variations, turn to “Windows 8: Microsoft’s Gamble to Stay in the Game.”)

That’s about it for the current grab bag. With Windows 8 coming out some time this fall, we’ll likely see a lot of development in the smartphone and tablet markets, just in time for the holiday shopping season.