attacks

Two researchers have figured out a way to attack laptops and smartphones through an innocent-looking USB cable.

Angelos Stavrou, an assistant professor of computer science at George Mason University, and student Zhaohui Wang wrote software that changes the functionality of the USB driver so that they could launch a surreptitious attack while someone is charging a smartphone or syncing data between a smartphone and a computer.

Basically, the exploit works by adding keyboard or mouse functionality to the connection so an attacker can then start typing commands or click the mouse in order to steal files, download additional malware, or … Read more

In case you missed our special live Digital City show from the CNET stage at CES 2011, now you can catch it here. Dan is joined by G4TV's "Attack of the Show" co-host Kevin Pereira , plus CNET's Jeff Bakalar and Rich Brown, for a discussion ranging from post-apocalyptic cell phone reception to high-tech digital name tags.

Bonus: You can download the show's theme song as a free MP3 here for a limited time!

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The adoption of electronic medical records, or EMRs, in U.S. hospitals has improved the quality of care in only one of three areas studied, and even in that area, the gains are limited, according to new research by the nonprofit Rand published this week in the American Journal of Managed Care.

Researchers analyzed the quality of care at 2,021 hospitals between 2003 and 2007 across three conditions: pneumonia, heart attack, and heart failure. The number of hospitals using either basic or advanced EMRs grew from 24 percent in 2003 to 38 percent in 2006.

Not only did the … Read more

Many of us know someone who has experienced severe chest pain but hemmed and hawed over whether to go to the emergency room. The ultimate hope is that the pain will just pass.

The rule of thumb has been to just go--better safe than sorry. But only 20 percent of those who do go actually have heart attacks, so researchers at the Stanford Cardiac Rehabilitation Program have developed a 3- to 5-minute survey that can be administered by a health care professional that helps identify symptoms, level of heart attack risk, and whether a trip to the ER is necessary.… Read more

Do you support WikiLeaks? Are you mad at critics trying to snuff it out? Maybe you're thinking about joining the online protests aimed at shutting down the Web sites of its opponents. Don't.

A loosely organized group of vigilantes under the name Anonymous have turned the botnet guns of their Operation Payback campaign, which previously targeted antipiracy organizations, on PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Senator Joe Lieberman, Sarah Palin, and others who have criticized WikiLeaks or stopped doing business with the document-sharing project. The WikiLeaks fallout has hit a frenzy since the site began releasing diplomatic cables last month that … Read more

Dutch authorities said today that they have arrested a 16-year-old hacker involved in the pro-WikiLeaks attacks on the Web sites of MasterCard and PayPal.

The Dutch National Prosecutors Office said that the teen, who was not named, was arrested by a high-tech crime team last night.

The arrest comes after a group known as Anonymous--a label that's been adopted before by activists who have electronically assaulted the Church of Scientology and the Australian government--organized attacks on Web sites of companies that have distanced themselves from WikiLeaks. Distributed denial-of-service attacks enlist thousands of computers, all making simultaneous connections, in hopes … Read more

Olivier Sanche, the man who oversaw Apple's global data center operations, died on Thursday, Apple has confirmed.

Sanche, 41, died of a heart attack on Thanksgiving Day, according to multiple reports from his friends.

"We are saddened by Olivier's passing," an Apple representative said today. "We will miss him tremendously and our thoughts are with his family,"

An Apple employee for 16 months, he played a big role in the building of Apple's $1 billion North Carolina data center, according to the Apple Insider blog.

Apple hasn't disclosed how it will use … Read more

Owners of Ford's upcoming 2012 Mustang Boss 302 will soon be offered a deceptively simple way to boost their vehicle's performance and make the mighty 302 even more bad-ass. The TracKey doesn't just unlock the doors and fire up the engine, it also transforms the production Boss 302 into a competition-ready track car with a turn of a key.

The TracKey package consists of a second key for the Boss Mustang--the TracKey itself--that features a red Boss logo. This key isn't just for show; starting the Mustang using this key unlocks the second part of the … Read more

Jeff and I are a little intimidated by today's guest, Blair Butler, because she not only loves video games and comic books, but also knows a ton about martial arts moves like the rear naked choke, which makes her one of the coolest guests we've had on the show! Blair joins us after a busy weekend at New York Comic Con 2010 to chat about all the news from the show, as well as her Fresh Ink segment on G4's "Attack of the Show."

The Javitz Convention Center here in New York once again opened its doors to the New York Comic Convention, and Blair tells us the East Coast chapter has been quickly catching up to San Diego over the past five years.

Among the many announcements from the show, we're especially excited about AMC's television adaptation of Robert Kirkman's monthly black and white comic series "The Walking Dead." The story is about a small-town police officer (played by Andrew Lincoln) from Kentucky struggling to survive in a world taken over by flesh-craving zombies. Blair is super psyched to watch the series when it debuts on Sunday, October 31, but in the meantime you should definitely check out her review of the comic in this list of the best graphic novels for comic novices on G4TV.

Remember Konami's classic X-Men beat-'em-up arcade game from the early '90s? Marvel revealed plans for an update on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network that will feature six-player "drop-in" online multiplay, custom matchups, and various difficulty settings. Fans of the original game will enjoy the classic look of the game, and players can use all the original characters including Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Dazzler. Konami plans to release the update later this year.

Tune in for lots more video game and comic news with Blair, including the best and worst costumes, a Pedobear dancing to Michael Jackson, Stan Lee's hockey/superhero mashup "The Guardian Project," and much more from the front lines. Thanks to Blair for an awesome show, and thanks to you for listening!