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The internet connectivity on older tech devices and smart gadgets could stop working on Thursday after a key digital certificate required to access websites safely expires. Let's Encrypt, a nonprofit organization that is the largest issuer of digital certificates — which encrypts and protects the connection between devices and websites on the internet — will be forced to expire one of its most popular digital certificates, the IdentTrust DST Root CA X3, on Sept. 30.... ...This problem has flown under the radar of many manufacturers, including Big Tech companies Apple, Google, Sony, and Microsoft — none of which have made...

SiFive, a company established by researchers who invented the RISC-V instruction set architecture in the University of California Berkeley several years ago, has this week announced two platforms which could be used to design semi-custom SoCs based on RISC-V cores. SiFive is the world’s first and yet the only company developing chips featuring the RISC-V ISA and it already has initial customers interested in designing SoCs for machine learning, storage, embedded, IoT and wearable applications. SiFive: World’s First Developer of Commercial RISC-V Chips RISC-V is an open-source microprocessor architecture developed by researchers in the Computer Science Division at UC Berkeley and...

IBM today unveiled a breakthrough in semiconductor design and process with the development of the world's first chip announced with 2 nanometer (nm) nanosheet technology. Semiconductors play critical roles in everything from computing, to appliances, to communication devices, transportation systems, and critical infrastructure.Demand for increased chip performance and energy efficiency continues to rise, especially in the era of hybrid cloud, AI, and the Internet of Things. IBM's new 2 nm chip technology helps advance the state-of-the-art in the semiconductor industry, addressing this growing demand. It is projected to achieve 45 percent higher performance, or 75 percent lower energy use, than...

The United States and China are racing for dominance in 5G wireless connectivity. The R&D, the inventions, the technological standards and the commercial products developed and deployed in the coming months and years will determine whose inventions bring the world the next generation of wireless technology. Two companies lead in foundational research and development of 5G. Fortunately for the world, U.S.-based Qualcomm has invented and developed superior 5G core technologies. It makes a profound difference which country’s innovations a few key collaborative standards-setting bodies adopt as the foundation of the next-generation wireless infrastructure. 5G won’t be your Mom’s internet. Beyond...

ENERGY HARVESTING Published 11 hours, 44 minutes ago Powering IoT Wireless Sensors and ICs without Batteries BRIDG, an industry-led public-private partnership for advanced technologies and manufacturing processes, announces a collaboration with Face® International Corporation in the development and integration of a patented energy-harvesting technology – the Evercell™ power cell – that is capable of powering wireless IoT sensors without batteries. The Evercell technology employs a unique design and advanced materials to harvest thermal energy in any environment where the ambient temperature is above absolute zero – reliably generating the microwatts of electrical power needed to run wireless IoT sensors without...

Is Your Refrigerator A National Security Risk? September 12, 2017 6:10 PM WASHINGTON (CBS4) – The federal government is worried some refrigerators and coffee pots could pose a national security risk, and it’s taking action. Colorado’s U.S. Senator Cory Gardner among a bi-partisan group of senators who are sponsoring legislation to secure the so-called Internet of Things – everyday devices that are embedded with computer chips and sensors. Gardner says those devices can be used as weapons of mass disruption. “The federal government orders billions of dollars worth of Internet of Things devices each and every year,” says Gardner. “These...

Researchers at Trustwave have uncovered a backdoor in IoT devices from a Chinese manufacturer that could leave them open to exploitation. The backdoor is present in almost all devices produced by VoIP specialist DBLTek, and appears to have been purposely built in for use by the vendor.It uses a simple challenge and response mechanism to allow remote access. However, Trustwave's investigation has shown this scheme to be fundamentally flawed in that it is not necessary for a remote user to possess knowledge of any secret or password, besides the challenge itself and knowledge of the protocol/computation used.The issue permits a...

The co-founder of the newly launched Senate Cybersecurity Caucus is pushing federal agencies for possible solutions and responses to the security threat from insecure “Internet of Things” (IoT) devices, such as the network of hacked security cameras and digital video recorders that were reportedly used to help bring about last Friday’s major Internet outages. ... I have been asked by several reporters over the past few days whether I think government has a role to play in fixing the IoT mess. Personally, I do not believe there has ever been a technology challenge that was best served by additional government...

Updated Today, a huge army of hijacked internet-connected devices – from security cameras to home routers – turned on their owners and broke a big chunk of the internet. Compromised machines, following orders from as-yet unknown masterminds, threw huge amounts of junk traffic at servers operated by US-based Dyn, which provides DNS services for websites large and small. We're told gadgets behind tens of millions of IP addresses were press-ganged into shattering the internet – a lot of them running the Mirai malware, the source code to which is now public so anyone can wield it against targets. The result:...

According to researchers at security firm Flashpoint, today’s attack was launched at least in part by a Mirai-based botnet. Allison Nixon, director of research at Flashpoint, said the botnet used in today’s ongoing attack is built on the backs of hacked IoT devices — mainly compromised digital video recorders (DVRs) and IP cameras made by a Chinese hi-tech company called XiongMai Technologies. The components that XiongMai makes are sold downstream to vendors who then use it in their own products. “It’s remarkable that virtually an entire company’s product line has just been turned into a botnet that is now attacking...

Video Link -- I only learned about Arduino yesterday. This might not be the best video to explain what it is, but it will introduce you to the concept.Arduino is an open source company in Italy IIRC that essentially marries cheap-off-the-shelf hardware to simple code such that you and I can develop our own moving things (i.e. robots, drones, motorized camera mounts, etc.). The only limits are your imagination and determination.Here's another shorter introductory video that might help...Thinking About Getting an Arduino? Watch ThisAnd "believe me" (as Trump says), I am an old fart so don't tell me that old...

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last couple of years, you've likely heard the term Internet of Things, or IoT, at some point. But what does it mean? In short, the IoT is a network of objects connected to the Internet that can collect and exchange data. That brand new car loaded with apps? Internet of Things. The smart home devices that let you control the thermostat and lights with one voice command? Internet of Things. That fitness tracker that lets you share your exercise progress with friends? You get the idea. The IoT is set to...

The good news is that companies see customers as the main beneficiaries of their IoT efforts, according to the survey. Here’s how business leaders expect IoT initiatives to impact their businesses in the long term, as in a five-year planning horizon... The not-so-good news is that many companies rate their organization as not great in their ability to executive using in-house resources. For example, just over a third (35%) of business leaders say their business is excellent or very good at strategy definition while 27% rate it as poor or fair. And while 29% rather their business as excellent or...

Just two months ago I wrote about how the Internet of Things will fundamentally reshape the future of cyber warfare, evolving the cyber threat from simple website defacements, denial of service attacks, and data breaches, to affecting the physical world. Two weeks ago an hours-long power outage in Ukraine may have offered a preview of this new world as hackers were claimed to have disabled a portion of the nation's power grid. On the evening of December 23rd, power was lost across multiple cities in Ivano-Frankivs'ka oblast in Western Ukraine, leaving nearly half the region in the dark for almost...

Windows 10 IoT Core Pro lets thing-makers opt-out of security updates Microsoft's released a new flavour of Windows 10. Windows 10 IoT Core Pro is a version of the OS destined for original equipment manufacturers cooking up connected things. Redmond says the Pro cut's big differentiator is "the ability to defer updates and control distribution of updates through Windows Server Update Services." "With these servicing options," Microsoft's Billy Anders writes "we are bringing flexibility for our partners and customers to help meet their servicing needs while helping ensuring their devices are secure and managed." That's a good thing if thing-makers...

Microsoft has introduced its Windows 10 IoT Core, a light version of the Windows 10 operating system for the Internet of Things. According to The Next Web, 10 IoT Core will run the Raspberry Pi 2 and Minnowboard Max and can work on devices regardless of whether they have a display. It is a light version of the Windows 10, so there is no Windowed interface or desktop experience. So instead developers must create a universal app that functions as the interface for the user's device. Windows 10 IoT Core have been significantly upgraded since its first preview release in...

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has said it intends to have one operating system for all types of devices. It apparently takes that promise seriously. The company, which has announced that Windows 10 will power not only PCs but also tablets, phones, and even Xbox, will also make a version of the OS for Internet of Things connected devices.These machines -- which include things like smart thermostats and other household appliances -- won't run the full operating system. Instead, they will run customized versions of Windows 10 designed to enable their functionality. Whether it's a smart toaster or a complicated piece of machinery...

The world's largest chip maker just made its largest acquisition ever. Intel is buying programmable chip maker Altera Corporation in a $16.7 billion cash deal with stockholders taking home $54 per share. The merger comes amidst a lag in the personal-computer market, one that Intel's been able to stay above. Intel's first-quarter earnings report in April showed a 3 percent rise in income compared to the same quarter last year. And Intel likely wants to continue keeping its head above water. That's where Altera should help out. A joint press release said Intel's products and manufacturing process will join with...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is helping fund the creation of an implantable antenna for health care, which could be used for “long-term patient monitoring.” The government has so far given $5,070 for a graduate fellowship to work on the project, which begins June 1. The project is being financed in collaboration with the National Research Foundation of Korea to create a high frequency antenna that can be permanently implanted under a person’s skin. “Antennas operating near or inside the human body are important for a number of applications, including healthcare,” a grant for the project said. “Implantable medical devices...

Experts in health care and information technology agree on the future’s biggest opportunity: the creation of a new computational model that will link together all of the massive computers that now hold medical information. IBM is today staking its claim to be a major player in creating that cloud, and to use its Watson artificial intelligence to make sense of the flood of medical data that will result. The new effort uses new, innovative systems to keep data secure, IBM executives say, even while allowing software to use them remotely. Big Blue is certainly putting some muscle into medicine. Some...