[Telegraph] French researchers have found a way to save Windows files encrypted by the WannaCry virus, racing against a deadline as the ransomware threatens to start locking up victims' computers first infected a week ago.
WannaCry, which started to sweep round the globe last Friday and has infected more than 300,000 computers in 150 nations, threatens to lock out victims who have not paid a sum of $300 to $600 (£230 to £460) within one week of infection.
A loose-knit team of security researchers scattered across the globe have revealed they have collaborated to develop a workaround to unlock the encryption key for files hit in the global attack, which several independent security researchers have confirmed.
But the researchers said their solution would only work in certain conditions, namely if computers had not been rebooted since becoming infected and if victims applied the fix before WannaCry carried out its threat to lock their files permanently.
Wanakiwi was quickly tested and shown to work on Windows 7 and older Windows versions XP and 2003, Suiche said, adding that he believed the hastily developed fix also works with Windows 2008 and Vista, meaning all affected PCs.
The group includes Adrien Guinet, who works as a security expert, Matthieu Suiche, who is an internationally known hacker, and Benjamin Delpy, whose day job is at the Banque de La Belle France.
Wanakiwi was quickly tested and shown to work on Windows 7 and older Windows versions XP and 2003, Suiche said, adding that he believed the hastily developed fix also works with Windows 2008 and Vista, meaning all affected PCs.
"This is not a perfect solution," Suiche said. "But this is so far the only workable solution to help enterprises to recover their files if they have been infected and have no back-ups" which allow users to restore data without paying black-mailers.
As of Wednesday, half of all internet addresses corrupted globally by WannaCry were located in China and Russia, with 30 and 20 percent of infections, respectively, according to data supplied by threat intelligence firm Kryptos Logic.
By contrast, the United States accounts for 7 percent of WannaCry infections while Britannia, La Belle France and Germany each represent just 2 percent of worldwide attacks, Kryptos said.
Only 309 transactions worth around $94,000 appear to have been paid into WannaCry blackmail accounts, seven days after the attack began - just under one in 1,000 of the estimated victims.
In a box the Telegraph asks whether WannaCry can be removed without paying, and answers:
Yes, by using advanced anti-malware software. The malware can also be removed manually with a computer in "safe mode", however security experts warn this runs the risk of damage to a PC as users must go through sensitive system files in order to find and isolate files created by the Wanna Decryptor software.
#2
Vista, XP back in the old days was notoriously easy to infect. To roll the dice by hackers to target such vulnerable operating systems these days had to seem like long shot to them. There are so many newer operating systems now in use. But it did pay off.
File under De mortuis nihil nisi bonum
[MEDIAITE] Add Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi to the list of those who aren’t sad to see Ailes gone. In what can only be described as a nasty takedown of the ex-FNC head, Taibbi blamed Ailes for creating the "hyper-divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... media environment" American public -- described as "a hate-filled, paranoid, untrusting, book-dumb and bilious people"
Bilious?? Next he'll add dyspeptic, and he'll get himself lynched with it.
-- currently finds itself in.
Then he had this to say about the man who had just passed away:
Ailes was the Christopher Columbus of hate. When the former daytime TV executive and political strategist looked across the American continent, he saw money laying around in giant piles. He knew all that was needed to pick it up was a) the total abandonment of any sense of decency or civic duty in the news business, and b) the factory-like production of news stories that spoke to Americans’ worst fantasies about each other.
After highlighting Ailes’ history with Fox News and how he believed the network was responsible for pushing outlandish conspiracy theories and getting Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... elected president, Taibbi ended the piece with this observation:
The extent to which we hate and fear each other now ‐ that’s not any one person’s fault. But no one person was more at fault than Roger Ailes. He never had a soul to sell, so he sold ours. It may take 50 years or a century for us to recover. Even dictators rarely have that kind of impact. Enjoy the next life, you monster.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/20/2017 00:00 ||
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[BRADENTON] Another day in Florida, another alligator hit by a vehicle.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a 27-year-old motorcyclist from Wimauma was traveling westbound on State Road 674 just west of Katie Stanaland in Hillsborough County around 12:28 a.m. Friday. At the same time, a 10-foot, 9-inch alligator was crossing the road in front of him.
The motorcyclist hit the alligator, throwing him from the cycle of violence. He landed on the Little Manatee River overpass.
The man was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital with serious injuries. The alligator was listed at death's door and was picked up by alligator trapper Rob Upthegrove, according to FHP.
On Wednesday night in Sarasota County, another alligator was struck and killed by a car on Interstate 75. The driver was hospitalized with minor injuries.
Manatee County trapper Kevin Hibler said there may be a few reasons why alligators are being hit.
"Right now, the alligators are moving around a lot because it’s mating season," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/20/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
"Right now, the alligators are moving around a lot because it’s mating season,"
[Ynet] Sweden's top prosecutor says she is dropping an investigation into a rape claim against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after almost seven years.
The Swedish Prosecution Authority said in a statement Friday that Marianne Ny "has decided to discontinue the investigation."
Seven years imprisoned in that embassy is probably a longer sentence than the Swedish courts would have given him. But his travails are not yet at an end. Al Ahram adds:
British police said they will have to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for breaching his bail if he leaves Ecuador's embassy after a rape investigation against him in Sweden was dropped by prosecutors on Friday.
The police said in a statement that a warrant was issued against him for failing to hand himself in in 2012, adding: "The Metropolitan Police Service is obliged to execute that warrant should he leave the embassy".
"The job posting specified only the ability to work in the U.S.," Nathan Burkett wrote. "She has never made a representation that she is a citizen."
Burkett is on unpaid leave for 90 days to give her time to obtain citizenship, said Mayor pro-tem Lucy Rubio, after a closed-door session of the City Council on Tuesday.
Yep, this is America now.
This is Texas, anyway. I am under the impression that in most states one must be a citizen to get a licence to practice law, but I don't actually know. More on this story from yesterday.
#2
City attorneys had "determined that past rulings of this judge are not invalidated by this status," she added.
Really? Sounds like ass-covering to me. Had I had a matter before her, I'd be appealing any punishment and asking for expungement as she was not qualified and they didn't properly handle my case in time
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05/20/2017 5:59 Comments ||
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City attorneys had "determined that past rulings of this judge are not invalidated by this status," she added.
City attorney looked at the budget and prays no one notices enough to file. There was nothing legitimate about the judge's authority to execute her actions.
#6
This South Korean citizen was the second one they found, if I'm reading the article correctly. From the article:
Generally, the city includes on applications for appointees a question about whether the appointee is a qualified voter, Garza said.
However, that question was not included on the applications of some of the recent municipal court judge appointments. The discrepancy was noticed by city staff during the process of appointing a different judge, said Garza, who serves on the municipal court committee.
The staff went back to verify that current municipal court judges were qualified voters and found Burkett was not, he said.
The application has been changed to address the issue, Garza said.
[DAWN] A Lahore High Court full bench on Thursday directed three advocates to submit their written apology in case of torturing an additional district and sessions judge.
Earlier, Barrister Ehtesham Ameeruddin, Mehar Ahsan and Inam Afridi appeared before the bench and tendered their unconditional apology for their misconduct.
The bench headed by Justice Atir Mahmood adjourned hearing of the case till May 25 directing the lawyers to submit their apology in writing.
The lawyers had manhandled AD&SJ Irfan Anjum allegedly for not getting a favourable decision.
The Islampura police had also lodged an FIR against the lawyers under terrorism and other criminal charges on the complaint of the judge.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/20/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
A written apology? What about afternoon detention for an hour a week? Write 100 times "I will not assault the judge because he/she may hear my next case."
Guess who's NOT wearing a veil? Melania. On the red carpet
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/20/2017 06:55 ||
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and Ivanka
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/20/2017 7:10 Comments ||
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A draft of the speech obtained by the Associated Press shows Trump abandoning some of the harsh anti-Muslim rhetoric that was seen early on in his campaign.
Probably those judges overruling his religious travel bans have helped him see the light. [/maximum disgust]
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/20/2017 7:42 Comments ||
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#3
I want saudi so poor they can't afford to buy from anyone!
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Telegraph] French researchers have found a way to save Windows files encrypted by the WannaCry virus, racing against a deadline as the ransomware threatens to start locking up victims' computers first infected a week ago.
[BRADENTON] Another day in Florida, another alligator hit by a vehicle.
[Ynet] Sweden's top prosecutor says she is dropping an investigation into a rape claim against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after almost seven years.
[DAWN] A Lahore High Court full bench on Thursday directed three advocates to submit their written apology in case of torturing an additional district and sessions judge.
