U.S., Canada becoming hotbeds for phishing sites

As the association of Eastern European and Chinese IP addresses with cybercriminals has led to blacklisting of addresses from those countries, the crooks are moving their sites to North America — in droves.A new report from security firm Websense finds strong evidence of this alarming new trend.

“Things are getting worse, not better,” said Patrik Runald, director, security research, Websense Labs.In Canada, we found an 170% increase from last year in phishing sites being hosted on Canadian servers, making Canada number two in the world for hosted phishing sites.”But that pales in comparison to the U.S., which saw a 300% increase and is now the top country in the world for these sites, by far.

“A lot more malicious content is now based in western, first world countries today,” Runald said. “Typical suspects 2-5 years ago were in eastern Europe which is dropping off because they developed a shady reputation. So traffic to and from servers in say Ukraine, were simply blocked by some admins, and vendor security products took location into account, making traffic from these countries much more likely to be blocked. So the operators of these sites moved to countries where traffic goes commonly, like the U.S. and Canada, where it is much harder to block for security reasons.”

The same trend is also showing up with Bot networks, and with malicious URLs.Canada saw a 39% increase in Bot networks this year, which Runald said was pretty average, especially when compared to the U.S. jump of 450% in the same category.”This stat doesnt mention the scale of the Botnet being used, and we are finding that 8-12 servers is now about average,” Runald said.

Malicious website increase was also high this year — about 300% in the U.S. and 239% in Canada.

“This was an amazing jump across the board,” Runald said. “And its the most dangerous catagory because you dont have to click on anything to get infected. This is also a moving target, as are Bot networks, while phishing is more static in the way it works.”Runald said the security vendors are generally able to cope because they do have massive amounts of data to work with. Websense alone has 3.5 billion pieces of data they scan every day.

“But the fact the numbers are going up quite dramatically is a worrying trend because theres more to deal with,” he said. “This is new. In 2010 and 2011 we did not see this kind of jump.”

Runald suggested that increasing criminal penalties for these kinds of crimes could have a significant impact.

“I don’t know why we arent doing it, but to be fair, no one else is either. I don’t think we are sending the right message here. Very often, they just get a slap on the wrist and get to go home. The Feds are doing a good job in cracking down, but it’s a drop in the ocean compared to what’s going on.”

via eChannelLine USA – U.S., Canada becoming hotbeds for phishing sites.

Weird sea creature caught on high res video

the blob has apparently now been identified as a rare specimen of the deep sea jellyfish Deepstaria enigmatica. Cool name, crazy-looking creature! – via TDG

This has now also been confirmed by Dr. Steven Haddock of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Center, an expert on deep-sea and pelagic creatures.

“There is a video of the scyphomedusa Deepstaria enigmatica “floating” around right now. This bag-like jelly is not that rare, but is large, so rarely seen intact. In the video, the swirling from the sub makes the medusa appear to undulate and it even turns inside-out. Here are some images of a more “typical” specimen. The web-like pattern is not a nerve net, as some comments have said. It is branches from their digestive system.”

Wreckage of missing Russian super jet spotted on side of cliff

A helicopter spotted the shattered wreckage of a Russian-made passenger plane Thursday that crashed into a steep cliff on a long-dormant Indonesian volcano during a demonstration flight to potential buyers and journalists. There was no sign of survivors among the 47 people on board.

Family members, many of whom spent a long, sleepless night at the airport, broke down in tears on hearing the news. Others stared blankly ahead in disbelief.

“From the pictures we’re seeing, it looks like it was a total loss,” said Daryatmo, chief of the national search and rescue agency, as the first images flashed across local TV.

The Sukhoi Superjet-100, Russia’s first new passenger jet since the fall of the Soviet Union two decades ago, was scattered on a steep near the top of Mount Salak, a volcano just 30 miles southwest of Jakarta. The company’s blue-and-white logo peeked through the dense canopy of trees.

The location will hamper efforts to evacuate victims, said Gagah Prakoso, adding they will have to be pulled to a hovering helicopter by ropes and nets.

The plane left Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in the capital Wednesday for a quick test flight aimed at impressing potential buyers.
…
http://news360.com/article/52813128

“Losing Yourself” in a Fictional Character Can Affect Your Real Life

When you “lose yourself” inside the world of a fictional character while reading a story, you may actually end up changing your own behavior and thoughts to match that of the character, a new study suggests.

Researchers at Ohio State University examined what happened to people who, while reading a fictional story, found themselves feeling the emotions, thoughts, beliefs and internal responses of one of the characters as if they were their own – a phenomenon the researchers call “experience-taking.”

They found that, in the right situations, experience-taking may lead to real changes, if only temporary, in the lives of readers.

In one experiment, for example, the researchers found that people who strongly identified with a fictional character who overcame obstacles to vote were significantly more likely to vote in a real election several days later.

“Experience-taking can be a powerful way to change our behavior and thoughts in meaningful and beneficial ways,” said Lisa Libby, co-author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University.

There are many ways experience-taking can affect readers.

In another experiment, people who went through this experience-taking process while reading about a character who was revealed to be of a different race or sexual orientation showed more favorable attitudes toward the other group and were less likely to stereotype.

“Experience-taking changes us by allowing us to merge our own lives with those of the characters we read about, which can lead to good outcomes,” said Geoff Kaufman, who led the study as a graduate student at Ohio State. He is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Tiltfactor Laboratory at Dartmouth College.

Their findings appear online in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and will be published in a future print edition.

Experience-taking doesn’t happen all the time. It only occurs when people are able, in a sense, to forget about themselves and their own self-concept and self-identity while reading, Kaufman said. In one experiment, for example, the researchers found that most college students were unable to undergo experience-taking if they were reading in a cubicle with a mirror.

When you “lose yourself” inside the world of a fictional character while reading a story, you may actually end up changing your own behavior and thoughts to match that of the character, a new study suggests.

Researchers at Ohio State University examined what happened to people who, while reading a fictional story, found themselves feeling the emotions, thoughts, beliefs and internal responses of one of the characters as if they were their own – a phenomenon the researchers call “experience-taking.”

They found that, in the right situations, experience-taking may lead to real changes, if only temporary, in the lives of readers.

In one experiment, for example, the researchers found that people who strongly identified with a fictional character who overcame obstacles to vote were significantly more likely to vote in a real election several days later.

“Experience-taking can be a powerful way to change our behavior and thoughts in meaningful and beneficial ways,” said Lisa Libby, co-author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University.

There are many ways experience-taking can affect readers.

In another experiment, people who went through this experience-taking process while reading about a character who was revealed to be of a different race or sexual orientation showed more favorable attitudes toward the other group and were less likely to stereotype.

“Experience-taking changes us by allowing us to merge our own lives with those of the characters we read about, which can lead to good outcomes,” said Geoff Kaufman, who led the study as a graduate student at Ohio State. He is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Tiltfactor Laboratory at Dartmouth College.

Their findings appear online in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and will be published in a future print edition.

Experience-taking doesn’t happen all the time. It only occurs when people are able, in a sense, to forget about themselves and their own self-concept and self-identity while reading, Kaufman said. In one experiment, for example, the researchers found that most college students were unable to undergo experience-taking if they were reading in a cubicle with a mirror.

“The more you’re reminded of your own personal identity, the less likely you’ll be able to take on a character’s identity,” Kaufman said.

“You have to be able to take yourself out of the picture, and really lose yourself in the book in order to have this authentic experience of taking on a character’s identity.” …

via Medical Daily: “Losing Yourself” in a Fictional Character Can Affect Your Real Life.

Killing Bigfoot OK in Texas – if he’s Texan

Texas has no position on the existence of Bigfoot — but go on, hunt it anyway.

John Lloyd Scharf, a Bigfoot fan from Oregon, emailed the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department last week about hunting unknown creatures.

Chief of staff Lt. David. Sinclair told FoxNews.com he responded with a straight description of the law — which hinges not on whether the mythical beast exists, but on precisely how the government would label it.

“The statute that you cite (Section 61.021) refers only to game birds, game animals, fish, marine animals or other aquatic life. Generally speaking, other nongame wildlife is listed in Chapter 67 (nongame and threatened species) and Chapter 68 (nongame endangered species),” Sinclair wrote back to Scharf.

“An exotic animal is an animal that is non-indigenous to Texas. Unless the exotic is an endangered species, then exotics may be hunted on private property with landowner consent.”

The law boils down to provenance, Scharf decided. If Bigfoot is indigenous to Texas, it can be killed.

But Sinclair told FoxNews.com his response has been taken wildly out of context.

“This guy never really alluded to Bigfoot, though it seems maybe he said something about Sasquatch,” Sinclair told FoxNews.com. “He took my statement and said that it was safe to hunt an ‘indigenous cryptid,’ whatever that is. He misquoted me.”

Scharf did not respond to several FoxNews.com requests for more information. But the rules Sinclair cites are clear: It would be legal to shoot Sasquatch.

“Nongame” means wildlife indigenous to Texas that aren’t deer, sheep, geese, alligators, or any other animal hunted for food. If the Commission doesn’t specifically list a beast — and needless to say, Bigfoot doesn’t make the list — it isn’t protected.

So Bigfoot a Longhorn? Absolutely, said Brian Brown, media coordinator for the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy.

“We’ve got hundreds of sightings going back decades. I don’t think we’d have any problem proving it’s indigenous. We think they’re all over the region,” Brown told FoxNews.com.

Oregon resident Scharf worried that the policy could be interpreted as “kill it first, ID it after.” He thinks it could even lead to premature extinction of the Bigfoot species.

“Individuals of an unknown species, and therefore not be listed as ‘endangered’ under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, could be exterminated without criminal or civil repercussions – essentially causing extinction?” he asked on an enthusiast bulletin board.

Brown argued that killing a Bigfoot is a necessary way to prove its existence.

“Our primary mission is to conserve these animals. They cannot be conserved until they are accepted as fact. They will not be accepted as fact until a type specimen is produced. It’s as simple as that,” he wrote on the group’s website, texasbigfoot.com.

Laws prevent hunters from killing people, of course. Such regulations wouldn’t govern Bigfoot, Brown told FoxNews.com.

“It’s not murder, it’s an animal,” he said. “They don’t do anything that makes you think that they’re humans or some lost tribe. They don’t really have attributes or do anything that one typically associates with humans.”

Open-minded Sasquatch seekers in the Lone Star State all seem positive that the numerous regional sightings mean something is out there.

“I have been immersed in Sasquatch research for a number of years, and I can tell you in my mind a mountain of evidence supports the existence of these creatures,” Ken Gerhard, a San Antonio cryptozoologist who co-wrote “Monsters of Texas,” recently told the Houston Chronicle.

Gerhard, who also heads up the Gulf Coast Bigfoot Research Organization, said Texas has one of the nation’s highest incidents of Bigfoot reports, outranked only by Washington, California, Oregon, Ohio and Florida.

That doesn’t mean the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is tracking them, of course.

“Here at Parks and Wildlife, we don’t have any evidence that Bigfoot exists,” Sinclair told FoxNews.com.

“We don’t want to get drawn into the debate about it.”

via Killing Bigfoot OK in Texas – if he’s Texan | Fox News.

As someone who once wore a bigfoot suit for a short film, I protest. When some hapless hoaxer is shot dead, will it be murder? Not if he was a Texan.

How the Ancient Egyptians used pictograms to count instead of numbers

The Eye of Horus is one of the best-known Ancient Egyptian symbols, still used in jewellery and artwork despite being more than 3,000 years old.

What is less known is exactly how important it was to everyday life in those early days of civilization, for a closer look at the eye reveals a complex mathematical system which was used as frequently as we use our numbers today.

Every line of the drawing represents a fraction – so instead of the Egyptians writing ¼, they would draw the iris of the Eye of Horus.

If Ancient Egyptians needed to buy a half measure of grain, they would just draw the outer part of the eye (on the right-hand-side of the image below). If they wanted an eighth, they would draw just the eyebrow.

The fascinating description of how the Eye of Horus was used mathematically opens up a fascinating perspective to our decimal-based numbering system.

Other measurements provided by the eye include the inner (left-hand) corner of the eye measuring a sixteenth, the line hanging vertically under the eye measuring one sixty-fourth, and the diagonal, curved line indicating 1/32.

The symbol as a whole was believed to have healing and protective powers, and was often used in the creation of amulets and other jewellery.

In terms of everyday usage, the pattern was regularly used to for trading potions and grains. Eyes could also be combined in full or in parts for more complex calculations, similar to how modern-day people may use tallies by drawing four vertical lines and adding a ‘slash’ to indicate five.

The symbol as a whole was believed to have healing and protective powers, and was often used in the creation of amulets and other jewellery.

In terms of everyday usage, the pattern was regularly used to for trading potions and grains. Eyes could also be combined in full or in parts for more complex calculations, similar to how modern-day people may use tallies by drawing four vertical lines and adding a ‘slash’ to indicate five.

In Egyptian mythology the eye of Horus was wounded and eaten by the fearsome god Seth.

Later it was restored and made whole by the ibis- headed god Thoth, the originator of mathematics, who ‘did this with his fingers’.

Which brings us forward full-circle to 3,000 years on, for – whenever we need a quick tally – our fingers are the first place we turn to.

via When maths was a doodle: How the Ancient Egyptians used pictograms to count instead of numbers | Mail Online.