Forums: Electronic Commerce

ATM hacked to make it spew cash New Zealand computer security expert Barnaby Jack has shown "hacking" into an automatic teller machine can be easy with the right software. Jack, director of security testing at Seattle-based computer security consultant IOActive Inc, hauled two ATMs on to a Las Vegas conference stage and demonstrated how, with the press of a button, an ATM could spew out all its cash. "I hope to change the way people look at devices that from the outside are seemingly impenetrable," Jack told the Black Hat computer security conference, CBS reported. The 32-year-old Aucklander - currently...

Spurred by a newspaper's report that California's welfare debit cards can be used to withdraw cash in more than half the casinos in the state, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday issued an immediate ban on state-provided cash assistance at ATMs in gambling establishments. The Los Angeles Times disclosed that Electronic Benefit Transfer cards work in automated teller machines at 32 of 58 tribal casinos and 47 of 90 state-licensed poker rooms. The report also found the state Department of Social Services published a list of useable ATMs where the EBT cards that work like debit cards could be cashed. That...

Traditional bifocals could become a thing of the past with the invention of electronic glasses that automatically adjust to let their wearer view objects at different distances.The spectacles, which are due to be launched in the US this year and the UK next year, use lenses that change their strength when a small electrical current passes through them. A layer of liquid crystal sandwiched inside each lens alters its refractive properties according to the current applied, adapting the focal length according to where the wearer is looking. Traditional bifocals, which use two lenses of different strengths in front of each...

After five years of testing, the U.S. Navy is finally entering the digital age for navigation. Five years ago, the first all digital navigation system was installed, in the USS Cape St. George (a cruiser). Called the Voyage Management System (VMS), this version used 29 CDs containing the 12,000 paper nautical charts that were stored in several large filing cabinets on the Cape St. George. The current version of VMS puts all the electronic charts on one high density DVD, or a portable hard drive. The navy has been working on VMS since the 1990s, and the first thing they...

When it comes to computer technology, thin is always in. It’s indisputable that the thinner, lighter, clearer, the better when dealing with the latest computer gadget. This keyboard is the epitome of the high standards expected of the technological version of the fashion industry. It’s based on image as well, that is, image recognition technology.

U.S. Air Force is concerned about American dependence on space satellites, particularly the GPS birds. The air force believes China is developing the ability to carry out a major attack on American military satellites. Their proposed solution is to take GPS out of orbit, and make it portable. High flying aircraft, UAVs or blimps would take over satellite communications, surveillance and navigation (GPS) chores, although for smaller areas. This would make GPS, and other satellite functions, more resilient to attack. This is part of a trend in which military satellites are getting priced out of the market by cheaper manned...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, Jan. 11, 2010 – Iraq may not be ready for PayPal, but with the help of the U.S. Army, the southern Iraqi provinces of Dhi Qar, Maysan and Al Muthanna are moving closer to a cashless system in order to deal with the mounting costs of dealing with cash. Iraqi workers finish the last steps of construction of the Al Warka Bank at Contingency Operating Base Adder's Iraq-Based Industrial Zone near Nasiriyah, Iraq, Jan. 1, 2010. Once complete, the bank will significantly aid in the transition to electronic funds transfer payments to Iraqi businessmen who...

Can you imagine how many people have physically handled your money? Do you know who has previously touched it? Did they have a flu virus or some other communicable disease that is transmitted by physical contact with an infected object? Physical paper currency is often dirty - not so much to the sight, but it is a good home for dangerous microbes. It is often kept warm by our body heat and even absorbs some body moisture - a perfect breeding ground for bad stuff. It has been well-known for decades that paper currency is a major source of disease...

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2009 – Portable electronic devices such as iPods and cell phones have provided U.S. adversaries in Iraq and Afghanistan with lethal capabilities, the Army’s chief of electronic warfare said this week. “They may be living in rough terrain and may not have all the comforts that we do, but they have the same access to technology,” said Col. Laurie Moe Buckhout, chief of the Army’s Electronic Warfare Division in the Operations, Readiness and Mobilization Directorate. She explained the Army’s efforts to increase ground electronic warfare capabilities during a March 4 “Armed with Science: Research and Applications...

2/24/2009 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) -- Airmen with the 43rd Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron, a unit that has almost five years of continuous deployment, clocked their 20,000th combat flight hour early Feb. 17. The 43rd EECS aircrews and the EC-130 Compass Call aircraft they fly provide communications jamming support to U.S. and coalition ground forces in Iraq. "The support we provide to the ground forces is unlike anything else in the Air Force," said Staff Sgt. Andrew Weber, a 43rd EECS airborne maintenance technician, or AMT. "I would say hopefully we've done our share in protecting those guys on the...

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq, Nov. 21, 2008 – Navy Cmdr. Ed Fischer and Air Force 1st Lt. E.J. Wong would seem to be out of place in an Army heavy brigade combat team conducting operations in Iraq. Navy Cmdr. Ed Fischer, left, and Air Force 1st Lt. E.J. Wong inspect a Warlock-equipped Humvee. The Warlock system is a countermeasure against roadside bombs. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Evan Loyd  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Fischer, whose career field is nuclear engineering, and Wong, an air battle manager, are electronic warfare officers for the 1st Armored Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat...

td> FORWARD OPERATING BASE RUSTAMIYAH, Iraq, Nov. 5, 2008 – Selected soldiers assigned to the 10th Mountain Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team and Multinational Division Baghdad received electronic warfare training here. Army Sgt. Nicholas Hoffert applies the final additions to an antenna system during an electronic warfare class at Forward Operating Base Rustamiyah, Iraq, Oct. 29, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jeremy Todd  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Electronic warfare applies the radio frequency spectrum to defeat an enemy and save lives on the battlefield. Improvised explosive devices are the biggest threat to coalition and Iraqi forces, and...

HEIDELBERG, Germany, July 22, 2008 – Camp Victory in Iraq is nearly 2,000 miles from the nearest Army library in Europe. But troops deployed at the sprawling base near Baghdad International Airport soon will have access to a broad spectrum of library resources through an e-Branch kiosk. Movers crate an Army Europe Libraries e-Branch kiosk for shipment to Camp Victory, Iraq. The e-Branch kiosks are designed to support educational opportunities for Soldiers and deliver electronic library services and information to customers who can’t get to a brick-and-mortar library. U.S. Army photo by Amy Drayer  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image...

FORT HUACHUCA — With Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano’s signature on Senate Bill 1387 additional protection for critical electronic ranges on Fort Huachuca now requires notification of any potential impact to the fort by any building or developing property proposal close to those military facilities and allows the military the right to object. With her signature on the bill on May 12, Napolitano set into motion amendments to existing state law specifically providing an additional level of protection to military installations in Arizona. The main sponsor of the bill was State Senate President Tim Bee, whose district includes the post. Because...

Long-lasting near-infrared LEDs could be used to make cheap, flexible night-vision displays and sensors.Universal Display Corporation’s phosphorescent organic LED display can be built on a flexible plastic substrate. The company, working with researchers at the University of Southern California and Princeton University, has now made near-infrared emitting LEDs and plans to make a near-infrared version of the flexible display. The display would be invisible to the naked eye but visible through night-vision goggles for covert military operations. Credit: Julie Brown, Universal Display Corporation Researchers at the University of Southern California have designed a phosphorescent dye molecule that emits near-infrared light...