The end of the decade. People have been eagerly celebrating the end of the 2010s. But was January 1, 2020, really the beginning of the decade? It depends on who you ask – When exactly the decade begins and ends all depends on who you ask. When it comes to decades, there seems to be some flexibility. It depends on language how we talk about time spans. Remember that there was never a year zero and it has effect on centuries and millennia definitions. So, how come this rule doesn’t apply to decades? Society seems to have collectively determined that decades begin in years ending in zero and end on years ending in nine. If you insist that decade does not end in the end of 2019, you are not wrong, because maybe it’s technically correct to say that the decade ends in the 0 year, not the 9 year. But saying that would annoy most people. Does any of this matter? A stronomically, not really. It’s a man-made system.
As January 1, 2020, approached, very many publications were is reflecting about the past decade and the new one that awaits. “Best of the decade” lists are everywhere. Here are links to some lists:
https://hackaday.com/2019/12/27/2019-as-the-hardware-world-turns/
https://www.eetimes.com/5-defining-moments-and-trends-in-sensors-in-2019/
https://www.designnews.com/consumer-electronics/top-consumer-electronic-articles-2019/189750650062129?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=11626&elq_cid=876648
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Ransomware attacks spike by 140%, 57% of organizations agree to pay
https://atlasvpn.com/blog/ransomware-attacks-spike-by-140-57-of-organizations-agree-to-pay
Data extracted and analyzed by Atlas VPN reveals, the amounts of
demanded ransom payments increased by 140%, comparing the numbers of
2018 to 2019. More and more organizations succumb to blackmail: 57% of
organizations settled and paid the ransom during the last 12 months.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Operation In(ter)ception: Aerospace and military companies in the
crosshairs of cyberspies
https://www.welivesecurity.com/2020/06/17/operation-interception-aerospace-military-companies-cyberspies/
At the end of last year, we discovered targeted attacks against
aerospace and military companies in Europe and the Middle East, active
from September to December 2019. A collaborative investigation with
two of the affected European companies allowed us to gain insight into
the operation and uncover previously undocumented malware. This
blogpost will shed light on how the attacks unfolded. The full
research can be found in our white paper, Operation In(ter)ception:
Targeted attacks against European aerospace and military companies.
While we did not find strong evidence connecting the attacks to a
known threat actor, we discovered several hints suggesting a possible
link to the Lazarus group, including similarities in targeting,
development environment, and anti-analysis techniques used. PDF
report:
https://www.welivesecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/ESET_Operation_Interception.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Assessing Kurzweil predictions about 2019: the results
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/NcGBmDEe5qXB7dFBF/assessing-kurzweil-predictions-about-2019-the-results
Tomi Engdahl says:
Joseph Cox / VICE:
In 2019, just days after NSO Group unveiled a human rights policy for the use of its malware, Amnesty International says an activist was hacked with NSO tools
Days After New Human Rights Policy, NSO Client Hacked an Activist
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/v7gbpj/nso-group-human-rights-hacked-activist
The finding comes as part of a new technical report into a series of NSO attacks from Amnesty International.
Tomi Engdahl says:
OneZero :
Inside DayLife Army, a social media cult, spun off from a Facebook group, that seduces young people with empty promises of a better worldF
Inside the Social Media Cult That Convinces Young People to Give Up Everything
The DayLife Army always seemed like a troll. Then it became a nightmare.
https://onezero.medium.com/inside-the-social-media-cult-that-convinces-young-people-to-give-up-everything-f3878fbec632
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/14/where-are-all-the-robots/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ransomware-demands-soared-950-in/