ARM to provide chips for brain injury implants

Chip design giant ARM has teamed up with US researchers on a project to develop chips that can be implanted in the human brain.

The chips are designed to help people with brain and spinal injuries, and will sit inside the skull.

The aim is to develop a system that not only allows people to carry out tasks, but to receive sensory feedback.

But it will be some time before we start to see the benefits of the 10-year project.

ARM is providing the processors for the implants being developed at the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (CSNE), at the University of Washington.

The researchers have already developed an early version of the technology.

"They have some early prototype devices," ARM's director of healthcare technologies, Peter Ferguson, told the BBC.

"The challenge is power consumption and the heat that generates. They needed something ultra-small, ultra-low power."

'Far vision'

The first stage is to design a "system on a chip" that can transmit signals from the brain to a stimulator implanted in the spinal cord, allowing those with spinal or neurological conditions to control their movements.

A team including researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, recently became the first to restore brain-controlled hand and arm motionin a person with complete paralysis.

But CSNE also wants the device to be able to receive information sent back in the other direction, providing sensory information to the brain.

"Not only are they trying to read the signals from the brain, but to feed something back into it", Mr Ferguson explained.

This would allow people to gauge how tightly they are holding an object, or get a sense of its temperature, for example.

Research suggests that this feedback may also help the brain rewire itself, which could help the recovery of people with certain conditions - such as those who have suffered a stroke.

"When you think about people with spinal cord injuries, the ability to use technology to bridge the spinal cord to get muscles groups to move again and more - that's the far vision," Mr Ferguson said.

In the meantime, he said, the technology could be used to help treat stroke patients, those with Parkinson's, and possibly Alzheimer's.

ARM Holdings, which is based in Cambridge, was sold to Japanese firm Softbank last year for £24bn.

In March this year, Softbank was reported to be considering selling a 25% stakein ARM to a Saudi-backed investment group.

WannaCry ransomware cyber-attack 'may have N Korea link'

Who was behind th
e huge global cyber-attack? One prominent theory right now is North Korea - but what we know is far from conclusive.

You may not have heard of the Lazarus Group, but you may be aware of its work. The devastating hack on Sony Pictures in 2014, and another on a Bangladeshi bank in 2016, have both been attributed to the highly sophisticated group.

It is widely believed that the Lazarus Group worked out of China, but on behalf of the North Koreans.

Security experts are now cautiously linking the Lazarus Group to this latest attack after a discovery by Google security researcher Neel Mehta. He found similarities between code found within WannaCry - the software used in the hack - and other tools believed to have been created by the Lazarus Group in the past.

It's a mere sliver of evidence, but there are other clues to consider too.

• Cyber-attack: Your questions answered
• Should you pay the WannaCry ransom?
• Cyber-attack: Is my computer at risk?
• Global manhunt for WannaCry creators

Picking apart the code

Prof Alan Woodward, a security expert, pointed out to me that the text demanding the ransom uses what reads like machine-translated English, with a Chinese segment apparently written by a native speaker.

"As you can see it's pretty thin and all circumstantial," Prof Woodward said.

"However, it's worth further investigation."

"Neel Mehta’s discovery is the most significant clue to date regarding the origins of WannaCry,” said Russian security firm Kaspersky, but noted a lot more information is needed about earlier versions of WannaCry before any firm conclusion can be reached.

"We believe it’s important that other researchers around the world investigate these similarities and attempt to discover more facts about the origin of WannaCry,” the company added.

"Looking back to the Bangladesh attack, in the early days, there were very few facts linking them to the Lazarus Group.

"In time, more evidence appeared and allowed us, and others, to link them together with high confidence. Further research can be crucial to connecting the dots."

Attributing cyber-attacks can be notoriously difficult - often relying on consensus rather than confirmation.

For example, North Korea has never admitted any involvement in the Sony Pictures hack - and while security researchers, and the US government, have confidence in the theory, neither can rule out the possibility of a false flag.

Skilled hackers may have simply made it look like it had origins in North Korea by using similar techniques.

'Wouldn’t stand up in court'

In the case of WannaCry, it is possible that hackers simply copied code from earlier attacks by the Lazarus Group

But Kaspersky said false flags within WannaCry were "possible" but "improbable", as the shared code was removed from later versions.

"There's a lot of ifs in there," added Prof Woodward.

"It wouldn't stand up in court as it is. But it's worth looking deeper, being conscious of confirmation bias now that North Korea has been identified as a possibility."

It’s the strongest theory yet as to the origin of WannaCry, but there are also details that arguably point away from it being the work of North Korea.

First, China was among the countries worst hit, and not accidentally - the hackers made sure there was a version of the ransom note written in Chinese. It seems unlikely North Korea would want to antagonise its strongest ally. Russia too was badly affected.

Second, North Korean cyber-attacks have typically been far more targeted, often with a political goal in mind.

In the case of Sony Pictures, hackers sought to prevent the release of The Interview, a film that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. WannaCry, in contrast, was wildly indiscriminate - it would infect anything and everything it could.

Finally, if the plan was simply to make money, it’s been pretty unsuccessful on that front too - only around $60,000 (£46,500) has been paid in ransoms, according to analysis of Bitcoin accounts being used by the criminals.

With more than 200,000 machines infected, it's a terrible return. But then of course, maybe the ransom was a distraction for some other political goal not yet clear.

Another possibility is that the Lazarus Group worked alone, without instruction from North Korea. Indeed, it could be that the Lazarus Group isn’t even linked to North Korea.

More questions than answers - and in cyber-war, facts are extremely hard to come by.

Youtube demanding situations cable television with streaming service

San francisco: youtube on tuesday unveiled a streaming television service presenting bundles of stay channels, in an instantaneous challenge with the aid of the google-owned network to traditional cable and pay tv.

Youtube television turned into tailor-made for more youthful generations looking for information, movies and more applications with out subscribing to cable or satellite tv for pc provider, in step with youtube chief executive susan wojcicki.

The brand new carrier will allow subscribers in us markets to get access on any connected tool to networks together with abc, cbs, fox and nbc, along with "sports networks and dozens of famous cable networks," in keeping with youtube.

Set to release in the coming months, youtube television will fee $35 month-to-month, with six person debts allowed according to subscriber, positioning itself to compete against so-referred to as "skinny bundles" from dish community´s sling television and at&t´s directv now.

"youtube television is designed particularly for the wishes of a brand new generation of television fans who want to look at what they want, when they need, how they need with out dedication," wojcicki stated throughout a press briefing streamed from youtube workplaces in southern california.

Youtube television may even combine person-created content from the google-owned on-line video sharing provider, with delivery custom designed for viewing screens from smartphones to massive-screen televisions.

The provider will release first in primary us markets wherein neighborhood tv content material can be furnished, with youtube operating to quick extend availability, consistent with wojcicki.

Youtube television may even permit endless recording of suggests, so they can be stored for viewing whilst handy.

China’s zte launches global´s first 5g-equipped smartphone

Barcelona: chinese language telecoms giant zte unveiled sunday what it said is the sector´s first cellphone like minded with the lightening-rapid 5g mobile internet carrier that networks anticipate to have up and going for walks via 2020.

The agency said the gigabit cellphone is the first cellphone capable of down load speeds accomplishing up to 1 gigabit per 2d (gbps) -- up to 10 instances quicker than the primary technology of 4g offerings broadly in use today.

The tool, unveiled in barcelona in northeastern spain on the eve of the start on monday of the cell international congress, the world´s biggest cellular honest, will allow for 360-degree panoramic digital fact video and speedy downloads of extremely hi-fi tune and movies.

"with the brand new device, the way humans stay connected could be changed all the time. Specializing in 5g technologies might be one of the key priorities of zte´s global development," a zte spokesman said.

Tech companies are racing to increase merchandise that will be like minded with 5g, shorthand for the 5th generation of networks, which promise blazing speedy connectivity for a technology used to streaming movies and television immediately to telephones.

South korean provider kt corp targets to provide trial 5g offerings all through the 2018 winter olympics in pyeongchang.

The primary big-scale industrial deployment of the generation is anticipated in 2020.

Forrester analyst thomas husson said zte became the use of the smartphone to "show off innovation" and "offer a glimpse into the destiny while human beings could be capable of down load full movies in seconds" but it become now not likely to be a huge seller.

"the sad reality is that this cellphone will now not grow to be in customers´ pockets because both 5g and virtual truth are nevertheless years away to be a mass-marketplace purchaser reality," he added.

Founded in 1985, zte gives telecom system and services and has customers in more than a hundred and sixty nations, according to the corporation.

It's miles the best chinese language cellphone supplier with a significant presence within the america, where its 10 percentage marketplace proportion makes it the fourth-largest supplier.

Facebook turns to synthetic intelligence to address suicides

Fb plans to use synthetic intelligence and update its tools and services to assist save you suicides among its users.

The arena's biggest social media community said it plans to integrate its present suicide prevention equipment for facebook posts into its live-streaming feature, facebook stay, and its messenger carrier.

Synthetic intelligence might be used to help spot customers with suicidal dispositions, the organisation said in a blogpost on wednesday.

In january, a 14-yr-old foster child in florida broadcast her suicide reportedly on fb stay, consistent with the new york publish.

Fb is already the use of artificial intelligence to display offensive material in stay video streams.

The organization stated on wednesday that the updated equipment might supply an choice to customers looking a stay video to attain out to the person directly and report the video to facebook.

Fb inc may even provide assets, which consist of reaching out to a chum and contacting a assist line, to the person reporting the stay video.

Suicide is the second-main motive of loss of life for 15-29 yr olds.

Suicide charges jumped 24 percent in the united states of america among 1999 and 2014 after a period of almost steady decline, in step with a country wide middle for health statistics look at.

China releases first method on cyberspace cooperation

BEIJING: China on Wednesday released its strategy on cyberspace cooperation.

The worldwide method of cooperation on cyberspace is the first china has launched concerning the virtual area.

The purpose of the approach -- at the same time building a network of shared destiny in our on-line world -- illustrates china's technique to cyberspace cooperation. Significantly one that is based on peace, sovereignty, shared governance and shared benefits.

The strategic dreams of china's participation in worldwide cyberspace cooperation are: the safeguarding of china's sovereignty, safety and improvement hobbies in our on-line world; the cozy and orderly flow of information at the net; advanced international connectivity; keeping of peace, safety and balance in our on-line world; enhancement of worldwide rule of regulation in our on-line world; the merchandising of the global improvement of the digital financial system; and deepening cultural exchange and mutual gaining knowledge of, according to the strategy.

China's plan of action includes promoting the constructing of rule-based order in our on-line world, expanding partnership with other nations, boosting institutional reform in net governance, mutually preventing cyber terrorism and crimes, and shielding man or woman privateness in our on-line world.

China helps net-primarily based innovation and entrepreneurship, and is dedicated to supporting developing international locations with cyber safety capability constructing, it stated.

The u . S . A . Supports the system of cyberspace alternate guidelines and powerful coverage coordination amongst international locations, stated the approach.

China will paintings with different international locations to strengthen international statistics infrastructure to facilitate the smooth glide of statistics, and facilitate cyber lifestyle cooperation amongst international locations, consistent with the strategy.

With the animation, comedian and video games industry as a concern area, china will perform practical cooperation with countries along the belt and road, inspire chinese organizations to offer on line cultural services and products catered to nearby wishes based totally on nearby cultural assets, stated the method.


The method become issued by the foreign ministry and state internet records office.