Science, technology and technology news

DarkWatchman malware detected in Windows registry

Photo: Tadas Sar / Unsplash

Specialists of the Prevailion agency have discovered a dangerous new virus for Windows, which hides in the OS registry after installation. It is reported by the Bleeping Computer edition.

A virus program called DarkWatchman is phishing software that spreads via email. Judging by the content of the letters, the virus could have been created by Russian-speaking hackers, or it was intended for a Russian audience. A zip file is attached to a virus-infected message, which is imitated as a text document.

An error is displayed when opening a document, but the program is installed in the background. The malware is JavaScript-based and weighs only about 32 kilobytes. Experts noted that DarkWatchman is not loaded onto a computer disk, but is stored in the Windows registry, where it is extremely difficult for an inexperienced user to find it.

The program runs every time the user turns on the device. The virus code contains a list of ten domains through which the software is controlled remotely. Also, the program generates up to 500 domains every day, which allows it to remain active even when a number of servers are blocked. Prevailion experts advised PC owners to use antivirus and not open suspicious emails.

In mid-September, security experts from SentinelLabs spoke about the emergence of a new version of the dangerous banking Trojan ZLoader. Due to the presence of a fake security certificate, the virus can disable the built-in antivirus.

Russian fighter Checkmate entered the list of the main achievements of the year in aviation

Photo: Leonid Faerberg / globallookpress.com

The Russian light tactical aircraft (LTS), known as the Checkmate and the Su-75, were included in the list of major aviation achievements in 2021. The aircraft entered the rating of the Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine. TASS reports.

The publication noted that the Su-75 was included in the list of achievements in the field of military aviation, along with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The publication's rating also includes the first refueling performed by the drone, and the first flight of a slave UAV.

The Checkmate fighter was first shown at the MAKS-2021 air show, and during the Dubai Airshow-2021, an overseas presentation of the LTS took place. The maximum combat load of the aircraft will be 7.4 tons. The Su-75 will be able to reach speeds of up to Mach 1.8-2, and the flight range will reach three thousand kilometers. The first flight of the aircraft is scheduled for 2023.

Checkmate is built on an open architecture. In November, the director of the Museum of Air Defense Forces (Air Defense), military expert Yuri Knutov called the advantages of the aircraft. According to him, the open architecture makes it possible to assemble aircraft of various types on the engine, airframe and standard equipment of the Su-75.

Also, the cost of maintenance was attributed to the advantages of the promising aircraft. The head of the state corporation “Rostec” Sergei Chemezov earlier said that the cost of a flight hour of the Su-75 is seven times lower than that of the F-35.

The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage of weapons testing of the S-70 “Okhotnik” drone

The Russian Ministry of Defense has released footage of weapons testing of the S-70 Okhotnik strike drone. The device used a bomb to destroy the target. The video was shown in the Vesti Nedeli program on the Russia 1 channel on Sunday.

The recording shows the dropping of a bomb weighing 500 kilograms from the inner compartment. The ammunition hit a ground target. Rossiyskaya Gazeta, in its publication, suggested that the recording was made during the flight tests of the S-70 at the Ashuluk range.

Earlier, military expert Viktor Murakhovsky called the advantages of the Hunter with a flat nozzle. The drone has a reduced visibility in the infrared range. On December 14, the first flight model of such a drone was rolled out at the Chkalov Novosibirsk Aviation Plant (NAZ).

In October, the chief designer of Okhotnik, Sergei Bibikov, said that the device received an information and control system (ICS) with artificial intelligence. This allows the S-70 to work autonomously in conditions of a communication failure with the operator.

In July, The National Interest noted six Russian-made drones. The publication compared the S-70 “Okhotnik” with the unobtrusive attack aircraft F-117 Nighthawk and the RQ-170 Sentinel drone.

Scientists will send muscles into space to study the aging process

Photo: Fedor Yurchikhin / Roskosmos

Scientists intend to uncover the secret of the body's aging after studying the muscles sent into space. This is reported by Sky News.

Specialists at the University of Liverpool intend to send fragments of human muscles into space to analyze the effect of weightlessness on the human body. Muscle cells the size of a grain of rice will be housed in special 3D-printed containers. The cargo will be dispatched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, December 21.

The prototype will be in earth orbit until January 2022. All this time, a small current will be supplied through the muscle fragment, stimulating tissue contraction. Scientists believe that in space, a process similar to the aging of the body occurs, due to which muscles weaken. In the study, specialists will be helped by a similar laboratory sample of human tissue.

“Every cosmonaut on the ISS trains for at least 2.5 hours every day and, despite this, loses quite a lot of muscle,” said Professor Malcolm Jackson. Research can explain the nuances of aging and suggest how you can slow it down.

It is clarified that the equipment for the experiment was manufactured by Kayser Space from Oxfordshire. It will ensure the safety of samples and protect against temperature extremes and overloads. The study was funded by the UK Space Agency (UKSA), which allocated 12 million pounds, or about 1.17 billion rubles.

In mid-December, Russian scientists figured out how to maintain muscle function in zero gravity and combat atrophy. Experts suggested stimulating muscles with an injection of L-Name, an inhibitor of the enzyme NO synthase.

Scientists: Permian Extinction Could Be Associated With Bacteria That Produce Hydrogen Sulfide

Photo: Dominik Hülse / UCR

Scientists at the University of California at Riverside have proposed a possible explanation for the largest mass extinction 250 million years ago, at the end of the Permian. According to them, this could be due to the release of toxic gases by microbes, which intensified due to global warming. This is reported in an article published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

It is known that the massive Permian extinction was caused by large eruptions in Siberia, due to which huge amounts of carbon dioxide entered the atmosphere. This led to global warming and warming of sea waters, as well as a decrease in the level of oxygen dissolved in the ocean. In a new study, scientists showed that as temperatures rose, euxine zones, characterized by a lack of oxygen and an increase in sulfide concentrations, grew.

Euxine zones occur when bacteria begin to consume sulfate and then release hydrogen sulfide, which is toxic to many animals. Dead living organisms decompose, wasting dissolved oxygen and producing more organic matter that maintains the deadly cycle. At the end of the Permian period, this led to the extinction of 80 percent of all marine species of living organisms, as well as many terrestrial creatures.

Scientific Reports: Melting of glaciers in the Himalayas accelerates tenfold due to warming

Photo: Wigbert Röth / globallookpress.com

Scientists at the University of Leeds in the UK have recorded that the rate of melting of the Himalayan glaciers has increased significantly due to global warming, threatening the sustainable water supply of millions of people. This is reported in an article published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Researchers reconstructed the size and area of 14,798 Himalayan glaciers during the Little Ice Age, 400-700 years ago. Researchers estimate that since that time the glaciers have lost about 40 percent of their area, which has decreased from 28 thousand to about 19.6 thousand square kilometers today. During this period, they lost 390-586 thousand cubic kilometers of ice. This is equivalent to all the ice contained in the Alps, the Caucasus and Scandinavia combined.

The Himalayan glaciers are losing ice at a rate at least ten times the average rate of melting over centuries. However, the acceleration has occurred mainly over the past several decades. Water, which has already been released by the disappearance of glaciers, has raised sea levels around the world by 0.92-1.38 millimeters.

The accelerating melting of the Himalayan glaciers has serious implications for hundreds of millions of people who depend on Asia's main river systems – the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Indus. Himalayan glaciers are losing mass faster in eastern regions, including eastern Nepal and Bhutan. Melting is also facilitated by lakes at the mouths of glaciers and natural debris on the ice surface.

Journalists spoke about the dangers of Apple's AirTag wireless beacons

Photo: Đức Trịnh / Unsplash

Wireless beacons from Apple and other brands can be used to spy on people. Reported by the edition 9to5mac.

Journalists refer to the story of the blogger under the nickname Sega__JEANAsis. The girl said that she found the AirTag beacon under the wheel arch in her car when she arrived home from the bar. According to the author, she was very scared and worried about her safety and health. At the time of this writing, the girl's publication on Twitter has collected more than 15 thousand retweets and almost 32 thousand likes.

Sega__JEANAsis noted that her car was stuck in traffic when the iPhone received a notification that there was an AirTag next to it. At first, she did not attach much importance to this, but in the morning she asked the relatives to inspect the car, after which the accessory was found.

Media journalists noted that specifically for such cases, AirTag has a function to prevent surveillance, with the help of which it sends notifications to the smartphone of a potential victim. Experts emphasized that the girl's fears are not groundless, but each beacon is associated with a specific identifier, and, in the event of an unlawful act, the police will be able to reveal the identity of the offender. At the same time, the authors noted that most of the GPS trackers on the market do not have such a protective function.

In December, Canadian police announced a new way to steal cars using AirTag beacons. The intruders hide the accessory in the cars on the street, and then find out the location of the car garage.

Commander of the Ukrainian Navy: the country can buy Harpoon missiles from the United States

Photo: US Navy / Juan S. Sua / Globallookpress.com

The Commander of the Naval Forces (Navy) of Ukraine, Rear Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa, admitted the possibility of the country's purchase of Harpoon anti-ship missiles (ASM) in the United States. He stated this in an interview with UNIAN.

“I know that we are moving forward, and nothing will turn us off this path. Whoever wants what, Ukraine already has missile weapons. And there will be more, “said Neijpapa, answering a question about negotiations on obtaining Harpoon missiles.

Earlier, Neizhpapa spoke about American weapons for the Ukrainian fleet. According to him, in 2022, enterprises will begin assembling American weapons. American-made Island-class boats will receive 30mm artillery mounts and missiles.

Also, the commander of the Ukrainian Navy spoke about plans to replace Soviet amphibious aircraft. He noted that over the next five years, Soviet Be-12 aircraft will be replaced with a new model.

In October, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet (1998-2002), Admiral Vladimir Komoedov, spoke about the security of Russian ships. He stressed that Russian air defense systems can shoot down Tomahawk and Harpoon subsonic missiles.

Psychologist Osipov: in order not to burn out emotionally, it is important to understand why a person works

Photo: Pixabay

Existential psychotherapist, candidate of psychological sciences Fedor Osipov, in a conversation with Lenta.ru, gave advice to people with emotional burnout. Earlier, according to a poll, 75 percent of Russians found signs of it. According to the psychologist, it is important to understand what a person is working for.

Adoption

Emotional burnout is not worth fighting, since the force of action gives rise to the force of resistance, you need to learn to live with it and start by accepting that you are in a point of hopelessness, the psychotherapist noted.

Power saving mode

Then you should honestly look at yourself and talk to yourself about what is causing this, advised Osipov. “That is, with what it is connected: with instability, with the general situation, in connection with the virus, with the fact that a person is overloaded with information that he receives from the media, on TV, through gadgets,” said the psychotherapist. “That is, try to turn on the power saving mode as much as possible.”

We make ourselves happy

Osipov recommended trying to please yourself every day with some little things and spontaneous gifts, as well as purchases that a person puts off for tomorrow. “For example, there is an idea to buy an expensive computer, for it you need to pay about 150 thousand rubles. If a person cannot buy it now, but dreams of it, then it is better to buy something more modest here and now in order to somehow support himself, ”said the psychotherapist. In such cases, you should always measure your strengths, because expensive purchases require a lot of stress, and loans lead to even greater emotional, physical and mental burnout, he noted.

Goals at work

In order not to face emotional burnout at work, it is important for a person to understand what goals he is pursuing, Osipov said, for example, that he earns money for the future, a financial cushion, for recreation or personal comfort.

“If a person accepts work as a kind of system, into which he falls and does not understand why he is there, then, naturally, he will have burnout. When a teacher comes to school and it seems to her that she will remake and re-educate some child, this is initially her failure. If she does not accept children and herself, first of all, the way she is, she tries to retrain in children what she does not accept in herself, or what she does not like, also emotional burnout. This is the case in all industries, ”concluded the psychotherapist.