Technology

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• Browser isolation runs all scripts in a remote, or virtual environment, but QR codes still make it through
• If a device is infected with malware, it can get commands via QR codes, rendering browser isolation useless
• The method works, but has its limitations

Cybersecurity researchers from Mandiant claim to have discovered a new way to get malware to communicate with its C2 servers through the browser, even when the browser is isolated in a sandbox.

There is a relatively new method of protecting web-borne cyberattacks, called “browser isolation”. It makes the victim’s browser communicate with another browser, located in a cloud environment, or a virtual machine. Whatever commands the victim inputs are relayed to the remote browser, and all they get in return is the visual rendering of the page. Code, scripts, commands, all get executed on the remote device.

One can think of it as browsing through the lens of a phone’s camera.

Limits and drawbacks

But now, Mandiant believes that C2 servers (command & control) can still talk to the malware on the infected device, regardless of the inability to run code through the browser, and that is - via QR codes. If a computer is infected, the malware can read the pixels rendered on the screen, and if they’re a QR code, that is enough to get the program to run different actions.

Mandiant prepared a proof-of-concept (PoC) showing how the method works on the latest version of Google Chrome, sending the malware through Cobalt Strike’s External C2 feature.

The method works, but it’s far from ideal, the researchers added. Since the data stream is limited to a maximum of 2,189 bytes, and since there is a roughly 5-second latency, the method cannot be used to send large payloads, or facilitate SOCKS proxying. Furthermore, additional security measures such as URL scanning, or data loss prevention, may render this method completely useless.

Still, there are ways the method could be abused to run destructive malware attacks. Therefore, IT teams are advised to still keep an eye on the flow of traffic, especially from headless browsers running in automation mode.

Via BleepingComputer

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• Micron describes its new SSD as an industry "game-changer"
• Launch marks the first SSD boasting a PCIe 5.0 x4 interface
• The 6550 ION matches performance with energy efficiency

Micron recently unveiled the 6550 ION SSD, marking the launch of the industry’s first 60TB storage device featuring a PCIe 5.0 x4 interface.

In an announcement, the firm revealed the new SSD is catered specifically to handle bulky applications as well as AI training and inference workloads.

Speaking at the time, Alvaro Toledo, vice president and general manager of Micron’s data center storage group, said the drive boasts extreme performance and capacity alongside industry-leading energy efficiency, calling it, "a game-changer for high-capacity storage solutions to address the insatiable capacity and power demands of AI workloads."

Micron has been highly vocal about the capabilities of the new ION SSD, so here’s everything you need to know about the 6550 ION SSD.

Under the hood of the 6550 ION SSD

As mentioned by Toledo, the new drive comes in an E3.S form-factor, meaning it offers “best-inclass” storage density and boasts 232 active layers. According to Micron, this significantly reduces rack storage requirements by up to 67%.

The 6550 also provides users with read and write speeds of 12GB/s despite operating on just 20 watts of power. This, the company noted, makes it 20% more energy efficient than comparable drives currently available in the market.

Micron said users do have the option to operate the drive at 25 watts, but this will only be utilized by a small portion of customers.

Compared to competing 60TB drives, the company also highlighted a number of key advantages, including:

• 179% faster sequential reads and 179% higher read bandwidth per watt
• 80% improved random reads and 99% higher read IOPS per watt
• 150% faster sequential writes and 213% higher write bandwidth per watt

With power efficiency a key talking point in the new SSD, the company revealed it also relies upon active state power management (ASPM), meaning the 6550 ION only consumes 4 watts in low-power modes. Micron added that the drive also offers 20% improved idle efficiency compared to others on the market.

Performance built for AI workloads

A key aspect of the 6550 ION is its ability to run AI workloads, according to Micron.

The drive boasts a 147% higher performance for NVIDIA® Magnum IO GPUDirect Storage (GDS) compared to competing models while also offering 104% better energy efficiency in this regard.

Similarly, with 30% higher efficiency in deep learning Unet3D testing and a 151% improvement in completion times for AI model checkpointing, the SSD provides enterprises with a powerful piece of hardware tailor made for the AI era.

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Ready to enjoy your music without distractions? CNET tested the best noise-canceling headphones and selected the top picks for immersive sound.

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• Biomemory's DNA-based solutions address data storage issues
• DNA storage is compact, durable, environmentally friendly
• $18M funding supports product development and industry partnerships

Biomemory, a French startup established in 2021, has long been working to develop DNA-based data storage technology.

It was the first company to make a DNA storage device available to the general public, marking an early step in commercializing this technology. Biomemory's approach involves encoding digital data within synthesized DNA strands by translating the DNA bases - A, C, G, and T - into binary code. Data can then be retrieved by sequencing the DNA and converting it back into binary.

DNA storage is viewed as a potential solution to the growing global demand for storage, driven by increasing data generation. It is estimated that by 2025, humanity will produce 175 zettabytes of data, a figure that challenges the capacity and sustainability of existing storage methods. DNA’s compact and durable nature offers an alternative that could reduce spatial and environmental footprints while providing long-term stability.

Funding secured

A number of startups have entered the DNA storage space in recent years, including Catalog, Ansa Biotechnologies, and Iridia in the United States, as well as Helixworks, DNA Script, and BioSistemika in Europe. Biomemory is focusing on creating end-to-end solutions for data centers, using bio-sourced DNA fragments that are designed to last for thousands of years without requiring energy for maintenance.

To further its efforts, Biomemory recently secured $18 million in Series A funding.

“This investment marks a pivotal moment for Biomemory and the future of data storage,” said Erfane Arwani, CEO and Co-founder of the startup. “With our DNA storage technology, we’re not just addressing today’s data challenges - we’re building solutions that will sustain the ecosystem for the next century and beyond. By sharing this value with our partners and collaborators, we aim to collectively advance the sector and foster a thriving data storage ecosystem.”

Biomemory intends to use the funds to develop its first-generation data storage appliance, optimize biotech processes, and quicken commercialization. Additional goals include forming partnerships with industry players and cloud providers and recruiting experts in molecular biology and engineering.

The technology offers the potential to store all of humanity’s data in a single data center rack and Biomemory plans to scale its molecular storage solutions to exabyte capacity by 2030, listing sustainability and durability as its key priorities.

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While not the cheapest on the market, the Bang & Olufsen earbuds have superb audio quality and they're at a record-low price just before the holidays.

• Activo Q1 are wired IEMs made for the July 2024 P1 player
• The IEMs are a collaboration between the Astell & Kern sub-brand Activo and Singaporean label, DITA Audio
• Activo Q1 are priced $349 / £299 (around AU$590)

Love hi-res audio but haven't heard of Activo? That's okay, you'll almost certainly know its parents, Astell & Kern. Last year, the sub-brand's inaugural product, the Activo's P1 music player, truly wowed us for sound-per-pound value, proving that you don't have to pay an A&K premium to get excellent portable sound. It was so good in fact that it quickly made its way onto our best MP3 player buying guide.

And now the South Korean company has announced the hotly anticipated in-ear monitors to go with it. They certainly look the part, which checks out when you know that these wired earbuds are a collaboration with Singaporean brand, DITA Audio.

A&K says the partnership brings together "over 45 years of expertise in the audio industry between Activo and DITA, culminating in the perfect earbud match for the newly released Activo P1 Digital Audio Player."

Activo Q1: specs, pricing and availability

The Activo Q1 is, the company tells us, a hybrid IEM featuring DITA’s new PM1+ 9.8mm dynamic driver with brass housing, plus a single Knowles balanced armature driver.

DITA Audio has a lovely habit of custom-designing cables to suit every earbud model it's had a hand in, which means the Q1 is a unique proposition – and the white coating certainly makes the earbuds look like they're going to be perfect sonic partners to the wallet-friendly Activo P1.

To drill down into that cable a little more, it's the MOCCA2 cable from Cardas, made in the USA. This is custom-built and constructed of 32 strands of Cardas conductors per cable, then twisted to DITA’s own specifications. Your purchase also includes both 4.4mm balanced and 3.5mm single-ended connecting plugs – the P1 has both of these ports, along its top edge.

And in case the earbuds look a little dainty, also included with the Q1 is an Activo x DITA branded systainer mini hard case made by Tanos, plus five different sizes of eartips to help you achieve the optimum fit.

Have the player, now want the earbuds? You're in luck! The Activo Q1 is available to purchase from Amazon today and is priced at £299 / $349 / €399 (around AU$590). Will they join our collection of the best wired earbuds we've ever tested? We're working on it – when we know, so shall you.

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Americans could soon need one of the best VPN apps to keep using TikTok.

A US TikTok ban now looks more probable than ever following the decision made by the federal appeals court on Friday (December 6, 2024). The decision upholds a law requiring TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the video-sharing app to an American firm by January 19, 2025, or face a nationwide ban.

While TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to file a legal appeal with the US Supreme Court, the new Trump administration – set to commence a day after the divesting deadline – is also expected to reverse TikTok's new policy.

Why does the US seek to ban TikTok?

Tensions between the US government and TikTok aren't new. The platform's invasive data collection practices and ties to China have raised concerns over Americans' privacy rights and national security risks since the video-sharing app began gaining popularity in the States.

At the time, US President Donald Trump was the first to push for the Chinese company to divest or risk a total ban in 2020. Such plans would later be interrupted after TikTok filed a lawsuit against the US government and the new President Joe Biden revoked the measure.

Now, about four years later, the tables have turned again. Trump has vowed to save TikTok during his political campaign to, as the Financial Times reported, "preserve competition in a market dominated by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta."

On the contrary, Biden has been busy finding a solution to the TikTok problem since the end of 2022 when he first signed an unprecedented order to bar TikTok from all federal government devices.

After that, there were various attempts to find a way to overcome the legal challenges of banning TikTok, such as the First Amendment which protects American freedom of speech. The proposed RESTRICT ACT gained momentum in 2023 but didn't manage to finally get the green light.

Do you know?

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Montana was the first US state expected to ban TikTok from all devices starting from January 1, 2024. This didn't happen, however, as a federal judge blocked the law before being enforced, in November 2023. Now, following Friday's decision, the fate of Montana's TikTok ban may be turning again.

Fast-forward to April 2024, a new proposal (Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act) became law after gaining bipartisan support in the US House of Representatives. It rules out a widespread ban on TikTok's operation unless ByteDance sells it to an American firm.

The law came into force despite TikTok taking steps to ensure data privacy for US users. In 2022, the company moved all Americans' data to servers owned by Oracle US and based within the country. The company also opened the first data center in Europe a year later on similar grounds.

Perhaps the most downloaded app worldwide, TikTok counts over 150 active users per month in the US alone.

Researchers suggest that Americans are increasingly using the app to keep up with the news. US activists use the Chinese social media giant to spread their messages, too, while it also helps US businesses – especially the smallest ones – to thrive.

This is why digital rights experts are concerned following the decision the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit filed on Friday.

Kate Ruane from the Centre for Democracy & Technology (CDT) told TechRadar: "The TikTok ban will immeasurably harm the free expression of hundreds of millions of TikTok users in the US and globally who use the app to create, to share information, to get their news, and promote their businesses. We hope the next phase of review of this misguided and overbroad law will be a chance to right this wrong and prevent it from going into effect."

How a TikTok VPN can help

A VPN (short for virtual private network) is security software that encrypts all your internet connections, to prevent third-party access, while spoofing your real IP address location. The latter is exactly what you need to bypass geo-restrictions on social media platforms, like those that could soon be enforced in the US against TikTok.

In case ByteDance refuses to sell by January 19, US authorities could block TikTok usage at an ISP (internet service provider) level. In this scenario, using a TikTok VPN will be an easy way to get around the block simply by connecting to a VPN server located outside the US, in a country where TikTok isn't banned.

Another option may be for the US government to order app stores to completely remove TikTok from their platforms. This means you won't be able to download and install the app from the official stores and will, instead, need to find an alternative source.

Experts warn that such a move, however, would de-facto put user data at major risk, as US users won't be able to keep updating their TikTok application to fix security bugs. Also, risks for malware infection are also greater when downloading apps from unofficial stores.

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