China invades

Facepalm: One might imagine that with so many individuals caught smuggling hardware into China, people would decide it just wasn't worth the risk. But no. Not only has another person tried to avoid paying import taxes, but they also broke the record for the number of China-bound processors strapped to their body: an uncomfortable 239 CPUs, worth around $50,000. MyDrivers reports that the incident took place a few days ago. As is often the case, the smuggler made his way through the 'nothing to declare' lane at customs. But officials at Gongbei Port noticed he was wearing black baggy clothes. Nothing unusual there, you might think, but his appearance was said to be bloated and abnormal, which is usually a sign something is wrong. The man was taken aside by port authorities for further inspection. It was discovered that he had used the old, and rarely successful, technique of strapping computer hardware to his body. A massive 239 processors were wrapped in bags and taped to his … [Read more...] about Smuggler tries to sneak 239 CPUs past Chinese customs by strapping them to his body

Leaving a database exposed online without a password can be extremely damaging for both businesses and their customers. Despite this risk, a new report (opens in new tab) from NordPass (opens in new tab) has identified a total of 9,517 unsecured databases containing more than 10bn entries filled with data such as emails, passwords and phone numbers. To conduct its research, the company behind the new password manager partnered with a white hat hacker who scanned Elasticsearch and MongoDB libraries between June of last year and this year looking for exposed, unprotected databases. The exposed databases were found across 20 different countries with China, the US and India at the top of the list. China had nearly 4,000 exposed databases with 2.6bn entries, the US had 2,703 with 2.4bn entries and India had just 520 with 4.8m entries. We've put together a list of the best business password management software Create strong passwords easily with the best … [Read more...] about These countries have the most exposed databases online

There are essentially three areas in the world where clusters of private companies have started to develop small launch vehicles. The first such cluster emerged in the United States nearly two decades ago with SpaceX, which was then followed by Rocket Lab and about a dozen other serious companies. Next came China, with a profusion of quasi-private companies leveraging technology from the country's state-owned launch enterprises with private funding. The final region that has emerged in the last five years is in Europe. This European small launcher race has essentially followed a US model, with venture capital and investors backing a number of privately led efforts to develop commercially viable small satellite launchers. Much of this activity has been clustered in Germany and Great Britain, but Spanish and French companies are also in play. Because none of the dozen or so European companies have actually attempted an orbital launch attempt yet, it can be difficult to tell who is … [Read more...] about A front-runner emerges in the European small launcher race