Day: March 12, 2022

Categories
Cyber Security

Google to acquire cybersecurity firm Mandiant for $5.4 billion | CNBC

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Google said on Tuesday that it wants to purchase cybersecurity company Mandiant for $5.4 billion as part of a larger attempt to secure its cloud clients. The publicly listed company, which was launched in 2004, will be acquired for $23 per share by the Mountain View, California-based search engine. If authorities accept the transaction, it would be Google’s second-largest acquisition after the $12.5 billion Motorola Mobility acquisition in 2012. Two years later, Google sold the firm to Lenovo for $2.9 billion. Nest, a developer of smart home products, is Google’s third-largest purchase, which it paid $3.2 billion for in 2014. Alphabet is the parent company of Google. The transaction is likely to be completed later this year. 

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/08/google-plans-to-acquire-mandiant-for-5point4-billion.html 

Categories
Drones

How useful are Turkish-made drones fighting in Ukraine? | DW

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Several congratulations films using the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drone have been circulating on Ukrainian and Turkish social media sites in recent days. The movies, which include English and Turkish subtitles, claim that the Ukrainian military has successfully employed the drone against the Russian military on multiple occasions. They often contain images of Russian vehicles and equipment exploding or being destroyed. However, it has yet to be independently confirmed how effective the Bayraktar drones, also known as TB2s, were during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine has been operating TB2 drones since 2019 and has acquired around 50 in the last three years. Last Wednesday, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that it had bought an unidentified number of more TB2 drones, which were ready for war. 

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/how-useful-are-turkish-made-drones-fighting-in-ukraine/a-61035894 

Categories
Information Warfare

Why Vladimir Putin is losing the information war to Ukraine | Atlantic Council

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Vladimir Putin has long been known as an expert in information warfare. His use of social media as a weapon and relentless promotion of false narratives have proved crucial in a number of significant victories over the last decade, including the takeover of Crimea in 2014 and Donald Trump’s victory in 2016. This just adds to the astonishment of the present situation. Even though Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has only been underway for less than two weeks, it is apparent that the propaganda battle has been decisively defeated. Putin’s invasion has rendered Russia poisonous in ways that even his strong misinformation campaign has been unable to counteract. It has resulted in unprecedented international sanctions and the severance of all relations with the government by several of the world’s largest corporations. Even traditionally dependable allies like China are becoming more hesitant to openly support the Kremlin. 

Source: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/why-vladimir-putin-is-losing-the-information-war-to-ukraine/ 

Categories
Robots

Kawasaki’s Robot Ibex: Can It Be Tamed? | Spectrum.iee

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Bex is a robotic ibex created by Kawasaki and modeled after the ferociously horned type of goat found in various hilly parts of Africa and Eurasia. Bex made her maiden appearance at iREX in Japan this week, and we should discuss why a Kawasaki robot ibex exists today, other than the fact that it’s just so dang fun to say out loud. Since 2015, Kawasaki has been working on a “Robust Humanoid Platform” (RHP) named Kaleido, and Bex is one of the program’s “friends.” Bex looks to feature a hybrid mobility system featuring knee wheels on which it may kneel to move more swiftly on smooth and level terrain. It’s also worth mentioning that Bex has a seat and handlebars (! ), as well as the ability to transport up to 100 kg. 

Source: https://spectrum.ieee.org/kawasaki-robotics-bex 

Categories
Artificial Intelligence

AI can help historians restore ancient texts from damaged inscriptions | The New Scientist

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An artificial intelligence program built by historians and DeepMind, a UK-based AI company, can assist reconstruct ancient Greek writings with 72 per cent accuracy. The AI can also pinpoint with more than 70% accuracy where the writings were written in the ancient Mediterranean world and date them to within a few decades of their agreed-upon origination date. All of this is an advancement above the AI’s previous iteration, which could only reconstruct old writings. Ithaca could also, 71% of the time, determine where in the Mediterranean a work was written, and it could date the manuscripts to within 30 years of their original creation date, as historians have previously proven. 

Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2311657-ai-can-help-historians-restore-ancient-texts-from-damaged-inscriptions/