Light Start – Mac ransomware, more E3 losses, a self-cleaning loo, and SpaceX crash
Brett Venter
Ransomware strikes the Mac at last, demands Bitcoin to go away
If you have a Mac, you’re now at risk for ransomware. Ransomware, as the name implies, locks up files and demands money — or in this case, Bitcoin — to go away and leave you in peace. The new Mac-based Ransomware has been turning up in the Transmission BitTorrent client. The infected installation brings along malware knows as KeyRanger, which waits for three days and then encrypts your hard drive. Don’t be too panicked though, unless you’ve already been nailed. Transmission have fixed their client with a new installer version and Apple’s Gatekeeper will prevent KeyRanger from installing. It might be active on your machine if you installed Transmission recently — look for ‘kernel_service’ in the Activity Monitor and, if you find it, roll back to a backup before Transmission was installed. You do back up, right?
First it was Electronic Arts, who pulled away from the E3 convention to stage their own show in Los Angeles at the same time. Then it was Activision, who aren’t booking any floor space (but the likes of Sony will still be demoing their goods) in 2016. Now it seems that Disney and Wargaming have both pulled back from E3 2016. That’s the word according to VentureBeat, which says that both will be opting for their own direct events, straight to their players. Wargaming and Disney aren’t the largest exhibitors by a long shot but since Nintendo decided to start their Nintendo Direct events, this trickle has become a trend. Could this be the end of E3 as we know it? Er… probably not yet.
Boeing’s working on an airplane toilet that can clean itself
Have you ever been in an airplane toilet while flying over the Atlantic? It’s not pretty. It wasn’t pretty about five minutes after the Fasten Seat Belts sign was turned off but it’s particularly rank at that point. Boeing says they’re working on a solution of sorts, a self-cleaning airplane toilet which can be navigated without touching anything (taps, soap dispensers and the like are motion activated) and which bathes itself in UV light whenever it is vacant. Translation: Dead bacteria and even a slightly better smell, according to Boeing. Don’t expect it in any planes for a while, it’s still a concept for now.
SpaceX’s launch goes fine, landing on the drone ship was ‘hard’
We’ve been waiting for SpaceX to put one of their rockets down on those floating ocean platforms that someone decided would make an awesome landing spot (they’re right – far from civilians, they are. Also: less fuel needed). The latest launch, which was scrubbed several times, went off without a hitch this weekend. The landing, not so much. Elon Musk said via Twitter that the landing was “hard”, which isn’t the same as “explosive and catastrophic” but we’re still waiting on video. SpaceX were not expecting this landing attempt to work out but they’re a lot more optimistic about the next one. We’ll be watching that too.
