Bytes: What’s new in tech
Ransomware gets less lucrative
Security analysts believe there have been fewer ransomware attacks this year because more companies have resisted paying the hackers, said Hannah Murphy in the Financial Times. After an explosion of ransomware attacks, in which a hacker seizes and holds a victim’s computer system hostage for a ransom, in 2020 and 2021, there’s been “a 23 percent drop in the number of ransomware attempts” this year. When cases have emerged, only 46 percent of victims have paid the attackers. In 2019, “85 percent of ransomware cases handled by cybersecurity group Coveware ended in a payment.” The U.S. government has argued against paying ransomware hackers, saying it emboldens them. Additionally, only 4 percent of the organizations that paid a ransom in 2021 were able to retrieve all their data.
Zoom goes to the movie theater
The videoconferencing company and pandemic phenomenon Zoom is trying very hard to expand beyond the computer screen, said Kevin Hurler in Gizmodo. Soon, “Tesla drivers will be able to take advantage of Zoom to make video calls” from the tablet console in their EVs “as well as sync Zoom meetings to their in-car calendar.” The full feature can only be used when the car is in park, although “users will be able to rely on Zoom audio calls” while the car is being driven. A separate partnership with AMC “will turn certain theaters into glorified conference rooms called Zoom Rooms.” Companies can book a threehour time slot at a participating AMC “to host meetings and virtual events.” Reservations can include food, beverages, and “possible movie viewings.”
Long voyage ends for X-37B
The military’s mysterious X-37B spaceplane landed back on Earth last week after 908 days—more than two and a half years—in orbit, said Emma Roth in The Verge. The Boeing-made crewless spaceplane, “which looks like a smaller version of NASA’s Space Shuttle, first took flight in 2010, and we haven’t learned much about its purpose since.” The U.S. Space Force did reveal that it deployed a satellite developed by the U.S. Air Force Academy in October 2021 that hosted a special “photovoltaic radiofrequency antenna” designed to “convert solar rays into microwave energy.” NASA also used the mission to test “space exposure on seeds,” to plan for crop production “for interplanetary missions” and “permanently inhabited bases in space.”