Tag Archive for: Cable

The Durable Begins Installation of the Iris Cable System

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The Durable Begins Installation of the Iris Cable System

By Icelandmonitor.mbl.is
May 25, 2022

Work started this morning in Þorlákshöfn on a new high-speed undersea cable system between Iceland and Ireland. The new cable is called IRIS and it spans approximately 1700 km and connects Þorlákshöfn in the southwest of Iceland with Ballyloughane Strand in Galway in Ireland. You could see heavy duty equipment in Þorlákshöfn this morning and the cable ship Durable was visible from the shore. Durable came to Iceland last Friday and preparation for the laying of the cable was prepared for the work that started this morning. The American company SubCom provides the cables and is responsible for the installation operation that started today.

IRIS ensures increased internet securityThe Durable began lading in Iceland and if work goes according to plan IRIS should be fully operational at the end of the year.

The undersea cable system IRIS is owned by Farice ehf., an Icelandic state run company. The company has been preparing this operation for a few years now. With IRIS in place the internet security of the country will be increased ten times to what it is right now, so the country should not lose internet connection under normal circumstances. There are already two undersea cable systems in operation, Farice 1 that connects Iceland to Scotland via the Faroe Islands and then Danice that connects Iceland to Denmark.

If the work process goes according to plan IRIS should be fully operational at the end of the year.

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YouTuber Demonstrates Fake Charging Cable That Can Hack Your Computer

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Whether you use Android or an iPhone, you’ve probably collected a fair tangle of charging cables by now: USB-C, micro-USB, mini-USB, lightning, you name it.

Moreover, a lot of other devices use the same cables to charge: Bluetooth headphones, speakers, keyboards, mice, photo cameras and more. Chances are you have a charging cable right now in your bag or on your desk.

But how much do you trust your charging cable? Did it come with the device? Is it the cheapest replacement you found online? Did you just borrow it from someone? Do you even remember where you got it?

These questions would usually seem silly, but not anymore because apparently not all chargers are what they seem. Although they look identical to the original, some can turn out to be complex electronic contraptions meant to track you, hack your devices, or even destroy them in a hardware attack.

Arun Maini demonstrates how similar to normal cables they are

The little cable that could

In a video posted on his YouTube channel, that quickly scooped up over 1.2 million views, British tech vlogger Arun Maini, also known as Mrwhosetheboss, quickly demonstrates how a USB stick, a charging cable, and a USB adapter that look like ordinary tech products can be used to remotely control a computer they’re plugged into, track your location if connected and wreak all kinds of havoc, from stealing passwords and information to deploying malware and destroying the device.

While Maini’s approach isn’t the most scientific one, and attack hardware like weaponized USB sticks have been around for a long time – for example, they’ve famously been used to attack a nuclear plant in the Middle East after an employee working at an industrial facility wanted to watch La La Land on his lunch break – he does prove a scary point.

Weaponized charging cables that look just like the real deal are commercially available and can be used even by the untrained. They can double as functioning charging cables and can even self-destruct if the malicious actor who planted them wants to cover his tracks.

What can you do to stay safe?

So, how can you tell a fake charging cable from a real one? You can’t. The only way to protect yourself, your home devices and…

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New USB Cable Contains Tiny Computer That Spies on Everything You Type

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A pseudonymous security researcher says they’re already mass producing the cables.

Plug and Play

Next time you buy a USB cord — or take a free one from a kiosk at an event — you’ll want to make sure it doesn’t spy on every single thing you type.

A cable that can do just that is now available, thanks to a pseudonymous cybersecurity researcher who goes by MG. MG told Motherboard that the so-called OMG cable looks just like any other, except for a tiny computer that can automatically record every single keystroke you take while it’s plugged in and transmit them to a hacker. 

“There were people who said that Type C cables were safe from this type of implant because there isn’t enough space. So, clearly, I had to prove that wrong. :),” MG told Motherboard.

Kicking Tires

MG has already started to mass-produce the OMG cable and sell it through the hacking community shop Hak5 — ostensibly for security research purposes rather than anything willfully malicious. As the product listing describes, the cable contains a web server, radio, and tiny processors all hidden within the wire itself.

In a test run, Motherboard reporter Joseph Cox used the OMG cable — specifically a USB-C to Lightning cable — to connect his keyboard to his Mac computer. A demo video shows a phone running the cable’s interface capturing every word that he typed.

MG told Motherboard that a hacker can run the interface from any web browser after connecting to the cable’s WiFi hotspot — a process that seems alarmingly straightforward for how much information it could expose. Needless to say, Apple, which developed lightning cables, ignored Motherboard‘s request for comment.

READ MORE: This Seemingly Normal Lightning Cable Will Leak Everything You Type [Motherboard]

More on hackers: Electric Vehicle Chargers Are Shockingly Vulnerable To Hacking

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EXCLUSIVE Pacific island turns to Australia for undersea cable after spurning China

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FILE PHOTO: An exterior view of the government offices of the small island nation of Nauru is pictured, February 10, 2012. REUTERS/Rod Henshaw/File Photo – RC2U6O9T1FKI

  • New plan involves laying cable from Nauru to Solomons – sources
  • Subsea cables raise regional security issues for U.S. and allies
  • Nauru helped sink World Bank project over China worry – sources

SYDNEY, June 24 (Reuters) – The Pacific island of Nauru is negotiating for the construction of an undersea communications cable that would connect to an Australian network, two sources with knowledge of the talks told Reuters, after the earlier rejection of a Chinese proposal.

The United States and its Pacific allies have concerns that cables laid by China could compromise regional security. Beijing has denied any intent to use commercial optic fibre cables, which have far greater data capacity than satellites, for spying.

Nauru, which has strong ties to U.S. ally Australia, helped scupper a World Bank-led cable tender earlier this year over concerns the contract would be awarded to the former Huawei Marine, now called HMN Tech, after the Chinese firm lodged a bid priced at more than 20% below rivals.

The tiny Pacific nation of just over 12,000 people has now approached the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help fund an alternative, the development agency told Reuters.

“ADB is involved in very early discussions with the government of Nauru to explore possible options to help fund an undersea cable to deliver low-cost, high quality internet service,” the ADB said in a statement to Reuters.

“The details of the connection arrangement and funding sources will be determined in due course.”

The two sources said the new plan would involve laying a cable from Nauru to the Solomon Islands capital of Honiara, located about 1,250 kilometres (776.7 miles) apart.

The new line would then tap into the Coral Sea Cable system, a 4,700km network that connects Australia to the Solomons and Papua New Guinea. That line, majority funded by Australia and built by Sydney-headquartered Vocus Group (VOC.AX), was completed in 2019 to shut out a competing offer from Huawei Marine, then owned by Huawei Technologies.

The former Huawei Marine is now majority owned…

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