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Showing posts with label computer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label computer. Show all posts

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Computer glitch disrupts United flights

Hundreds of passengers at several U.S. airports are stranded after a glitch with United Airlines' computer systems.NEW: Airline spokesman says "network connectivity issue" is to blameNEW: United allows passengers to book new flights without penaltyOutage shuts down departures, reservation system for several hoursProblem creates long lines of stranded passengers in U.S. airports

(CNN) -- A computer problem that grounded United Airlines flights across the country has been repaired, the airline announced early Saturday.

The Chicago-based airline blamed the computer malfunction on "a network connectivity issue" Friday night.

The problem, "was resolved through troubleshooting procedures and restored at midnight," wrote United Airlines spokesman Charles Hobart in an e-mail to CNN.

"The airline issued a waiver policy permitting customers on affected flights to cancel or rebook their itineraries without penalty," Hobart said. "United apologizes for the disruption caused to travelers at affected airports and is re-accommodating travelers where necessary."

The computer malfunction brought United's system of scheduling departures, reservations and processing passengers to a halt at airports across the United States. The problem left passengers stranded for hours in grounded planes, airport lobbies and security lines.

Michael Goldenthal, who was on an airplane at O'Hare when the problem occurred, said it became apparent something was wrong as the flight was taxiing.

"We were on the runway when the pilot came on the P.A. and said they had lost contact with the company computer system which measured the weight of the plane," Goldenthal said.

Goldenthal said the aircraft taxied around for nearly an hour and then returned to the gate for additional fuel. But passengers were not allowed to get off.

Long lines of people could be seen at airports in cities across the country, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver. Many passengers sat on the floor as they waited.

Chris Hou and his wife, Jennifer, became stranded at Los Angeles International Airport while waiting on a connecting flight to Denver.

"We're pretty easy going people. We travel a lot. We understand that problems happen," Chris Hou told CNN. "I just think there would be a little more information. All they say is 'we have a computer problem.' By the time you get to hour three, it gets a little frustrating."

Hou told CNN less than a hour later that he and his wife were about to board a plane to Denver.

CNN's Greg Morrison contributed to this report


CNN

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Anthony trial: 'Chloroform' searched on computer


(CNN) -- Someone conducted keyword searches on "chloroform" using a desktop computer located in the home Casey Anthony shared with her parents, a computer examiner testified Wednesday in Anthony's capital murder trial.


The searches were found in a portion of the computer's hard drive that indicated they had been deleted, Detective Sandra Osborne of the Orange County Sheriff's Office testified.


However, she told jurors, deleted material remains on a computer's hard drive and can be retrieved until it is overwritten by new data. It had not been overwritten on the Anthonys' computer, she said, and "a complete Internet history" was obtained.


Anthony, 25, faces seven counts in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, including first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and misleading investigators. If convicted, she could face the death penalty.


The toddler's family last saw her on June 16, 2008, but no one alerted police until July 15, when the girl's maternal grandmother tracked down the suspect and demanded answers.


Prosecutors allege Anthony used chloroform on her daughter and suffocated her by putting duct tape over the little girl's mouth and nose. They allege Anthony put her daughter's body in her car trunk before disposing of it. Caylee's skeletal remains were found in December 2008, less than a mile from the home of Anthony's parents.


Anthony has pleaded not guilty and denied having anything to do with her daughter's death. Defense attorney Jose Baez has said that when all the facts are known, it will become clear his client is innocent.


The searches using the keyword "chloroform" were conducted in March, three months before Caylee disappeared, according to testimony.


It appears the computer user first searched for "chloraform" on Google and received results for "chloroform," said John Bradley, owner of the software development company that created the software used to retrieve the data. One of the search results was from Wikipedia.org, which was accessed, he testified.


It also appeared searches were conducted using terms such as "inhalation," "self-defense," "meningeal artery," "ruptured spleen," "alcohol" and "head injury," he said. The user either typed those terms in to search, Bradley said, or in some instances might have clicked on links on the Wikipedia site to go to a different page.


Searches were also conducted on "how to make chloroform," "neck breaking" and "making weapons out of household products," Bradley testified.


During his cross-examination, Baez attempted to show that the user apparently did not spend a great deal of time looking at the pages referencing chloroform. Only a few seconds elapsed in some cases before the next site was accessed, Bradley said.


Bradley agreed with Baez's assertion that the links do not tell jurors what was on the websites accessed, and that some could have been jokes or information on self-defense. He also agreed he could not say how closely the user was examining the websites or whether a user was looking at multiple browsers.


While there were two user-created profiles on the computer, Osborne told Baez she could not tell who performed the searches.


She also testified she found no reference to chloroform on a computer belonging to Ricardo Morales, Anthony's former boyfriend. Shown a photo Morales earlier admitted posting on his MySpace page featuring a couple with the caption, "Win her over with chloroform," Osborne said either it had been deleted and overwritten or posted from another computer.


She said a keyword search would not necessarily have located the picture, since the keyword was embedded in pixels in the picture. Morales earlier testified he posted the photo as a joke.


Osborne said she also was asked to find any records on the computer relating to a Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez. Anthony told authorities Gonzalez, who had been Caylee's nanny for years, abducted her.


Osborne testified she found searches for Gonzalez on people search sites, Google and high school class reunion sites, along with the social networking site MySpace. All of those searches were conducted on July 16, 2008 -- the day after Caylee was reported missing to authorities, she testified.


But Osborne said she found no searches for Gonzalez before that date, another blow to Anthony's claims to authorities that she had been frantically searching for Gonzalez and her daughter during the month before police were notified Caylee was missing.


Anthony's former boyfriend, friends and acquaintances who saw her during that time recalled her shopping, eating out, going to parties and hitting nightclubs, but all of them testified she never mentioned her missing daughter and none of them noticed any change in her demeanor.


Her mother testified that Anthony had moved out of her parents' home about the time Caylee went missing, offering little in the way of explanation, and that when she inquired after Caylee, she was told she was with her nanny.


Police were never able to find the nanny. They did find a woman named Zenaida Gonzalez, who denied ever meeting Anthony or Caylee and later sued for defamation.


Earlier Wednesday, jurors heard testimony that a second cadaver dog alerted to the potential scent of human remains in the backyard of the Anthony home, but -- like the first dog -- failed to do so again once land in that area was disturbed.


Within three to four minutes of being given a command to search in the yard, "I saw there was an area of interest he kept going back to and sniffing pretty hard," Osceola County, Florida, sheriff's Sgt. Kristin Brewer said of her dog, Bones. The dog made a second lap around the backyard and then gave his final alert -- sitting down, she said.


The alert was within six to eight feet of that made the same day, July 17, 2008, by another cadaver dog, named Gerus, Brewer said -- although she did not find that out until afterward.


She said she and Bones returned to the Anthony home the following day, but several crime scene units were working there and "a lot of dirt, mulch, pavers ... changed the landscape quite a bit."


Bones did not alert to any locations in the yard on the second search, she said. Gerus also did not alert the second day, Gerus' handler, Orange County sheriff's Deputy Jason Forgey, testified Tuesday.


Gerus also alerted to the smell of human remains in the trunk of Anthony's car, Forgey testified Tuesday. When the dog passed around Anthony's white Pontiac Sunfire on July 17, 2008, "he started indicating in the rear of the vehicle," Forgey said. "I could tell he was working something."


After the trunk was opened, Gerus put his front paws inside and then lay down, signaling that he had detected the scent of remains.


Forgey explained the conflicting results in the Anthony backyard by saying that he believed Gerus alerted to a scent on the surface of the land. Once technicians disturbed the surface, he said, the scent was diminished "where the dog wouldn't find it. It was gone at that point."


On cross-examination, however, Forgey said he does not know the real reason behind the conflicting alerts. Still, he said, "in every single time (Gerus has) had an alert besides this case, he's had a find," that is, he found remains.


Brewer offered a similar explanation on Wednesday. "Whatever he was alerting to could have been moved or destroyed or dissipated because of all the work that had been done," she said, "or they may just not have dug enough to find what was below the surface."


A crime scene investigator, the operator of a towing company and members of Anthony's family all have testified they smelled a bad odor coming from Anthony's car after it was found abandoned in a parking lot on June 27, 2008, and then towed four days later.


A bag of trash found in the trunk, which had been sitting there for weeks during a Florida summer, has been suggested as a possible source of the odor. But Forgey told Burdick his dog does not alert on trash, and has been trained around garbage.


Forgey told Baez that he's smelled human decomposition on numerous occasions and "I smelled it clear as day" in Anthony's car.


Also Tuesday, FBI forensic chemist Michael Rickenbach testified he analyzed pieces of Anthony's trunk liner, carpet and parts of the spare tire cover, among other items.


On those, he said, chloroform "residue" was found, but it was at low levels. But he did not want to offer specific levels, saying it would not be appropriate because he conducted qualitative testing, confirming chloroform's presence, rather than quantitative testing, which would detect its level.


Under questioning from prosecutor Jeff Ashton, Rickenbach said the samples were sent to him in a cardboard box, not a sealed container, which could have allowed some of the chloroform to evaporate, lowering the levels present. Having the car trunk open for a time might also lower the levels, he said.


On Monday, Arpad Vass, a senior research scientist at Tennessee's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, testified that the presence of chloroform on a carpet sample from the trunk was found at a "shockingly high" level -- far beyond what normally would be seen in environmental samples.


Both Vass and Rickenbach tested the carpet inside the trunk. However, Vass, who is not a chemist, was attempting to find compounds associated with human decomposition. Rickenbach was specifically testing for the presence of chloroform.

Vass told jurors in the Orlando courtroom that the presence of a decomposing human body is the only plausible explanation for the odor in Anthony's trunk and the results found in forensic testing.

In Session's Michael Christian contributed to this report.

var cnnOmniPartner="TV-Nancy Grace"Watch Nancy Grace Monday through Sunday starting at 8 p.m. ET on HLN. For the latest from Nancy Grace click here.


CNN

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Keep your Apple computer safe from Mac Defender malware (Yahoo! News)

One of the benefits of going with an Apple computer over a Windows-based machine is that most viruses and malware programs are designed to exploit Windows architecture, leaving Macs much less vulnerable. Earlier this month, some Apple forum-goers began reporting that a malicious program called Mac Defender was on the loose, tricking unsuspecting users into giving up credit card information and other information.

After being installed on a computer, which Apple warns can be done automatically and without a user's knowledge, the program performs a fake "scan" of the machine and reports that a virus is present. In the brief moment of panic that such a declaration can produce in many computer users, the malevolent program offers to remove the non-existent virus for a small fee, payable by credit card. But the scam doesn't end there; the unauthorized third party can now wreak havoc using the stolen financial information.

In the days since its discovery, Apple has acknowledged the threat is real, and the company is reportedly hard at work on an update that will remove the software. Until then, the Mac makers have posted a handy removal guide for those who prefer to take matters into their own hands. Follow the steps below — straight from Apple — to remove Mac Defender and make sure your computer is clean.

Move or close the Scan WindowGo to the Utilities folder in the Applications folder and launch Activity MonitorChoose All Processes from the pop up menu in the upper right corner of the windowUnder the Process Name column, look for the name of the app and click to select it; common app names include: MacDefender, MacSecurity or MacProtectorClick the Quit Process button in the upper left corner of the window and select QuitQuit Activity Monitor applicationOpen the Applications folderLocate the app ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtector or other nameDrag to Trash, and empty TrashOpen System Preferences, select Accounts, then Login ItemsSelect the name of the app you removed in the steps above ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtectorClick the minus button

Upon completing these steps, your Mac should be completely free of the offending program, but it's still crucial to keep your computer up to date on all suggested software updates.

Apple via VentureBeat

More from Tecca:


Yahoo! News


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Saturday, May 14, 2011

Computer glitch voids green card lottery results

Millions apply for 50,000 permanent visas issued a year "We regret any inconvenience this might have caused," State Department saysResults from a new lottery will be announced in July

(CNN) -- The State Department apologized for a computer glitch that invalidated results for thousands who thought they were chosen in the most recent green card visa lottery.

Millions of people worldwide apply for the 50,000 permanent resident visas issued a year to relocate to the U.S.

A computer randomly picks would-be immigrants who then undergo interviews, background checks and medical exams before visas can be issued.

"Due to a computer programming problem, the results of the 2012 diversity lottery that were previously posted on this website have been voided," the State Department said in a statement Friday. "We regret any inconvenience this might have caused."

The results of lottery were not valid, and the drawing will be redone.

"They did not represent a fair random selection of the entrants, which is required by U.S. law," said David Donahue, a deputy assistant for the State Department.

The issue has been resolved and officials expect to do another selection in July, Donahue said.


CNN


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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Iran official: New computer worm found

Iran's nukes under cyber attackvar cnnWindowParams = window.location.toString().toQueryParams();if(typeof cnnWindowParams.video != "undefined") {if(cnnWindowParams.video) {cnnLoadStoryPlayer('bestoftv/2011/04/26/exp.tsr.todd.iran.cyber.attack.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);}} else {$('cnnCVP2').onclick = function() {if ($$('.box-opened').length) {$$('.box-opened').each(function(val){Element.fireEvent(val, 'click');});}cnnLoadStoryPlayer('bestoftv/2011/04/26/exp.tsr.todd.iran.cyber.attack.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseover = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn cnn_mtt1plybttnon';};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseout = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn';};}The announcement comes less than a year after Iranian nuclear facilities were targetedAt the time a computer worm appeared to focus on Iran's nuclear production capabilityThe announcement left unclear which facilities are targeted by the new worm

(CNN) -- Iran has been targeted by a new computer worm named Stars, according to an Iranian official.

"The damage is very slight in the initial stage," defense official Gholam Reza Jalali told the semi-official news agency Mehr.

It was unclear how long ago the worm was discovered or which systems in Iran it was designed to penetrate.

"It is compatible with the (targeted) system," Jalali said, and "it is likely to be mistaken for executable files of the government."

The announcement comes less than a year after Iranian nuclear facilities were targeted by a highly specialized computer worm called Stuxnet. It was apparently designed to secretly infiltrate the centrifuge machines that refine uranium and make them spin so fast they would break, according to David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security.

"About 10% of the centrifuges were destroyed by Stuxnet," he said, which resulted in a setback for the Iranian nuclear program by as much as a year.

Iranian officials have said they believe last year's Stuxnet cyberattack originated in Israel and the United States, but officials from neither country have commented on the malware's origin. An American and an Israeli representative reached by CNN about the latest report again declined to comment.

I'm sure they will start thinking about retaliation
--David Albright, Institute for Science and International Security

An official with Symantec, a computer security firm that decoded the Stuxnet program last year, said a sample would be required for the company to forensically study the latest program for clues to its origin and its target.

"Until we have that, we can only guess at this point," said John Harrison, with Symantec's security response group.

An Iranian official at the United Nations, Alireza Miryousefi, said he could provide no further details on the latest attack. But in a statement, he said, "These sabotages -- (such) as producing computer viruses and the assassination of our nuclear scientists -- are outright criminal and illegal, aimed at preventing Iranians from implementing their peaceful nuclear rights."

Last year, in addition to the computer worm attack, two Iranian nuclear scientists were attacked by unknown assailants with car bombs. One of them was killed.

Albright warned that the latest cyberattack on Iran could prompt a response.

"Iran doesn't usually take things lying down," he said. "I'm sure they will start thinking about retaliation. They'll probably think of trying to launch a cyberattack."

CNN's Brian Todd and Pam Benson contributed to this report.


CNN


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