For such a tiny piece of tech, a good wireless microphone can have an outsize impact on the quality of your videos. If you’ve been waiting for a serious sale to pick up a mic of your own, Cyber Monday may be your chance. The DJI Mic Mini kit is on sale for more than half off at B&H Photo Video: you can snag it for a mere $80. That’s an all-time low price compared to the set’s usual $170 price tag. The full package includes two mics, a receiver and a charging case, as well as two windscreens and other accessories.

Depending on what peripherals you need along with your wireless microphone, DJI has several other promising Cyber Monday deals. If you don’t want the charging case, you can get the Mic Mini without for just $66, which is a of 45 percent discount. Another option is a bundle featuring a single mic, receiver, charging dock and accessories for $45, or 49 percent off the regular price.  

DJI’s Mic Mini microphones (transmitters) weigh just a third of an ounce and attach easily to subjects via magnets or clips. Everything pairs automatically and they offer high quality 24-bit, 20Hz to 20K Hz recording. They also connect easily to smartphones over Bluetooth and other DJI devices like the Action 5 Pro and Osmo Pocket 3 cams using DJI’s OsmoAudio direct connection. With a range of 1300 feet and 48 hours of battery life with the charger case, they’re an excellent addition to a creator’s bag of tricks. Again, note that you can grab one a big cheaper without the charging case. 

DJI’s Mic Mini deal includes two mic transmitters and a receiver that can be connected to a camera or phone, along with the charging case, two windscreens, a splitter USB-C cable for charging, a 3.5mm camera audio cable, two magnetic clips, a smartphone adapter, a charging cable and a compact carrying case. At this price the deal may not last the week, so if you’ve been eyeing one, act quickly.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/dji-cyber-monday-deals-include-the-mic-mini-kit-with-a-charging-case-on-sale-for-just-80-110007210.html?src=rss

If you need a stocking stuffer for a tech enthusiast in your life, a microSD Express card is a petite but powerful option. And this Cyber Monday, the prices have come down enough that you might also want to splurge and get one for yourself. One notable deal available now is the Samsung P9 microSD Express Card, which is on sale for $75. That’s a quarter off its usual list price to add 512GB to your device.

This Samsung microSD model is one of the few that is currently compatible with the Nintendo Switch 2. On its own, a microSD card might feel a little underwhelming as a standalone gift, but it’s actually a very useful addition if you’re presenting someone with some new Nintendo hardware this holiday, because modern game file sizes are pretty dang hefty. That means if you want to have easy access to more than a few titles in your game library, more storage is a must. If the 512GB option feels like overkill, the 256GB version of Samsung’s Nintendo 2 microSD card is also 35 percent off at $39.

But Nintendo fans aren’t the only ones who can appreciate more digital storage. MicroSD cards are useful for a range of other gaming handhelds, as well as a bonus for drone enthusiasts and even some tablet owners. And if Samsung isn’t your brand of choice, there are several other options that are also on sale for Cyber Monday. The Lexar 256GB Play PRO microSD Express Card is going for about $49. The SanDisk 256GB microSD Express Card currently costs $60, and SanDisk’s 512GB option is down to about $89.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-nintendo-switch-2-compatible-samsung-p9-microsd-express-card-is-25-percent-off-for-cyber-monday-100034365.html?src=rss

Clean up literally and figuratively this Cyber Monday with discounts on vacuums from Dyson. One of our top picks for a robot vacuum is the Dyson 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum, which is on sale right now for a record low price of $400. That’s a $600 savings on this simple and effective cleaning tool.

In our testing, the Dyson 360 Vis Nav robot vac was one of the most powerful models for suction, making it a good option for households with pets, and it also impressed for its obstacle avoidance. It has Wi-Fi connectivity and an easy-to-use mobile app from Dyson, but the 360 Vis Nav doesn’t have a self-emptying dust bin and no mopping capabilities. Since this model doesn’t boast too many high-end features, a sale like Cyber Monday is a great time to take advantage for people who want a simple and reliable choice for keeping floors clean.

Cordless vacuums are also a part of the sale. Take the Dyson V9 Motorbar cordless vacuum on sale for just $270 at both Dyson and Amazon, which is a discount of $330. That’s more than half off. Dyson devices are all over our list of the best cordless vacuums, and for good reason. The company makes effective products. The V9 Motorbar has been designed to clean all floor types, in addition to upholstery. It’s also been engineered to squeeze into tight spots, which is great for hitting those oft-neglected parts of the home.

The suction power is on point and the battery lasts for 40 minutes before requiring a charge. That’s just enough time to vacuum a standard-sized home if you don’t stop for too many breaks. The V9 is getting a bit long-in-the-tooth. If you want a newer model, the V11 Extra is on sale for $400, which is a discount of $260. This one boosts the suction power and increases the battery life to 60 minutes.

More Dyson Cyber Monday deals

• Dyson V11 cordless vacuum for $400 ($260 off) at Amazon and Dyson

• Dyson V9 Motorbar cordless vacuum for $270 ($330 off) at Amazon and Dyson

• Dyson V12 Detect Slim cordless vacuum for $400 ($330 off) at Amazon and Dyson

• Dyson AM09 Hot+Cool jet focus heater and fan for $300 ($200 off) at Amazon and Dyson

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/dyson-cyber-monday-deals-robot-vacuums-and-cordless-vacuums-are-up-to-600-off-right-now-090059733.html?src=rss

Their announcement calls it “more than a multicloud solution,” saying it’s “a step toward a more open cloud environment. The API specifications developed for this product are open for other providers and partners to adopt, as we aim to simplify global connectivity for everyone.”

Amazon and Google are introducing “a jointly developed multicloud networking service,” reports Reuters. “The initiative will enable customers to establish private, high-speed links between the two companies’ computing platforms in minutes instead of weeks.”

The new service is being unveiled a little over a month after an Amazon Web Services outage on October 20 disrupted thousands of websites worldwide, knocking offline some of the internet’s most popular apps, including Snapchat and Reddit. That outage will cost U.S. companies between $500 million and $650 million in losses, according to analytics firm Parametrix.

Google and Amazon are promising “high resiliency” through “quad-redundancy across physically redundant interconnect facilities and routers,” with both Amazon and Google continuously watching for issues. (And they’re using MACsec encryption between the Google Cloud and AWS edge routers, according to Sunday’s announcement:

As organizations increasingly adopt multicloud architectures, the need for interoperability between cloud service providers has never been greater. Historically, however, connecting these environments has been a challenge, forcing customers to take a complex “do-it-yourself” approach to managing global multi-layered networks at scale…. Previously, to connect cloud service providers, customers had to manually set up complex networking components including physical connections and equipment; this approach required lengthy lead times and coordinating with multiple internal and external teams. This could take weeks or even months. AWS had a vision for developing this capability as a unified specification that could be adopted by any cloud service provider, and collaborated with Google Cloud to bring it to market.

Now, this new solution reimagines multicloud connectivity by moving away from physical infrastructure management toward a managed, cloud-native experience.

Reuters points out that Salesforce “is among the early users of the new approach, Google Cloud said in a statement.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Holiday shopping can be tough because you may only have so much money to spend on gifts and things for yourself. Sticking to your budget might be more important to you this year than ever, and you’re looking for deals that can help you do that. Engadget can help with that, at least in the electronics department. Yes, there are plenty of great deals on big-ticket items this year like game consoles and robot vacuums, but it would be a mistake to think you can snag an excellent gadget for $100 or less. If that sounds like just what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place. Here, we’ve curated the best Cyber Monday deals on tech you can get for $100 or less.

Best Cyber Monday deals for $100 or less

Apple AirTags (four pack) for $63 (36 percent off): iPhone users who frequently misplace things should invest in a few AirTags. Slip them into your wallet, bag, jacket and other belongings to keep track of their locations in the Find My app. Just make sure that, if you’re going to attach one to your keys, you also pick up an AirTag holder to go along with it.

Audible — three months for $3 + $20 Audible credit: For literally $1 per month, you can get access to Audible’s enormous library of published audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals (which can be anything from never-before-heard books to live performances). It’s only three months, after which you’ll have to cancel or renew at the regular price, but an audiobibliophile can cram a lot of listening into 90 days.

Amazon Smart Plug for $13 ($12 off): Getting into the smart home space can seem daunting, but opting for a small but powerful device like the Amazon Smart Plug can make it much easier. It’s one of our favorite smart plugs because it’s almost entirely plug-and-play. It’s super simple to set up and then you can control almost anything you plug into it with Alexa voice commands or mobile app. The only caveat is that it only supports Alexa voice control, making it the best option for those who already use Amazon’s voice assistant often.

Starz — one year for $12: Pay upfront for one year and you can get more than $50 off a Stars annual subscription. There’s a month-to-month option too, which costs $3 per month for the first three months if you don’t want to commit to the full year. Either option gives you access to the entire Starz TV and movie library with offline viewing and no ads.

LEGO Botanicals Happy Plants Building Toys 10349 for $18 (20 percent off): Here’s an ideal Secret Santa gift — everyone loves Legos and these cheery little guys will keep your giftee company at their desk or on a windowsill, and are the lowest-maintenance plants around. Also at Target and Walmart; it’s one of many Lego Cyber Monday deals you can get right now.

Roku Streaming Stick Plus for $19 (52 percent off): This is one of the best Roku devices to get if you’re on a budget and just want to make an aging TV set feel a little bit newer. This model supports 4K HDR content, has pretty accurate universal search and gives you access to a ton of free content to watch via Roku’s streaming OS.

Apple TV+ — 6 months for $36: Apple TV+ is offering six months of access for only $36 for Cyber Monday, which comes out to a discounted price of $6 per month for the six-month period. The deal is live now for new and eligible returning subscribers and runs through December 1, giving you a chance to stream shows like Silo, The Morning Show and For All Mankind for less. The biggest caveat to the deal is that you must subscribe directly through Apple and not through a third-party service.

HBO Max — one year for $36: HBO Max’s Cyber Monday deal gives subscribers one year streaming for $36 through December 1. This Cyber Monday streaming deal is on the ad-supported option, which normally goes for $11 per month. With this discount, you’re getting it for $3 per month for one year. You can sign up via HBO Max’s website or, if you’re a Prime Video subscriber already, via that service as an add-on.

Twelve South AirFly SE Bluetooth Audio Transmitter for $26 ($14 off): If you (or someone on your gift list) travels by plane a lot, they might appreciate this dongle. It adds a Bluetooth connection to any 3.5mm aux audio jack so they can use their AirPods or other wireless buds to watch in-flight entertainment. $26 isn’t the lowest price we’ve seen (it went as low as $16 earlier this year).

Govee Smart LED Light Bars for $30 ($20 off, Prime exclusive): Another of our stocking stuffer picks are these smart LED light bars from Govee. They can stand up or lie flat so they can go just about anywhere and are infinitely adjustable via the app. You can even set them to light up in sync with your music. Alexa and the Google Assistant will let you control them with just your voice (and a smart speaker).

DJI Mic Mini wireless lav mic for $66 (45 percent off): Content creators or anyone who just needs higher quality audio in the videos they make will want a wireless microphone like the DJI Mic Mini. Its lightweight and easily attaches to almost anything via clips or magnets, and it pairs easily with smartphones and cameras via Bluetooth. You can also get a configuration that includes a charging case for $80.

LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon A New Hope 25th Anniversary Collectable 75375 for $68 (20 percent off): This is a set that any Star Wars fan will love to build and then love to display once it’s complete. The 921-piece set features a fully-detailed Millennium Falcone, buildable stand and nameplate.

Samsung P9 microSD Express card (512GB) for $75 (25 percent off): There are only a handful of microSD Express cards on the market right now, and they are the type you need if you want to expand the storage on your new Switch 2. After testing a bunch of these cards to find the best microSD Express card for Switch 2, our biggest takeaway was that most of the ones on the market right now work well and you should get the capacity you want at the cheapest price you can find. This is a great deal on a 512GB card, and there are other Cyber Monday deals on 256GB cards, too.

Google TV Streamer 4K for $75 ($25 off): Our top pick for the best streaming device right now, the latest version of Google’s streamer supports 4K video and an excellent, easy-to-use interface that will feel familiar to anyone who’s seen a set with the Google TV technology built in. It provides access to all of the major streaming services including Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, YouTube and more, plus it has a handy on-screen pop up that lets you control all compatible smart home devices right from your TV.

Amazon Kindle for $80 ($25 off): Amazon’s entry-level Kindle is the best budget e-reader on the market right now, with a compact and durable design, plus a crisp display. If you already have a bunch of ebooks purchased through the Kindle Store, it’s one of the best options for you, and Amazon’s Whispersync feature lines up where you are in the e-printed version with the narration if you go back and forth between reading and listening to Audible audiobooks.

Anker Laptop Power Bank (25K, 100W) for $88 (35 percent off): A top pick in our guide to the best power banks, this Anker brick is kind of a one-and-done device. It has enough capacity to charge all sorts of devices from smartphones to laptops to handheld gaming consoles, and it has two built-in USB-C cables so you don’t even have to remember to bring your own to use it. Also available at Anker.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-best-cyber-monday-deals-for-100-or-less-score-big-discounts-on-apple-anker-streaming-services-and-more-080046748.html?src=rss

Cyber Monday is a fitting time to snag great deals on cybersecurity products, such as a subscription to a VPN. Ongoing access to a VPN keeps your online activity private, which is particularly useful during the holiday season, whether you’re doing lots of online shopping, making travel plans or simply accessing the seasonal rom-coms from a streaming service’s other markets. In honor of Cyber Monday, Proton VPN is offering a discount of 75 percent off two years of access to its VPN Plus tier. You can currently purchase a subscription for $59.76, which works out to $2.49 per month. That yields overall savings of $180 on the company’s usual $10 a month pricing.

Proton VPN is our pick for the best VPN overall because it checks all of the boxes it needs to. There is a free plan with unlimited data, but with that you can only connect to servers in a few countries and the connection might not be fast enough for you to watch anything from your preferred streaming service’s library in that locale. The VPN Plus tier unlocks a lot more options, such as the ability to connect to 15,000 servers across more than 120 countries and simultaneous protection for up to 15 devices.

The apps are well-designed — Proton has clients for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android — and it’s easy to find a feature or setting you’re looking for. In our testing, Proton VPN Plus had a relatively small impact on browsing speeds. Our download speeds dropped by 12 percent and uploads by 4 percent, while the global average ping remained below 300 ms (which is especially impressive if you’re connecting to a server on the other side of the planet).

Perhaps, most importantly, though, it’s Proton’s commitment to privacy that helps make its VPN an easy recommendation. There’s a no-logs policy, meaning it does not log user activity or any identifiable characteristics of devices that connect to the VPN. Proton’s servers use full-disk encryption to bolster privacy as well.

Proton VPN is not the only service to offer a Cyber Monday VPN deal this year, of course. There are plenty of others available on services we like. Here are the best of the bunch if you’re looking for an alternative to Proton VPN.

• Surfshark One (24 months + 3 free months) for $59.13 (88 percent off): A VPN is great, but it’s not enough to protect your data all on its own. Surfshark One adds several apps that boost your security beyond just VPN service, including Surfshark Antivirus (scans devices and downloads for malware) and Surfshark Alert (alerts you whenever your sensitive information shows up in a data breach), plus Surfshark Search and Alternative ID from the tier below. This extra-low deal gives you 88 percent off all those features.

• NordVPN Plus (24 months + 3 free months) for $105.03 (74 percent off): NordVPN has taken 74 percent off its Plus subscription for Cyber Monday. For only a little more, you get a powerful ad and tracker blocker that can also catch malware downloads, plus access to the NordPass password manager. A Plus plan also adds a data breach scanner that checks the dark web for your sensitive information.

• CyberGhost (24 months + 4 free months) for $56.94 (84 percent off): CyberGhost has some of the best automation you’ll see on any VPN. With its Smart Rules system, you can determine how its apps respond to different types of Wi-Fi networks, with exceptions for specific networks you know by name. Typically, you can set it to auto-connect, disconnect or send you a message asking what to do. CyberGhost’s other best feature is its streaming servers — I’ve found both better video quality and more consistent unblocking when I use them on streaming sites.

• Private Internet Access (36 months + 4 free months) for $79.20 (83 percent off): Private Internet Access (PIA) is giving out the best available price right now on a VPN I’d recommend using. With this deal, you can get 40 months of PIA for just under $2 per month — an 83 percent discount on its monthly price. Despite being so cheap, PIA has plenty of features, coming with its own DNS servers, a built-in ad blocker and automation powers to rival CyberGhost. However, internet speeds can fluctuate while you’re connected.

• ExpressVPN Basic (15 months) for $74.85 (61 percent off): ExpressVPN may be the most user-friendly VPN for sale right now, with fast download speeds (only 7 percent losses in our last test), quick connections and apps designed to stay out of your way. It’s not the most feature-rich, but it excels at any bread-and-butter VPN task, staying leak-free and unblocking Netflix everywhere. You also get access to server locations in 105 countries.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/cyber-monday-vpn-deals-get-75-percent-off-proton-vpn-two-year-plans-plus-save-on-nordvpn-expressvpn-and-more-070013207.html?src=rss

Amazon might be best known for its Prime Day shopping sprees, but the retailer also has plenty of big bargains for Cyber Monday, including on its own-brand items. Right now, you can pick up the Amazon Smart Plug for $13, which is the lowest price we’ve seen for this piece of home tech. The Smart Plug usually costs $25, so you’re getting nearly half off if you buy during this sale.

The Amazon product is one of our selections for the best smart plugs on the market. It’s an excellent addition for homes that rely on a lot of Alexa-enabled devices. The smart plug can be easily set up in the Alexa app and is, appropriately, a plug-and-play part of your home’s gadgetry.

Once connected, you’ll be able to use any device with Alexa to control whatever it’s plugged into. For instance, you can group multiple plugs together as lights and then just say “Alexa, turn all the lights off” and it’ll do just that. They are compatible with just about any household device with a physical on/off switch, including lamps and coffee makers.

While these are the perfect smart plugs for Alexa households, they are only for Alexa households. The plugs don’t integrate with any other digital assistant. They are still the best choice for those tied into the ecosystem. Other smart plugs on sale for Cyber Monday include the Kasa Mini smart plugs; you can get a four-pack for $24.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/get-the-amazon-smart-plug-for-a-record-low-price-on-cyber-monday-060008101.html?src=rss

After a successful November 27th launch to the International Space Station, Russia discovered an accident had occurred on their launch site’s mobile maintenance cabin — when a drone spotted it lying upside down in a flame trench.

“The main issue with the structure collapse is that it puts Site 31/6 — the only Russian launch site capable of launching crew and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) — out of service until the structure is fixed,” reports the space-news site NASA Spaceflight

There are other Soyuz 2 rocket launch pads, but they are either located at an unsuitable latitude, like Plesetsk, or not certified for crewed flights, like Vostochny, or decommissioned and transferred to a museum, like Gagarin’s Start at Baikonur. As a result, Russia is temporarily unable to launch Soyuz crewed spacecraft and Progress cargo ships to the ISS, whose nearest launch (Progress MS-33) was scheduled for December 21….

When the rocket launched, a pressure difference was created between the space under the rocket, where gases from running engines are discharged, and the nook where the [144-ton] maintenance cabin was located. The resulting pressure difference pulled the service cabin out of the nook and threw it into the flame trench, where it fell upside down from a height of 20 m. Photos of the accident showed significant damage to the maintenance cabin, which, according to experts, is too extensive to allow for repairs. The only way to resume launches from Site 31/6 is to install a spare maintenance cabin or construct a new one.

Despite the fact that the fallen structure was manufactured in the 1960s, two similar service cabins were manufactured recently at the Tyazhmash heavy-engineering plant in Syzran for other Soyuz launch complexes at the Guiana Space Center and Vostochny Cosmodrome. The production of each cabin took around two years to complete, however, it was not for an emergency situation.

“Various experts gave different possible estimates of the recovery time of the Site 31 launch complex: from several months to three years.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

From the blog 9to5Linux:

Linux kernel 6.18 is now available for download, as announced today by Linus Torvalds himself, featuring enhanced hardware support through new and updated drivers, improvements to file systems and networking, and more.

Highlights of Linux 6.18 include the removal of the Bcachefs file system, support for the Rust Binder driver, a new dm-pcache device-mapper target to enable persistent memory as a cache for slower block devices, and a new microcode= command-line option to control the microcode loader’s behavior on x86 platforms.

Linux kernel 6.18 also extends the support for file handles to kernel namespaces, implements initial ‘block size > page size’ support for the Btrfs file system, adds PTW feature detection on new hardware for LoongArch KVM, and adds support for running the kernel as a guest on FreeBSD’s Bhyve hypervisor.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Some AI experts were reportedly shocked ChatGPT wasn’t fully tested for sycophancy by last spring. “OpenAI did not see the scale at which disturbing conversations were happening,” writes the New York Times — sharing what they learned after interviewing more than 40 current and former OpenAI employees, including safety engineers, executives, and researchers.

The team responsible for ChatGPT’s tone had raised concerns about last spring’s model (which the Times describes as “too eager to keep the conversation going and to validate the user with over-the-top language.”) But they were overruled when A/B testing showed users kept coming back:

Now, a company built around the concept of safe, beneficial AI faces five wrongful death lawsuits… OpenAI is now seeking the optimal setting that will attract more users without sending them spiraling.
Throughout this spring and summer, ChatGPT acted as a yes-man echo chamber for some people. They came back daily, for many hours a day, with devastating consequences…. The Times has uncovered nearly 50 cases of people having mental health crises during conversations with ChatGPT. Nine were hospitalised; three died… One conclusion that OpenAI came to, as Altman put it on X, was that “for a very small percentage of users in mentally fragile states there can be serious problems.” But mental health professionals interviewed by the Times say OpenAI may be understating the risk. Some of the people most vulnerable to the chatbot’s unceasing validation, they say, were those prone to delusional thinking, which studies have suggested could include 5% to 15% of the population…

In August, OpenAI released a new default model, called GPT-5, that was less validating and pushed back against delusional thinking. Another update in October, the company said, helped the model better identify users in distress and de-escalate the conversations. Experts agree that the new model, GPT-5, is safer…. Teams from across OpenAI worked on other new safety features: The chatbot now encourages users to take breaks during a long session. The company is also now searching for discussions of suicide and self-harm, and parents can get alerts if their children indicate plans to harm themselves. The company says age verification is coming in December, with plans to provide a more restrictive model to teenagers.

After the release of GPT-5 in August, [OpenAI safety systems chief Johannes] Heidecke’s team analysed a statistical sample of conversations and found that 0.07% of users, which would be equivalent to 560,000 people, showed possible signs of psychosis or mania, and 0.15% showed “potentially heightened levels of emotional attachment to ChatGPT,” according to a company blog post. But some users were unhappy with this new, safer model. They said it was colder, and they felt as if they had lost a friend. By mid-October, Altman was ready to accommodate them. In a social media post, he said that the company had been able to “mitigate the serious mental health issues.” That meant ChatGPT could be a friend again. Customers can now choose its personality, including “candid,” “quirky,” or “friendly.” Adult users will soon be able to have erotic conversations, lifting the Replika-era ban on adult content. (How erotica might affect users’ well-being, the company said, is a question that will be posed to a newly formed council of outside experts on mental health and human-computer interaction.)

OpenAI is letting users take control of the dial and hopes that will keep them coming back. That metric still matters, maybe more than ever. In October, [30-year-old “Head of ChatGPT” Nick] Turley, who runs ChatGPT, made an urgent announcement to all employees. He declared a “Code Orange.” OpenAI was facing “the greatest competitive pressure we’ve ever seen,” he wrote, according to four employees with access to OpenAI’s Slack. The new, safer version of the chatbot wasn’t connecting with users, he said.
The message linked to a memo with goals. One of them was to increase daily active users by 5% by the end of the year.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

It’s “a complex mix of internet access and physical execution,” says the chief informance security officer at Cequence Security.

Long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 summarizes this article from The Wall Street Journal:

By breaking into carriers’ online systems, cyber-powered criminals are making off with truckloads of electronics, beverages and other goods In the most recent tactics identified by cybersecurity firm Proofpoint, hackers posed as freight middlemen, posting fake loads to the boards. They slipped links with malicious software into email exchanges with bidders such as trucking companies. By clicking on the links, trucking companies unwittingly downloaded remote-access software that lets the hackers take control of their online systems. Once inside, the hackers used the truckers’ accounts to bid on real shipments, such as electronics and energy drinks, said Selena Larson, a threat researcher at Proofpoint. “They know the business,” she said. “It’s a very convincing full-scale identity takeover.”

“The goods are likely sold to retailers or to consumers in online marketplaces,” the article explains. (Though according to Proofpoint “In some cases, products are shipped overseas and sold in local markets, where proceeds are used to fund paramilitaries and global terrorists.”)

“The average value of cargo thefts is increasing as organized crime groups become more discerning, preferring high-value targets such as enterprise servers and cryptocurrency mining hardware, according to risk-assessment firm Verisk CargoNet.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.