Ebrius Disputatios

The Ecosystems Of Early Earth May Have Been The Key To Life On Other Planets.

The most ancient ancestor of all life on Earth is considered to be LUKA (last universal common ancestor). A recent study by a team of British scientists has shed light on this ancient organism, revealing that it was remarkably similar to modern bacteria. Moreover, LUCA lived in a complex ecosystem, virtually no traces of which have survived to this day.

LUKA existed about 4.2 billion years ago, during a period when our planet experienced extreme conditions. The Earth did not look like paradise then: it was a boiling volcanic mass, bombarded by giant meteorites. About 100 million years before the appearance of LUK, a catastrophic cosmic collision occurred, as a result of which the Moon was formed. This period was called “Hadean” – after the Greek god of the underworld Hades.

LUKA's striking similarity to modern microorganisms suggests that life could have arisen almost as soon as the right conditions appeared on the planet. This suggests that life in the Universe may not be a rare phenomenon, but rather an inevitable process on planets with suitable characteristics.

LUKA as the basis of evolution LUKA represents a key point where the three major domains of life converge: eukaryotes (including animals, plants and fungi), bacteria and archaea. For a long time it was believed that LUKA lived 3.5–3.8 billion years ago, but new research has pushed this date back even further.

A recent study by a team from the University of Bristol found that LUKA existed 4.2 billion years ago, at the very beginning of Earth's history. There was no oxygen on the planet back then, and the atmosphere contained large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane, which likely gave the sky an orange tint. The Earth was covered in oceans and days were only 12 hours long due to the planet's faster rotation. The moon was closer to the Earth, which caused strong tides.

How LUKA survived Analysis shows that LUKA possessed complex enzymes that allowed it to extract carbon dioxide and hydrogen from its environment. It could live near the surface of the ocean, using gases from the atmosphere, or near hydrothermal vents in the depths of the sea, where hot water and gases erupted from the bowels of the Earth. These springs are considered one of the likely places where life originated.

LUKA was most likely a chemoautotroph, that is, it could independently synthesize the necessary substances from inorganic compounds. However, it could also be a heterotroph, dependent on compounds created by other organisms. Its developed metabolism indicates that LUCA has already come a long way in evolution.

Interaction with other organisms LUKA did not live alone: ​​his metabolism created a breeding ground for other microorganisms. For example, some of them could process methane, returning carbon and hydrogen to the environment. Research suggests that LUCA was part of a community that included organisms that used sulfur or iron from hydrothermal vents.

Additionally, LUKA had a semblance of an immune system reminiscent of CRISPR-Cas, a mechanism that today helps bacteria defend against viruses. This suggests that viruses existed even then and may have played an important role in the ecosystem by helping the exchange of genetic material between organisms. This process, called horizontal gene transfer, may have helped accelerate the emergence of diversity.

Cosmic consequences If LUKA is indeed 4.2 billion years old, it casts doubt on the theory that life is extremely rare in the universe. Rather, it may be common on planets with liquid water, such as early Mars or Venus. Astronomers have already found evidence of the existence of many Earth-like planets, raising the possibility of life beyond our planet.

Earth's unique features—such as a magnetic field that shields solar radiation and a large moon that produces tides—may have played a key role in preserving life. But if ecosystems like Gaev’s can be widespread, then the discovery of other biospheres is only a matter of time.

Microsoft 365 Has Found Itself In The Crosshairs Of A New Hacking Tool.

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a new Adversary-in-the-Middle (AitM) phishing tool that targets Microsoft 365 accounts and is capable of stealing credentials and two-factor authentication (2FA) codes. This tool, called Sneaky 2FA, has been actively used since October 2024.

The French company Sekoia first detected activity of this phishing kit in December and identified about 100 domains associated with its use. The average level of distribution indicates that the tool is in demand among cybercriminals.

Sneaky 2FA is distributed as a service using the Phishing as a Service (PhaaS) model through the Sneaky Log service running on Telegram. Buyers receive an obfuscated version of the source code with a license, which allows them to independently deploy the tool for phishing attacks.

One attack scheme involves sending emails containing false payment receipts. Recipients are asked to open PDF attachments containing QR codes that, when scanned, redirect to fake authentication pages.

Sekoia reports that such pages are hosted on compromised servers, often powered by WordPress or other managed domains. To increase credibility, the fake pages automatically populate the victim's email address. The tool is also protected from sniffers and bots using techniques such as traffic filtering and Cloudflare Turnstile checking.

An interesting detail is that visitors with suspicious IP addresses (for example, from cloud data centers or via VPN) are redirected to a Wikipedia page associated with Microsoft. This approach is called WikiKit by TRAC Labs researchers.

To deceive users, the tool uses blurry graphics, copying Microsoft interfaces, which creates the illusion of authenticity. License checks on the server confirm that the kit is only available to customers with an active key, which costs $200 per month.

It was also discovered that Sneaky 2FA may be associated with the well-known W3LL Panel phishing kit previously disclosed by Group-IB. A similar licensing model and data transfer features indicate that these tools are related.

Additionally, it was revealed that several Sneaky 2FA domains were previously used with other known phishing kits, such as Evilginx2 and Greatness. This confirms the transition of some cybercriminals to a new service.

Sekoia also flags unusual transitions between User-Agent strings during the authentication process, which helps detect Sneaky 2FA usage. This rare pattern distinguishes the tool from legitimate interactions, allowing analysts to identify hacker attacks.

The US Supreme Court Unanimously Upheld A Ban On The Social Network Operating Under Its Current Ownership Structure.

The US Supreme Court yesterday unanimously upheld the provision of the law adopted last April to ban TikTok from operating in the US while maintaining the current ownership structure, which implies the subordination of the social network to the Chinese company ByteDance. The chance to maintain the opportunity to work in the United States for TikTok was provided only if the American business was sold to one of the American companies. As CNBC notes, representatives of TikTok announced their readiness to disconnect American users on Sunday, when the law nominally comes into force. American users will not be able to access either the TikTok mobile app or the TikTok website tomorrow.

The court's decision will also affect American companies. Google and Apple will be forced to remove the TikTok app from their app stores for US users, and Oracle will be forced to shut down the cloud infrastructure that processes data intended for and hosted by US users. If these companies do not obey the law, they will face heavy fines.

At the same time, the Biden administration, which adopted the relevant law, emphasized in its opening speech that the team of Donald Trump, who will take office as US President next Monday, will have to deal with its implementation. Trump himself said that he would make his decision on TikTok’s activities in the United States in the near future, but he would need time to assess the situation. The previous US administration insists that TikTok can remain accessible to American audiences, but only if it belongs to an American company.

Where Misconceptions Come From And What Science Says.

From stories of aliens allegedly crashing on Earth and UFOs hidden in military bases, to rumors of a giant Mars and the Moon turning green. Space has always inspired bold, but often unproven statements that require verification.

Here are ten of the most famous space myths that still excite minds.

1. The moon landings were faked. From 1969 to 1972, twelve NASA astronauts set foot on the Moon. However, in the decades after the Apollo 11 mission, theories abounded that the program was staged. However, photographs from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter prove that the landings actually took place.

Doubters often ask questions about stars that aren't in the photos, waving flags, and shoe tracks that don't seem to match module footprints. However, there are simple explanations for this: the lack of stars is due to the brightness of the lighting, the flags are equipped with metal rods for a fluttering effect, and the weight distribution of the modules does not leave noticeable marks.

1. NASA is hiding the truth Some argue that NASA's main mission is to create fake images and myths about space. Skeptics are sure that photographs of planets, the Moon and Earth are the result of computer graphics. However, NASA actively publishes images and videos taken from satellites and the International Space Station.

Since its founding in 1958, NASA has launched hundreds of satellites and conducted research that is available to the general public. Today, anyone can watch rocket launches in Florida or track the ISS using online trackers.

1. The earth is flat The flat earth theory is popularized by the so-called Flat Earth Society. Their arguments include the claim that the horizon is always at eye level and that videos of the planet rotating are faked. However, numerous videos from space, including live broadcasts from the ISS, completely refute these claims.

2. Planet Nibiru will destroy the Earth The theory about Nibiru, a planet that will supposedly collide with Earth, first appeared in Zecharia Sitchin's book The Twelfth Planet. Predictions of a collision in 2003 and 2012 never materialized. Scientists, including Mike Brown, say there are no threats from Nibiru, and its existence has not yet been confirmed.

3. Alien Research at Area 51 Area 51 in Nevada has become the subject of many rumors thanks to films such as Independence Day. Theories claim that alien technology is being studied here. However, the site was officially used for testing spy planes such as the Lockheed U-2 in the 1960s and 1970s.

4. There's a face on Mars In 1976, the Viking 1 spacecraft took a photo of Mars, where some saw a face. However, subsequent studies using modern cameras proved that this is just a play of shadows on the surface of the Red Planet.

5. Hexagon on Saturn is the work of aliens A giant hexagonal storm at Saturn's pole, discovered by the Voyager mission in 1980, has sparked theories about alien technology. But scientists have confirmed that this phenomenon is a natural phenomenon caused by atmospheric processes.

6. Satellite Iapetus – alien base Saturn's moon Iapetus, which resembles the Death Star from Star Wars, has also been the subject of conspiracy theories. However, NASA photos show that it is an ordinary satellite covered with ice and rock.

7. UFOs around the Earth Many supposed UFO images are actually reflections of light or satellite debris. These phenomena are being investigated, but so far no evidence of the presence of aliens has been found.

8. Mars appears as big as the full Moon This myth appeared in 2003 and has become a widely known hoax. It was then claimed that Mars was at its closest to Earth in 60,000 years and would appear as large as the full Moon. The rumor originated from a misinterpreted email, but soon began to repeat itself every August, spreading on social media and gaining more and more popularity.

However, in reality, Mars will never look as big as the Moon. Even when the planet is closest to Earth, it is visible only as a bright red dot in the night sky. To get a closer look at Mars, use a telescope or enjoy spectacular photographs taken by NASA.

Space remains a source of inspiration and mystery, but it also gives rise to many myths and conspiracy theories. It is important to maintain critical thinking and rely on scientific evidence to separate reality from fiction. Thanks to modern research and advances such as missions from NASA and other space agencies, we can find answers to many questions and destroy misconceptions. Space opens up amazing prospects for us, and to explore it we need to trust facts, not rumors.

Now identity verification is the key to the system.

Microsoft has expanded testing of administrator protection in Windows 11 by allowing Windows Insider users to enable the feature through Windows Security Settings.

First introduced in October for the Canary channel, Administrator Protection uses a hidden mechanism for temporary elevation of rights and authentication requests through Windows Hello, allowing access to administrative rights only when necessary. Protection is aimed at preventing unauthorized access to critical system resources.

When this feature is enabled, logged in administrators have standard user rights and must authenticate using Windows Hello (PIN or biometrics) when installing new apps or making registry changes. Authentication requests are more difficult to bypass than the existing User Account Control (UAC) mechanism, making it difficult for malware and attackers to penetrate.

Example of a credentials window with a new (larger) colored area above the application description (Microsoft)

The feature is disabled by default and can be enabled by administrators through group policies or management tools such as Intune. In addition, now users can enable it themselves through Windows security settings in the Update and Security section – Windows Security – Account Protection. The change requires a system reboot.

This feature is available to Windows Insiders in the Canary channel who have installed Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27774. Microsoft also plans to soon introduce a new feature called Fast System Restore, which allows administrators to remotely troubleshoot issues that cause devices to become inoperable after updates. Windows. The new feature, like many other security options, works as part of the Secure Future Initiative.

Mark Zuckerberg and the team at Meta, more than anyone, will be happy to see the back of Tik-Tok, if indeed, the draconian measures of banning a website, goes to the full measure.

Zuckerberg an company was once the largest most active social media platform, until Tic-Tok gained in popularity. They're clearly anticipating the moment, if it occurs, when Tic-Tok, a website supposedly, covered under the first amendment of the US Constitution, becomes banned, in an alleged, free, democratic, republic.

We do not take these infringements on our liberties and or freedoms lightly. Since there are no longer any guarantees that will protect any of us when it becomes our websites, our servers, that come under the scrutiny of the government censors and busybodies.

Mark Zuckerberg is closer than ever to achieving his long-standing goal of banning TikTok in the United States. Such a decision by the US government could be a windfall for Meta*, eliminating its most serious competitor in years and giving the US company an advantage over a more successful product.

On a recent Joe Rogan podcast, the head of Meta* said that the American government “should be protecting its companies, not being the tip of the spear against them.” At the same time, the Biden administration, which he criticizes as part of the turn to the MAGA movement, has targeted Meta*'s main competitor.

Zuckerberg's recent actions include turning Meta to the right, dehumanizing migrants, ignoring the interests of LGBTQ+ users and employees, refusing to hire for diversity, visiting Mar-a-Lago, removing sanitary products from men's restrooms at Meta's offices, and inauguration party – experts consider in the context of the potential benefits of the TikTok ban. Donald Trump, who takes office on Monday, could be a key figure in lifting a possible ban on the platform.

Zuckerberg's public display of loyalty to Trump serves several purposes. Trump has previously threatened to jail the head of Meta*, so moving closer to a future administration could help avoid regulation of his companies. However, the main prize remains a possible ban on TikTok, and Trump is positioning himself as the main arbiter in this matter.

Zuckerberg's political views have always changed in accordance with the current interests of his companies, as confirmed by an analysis of hours of testimony in Congress. What has remained constant is the use of the threat of Chinese digital dominance to protect against criticism and create a basis for government regulation of Chinese platforms.

Meta* officially denies directly lobbying for a TikTok ban, but the company spent a record amount on lobbying in 2024, including on national security issues. In March 2022, the Washington Post reported that Meta* had hired Targeted Victory to promote awareness of the dangers of TikTok for children.

In 2019, at Georgetown University, Zuckerberg spoke about the growing influence of Chinese platforms, noting that six of the ten largest internet companies are now based in China. He also highlighted differences in values ​​and the censorship of protests on TikTok even within the United States.

During a seven-hour congressional hearing, Zuckerberg argued that Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency system is critical to U.S. financial and cultural dominance, hinting at the threat of a Xi Jinping victory if Congress were to restrict it. The Libra project, later renamed Diem and sold to Silvergate Bank in 2022, eventually folded.

Meta* and its Instagram* Reels service could be the main beneficiaries of the TikTok ban. The Chinese platform has what Facebook once had and Instagram is slowly losing: deep cultural relevance and a generation of devoted users.

Facebook* and Instagram*, despite their billion-dollar audience, suffer from artificial intelligence spam, poor algorithms and a large number of bots. Users stay on these platforms out of habit rather than out of actual desire.

Now Zuckerberg sees an opportunity to achieve his goal. The key question is whether rapprochement with Trump will finally achieve the desired result.

** The Meta company and its products are recognized as extremists, their activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation.

** The LGBT movement is recognized as extremist and is prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation.

ARM64 ILP32 is the Armv8 architecture with a 32-bit ABI rather than 64-bit — akin to the “x32” x86 effort that never really took off on Linux. ARM64 ILP32 support never ended up making it into the mainline Linux kernel or GNU C Library but did appear within the GNU Compiler Collection. But years later and little use, GCC developers are consider deprecating ILP32 support ahead of its eventual removal.

The GCC codebase used to form the GCC 15 branch has been modified to remove support for the ARM64 ILP32 ABI. ILP3 resembles the x32 subarchitecture for x86_64 systems and also allows the use of 32-bit pointers and a 32-bit memory addressing model, while running the processor in 64-bit mode with support for 64-bit registers and extended instructions. A limitation of the ILP32 ABI is that it cannot address more than 4 GB of memory from an application.

The ILP32 ABI was originally designed to make it easier to port 32-bit applications to 64-bit AArch64 processors, but was not widely adopted. ILP32 support was never adopted into the Linux kernel and the Glibc system library. Linaro and Debian ports for ILP32 were developed separately, but they have been abandoned for more than five years. The rare system that supports ILP32 is the watchOS operating system used in Apple Watch devices, but GCC is not supported for this OS.

Spectacular growth in China's exports to the US (6.1%) and the EU (4.3%) in 2024, rising to more than double the growth of the US economy and almost 5 times the growth of the economy of the European Union. The trade deficit of both economies with China grows by 8.5% and 14.1% in 2024 to total $590 billion. China's trade surplus with the United States and the European Union is 61.5% of the total Chinese surplus of 963 billion dollars (an amount that almost reaches that of Spain's GDP).

In 2024, China's foreign trade has achieved record figures, with a notable performance in the fourth quarter and December that augurs well for 2025. China's imports and exports grew by 5% year-on-year in 2024 to reach 43 .85 trillion yuan ($5.98 trillion), according to data published by the General Administration of Customs (GAC) of China.

In 2024, China's total exports grew 7.1% year-on-year to reach 25.45 trillion yuan ($3.47 trillion), while imports grew 2.3% to reach 18.39 trillion yuan (2.51 trillion dollars).

The Chinese trade surplus in 2024 has reached 7.06 trillion yuan (almost 1 trillion dollars) and has grown by 22% compared to the previous year.

The key components of Chinese exports have been (1) technology and electronics, which remains the main driver of Chinese exports, with strong demand for semiconductors, solar panels and consumer electronics; (2) electric cars and machinery, which have experienced significant growth, consolidating China as a leader in the transition towards green technologies and sustainable mobility; and (3) consumer goods, including textiles, toys and household appliances, for which demand remained stable, especially in emerging markets.

Trade with the United States and the European Union

Trade between China and the United States in 2024 grew 4.9% year-on-year to 4.90 trillion yuan ($668 billion).

China's exports to the United States in 2024 grew 6.1% to 3.73 trillion yuan ($509 billion), while imports increased 1.2% to 1.16 trillion yuan (158 billion dollars). The North American trade deficit with China in 2024 has grown 8.5% to $350 billion.

The trade relationship between China and the European Union in 2024, despite trade frictions, reached 5.59 trillion yuan ($762 billion), with a growth of 1.6% compared to the previous year.

China's exports to the European Union totaled 3.68 trillion yuan ($501 billion), a year-on-year growth of 4.3% reflecting strong European demand for Chinese products, while Chinese imports from the European Union reached 1.92 trillion yuan ($261 billion), representing a decrease of 3.3% from the previous year. The European Union's trade deficit with China in 2024 has grown by 14.1% to $240 billion.

Exports to the United States and the European Union represent, respectively, 14.7% and 14.4% of total Chinese exports, behind China's first partner, ASEAN (an association of 10 Southeast Asian countries).

The failure of the United States and the European Union in their attempt to weaken Chinese exports is a reflection of the current economic and political complexity. Both Western powers have implemented numerous strategies, from tariffs to technological restrictions, to block China but the results have not been as expected.

China has developed a robust, diversified economic system with a remarkable capacity for adaptation. Its focus on technological development, industrialization and strengthening the internal market has allowed it to overcome the barriers imposed by the West. Furthermore, Chinese companies have proven to be highly competitive, offering products at lower prices and increasing quality.

China's role as “the world's factory” remains fundamental. The global supply chain's dependence on products made in China, from technological components to consumer goods, makes it difficult for the United States and the European Union to replace China as a major supplier. Additionally, the Chinese government has invested significantly in technological innovation, reducing its dependence on foreign technologies. And some Chinese companies have adopted localization strategies, setting up manufacturing plants and operations in foreign countries to circumvent tariffs and restrictions.

Regardless of what the United States and the European Union do, China has strengthened its trade relations with emerging markets, such as Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia. These countries, seeking economic alternatives outside Western dominance, have welcomed trade with China, ensuring its continuity despite sanctions or restrictions in traditional markets.

On the other hand, and although China is the largest exporter in the world in absolute terms, it is not so in comparison to the volume of its GDP. Chinese exports do not reach 20% of its GDP, behind many countries, practically half that of Spain and below the world average. The Western attempt to bankrupt the Chinese economy by blocking its exports has a difficult time; it is neither its weak point nor has it been touched. China's true power is its capacity for economic and technological development and the fact that it has become the largest market on the planet and where practically half of the world's middle class resides.

In any case, this attempt by the United States and the European Union to weaken Chinese exports highlights the limitations of coercive strategies in an interconnected world. Both Western blocs should rethink their policies and reconsider the need for cooperation and honest competition in a global system that, inevitably, already includes China as a main actor.

Routine file operations have never been so dangerous.

Six security vulnerabilities have been discovered in Rsync, a popular file synchronization tool for Unix systems, some of which allow attackers to execute arbitrary code on the client system.

CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC) reported that if they have control of a malicious server, attackers can read and write any files on connected clients. This creates the risk of leaking sensitive information such as SSH keys and executing malicious code by modifying files such as ~/.bashrc or ~/.popt.

The list of discovered vulnerabilities includes:

• CVE-2024-12084 (CVSS 9.8): Heap overflow due to incorrect handling of checksum length;
• CVE-2024-12085 (CVSS 7.5): Data leakage via uninitialized stack contents;
• CVE-2024-12086 (CVSS 6.1): Rsync server leaks arbitrary client files;
• CVE-2024-12087 (CVSS 6.5): Path Traversal Vulnerability;
• CVE-2024-12088 (CVSS 6.5): Bypass of the —safe-links option leading to a path traversal attack;

• CVE-2024-12747 (CVSS 5.6): Race condition when handling symbolic links. The first five vulnerabilities were discovered by researchers from Google Cloud Vulnerability Research – Simon Scannell, Pedro Gallegos and Jaziel Spelman. The latest vulnerability was disclosed by security researcher Alexey Gorban.

• CVE-2024-12084 is recognized as particularly dangerous; to exploit it, an attacker only needs to have anonymous read access to the Rsync server. As noted by Nick Tate from Red Hat Product Security, the combined use of vulnerabilities * CVE-2024-12084 and CVE-2024-12085 allows arbitrary code execution on a client using the Rsync server.

In version Rsync 3.4.0, available today, the developers have fixed all six vulnerabilities. Users who are unable to update are advised to take the following measures:

For CVE-2024-12084: disable SHA support by compiling with the CFLAGS=-DDISABLESHA512DIGEST and CFLAGS=-DDISABLESHA256DIGEST flags. For CVE-2024-12085: use the -ftrivial-auto-var-init=zero compilation flag to pad the stack contents with zeros.

Maybe he's not a genius?

Elon Musk decided to demonstrate his programming knowledge and philosophical nature, but instead accidentally embarrassed himself in front of millions of users. In December 2021, the entrepreneur published a message in the format of a Linux operating system command. He used the traceroute command, which is actually used to trace the path of network data across the Internet, and added to it a strange construct “wokemindvirus” (literally, “woke mind virus”).

A few years later, Musk decided to continue his joke by simulating a dialogue with a computer system. He posted the supposed response: “wokemindvirus found at 127.0.0.1” (the virus was found at 127.0.0.1), and then added a line saying that the virus was removed using the rm -rf command.

Probably, with these messages, the billionaire was trying to ridicule progressive social ideas, whose adherents in the English-speaking world are called “woke” (literally “awakened”, meaning “aware of social problems”). It is curious that he himself once shared these views, and now regularly criticizes them on social networks.

Philosophy and politics aside, you might notice that this attempt at humor reveals poor knowledge of programming principles. First, the address 127.0.0.1 in computer networks always points to the user's own computer – it's like writing “here” as a mailing address. It turns out that Musk accidentally admitted that the “virus” he was making fun of was in his own head.

In a dialogue with subscribers, the billionaire agreed with this interpretation. To the comment “The local host was infected,” he replied: “But not anymore,” as if cementing the metaphor of changing his own beliefs.

However, there are other technical inconsistencies. For example, the traceroute command is designed to trace the route of network packets across the Internet. It shows the request path to the server, but cannot be used to search for files. There is a special find command for this task in Linux.

The next part of the joke is even worse. Elon uses the rm -rf command, which is considered one of the most powerful and potentially dangerous in Linux. It is designed to forcefully delete entire directories along with all their contents, without asking for confirmation. Using such “heavy artillery” to delete just one file is like hammering a pushpin with a sledgehammer

Programmers also noted the non-standard format of the deletion message. In reality, the rm -rf command does not notify the user of success. Moreover, if we assume that the line “wokemindvirus deleted rm -rf” was intended as a deletion command, then its syntax violates all the rules of command structure in Linux – the parameters are in the wrong order, and the lack of specifying a specific directory makes the command completely meaningless.

So can we continue to call him a genius?