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Today’s topics include the Huawei router exploit code used in the Satori IoT botnet going public; a rise in GPU sales in 2017; and LinkedIn expanding its job seeker toolkit ahead of the new year.
Researchers at NewSky Security reported Dec. 28 that code from the Satori internet of things botnet that exploits a Huawei router vulnerability has been publicly posted on the internet. The vulnerability, which internet service providers had shut down earlier this month, was discovered by security firm Check Point, which reported the issue to Huawei on Nov. 27.
“An authenticated attacker could send malicious packets to port 37215 to launch attacks. Successful exploit could lead to the remote execution of arbitrary code,” Huawei said.
Check Point reported that the root cause of the flaw is linked to Huawei’s implementation of the Universal Plug and Play protocol via the TR-064 technical report standard. Huawei implementation allowed remote attackers to inject arbitrary commands, which hackers used to build the Satori botnet.
Maya Horowitz, Threat Intelligence Group Manager at Check Point, said “[Users should] change the default password on their router,” and recommends that end users running Huawei routers behind a firewall or Intrusion Prevention System should configure those devices to block the exploit’s traffic.
Jon Peddie Research released Dec. 29 its annual review of graphics processing unit developments, and the results indicate good things for the year past and for 2018. Despite an overall slowdown in worldwide sales of PCs, PC-based GPU sales have been increasing at the same rate as mobile devices.
Sales in the console market have also increased over the year, where integrated graphics are in every console. The IT business has seen a few new GPUs showing the path for future developments and subsequent applications, and 2017 was a solid year for GPU development driven by games, eSports, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency mining and simulations.
Autonomous vehicles started to become a reality, as did augmented reality. Mobile GPUs, exemplified by Qualcomm, ARM and Imagination Technologies, introduced some advanced devices with long battery life and screens at or approaching 4K.
Jon Peddie Research said, “2018 is going to be an even more amazing year [for GPUs], with AI being the leading applications that will permeate every sector of our lives.”
LinkedIn, Microsoft’s business-focused social network, has new features to help members land a new job or build the skills required for a career change.
This is just in time for the many people, particularly IT workers, who are considering switching jobs in 2018, according to Spiceworks’ recent 2018 IT Career Outlook survey. Nearly a third of IT workers in North America and Europe plan to look for a new job in 2018 with higher salaries and opportunities to improve their skills sets.
LinkedIn is now issuing monthly notifications alerting users to trending skills among folks with the same job title. If members already possess a given skill, they can add it to their profiles, improving the chances that interested employers will come calling. If they lack the expertise, users can click on a skill to see corresponding LinkedIn Learning courses, along with the organizations that are hiring people with that skill.