Japan has Level 5 Alert Volcanic Eruption on Remote Island and Sudden Evacuation to the Astonishment of Residents

""A volcano exploded into life Friday morning on lightly populated Kuchinoerabu Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, sending smoke and ash soaring into the sky. Authorities ordered residents and visitors to evacuate.

The 9:59 a.m. “explosive” eruption of the 650-meter Mt. Shindake, the main peak on the island, resulted in a plume over 9 km high and a pyroclastic flow which reached the coast, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, according to the local town office on the adjacent island of Yakushima, a popular tourist destination.

A weather agency official told a news conference that there is a risk of a second eruption and associated new pyroclastic flows. So far, he said, the pyroclastic flows had not struck the populated Maeda district.

Located about 100 km south of the southern tip of Kyushu, Kuchinoerabu has only about 100 full-time residents.

Some of those believed to have been present at the time were short-term visitors. The prefectural government said 141 people in all, from 78 families, were required to evacuate.

The evacuation warning came after the weather agency upgraded its alert for the island to the highest level of 5, up from the previous level of 3, which imposed limits on climbing the volcano.

The prime minister’s office in Tokyo set up a response team at its crisis management center, and the Japan Coast Guard dispatched a large patrol ship to the area.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed officials involved to do all they can to ensure the safety of islanders, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.""

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/05/29/national/volcano-erupts-isle-kagoshima-prompting-evacuation-order/#.VWf2X89Viko

Security Quadcopter UAV Drones Maleware Hacked and Controlled Through Backdoor of Softwares

The use of small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) called Drones is rapidly transforming the way we go to war. Drones were once used for land surveillance, Delivering Pizza's, then equipped with bombs that changed the way nations conduct war and last year, these hovering drones were also used to hack Smartphones.

Recently, a security researcher has found a backdoor in the Parrot AR Drones manufactured by a French-based company, that could allow a malicious hacker to remotely hijacked the radio controlled flying quadcopter helicopter.

The Parrot AR Drone, revealed at the International CES 2010 in Las Vegas, is a quadricopter helicopter which you can control with your smartphone or tablet. It features two built-in cameras, is easy to fly, and can be controlled without too much danger of it flipping over or smashing into things.

FIRST EVER MALWARE FOR DRONES

Security researcher, Rahul Sasi claimed to have developed the first ever backdoor malware for AR drone ARM Linux system, dubbed Maldrone [MALware DRONE].

Maldrone can be used to remotely hijack drones, as shown in a video demonstration below published by the hacker.

"In this we would show infecting a drone with Maldrone and expecting a reverse tcp connection from drone. Once connection is established we can interact with the software as well as drivers/sensors of drone directly. There is an existing AR drone piloting program. Our backdoors kills the autopilot and takes control. The Backdoor is persistent across resets," video explained.

According to the researcher, Maldrone can interact with the drone’s device drivers and sensors silently and allow the hacker to control the drone remotely. As a result, Maldrone could be used to conduct remote surveillance.

Rahul said the Maldrone could also be used to attack other drone makers as well. However, the backdoor could be exploited within a wireless range.

DRONE CRASHES ON WHITE HOUSE GROUNDS

Drones has highlighted the growing security threat posed by small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Just recently, a 2-foot quadcopter drone crashed onto the White House grounds in the early hours of Monday morning, when the president and first lady Michelle Obama were in India.

A government employee told the Secret Service that he lost control of the quadcopter drone before it crashed on the grounds of the White House. However, no one at the White House were in danger.

Source Material

http://thehackernews.com/2015/01/MalDrone-backdoor-drone-malware.html

Remote 'Telexistence' Robot that Transmits Sight, Sound, and Touch to the Operator: Using Head-Mounted 3-D Visual Display, Advaced Audio System & Tactile Sensory Gloves

 

""Keio University researchers are taking telepresence to the next logical level with a new “telexistence” robot called TELESAR V, a robotic platform that doesn’t just transport the user's eyes to another location, but also his or her ears and hands as well. The idea is to break through the limitations of time and space to allow a user to actually feel like he or she is present elsewhere via a remotely operated robot that returns three sensory stimuli back to the user.""

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-11/video-telexistence-robot-conveys-sight-sound-and-touch-user