Month: March 2022

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The FBI’s latest counterintelligence operation against Russia is hardly secretive—you just have to be standing in the right place.

In the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the FBI stepped up its recruiting efforts in the US, hoping to attract Russians who are dissatisfied or disillusioned with the war. People standing in close proximity to the Russian embassy in Washington, DC, can see the ads, which appear in Russian, on Facebook, Twitter, and Google.

One ad appeared in a Washington Post reporter’s Facebook feed when he was standing on the sidewalk next to the embassy’s walls on Wisconsin Avenue NW, but none appeared in his feed when he crossed the street.

Enlarge / Yes, this 917 is wearing license plates. (credit: Icon Engineering)

The UK is known for plenty of things, but it’s not all fish and chips and dodgy Russian oligarch money. It’s also surprisingly permissive when it comes to registering vehicles for public roads. Thanks to a process called “Individual Vehicle Approval,” it’s possible to road-register cars that would likely be met with exasperated spluttering if you were to try the same thing in Germany, Japan, or most states in the US.

Take, for example, the Icon 917K, a street-legal replica of one of Porsche’s most famous racing cars. Yes, the UK will let you register a road-going replica of the car that dominated Le Mans (and the rest of sports car racing) from 1970 until the oil crisis kicked in. British journalist (and friend of Ars) Jonny Smith has driven it for the Late Brake Show:

The original Porsche 917 is one of the most famous examples of creative rule interpretation in racing. The organizers at Le Mans changed the rules for 1969, such that prototypes—purpose-built creations just for racing—were limited to engines of just 3 L of capacity. Larger, more powerful engines were still allowed as long as the manufacturer built at least 25 cars.

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More than 22,000 miles above Earth, the KA-SAT is locked in orbit. Traveling at 7,000 miles per hour, in sync with the planet’s rotation, the satellite beams high-speed Internet down to people across Europe. Since 2011, it has helped homeowners, businesses, and militaries get online. However, as Russian troops moved into Ukraine during the early hours of February 24, satellite Internet connections were disrupted. A mysterious cyberattack against the satellite’s ground infrastructure—not the satellite itself—plunged tens of thousands of people into Internet darkness.

Among them were parts of Ukraine’s defenses. “It was a really huge loss in communications in the very beginning of war,” Viktor Zhora, a senior official at Ukraine’s cybersecurity agency, the State Services for Special Communication and Information Protection (SSSCIP), reportedly said two weeks later. He did not provide any more details, and SSSCIP did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment. But the attack against the satellite Internet system, owned by US company Viasat since last year, had even wider ramifications. People using satellite Internet connections were knocked offline all across Europe, from Poland to France.

Almost a month after the attack, the disruptions continue. Thousands still remain offline in Europe—around 2,000 wind turbines are still disconnected in Germany—and companies are racing to replace broken modems or fix connections with updates. Multiple intelligence agencies, including those in the US and Europe, are also investigating the attack. The Viasat hack is arguably the largest publicly known cyberattack to take place since Russia invaded Ukraine, and it stands out for its impact beyond Ukraine’s borders. But questions about the details of the attack, its purpose, and who carried it out remain—although experts have their suspicions.

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Facebook, which turned 18 last month, has developed something of a reputation for being the social network for older Americans. That reputation is not unearned—according to a Pew Research Center survey, nearly 72 million Americans over the age of 50 use Facebook. And while the platform still has more users under the age of 50 than over, Facebook remains many older Americans’ sole social network.

That’s something the AARP is looking to change, though. The nonprofit funded the creation of Senior Planet Community, a social media network that encourages users to join pre-existing groups around shared interests, including gardening, travel, fitness, food, and technology. In that way, it feels more like a pared-down version of reddit or a small collection of forums.

The social network was developed by an AARP affiliate, Older Adults Technology Services. OATS started out giving computer classes to older folks in New York City and has expanded its physical footprint over the years. During the pandemic, those classes moved online, and Senior Planet Community grew from that transition.