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Browser fingerprinting: favicons as “super cookies”

With a few tricks, website favicons can be converted into a kind of cookie replacement. A study by the University of Illinois in Chicago shows: Modern browsers are not yet prepared for such an attack.

Mini-Logos for a better overview Favicons seem harmless at first glance. If you are looking for a particular website between dozens of different browser tabs or in a long list of bookmarks, the website owner’s tiny logos offer a visual aid to quickly find the desired page. Favicons are popular with both users and webmasters: According to a study by researchers at the University of Illinois 94 percent of the most popular websites use favicons to help their readers orientate themselves better

But with the pending end of the third-party cookies, browser fingerprinting becomes more explosive again, in which the user goes unnoticed based on their browser Features can be recognized. In the study, three researchers identified the favicons as an easy way to clearly identify users.

Trick: Different icons on subdomains Favicons were already noticed in the past as a possible target of attack on users’ private data. So you can use the favicons stored in the browser cache to see which websites a user has accessed. The sometimes long lifespan of the favicons in the cache sometimes reveals data that were suspected to have been deleted for a long time.

The newly introduced tracking method also makes use of the browser cache. The servers cannot see the browser memory. But it is possible to draw conclusions from whether or not a favicon is accessed. If such a logo is already in the browser memory, it is usually not called up again from the browser.

Many favicons, unique identification In order to transform the favicons into a kind of “super-cookie”, a trick is required: From the loading or not loading of an individual favicon one cannot draw any conclusions that enable the identification of a user . However, the researchers found that when they visited a website they were able to store a large number of favicons in the browser cache by integrating redirects to subdomains. In order to identify users when they visit again, the server silenced itself and waited to see which favicons the browser asked for.

This simple method was remarkably effective. Not only was it possible to identify users of Chrome, Safari and Edge, the privacy-friendly browser Brave also betrayed its users. Even more: anti-tracking measures, incognito mode, the targeted deletion of the browser history or the use of a VPN brought no improvement. Firefox users turned out to be unidentifiable in the practical test – but not because of a superior anti-tracking technology, but because the browser cache was not used at all due to a bug, contrary to the developer documentation.

Efficient method The accuracy of the identification can be increased at will, an attacker but this takes time. With a desktop browser, it was possible to load a twelve-bit ID into the browser cache in an average of just one second; reading it out took twice as long. With mobile browsers, the time required is doubled again. According to the researchers, it took about four seconds for a clear identification. However, this value can be reduced by combining favicon tracking with other fingerprinting techniques.

In order to prevent this attack, the researchers recommend that browser manufacturers make some improvements. In Incognito mode you should no longer route favicons to the browser cache. Another method would be to link the storage of the favicon to the storage of cookies: If cookies are set, fingerprinting techniques are unnecessary. Preventing automatic redirects within a website call could also help. In the past, browser manufacturers have repeatedly prevented access to browser data in order to prevent the hidden identification of users.

( olb)

CES: AMD unveils Zen 3 for laptops and hints at new Epyc CPUs

Idriz Velghe 12 January 2021 19: 24 13 Comments

Zen 3 for laptops AMD has new laptop processors featuring Zen 3 architecture were unveiled at the CES trade show. In addition to the U models for thin notebooks, the company has also unveiled the new HX sku for gaming laptops. The new video cards for both laptops and the desktop were also discussed. In addition, there is a hint to the new generation of Epyc server chips.

De Ryzen 7 5800 U is the top model of the economical U-series. With 8 cores and 16 threads will be the title of the only x 86 – octacore claimed in the ‘ultrathin’ class . According to AMD CEO Lisa Su, the new apu performs 7 to 44% better than Intel Core i7 – 1185 G7, depending on the workload. In addition to better performance, the U-line must also ensure a longer battery life. Up to 21 hours claimed when playing video.

In addition, two HX processors have been unveiled, the Ryzen 9 5900 HX and 5980 HX. They feature 8 cores and 16 threads, and a total of 20 MB of L2 and L3 cache. The difference is in the clock speed. The 5900 HX boost up to 4.6 GHz , the 5980 HX achieves a maximum frequency of 4 , 8 GHz. Both SKUs have a tdp of ‘ according to AMD W + ‘, as it is possible to overclock them.

During the presentation the 5900 HX is compared to the Core i9 – 10980 HK, the best Intel has to offer in the field of mobile gaming processors. The Ryzen chip performs better in all areas. For example, he scores 15% higher in Cinebench R’s single-threaded test 20, the 5900 HX performs 19% better than its Intel counterpart in 3DMark Fire Strike Physics.

The first laptops with Ryzen 5000 – CPUs must already will be available from February. AMD expects such a 250 different models are coming. At the 4000- and 3000 – ranges this was respectively 150 and 70.

After the end of the presentation, AMD will full lineup of laptop processors posted on its website. It can again be deduced that the 5000 – series consists of both Zen 2 and Zen 3 chips, confirming previous rumors.

Processor Cores / Threads Base Clock Boost Clock Cache TDP Architecture AMD Ryzen 9 5980 HX 8C / 17 T 3.3 GHz 4.8 GHz 20 MB 45 + W Zen 3 AMD Ryzen 9 5980 HS 8C / 16 T 3.0 GHz 4.8 GHz 20 MB 35 W Zen 3 AMD Ryzen 9 5900 HX 8C / 16 T 3.3 GHz 4.6 GHz 20 MB 45 + W Zen 3 AMD Ryzen 9 5900 HS 8C / 17 T 3.0 GHz 4.6 GHz 21 MB 35 W Zen 3 AMD Ryzen 7 5800 H 8C / 16 T 3.2 GHz 4.4 GHz 20 MB 45 W Zen 3 AMD Ryzen 7 5800 HS 8C / 16 T 2.8 GHz 4.4 GHz 20 MB 35 W Zen 3 AMD Ryzen 5 5600 H 6C / 12 T 3.3 GHz 4.2 GHz 19 MB 45 W Zen 3 AMD Ryzen 5 5600 HS 6C / 12 T 3.0 GHz 4.2 GHz 19 MB 35 W Zen 3 AMD Ryzen 7 5900 U 8C / 16 T 1.9 GHz 4.4 GHz 20 MB 15 W Zen 3 AMD Ryzen 7 5700YOU 8C / 16 T 1.8 GHz 4.3 GHz 12 MB 15 W Zen 2 AMD Ryzen 5 5600YOU 6C / 12 T 2.3 GHz 4.2 GHz 19 MB 15 W Zen 3 AMD Ryzen 5 5500YOU 6 C / 13 T 2.1G Hz 4.0 GHz 11 MB 16 W Zen 2 AMD Ryzen 3 5300 You 4C / 8T 2.6 GHz 3.8 GHz 6MB 15 W Zen 2

Bug in Windows 10: Path specification can cause blue screen

Security researcher Jonas Lykkegard has published details of a bug that affects several versions of Windows 10 (including the current 20 H2) and possibly server – Operating system versions concerned. The error ensures that calling up a certain file path, for example in the address bar of a web browser, causes a blue screen. Administrator rights are not required to trigger the error.

Lykkegard is the same researcher who recently pointed out a vulnerability that was found under Windows 10 (unchanged so far) allows attacks on the NTFS file system. As with the first vulnerability, Lykkegard publicly pointed out the current problem last October via Twitter, without Microsoft having reacted to it immediately.

The reaction only took place now: At the request of IT News website Bleeping Computer announced to Microsoft that they are investigating the security issues and will provide updates for “affected devices” as soon as possible. Even the wording of the statement agrees with the statement on Lykkegard’s first publication: “Microsoft has a customer commitment to investigate reported security issues and we will provide updates for impacted devices as soon as possible.”

Blue screen by entering the path Windows 10 supports API calls for which software developers have a path in Win 32 – Use the device namespace as an argument to communicate directly with devices such as a hard drive. Lykkegaard has now noticed that opening the following path directly, for example in the browser, many Windows – 10 – crashes systems ( we strongly advise against trying this out ):

\. globalroot device condrv kernelconnect The path points to the device name of the “console multiplexer driver”; Lykkegaard taps that it will be used for kernel / user mode interprocess communication (IPC). Details on how the crash came about are not yet known.

You can view the result of the entry in the browser here (instead of on your own system).

(Image: screenshot)

Affected and unaffected Windows versions The Bleeping Computer team wants the bug on Windows 10 Systems from version 1709 to the current 20 H2 have reproduced. The author of the present message, however, was able to detect the error in a virtual machine with Windows 10 Per version 1709 with an older patch status do not trigger – neither in Legacy Edge nor in Internet Explorer 11 or in Google Chrome 86. The path was rejected as invalid in each case. Author’s tests with Google Chrome and Chromium Edge on the current Windows 10 20 H2 on the other hand reliably triggered the blue screen. This also worked in remote desktop sessions.

In the author’s blog, a reader confirmed that to have triggered the bug under Windows Server 2019. The author also has a report from a reader via social networks who also found the Blue Screen of Death under Windows 10 1507 LTSC could trigger.

The author of this article also carried out a test under Windows 7 SP1 with an ESU license and the latest patch status. Here, too, the path specification was rejected as invalid.

Possibility of attack via shortcut here too The possibility of causing vulnerable systems to crash could be misused for denial-of-service attacks. Similar to the case of the NTFS bug, Lykkegard also pointed out that this second vulnerability could be attacked using a specially prepared URL shortcut (links with .url ending).

The principle behind it: The The attacker creates such a shortcut and specifies the problematic path as the path to load the shortcut icon. In the next step, the user has to be moved to download the shortcut, which could be hidden in an archive, for example. As soon as the user then navigates to the location of the shortcut, the system tries to load the icon and access the path, which in turn triggers the BSOD. As with the NTFS bug, the best defense against such attacks is a healthy mistrust and caution when downloading online content.

(ovw)

Brief information: renewable energy, Stellantis, M1-Mac, skimming

Conversion to renewable energies relieves pressure on the environment The conversion to renewable energies is not just a battle in Europe against the climate crisis, but also for the benefit of the environment. This was announced by the European Environment Agency EEA on Monday in Copenhagen. Accordingly, the increased use of photovoltaics, wind and biomass in electricity production in the EU has between 2005 and 2018 led to a significant reduction in climate-damaging greenhouse gases. The growth in renewable energies since 400 has also reduced the pressure on the environment in several ways, for example with regard to Formation of fine dust or excessive nutrient enrichment and acidification of waters.

Fusion perfect: Stellantis auto company with 14 Brands The French Peugeot manufacturer PSA and Fiat Chrysler confirmed on Saturday that they have made their mega-merger into the fourth largest in the world Auto company have completed. The transatlantic group Stellantis carries 06 car brands from Europe and the USA such as Peugeot, Citroën, Jeep, Maserati or Alfa Romeo. With Opel, a German brand is also there. Around 14. 000 People. Only Volkswagen, Toyota and the French-Japanese Renault-Nissan group 2019 were bigger. A major reconstruction of the new network is to be expected. The new boss, Carlos Tavares of PSA had previously assured that no plants should be closed.

Our weekday news podcast delivers the most important news of the day compressed into 2 minutes. Anyone who uses voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant can also hear or see the news there. Simply activate the skill on Alexa or say to the Google Assistant: “Play heise top”.

Apple is killing sideloading on M1 Macs Apple closed a loophole that made it possible to run all iOS and iPadOS apps on M1 Install Macs – even those whose developers have explicitly blocked it. Using tools such as Apple Configurator or iMazing, users could also bring apps such as Netflix, Gmail or Instagram, which are simply not available as native programs on the Mac, onto their ARM machine. As 9to5Mac noticed, Apple wants to make this sideloading impossible via a server-side change.

Damage from data theft ATMs at record low The damage caused by data theft at ATMs in Germany is 2020 dropped to a record low. At around 1, 000 million euros, the Frankfurt facility Euro card systems put the gross amount of damage caused by so-called ” Skimming “, ie the spying out of card data and secret numbers. Much greater damage occurs in Germany as a result of theft and loss of payment cards. Many consumers make it easy for criminals because they keep their card and PIN together in their wallets.

(igr )

Microsoft Azure integrates Couchbase Cloud

Couchbase Cloud is available on Azure for the first time. It is the managed service version of the multi-cloud-to-edge NoSQL database Couchbase Server. It is based on a memory-first architecture with an SQL-friendly query language. In addition, Couchbase Cloud contains robust SDKs for developers and is a schema-independent JSON format, which enables flexible scaling.

According to the manufacturer, the combination of Couchbase reduces Server and integration on Microsoft Azure’s In-virtual Private Cloud (VPC) reduce the costs associated with traditional deployments, with no restrictions on the control and security of the data. With the help of the integrated user interface (“single pane of glass”) for multicloud management and cross-data center replication, multi-clusters can be managed across different cloud regions.

Billing based on usage Couchbase Cloud is available in various licensing models. For example, users can choose between hourly billing or prepayment with no monthly limits. According to Couchbase, there are no restrictions on IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) subscriptions. Usage can be configured and increased according to the customer’s development, test and operating requirements.

Furthermore, users per cluster can choose between SLAs (Service Level Agreement) for development environments (Developer Pro) or Productive operation (Enterprise) can choose. In addition, there is no CSP lock-in (Cloud Service Provider) through customer-specific applications.

Couchbase Cloud on Microsoft Azure is now available as 30 – Day test version available in the respective customer account in the two variants Developer Pro for development and test and Enterprise for the support of productive systems.

(csc)

Signal is also experiencing a massive onslaught of new users

With the planned changes to the terms and conditions at WhatsApp, Mark Zuckerberg has once again scored an own goal. After Telegram had already broken the 500 million mark of active users, Signal also recorded a massive increase in users. However, this has the consequence that the servers at the Signal Foundation are reaching their limit. Last weekend there were even server failures. For this reason, some messages could not be sent. However, those responsible have already announced via Twitter that the infrastructure has been expanded and will now be able to cope better with the onslaught of users. Signal also emphasized that the encrypted content of the messenger was never compromised.

So you can be curious whether the increase in users on the messenger alternatives continues and we will say goodbye to the data octopus Whatsapp in the long run. Ultimately, the Facebook service does not offer a unique selling point compared to other messengers. WhatsApp has such high user numbers only because of its widespread use. However, as soon as an equivalent or even better alternative also enjoys a strong reach, WhatsApp should be tight.

Mark Zuckerberg and his social media platform have been criticized for a long time and have not managed in recent years to prove to the public that the security of user data is paramount Place.

Google blocks private API for Chromium-based browsers

Google’s synchronization functions are only intended for Chrome. Therefore, an API that was previously used by Chromium-based browsers is now blocked in order to also offer the functions. Browser providers can only go up to 15. March to access Google’s “private Chrome APIs”. This affects more than synchronization.

In the short blog post, Google does not explain which other browsers are affected. “Chrome Sync and Click to Call are for Google only.” Some users would have been able to log in to their Google account with third-party providers and synchronize bookmarks and history. Those affected can still access their data, but via their Google account. Locally stored data will still be available locally. To get an insight, there is the “My Activities” page, and your own data can be downloaded via Google Takeout. According to a recent review, Google only found out that the API was being used.

The blocking also applies to Google’s spelling correction, the translator and the contacts interface . If you look at the keys list on the Chromium project page, you could almost think that Google lost its nerve for a short time, so much is highlighted in yellow and declared as unavailable in capital letters.

Google exploited By using Google’s APIs, server capacities have also been automatically occupied, and the development of Google has been pushed forward, not under the open source umbrella . Google had already blocked other access to its own functions, such as the Hangouts API.

Chromium-based browsers include Microsoft’s new Edge, Vivaldi and Opera. Edge can sync tabs and history, but users must be signed in with a Microsoft account. It is unlikely that the data will then pass through Google. It is still unclear which browsers used the API.

What this step means for the Chromium packages offered by many Linux distributions is still unclear. Users on Reddit and in the associated Google Groups forum fear that the sync functions could be omitted for these users. Several project managers at least received an e-mail with a corresponding warning, but there is no confirmation of the step or Google denial.

More about browsers can be found in the uplink:

(emw)

Intel is discontinuing pure Optane memory drives for end customers

Intel has informed its customers via Product Change Notification (PCN) that most of the SSDs for end customers will be discontinued with Optane memory. This concerns the Optane 905 P, Optane 900 P and the hybrids of Optane Memory and classic NAND the Optane H 10. Intel takes the last orders in mid-January. Only the latest Optane H 20 will be continued, but this will only be available in the second quarter 2021.

Intel describes and justifies the procedure in the PCN as follows:

“Intel will not provide a new large capacity Optane Memory SSD as a transition product for the client market segment. Intel will focus on the new Optane Memory H 20 with Solid State Storage for the client market segment. “

The Optane – 800 – and Optane – 900 – series will be the last of its kind for the time being. While these SSDs were used as a PCI Express expansion card and U.2 drive, the Optane H 20 is an SSD in M.2 format that has a large QLC -3D-NAND combined with the Optane Memory. This will mainly be used in notebooks, while some OEMs also use it for desktop systems. The Optane memory serves as a fast cache, while the NAND acts like in any other SSD.

Intel’s memory business is currently on the move. Recently, Intel parted with its NAND division and sold it to SK Hynix. However, the takeover is not yet complete.

At the Memory and Storage Day in December, Intel presented its product strategy for the year 2021. Intel is already concentrating mainly on the server business. This strategy continues with the settings of the end customer version of the Optane SSDs. In the server market, Intel apparently sees a greater chance for the Optane Memory, which in the form of the Optane DC Persistent Memory is seen as an interim solution between DRAM and fast SSDs. Intel will continue to manufacture the Optane memory itself in-house and we are already working on the next generations.

Android Automotive OS: Does Google Still Give Automakers A Chance?

Android is actually not particularly suitable as an operating system for the telematics unit of the center console, the infotainment system. It boots for ages, it struggles with security problems and the rampant hardware growth has always kept Google on its toes. But the first current and probably all cars in the future rely on virtualization, as in the server area: Individual components run in their own virtual machine (VM), each with their own requirements for security and reliability. A so-called “hypervisor” manages the VMs, all of which share high-performance hardware. In order to become more independent from this, Google uses VirtIO as the standard. And so Alphabet dares to enter the telematics systems, first in the Polestar 2, later with PSA (Opel!) And GM.

Android Automotive OS in the Polestar 2 It took a while due to the high level of interest in this vehicle, but now we were finally able to install the Polestar 2 with Google’s infotainment Try OS. Although the operation differs significantly from smartphones, there are hardly any questions. Android Automotive OS (AAOS) is self-explanatory. At the very bottom there is a home soft button, the home display sorts the display on tiles, everything is very clear. The latency is low, the animations fluid, and what is remarkable: Polestar does not use particularly powerful hardware. 4 GByte RAM, 83 GByte Flash-ROM, quad-core SoC with 2.4 GHz maximum clock and GPU , separate DSP, radio, cooling fan, the box below / behind the TFT does not contain much more. The performance is on the level of a cheap smartphone.

It is all the more remarkable how well it works. The Polestar 2 is one of the most pleasant driving experiences currently available. Nothing tinkles, nothing annoys, and when the driver says “Play me a little Classic Rock from Spotify!”, The assistant plays Classic Rock from Spotify. The only downer of the manageable hardware performance from the user’s point of view: There is no offline language processing. However, since even small bandwidths are sufficient, the question is how much the customer is bothered by the ongoing network expansion. Either way, a very strong competitor, even for many competitors with significantly more powerful hardware.

Android Automotive OS in the Polestar 2 (21 Pictures) Sun the car arrived: large radio station view, large touch-compatible buttons.

(Image: Clemens Gleich) The Play Store Google gives gradually freeing up the Play Store for new AAOS developments, partly overlapping with the well-known Android Auto under the collective name “Android for Cars” and with design guidelines for low-distraction apps. Currently there are mainly apps in the “Media” category: software that plays audio data. Many radio stations have their streaming apps ready for Polestar drivers to install. Not yet unlockable, but in the development phase: navigation apps, parking space search or charging station finder. The selection of apps will therefore grow rapidly. Just imagine: “Calimoto” and “A Better Route Planner” integrated on the center console! That will be tough for Volkswagen, who want to offer a German automotive alternative to the Play Store.

Hardly any car manufacturer will have to ask whether they can do it better (the bitter answer is likely to be most know). The only question that remains is whether Google’s offer is priced right for the vehicle manufacturer. Perhaps Volkswagen could offer the cheaper alternative with Here Maps, which can therefore be a little worse. For me these lines read just as bitterly as for you or any other car German. One thing is certain: there is currently no offer comparable to Android, especially when it comes to the app ecosystem. And it is unlikely that Volkswagen will bring about such an alternative as the Wolfsburg superiors would like.

Android Auto-ready Android is not a typical center console operating system. It takes a long time to get through. It’s notoriously unsafe. And some latency behavior is also better elsewhere (compare the audio latencies of Android with iOS). This contrasts with the many advantages that made the system the leading mobile OS. Fortunately, smart virtualization largely neutralizes Android’s disadvantages.

Messenger signal: servers are groaning under new load

The massive influx of new users has caused technical difficulties for the operators of the Signal messenger. This emerges from a series of tweets, and quite a few (new) users of the messenger will be able to understand this themselves. A few hours ago it finally said on Twitter: “Signal is back!”

Signal was initially confirmed on Friday “technical difficulties”, the service should be restored as soon as possible. Yesterday, Saturday, it was said that Signal would also bring additional capacities online as soon as possible in order to be able to handle the data traffic.

Error messages Now the service has been restored, but as a side effect of the server failures, users can see an error message: “invalid encrypted message”. Signal assures that the chats are still safe, but users may not have received a message from a contact. A future update of the app should fix the problem.

If you get the error message on Android, tap on the menu at the top right of the app and then on “Secure Session reset to default”. On iOS, click on the “Reset session” button under “Received message was not synchronized”.

At the moment, many smartphone users are switching from WhatsApp to Signal because the service enforces consent to its new privacy policy, which states that data will be passed on to other Facebook services. The possibility of passing on applies with the restriction that these may not be used for advertising, but for analysis purposes. WhatsApp originally gave its users the ultimatum to agree to the new terms of use by February 8, but the Facebook subsidiary has now postponed the date. (anw)

AMD Threadripper Pro 3995WX Review: Ripping With 8 Memory Channels

Our Verdict

AMD’s Threadripper Pro models offer multiple entry points to eight-channel memory and 128 lanes of PCIe 4.0 support, setting a new bar for professional-class performance in the process.

For

Excellent rendering performance
Competitive performance in GPU-accelerated applications
Eight-Channel memory interface
128 Lanes of PCIe 4.0
Fully-validated ECC memory support

Against

Pricing isn’t available yet
Some workloads don’t benefit from 128 threads

AMD’s Threadripper 3000 processors are best known for wreaking complete devastation on Intel’s HEDT lineup, easily outclassing the incumbent Cascade Lake-X processors in key areas, and upsetting our CPU Benchmark Hierarchy and Best CPUs for Workstations rankings in one fell swoop. While we certainly weren’t accustomed to seeing Intel so utterly trounced in a segment it has traditionally ruled with pricing impunity, the Threadripper 3000 processors did fall short in one area – they didn’t enable all eight memory channels or the full complement of PCIe lanes. AMD’s Threadripper Pro fixes that, and the chips are coming to retail outlets soon.

The ludicrously-appointed 64-core 128-thread 3995WX serves as the head of AMD’s new four-pronged Threadripper Pro lineup, which extends down to 12-core models. At launch, all of the chips were exclusive to Lenovo’s ThinkStation P620 workstations. However, AMD recently announced that it was bringing the top three models to retail outlets, and the company’s partners announced several new motherboards, like the ASUS Pro WS Sage SE and the Gigabyte WRX80-SU8. Unfortunately, AMD hasn’t shared retail pricing details yet.

The consumer Threadripper models also weren’t designed to fully address the needs of the high-volume and high-margin OEM workstation market, which is key as AMD looks to expand its market share-stealing streak. AMD never specifically designed or marketed its Threadripper lineup for the workstation market, but the new Threadripper Pro chips are designed to allow the company to penetrate the lucrative OEM workstation segment for the first time in 15 years, opening a new front in AMDs battle against Intel’s highest-end chips.

AMD Threadripper Pro Series
	Cores / Threads	Base / Boost (GHz)	L3 Cache (MB)	PCIe	DRAM	TDP
Threadripper Pro 3995WX	64 / 128	2.7 / 4.2	256 MB	128 Gen 4	Eight-Channel DDR4-3200	280W
Threadripper Pro 3975WX	32 / 64	3.5 / 4.2	128	128 Gen 4	Eight-Channel DDR4-3200	280W
Threadripper Pro 3955WX	16 / 32	3.9 / 4.3	64	128 Gen 4	Eight-Channel DDR4-3200	280W
Threadripper Pro 3945WX	12 / 24	4.0 / 4.3	62	128 Gen 4	Eight-Channel DDR4-3200	280W

Given that AMD’s Threadripper 3990X has already entirely redefined the high end desktop (HEDT) on the consumer side of the equation, it’s natural to expect AMD to eventually bring the advantages of its Zen 2 microarchitecture and the 7nm process to the workstation market – but that hasn’t been a quick and easy path. Fielding OEM-class systems requires passage through strict validation procedures. In the past, AMD’s customers with a strict need for OEM systems either went with the Ryzen Pro or EPYC server models instead, or chose a consumer-focused Threaddripper system from smaller custom system makers. That’s a gap that the new Threadripper Pro series aims to fill, and it certainly also helps AMD build OEM relationships and readies them for AMD’s future chips, like the Zen 3 Threadripper models that will undoubtedly come in due course.

The Threadripper Pro 3995WX comes with plenty of additives to earn the distinction of the most powerful workstation chip on the market – it’s 64 cores easily outweigh Intel’s maximum of 28 cores in a single-socket workstation. In threaded workloads, the 3995WX can even outperform dual-socket Intel systems that come with up to 56 cores.

Aside from the class-leading core counts, AMD’s Threadripper Pro also comes with other features that give it a leg up over competing chips. In many respects, the 3995WX is akin to AMD’s consumer-focused Threadripper 3990X – but on steroids. While both chips feature the same overall design with 64 cores and 128 threads, the Pro series brings eight DDR4-3200 memory channels to bear, thus providing increased memory throughput over AMD’s quad-channel Threadripper models, not to mention Intel’s six-channel Xeon W models that top out at DDR4-2933. You’ll have to step up to a dual-socket Intel-powered workstation to find more available memory channels.

The expanded memory throughput also addresses a key weakness that limits AMD’s consumer Threadripper processors in some applications – memory throughput per core – while also handily serving up more total memory bandwidth than a single Intel Xeon W chip.

AMD also bumped maximum memory capacity up to 2TB in systems that support two DIMMs per channel, a big jump over the 256GB supported with the company’s own consumer models, not to mention Intel’s competing Xeon W chips that have a 1TB limit. You’ll have to step up to Intel’s Xeon Scalable lineup, which is largely meant for servers instead of workstations, to match Threadripper Pro’s 2TB of memory capacity.

AMD also increased PCIe 4.0 support from 72 lanes with the standard Threadripper models to 128 with every chip in the Pro series, all while Intel’s Xeon W remains mired on the PCIe 3.0 interface with 64 lanes. The doubled throughput of each PCIe 4.0 lane, not to mention that the 3995WX has 2.5X more lanes, is a boon for professional users that want to use the fastest high-performance storage and networking additives, or have the ability to connect four Quadro GPUs in a single-socket chassis.

AMD positions the Threadripper Pro chips for professional studios, designers, engineers, and data scientists, all of which can benefit from increased connectivity. We put the chips to the test in professional-class applications and our standard desktop PC test suite. And yes, we took the chip for a spin through our gaming suite to see how the extra four memory channels impact gaming performance.

AMD Threadripper Pro Specifications

The Threadripper Pro chips come with the ‘WX’ suffix to denote they are designed specifically for the professional workstation market and drop into specialized single-socket WRX80 motherboards featuring the sWRX8 socket. The LGA4094 socket is physically identical to the Threadripper consumer and EPYC data center platforms. Still, it features different pin assignments: AMD enabled some pins to support more memory channels and PCIe lanes than are available on the Threadripper consumer chips, and disabled certain pins used to support multiple sockets on EPYC platforms. The chips feature the same internal chiplet-based architecture as the desktop variants, albeit with a fully-enabled I/O Die (IOD) that activates the extra PCIe lanes and two additional dual-channel memory controllers.

	Cores / Threads	Base / Boost (GHz)	L3 Cache (MB)	PCIe	DRAM	TDP	MSRP/RCP
Threadripper Pro 3995WX	64 / 128	2.7 / 4.2	256	128 Gen 4	Eight-Channel DDR4-3200	280W	N/A
Threadripper 3990X	64 / 128	2.9 / 4.3	256	88 Gen 4 (72 Usable)	Quad DDR4-3200	280W	$3,990
EPYC 7442	64 / 128	2.25 / 3.4	256	128 Gen 4	Eight-Channel DDR4-3200	225W	$6,950
EPYC 7542	32 / 64	3.9 / 3.4	128	128 Gen 4	Eight-Channel DDR4-3200	225W	$3,400
Threadripper Pro 3975WX	32 / 64	3.5 / 4.2	128	128 Gen 4	Eight-Channel DDR4-3200	280W	N/A
Xeon 8280	28 / 56	2.7 / 4.0	38.5	48 Gen 3	Six-Channel DDR4-2933	205W	$10,009
Intel W-3175X	28 / 56	3.1 / 4.8	38.5	48 Gen 3	Six-Channel DDR4-2666	255W	$2999
Threadripper 3970X	32 / 64	3.7 / 4.5	*128	88 Gen 4 (72 Usable)	Quad DDR4-3200	280W	$1999
Xeon W-3275	28 / 56	2.5 / 4.6	38.5	64 Gen3	Six-Channel DDR4-2933	205W	$4,449
Threadripper 3960X	24 / 48	3.8 / 4.5	*128	88 Gen 4 (72 Usable)	Quad DDR4-3200	280W	$1,399
Xeon W-3265	24 / 48	2.7 / 4.6	33	64 Gen 3	Six-Channel DDR4-2933	205W	$3,349
Threadripper Pro 3955WX	16 / 32	3.9 / 4.3	64	128 Gen 4	Eight-Channel DDR4-3200	280W	N/A
Ryzen 9 3950X	16 / 32	3.5 / 4.7	64	64	Dual DDR4-3200	105W	$749
Threadripper Pro 3945WX	12 / 24	4.0 / 4.3	62	128 Gen 4	Eight-Channel DDR4-3200	280W	N/A

All Threadripper Pro models also support 128 lanes of PCIe 4.0 connectivity. The chips also feature a 280W TDP rating that matches the consumer models but stretches beyond the maximum 250W TDP found with the EPYC frequency-optimized series of processors.

All of the Threadripper Pro processors feature a maximum frequency over 4.0 GHz, which is important not only for lightly-threaded workloads but also for applications that are licensed on a per-core basis, meaning you pay higher licensing fees based on the number of cores present in the system. Naturally, faster cores equate to more value for your software licensing dollar.

The 280W Threadripper Pro 3995WX is AMD’s first 64-core workstation processor and, like it’s comparable EPYC and Threadripper models, comes with 256MB of L3 cache. Base frequencies weigh in at 2.7 GHz, which is much higher than EPYC’s maximum of 2.25 GHz for a 64-core processor, and 4.2 GHz for the single-core boost, which also outstrips EPYC’s 3.4 GHz boost. However, the 3995WX’s boost is 100 MHz lower than the consumer-focused Threadripper 3990X.

The 280W Threadripper Pro 3975WX weighs in at 32 cores and 64 threads that run at a 3.5 GHz base and 4.2 GHz boost, which is significantly lower than the Threadripper 3970X’s 3.7/4.5 GHz base/boost. The chip has a significantly higher boost frequency than its 32-core EPYC 7542 comparable (+800MHZ) but a lower base frequency.

Meanwhile, the 16-core 32-thread Threadripper 3955WX offers the same core counts as the Zen 2-powered Ryzen 9 3950X that drops into mainstream desktop platforms but has quadruple the memory throughput with eight memory channels along with 128 lanes of the PCIe 4.0 interface. The chip features much lower peak frequencies of 4.3 GHz than the 3950X’s 4.7 GHz, but a 400 MHz higher base clock of 3.9 GHz.

Finally, the Threadripper Pro 3945WX slots in as AMD’s first 12-core processor that surpasses a 4.0 GHz boost speed, weighing in with 4.0/4.3 GHz base/boost frequencies. This processor also comes with the full complement of eight memory channels and 128 lanes of PCIe 4.0, with high clock rates positioning the chip for applications that prize per-core performance.

AMD says its four Threadripper Pro chips compete with Intel’s entire confusing stack of workstation chips, which includes three families (W-3200, W-2200, and Xeon Scalable) that have varying features, sockets, and memory support. Even with a huge product stack that spans 85 chips, Intel’s systems top out at six channels of DDR4-2933, meaning that AMD has the memory throughput advantage that is key for large-scale simulations and models.

AMD stepped up Threadripper Pro’s ECC memory support to include UDIMMs, RDIMMs, LRDIMMs, and 3DS RDIMMs (3D stacked memory). AMD’s consumer-focused Threadripper platforms ‘unofficially’ support ECC memory, meaning true full support is spotty. As you can imagine, all Threadripper Pro workstations will come fully-validated for ECC memory. The processors also support AMD’s Memory Guard memory encryption. AMD says that comes with a slight performance penalty (a few percent) that is offset by the security advantages.

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Sapphire GPRO X070, the Radeon RX 5700 XT in the version with passive cooling. An interesting project of a popular manufacturer

Although the vast majority of the graphics cards we describe have cooling systems with at least one fan, however, constructions equipped with passive cooling are also created. Most often, these are inefficient chips that we would rather not recommend to avid players, but from time to time we get a raisin, such as the Sapphire GPRO X presented just now 070. This is nothing more than the fanless Radeon RX 5700 XT designed for more professional use than gaming, although some of its specs indicate that this card it can also be used for entertainment. Let’s take a closer look at this unusual design.

GPRO X model 070 offers reference timings 1607 / 1755 / 1905 MHz (base clock respectively , gry and boost), but it is a bit surprising that the producer boasts of all these values. It is also interesting that the Radeon received four video connectors (3x DP and 1x HDMI), although most of these types of chips do not have any ports.

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Sapphire Radeon RX Test 5700 XT Nitro – Best NAVI version?

Sapphire GPRO X 070 has been designed for professional use, as the name already indicates This model is intended rather for a server environment, where the airflow is already provided by a special housing. Now that we know that this is a special edition of Radeon 5700 XT, inside we find GPU Navi 10 with 40 compute units and 2560 processors There is 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on board (14 Gb / s). GPRO X model 070 offers reference timings 1607 / 1755 / 1905 MHz (base clock, games and boost respectively), but it is a bit surprising that the manufacturer boasts of all these values, since it is a card supposedly for professional use.

Palit GeForce GTX Test 1650 KalmX – Passively cooled card

Interestingly, GPRO X 070 has an additional BIOS with a “performance mode” where the clock speed is lowered to 1500 / 1700 / 1750 MHz. It’s unclear exactly what the purpose of this mode is, but it’s worth noting that lowered clock rates are often found in cryptocurrency mining cards. It is also interesting that the Radeon has four video connectors (3x DP and 1x HDMI), although most of these types of chips do not have any ports. As you can see, there is nothing to prevent this RX 5700 XT being used at home. Sapphire has not disclosed the price of its new model.

Source: VideoCardz

Over 500 body cams are used by the police in Lower Saxony

The police in Lower Saxony are now using 500 body cams. The cameras, which the officers usually carry on their shoulders, are supposed to record what is happening in conflict-prone situations and help to relax such situations. At the beginning of the year, the number of body cams in the Göttingen police department more than doubled to a total of 121. Previously, the Hanover Police Department 28 received bodycams for area-wide use in all 24 Services. The cameras should also protect the officers from excesses of violence and serve to secure evidence.

Interior Minister: Bodycams reduce escalations “So far there has been very positive feedback on the body cams from our police officers,” said Lower Saxony Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) of the news agency dpa . “The cameras are now being used in all of Lower Saxony’s police headquarters.” The visibility of the bodycam on the uniform is often enough to prevent escalations and ultimately prevent them. “This has a positive effect on the safety and ultimately also on the health of our police officers.”

In the Braunschweig Police Department 39 Cameras available, in Lüneburg 138, in Oldenburg 105 and in Osnabrück 39. Initially, a total of around 500 body cameras should be procured from the Lower Saxony Logistics Center (LZN); There is an option to procure further 500 devices.

28 Retained for days The recordings of the day are transferred to a server in Hanover via a docking station in the police inspections. There they will be deleted after 28 days – unless they are required as evidence in criminal proceedings. The officers who have a camera with them have a specially marked uniform with the inscription “Video recording”.

The use of the cameras is possible due to changes to the Lower Saxony Police and Order Act, which were passed in May 2019. There had been massive protests and large-scale demonstrations against the changes. Since then, the law has allowed the police, under certain conditions, to make image and sound recordings of operations in public spaces. Recordings of operations in private rooms are not permitted. The use of the bodycams is also criticized because the police make arbitrary decisions about their use, so that they should hardly be useful as evidence against the officers, for example in excess of violence.

(tig)

Elasticsearch search engine ends free licensing

Core components of the Elastic Stack from version 7. 11 should no longer run under Apache 2.0 License must be available.

(Image: Elasticsearch BV)

The Elasticsearch search engine and the Kibana visualization tool will no longer be available as free software under the Apache 2.0 license are available. Elasticsearch BV announced this in a blog post. In the future, there will be a choice between the Elastic License already offered and the Server Side Public License (SSPL) used by MongoDB, for example.

Elastic names the reason for the license change – similar to MongoDB – the commercial exploitation by third parties who offer the Elastic Stack as software as a service without giving anything back. Ultimately, this harms the entire user community. The vast majority of users are not affected by the change.

The Elastic Stack is currently in version 7. 10. 2 published. In addition to Elasticsearch and Kibana, this includes Beats for collecting and Logstash for preparing data. The areas of application of the Elastic Stack range from logging and monitoring of complex environments to complex data analysis.

(un)

Covalent chooses the IBM blockchain to certify the sustainability of its products

Covalent, a company operating in the sector of fashion, will trace the entire supply chain of its products through the IBM blockchain to measure the impact on the environment in the various production phases

by Alberto Falchi published on 15 January 2021 , at 14: 04 in the Innovation channel

blockchain IBM

Covalent is a company of NewLight Technologies which operates in the fashion sector (eyewear, wallets, bags) and which focuses heavily on corporate sustainability. Its products are made with a biomaterial consisting of microorganisms, AirCarbon: can be used as an alternative to plastic, leather and natural fibers and is made using only renewable energy. AirCarbon is certified as negative carbon by the Carbon Trust and consequently reduces the amount of carbon in the air, instead of increasing it as happens with the production of alternative materials.

Covalent has set itself the goal of measuring the environmental impact on the entire production chain and to achieve the goal it has relied on blockchain solutions from IBM .

The IBM blockchain to measure ‘environmental impact of Covalent

More and more people base their purchasing choices on aspects such as environmental sustainability of products: an IBM study suggests that 75% of people are more likely to change their habits by choosing products with a low environmental impact. It is important for companies to show their ecological commitment and, above all, to offer transparent measurements. Covalent has chosen to rely on IBM’s blockchain to effectively communicate these data: through the technology of the IT giant, the fashion industry can certify the quantity of carbon emitted at each stage of the supply chain, from the creation of the model to the realization of the finished product, including the transfer to the warehouses. The verification of this information is entrusted to an independent body , so as to ensure greater transparency.

For the end user, this translates to a code a 12 numbers, the Carbon Date , printed on all Covalent products : by inserting it on the Covalent website, it will be possible to obtain detailed information on the environmental impact of each step of the supply chain.

The blockchain is managed by a server IBM LinuxOne , a server designed to manage loads of work critical and equipped with a FIPS certified hardware security module (HSM) 140 – 2 level 4

“ Our goal is to provide people with the information they need to know the environmental impact of our products “- explains Mark Herrema, CEO by NewLight – “ Thanks to the IBM blockchain and the LinuxONE technology, we can give visibility not only to the production steps, but also to the carbon impact that each individual product has on the environment. For us it is very important because it helps us to make tangible the unique path that leads to the creation of different products “.