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Posted on November 26, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Insights from 1 year of tracking a polymorphic threat

A little over a year ago, in October 2018, our polymorphic outbreak monitoring system detected a large surge in reports, indicating that a large-scale campaign was unfolding. We observed as the new threat attempted to deploy files that changed every 20-30 minutes on thousands of devices. We gave the threat the name “Dexphot,” based on certain characteristics of the malware code.

The Dexphot attack used a variety of sophisticated methods to evade security solutions. Layers of obfuscation, encryption, and the use of randomized file names hid the installation process. Dexphot then used fileless techniques to run malicious code directly in memory, leaving only a few traces that can be used for forensics. It hijacked legitimate system processes to disguise malicious activity. If not stopped, Dexphot ultimately ran a cryptocurrency miner on the device, with monitoring services and scheduled tasks triggering re-infection when defenders attempt to remove the malware.

In the months that followed, we closely tracked the threat and witnessed the attackers upgrade the malware, target new processes, and work around defensive measures:

While Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection’s pre-execution detection engines blocked Dexphot in most cases, behavior-based machine learning models provided protection for cases where the threat slipped through. Given the threat’s persistence mechanisms, polymorphism, and use of fileless techniques, behavior-based detection was a critical component of the comprehensive protection against this malware and other threats that exhibit similar malicious behaviors.

Microsoft Defender ATP data shows the effectiveness of behavioral blocking and containment capabilities in stopping the Dexphot campaign. Over time, Dexphot-related malicious behavior reports dropped to a low hum, as the threat lost steam.

Our close monitoring of Dexphot helped us ensure that our customers were protected from the evolving threat. More importantly, one year’s worth of intelligence helped us gain insight not only into the goals and motivations of Dexphot’s authors, but of cybercriminals in general.

Complex attack chain

The early stages of a Dexphot infection involves numerous files and processes. During the execution stage, Dexphot writes five key files to disk:

An installer with two URLs
An MSI package file downloaded from one of the URLs
A password-protected ZIP archive
A loader DLL, which is extracted from the archive
An encrypted data file that holds three additional executables that are loaded into system processes via process hollowing

Except for the installer, the other processes that run during execution are legitimate system processes. This can make detection and remediation more difficult. These legitimate system processes include msiexec.exe (for installing MSI packages), unzip.exe (for extracting files from the password-protected ZIP archive), rundll32.exe (for loading the loader DLL), schtasks.exe (for scheduled tasks), powershell.exe (for forced updates). In later stages, Dexphot targets a few other system processes for process hollowing: svchost.exe, tracert.exe, and setup.exe.

Multiple layers of security evasion

Based on Microsoft Defender ATP signals, SoftwareBundler:Win32/ICLoader and its variants are primarily used to drop and run the Dexphot installer. The installer uses two URLs to download malicious payloads. These are the same two URLs that Dexphot use later to establish persistence, update the malware, and re-infect the device.

The installer downloads an MSI package from one of the two URLs, and then launches msiexec.exe to perform a silent install. This is the first of several instances of Dexphot employing living-off-the-land techniques, the use of legitimate system processes for nefarious purposes.

Dexphot’s package often contains an obfuscated batch script. If the package contains this file, the script is the first thing that msiexec.exe runs when it begins the installation process. The said obfuscated script is designed to check for antivirus products. Dexphot halts the infection process immediately if an antivirus product is found running.

When we first began our research, the batch script only checked for antivirus products from Avast and AVG. Later, Windows Defender Antivirus was added to the checklist.

If the process is not halted, Dexphot decompresses the password-protected ZIP archive from the MSI package. The password to this archive is within the MSI package. Along with the password, the malware’s authors also include a clean version of unzip.exe so that they don’t have to rely on the target system having a ZIP utility. The unzip.exe file in the package is usually named various things, such as z.exe or ex.exe, to avoid scrutiny.

The ZIP archive usually contains three files: the loader DLL, an encrypted data file (usually named bin.dat), and, often, one clean unrelated DLL, which is likely included to mislead detection.

Dexphot usually extracts the decompressed files to the target system’s Favorites folder. The files are given new, random names, which are generated by concatenating words and numbers based on the time of execution (for example, C:\Users\<user>\Favorites\\Res.Center.ponse\<numbers>). The commands to generate the new names are also obfuscated, for example:

Msiexec.exe next calls rundll32.exe, specifying loader DLL (urlmon.7z in the example above) in order to decrypt the data file. The decryption process involves ADD and XOR operations, using a key hardcoded in the binary.

The decrypted data contains three executables. Unlike the files described earlier, these executables are never written to the filesystem. Instead, they exist only in memory, and Dexphot runs them by loading them into other system processes via process hollowing.

Stealthy execution through fileless techniques

Process hollowing is a technique that can hide malware within a legitimate system process. It replaces the contents of the legitimate process with malicious code. Detecting malicious code hidden using this method is not trivial, so process hollowing has become a prevalent technique used by malware today.

This method has the additional benefit of being fileless: the code can be run without actually being saved on the file system. Not only is it harder to detect the malicious code while it’s running, it’s harder to find useful forensics after the process has stopped.

To initiate process hollowing, the loader DLL targets two legitimate system processes, for example svchost.exe or nslookup.exe, and spawns them in a suspended state. The loader DLL replaces the contents of these processes with the first and second decrypted executables. These executables are monitoring services for maintaining Dexphot’s components. The now-malicious processes are released from suspension and run.

Next, the loader DLL targets the setup.exe file in SysWoW64. It removes setup.exe’s contents and replaces them with the third decrypted executable, a cryptocurrency miner. Although Dexphot always uses a cryptocurrency miner of some kind, it’s not always the same miner. It used different programs like XMRig and JCE Miner over the course of our research.

Persistence through regularly scheduled malware updates

The two monitoring services simultaneously check the status of all three malicious processes. Having dual monitoring services provides redundancy in case one of the monitoring processes is halted. If any of the processes are terminated, the monitors immediately identify the situation, terminate all remaining malicious processes, and re-infect the device. This forced update/re-infection process is started by a PowerShell command similar to the one below:

The monitoring components also detect freshly launched cmd.exe processes and terminate them promptly. As a final fail-safe, Dexphot uses schtasks.exe to create scheduled tasks, with the command below.

This persistence technique is interesting, because it employs two distinct MITRE ATT&CK techniques: Scheduled Task and Signed Binary Proxy Execution.

The scheduled tasks call msiexec.exe as a proxy to run the malicious code, much like how msiexec.exe was used during installation. Using msiexec.exe, a legitimate system process, can make it harder to trace the source of malicious activity.

Furthermore, the tasks allow Dexphot to conveniently update the payload from the web every time the tasks run. They automatically update all of Dexphot’s components, both upon system reboot as well as every 90 or 110 minutes while the system is running.

Dexphot also generates the names for the tasks at runtime, which means a simple block list of hardcoded task names will not be effective in preventing them from running. The names are usually in a GUID format, although after we released our first round of Dexphot-blocking protections, the threat authors began to use random strings.

The threat authors have one more evasion technique for these scheduled tasks: some Dexphot variants copy msiexec.exe to an arbitrary location and give it a random name, such as %AppData%\<random>.exe. This makes the system process running malicious code a literal moving target.

Polymorphism

Dexphot exhibits multiple layers of polymorphism across the binaries it distributes. For example, the MSI package used in the campaign contains different files, as shown in the table below. The MSI packages generally include a clean version of unzip.exe, a password-protected ZIP file, and a batch file that checks for currently installed antivirus products. However, the batch file is not always present, and the names of the ZIP files and Loader DLLs, as well as the password for extracting the ZIP file, all change from one package to the next.

In addition, the contents of each Loader DLL differs from package to package, as does the encrypted data included in the ZIP file. This leads to the generation of a different ZIP archive and, in turn, a unique MSI package, each time the attacker bundles the files together. Because of these carefully designed layers of polymorphism, a traditional file-based detection approach wouldn’t be effective against Dexphot.

MSI package ID	MSI package contents			Password for ZIP file	Contents of encrypted ZIP
MSI package ID	Unzip.exe name	ZIP file name	Batch file name	Password for ZIP file	Loader DLL file name	Encrypted data name
MSI-1	ex.exe	webUI.r0_	f.bat	kjfhwehjkf	IECache.dll	bin.dat
MSI-2	ex.exe	analog.tv	f.bat	ZvDagW	kernel32.bin	bin.dat
MSI-3	z.exe	yandex.zip	f.bat	jeremy	SetupUi.dll	bin.dat
MSI-4	unzip.exe	ERDNT.LOC.zip		iso100	ERDNT.LOC	data.bin
MSI-5	pck.exe	mse.zip		kika	_steam.dll	bin.dat
MSI-6	z.exe	msi.zip		arima	ic64.dll	bin.dat
MSI-7	z.exe	mse.zip	f.bat	kika	_steam.dll	bin.dat
MSI-8	z.exe	mse.zip		kika	_steam.dll	bin.dat
MSI-9	z.exe	yandex.zip	f.bat	jeremy	SetupUi.dll	bin.dat
MSI-10	hf.exe	update.dat	f.bat	namr	x32Frame.dll	data.bin
MSI-11	z.exe	yandex.zip	f.bat	jeremy	SetupUi.dll	bin.dat
MSI-12	unzip.exe	PkgMgr.iso.zip		pack	PkgMgr.iso	data.bin
MSI-13	ex.exe	analog.tv	f.bat	kjfhwefkjwehjkf	urlmon.7z	bin.dat
MSI-14	ex.exe	icon.ico	f.bat	ZDADW	default.ocx	bin.dat
MSI-15	hf.exe	update.dat		namr	AvastFileRep.dll	data.bin
MSI-16	pck.exe	mse.zip	f.bat	kika	_steam.dll	bin.dat
MSI-17	z.exe	mse.zip	f.bat	joft	win2k.wim	bin.dat
MSI-18	ex.exe	plugin.cx	f.bat	ZDW	_setup.ini	bin.dat
MSI-19	hf.exe	update.dat		namr	AvastFileRep.dll	data.bin
MSI-20	ex.exe	installers.msu	f.bat	000cehjkf	MSE.Engine.dll	bin.dat
MSI-21	z.exe	msi.zip	f.bat	arima	ic64.dll	bin.dat
MSI-22	z.exe	archive00.x	f.bat	00Jmsjeh20	chrome_watcher.dll	bin.dat

A multitude of payload hosts

Besides tracking the files and processes that Dexphot uses to execute an attack, we have also been monitoring the domains used to host malicious payloads. The URLs used for hosting all follow a similar pattern. The domain address usually ends in a .info or .net TLD, while the file name for the actual payload consists of random characters, similar to the randomness previously seen being used to generate file names and scheduled tasks. Some examples from our research are shown in the table below.

Scheduled task name	Download URL
hboavboja	https://supe********709.info/xoslqzu.pdi
{C0B15B19-AB02-0A10-259B-1789B8BD78D6}	https://fa*****r.com/jz5jmdouv4js.uoe
ytiazuceqeif	https://supe********709.info/spkfuvjwadou.bbo
beoxlwayou	https://rb*****.info/xgvylniu.feo
{F1B4C720-5A8B-8E97-8949-696A113E8BA5}	https://emp*******winc.com/f85kr64p1s5k.naj
gxcxhbvlkie	https://gu*****me.net/ssitocdfsiu.pef
{BE7FFC87-6635-429F-9F2D-CD3FD0E6DA51}	https://sy*****.info/pasuuy/xqeilinooyesejou.oew
{0575F553-1277-FB0F-AF67-EB649EE04B39}	https://sumb*******on.info/gbzycb.kiz
gposiiobhkwz	https://gu*****me.net/uyuvmueie.hui
{EAABDEAC-2258-1340-6375-5D5C1B7CEA7F}	https://refr*******r711.info/3WIfUntot.1Mb
zsayuuec	https://gu*****me.net/dexaeuioiexpyva.dil
njibqhcq	https://supe********709.info/aodoweuvmnamugu.fux
{22D36F35-F5C2-29D3-1CF1-C51AC19564A4}	https://pr*****.info/ppaorpbafeualuwfx/hix.ayk
qeubpmnu	https://gu*****me.net/ddssaizauuaxvt.cup
adeuuelv	https://supe********709.info/tpneevqlqziee.okn
{0B44027E-7514-5EC6-CE79-26EB87434AEF}	https://sy*****.info/huauroxaxhlvyyhp/xho.eqx
{5A29AFD9-63FD-9F5E-F249-5EC1F2238023}	https://refr*******r711rb.info/s28ZXoDH4.78y
{C5C1D86D-44BB-8EAA-5CDC-26B37F92E411}	https://fa*****r.com/rbvelfbflyvf.rws

Many of the URLs listed were in use for an extended period. However, the MSI packages hosted at each URL are frequently changed or updated. In addition, every few days more domains are generated to host more payloads. After a few months of monitoring, we were able to identify around 200 unique Dexphot domains.

Conclusion: Dynamic, comprehensive protection against increasingly complex everyday threats

Dexphot is not the type of attack that generates mainstream media attention; it’s one of the countless malware campaigns that are active at any given time. Its goal is a very common one in cybercriminal circles — to install a coin miner that silently steals computer resources and generates revenue for the attackers — yet Dexphot exemplifies the level of complexity and rate of evolution of even everyday threats, intent on evading protections and motivated to fly under the radar for the prospect of profit.

To combat threats, several next-generation protection engines in Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection’s antivirus component detect and stop malicious techniques at multiple points along the attack chain. For Dexphot, machine learning-based detections in the cloud recognize and block the DLLs loaded by rundll32.exe, stopping the attack chain in its early stages. Memory scans detect and terminate the loading of malicious code hidden by process hollowing — including the monitoring processes that attempt to update the malware code and re-infect the machine via PowerShell commands.

Behavioral blocking and containment capabilities are especially effective in defeating Dexphot’s fileless techniques, detection evasion, and persistence mechanisms, including the periodic and boot-time attempts to update the malware via scheduled tasks. As mentioned, given the complexity of the attack chain and of Dexphot’s persistence methods, we released a remediation solution that prevents re-infection by removing artifacts.

The detection, blocking, and remediation of Dexphot on endpoints are exposed in Microsoft Defender Security Center, where Microsoft Defender ATP’s rich capabilities like endpoint detection and response, automated investigation and remediation, and others enable security operations teams to investigate and remediate attacks in enterprise environments. With these capabilities, Microsoft Defender ATP provides comprehensive protection against Dexphot and the countless other complex and evolving threats that we face every day.

Sample indicators of compromise (IoCs)

Installer (SHA-256):
72acaf9ff8a43c68416884a3fff3b23e749b4bb8fb39e16f9976643360ed391f

MSI files (SHA-256):
22beffb61cbdc2e0c3eefaf068b498b63a193b239500dab25d03790c467379e3
65eac7f9b67ff69cefed288f563b4d77917c94c410c6c6c4e4390db66305ca2a
ba9467e0d63ba65bf10650a3c8d36cd292b3f846983032a44a835e5966bc7e88

Loader DLLs (SHA-256):
537d7fe3b426827e40bbdd1d127ddb59effe1e9b3c160804df8922f92e0b366e
504cc403e0b83233f8d20c0c86b0611facc040b868964b4afbda3214a2c8e1c5
aa5c56fe01af091f07c56ac7cbd240948ea6482b6146e0d3848d450977dff152

Hazel Kim

Microsoft Defender ATP Research Team

Talk to us

Questions, concerns, or insights on this story? Join discussions at the Microsoft Defender ATP community.

Read all Microsoft security intelligence blog posts.

Posted on November 25, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Rethinking cyber learning? Consider gamification

As promised, I’m back with a follow-up to my recent post, Rethinking how we learn security, on how we need modernize the learning experience for cybersecurity professionals by gamifying training to make learning fun. Some of you may have attended the recent Microsoft Ignite events in Orlando and Paris. I missed the conferences (ironically, due to attending a cybersecurity certification boot camp) but heard great things about the Microsoft/Circadence joint Into the Breach capture the flag exercise.

If you missed Ignite, we’re planning several additional Microsoft Ignite The Tour events around the world, where you’ll be able to try your hand at this capture the flag experience. Look for me at the Washington, DC event in early February.

In the meantime, due to the great feedback I received from my previous blog—which I do really appreciate, especially if you have ideas for how we should tackle the shortage of cyber professionals—I’ll be digging deeper into the mechanics of learning to understand what it really takes to learn cyber in today’s evolving landscape.

Today, I want to address the important questions of how a new employee could actually ramp up their learning, and how employers can prepare employees for success and track the efficacy of the learning curriculum. Once again, I’m pleased to share this post with Keenan Skelly, chief evangelist at Boulder, Colorado-based Circadence.

Here are some of some of her recommendations from our Q&A:

Q: Keenan, in our last blog, you discussed Circadence’s “Project Ares” cyber learning platform. How do new cyber practitioners get started on Project Ares?

A: The way that Project Ares is set up allows for a user to acquire a variety of different skill levels when launched. It’s important to understand what kind of work roles you’re looking to learn about as a user as well as what kinds of tools you’re looking to understand better before you get started on Project Ares. For example, if I were to take some of my Girls Who Code or Cyber Patriot students and put them into the platform, I would probably have them start in the Battle School. This is where they’re going to learn about basic cybersecurity fundamentals such as ports and protocols, regular expressions, and the cyber kill chain. Then they can transition into Battle Rooms, where they’ll start to learn about very specific tools, tactics, and procedures or TTPs, for a variety of different work roles. If you’re a much more skilled cyber ninja, however, you can probably go ahead and get right into Missions, but we do recommend that everyone who comes into Project Ares does some work in the Battle Rooms first, specifically if they are trying to learn a tool or a skill for their work role.

Project Ares also has a couple of different routes that an expert or an enterprising cybersecurity professional can come into that’s really focused more on their role. For example, we have an assessments area based entirely on the work role. This aligns to the NIST framework and the NICE cybersecurity work roles. For example, if you’re a network defender, you can come into that assessment pathway and have steps laid out before you to identify your skill level in that role as you see below:

Assessment pathway.

Q: What areas within Project Ares do you recommend for enterprise cyber professionals to train against role-based job functions and prepare for cyber certifications?

A: You might start with something simple like understanding very basic things about your work role through a questionnaire in the Battle School arena as seen in the illustrations below. You may then move into a couple of Battle Rooms that tease out very detailed skills in tools that you would be using for that role. And then eventually you’ll get to go into a mission by yourself, and potentially a mission with your entire team to really certify that you are capable in that work role. All this practice helps prepare professionals to take official cyber certifications and exams.

Battle School questionnaire.

Battle School mission.

Q: Describe some of the gamification elements in Project Ares and share how it enhances cyber learning.

A: One of the best things about Project Ares is gamification. Everyone loves to play games, whether it’s on your phone playing Angry Birds, or on your computer or gaming console. So we really tried to put a lot of gaming elements inside Project Ares. Since everything is scored within Project Ares, everything you do from learning about ports and protocols, to battle rooms and missions, gives you experience points. Experience points add up to skill badges. All these things make learning more fun for the user. For example, if you’re a defender, you might have skill badges in infrastructure, network design, network defense, etc. And the way Project Ares is set up, once you have a certain combination of those skill badges you can earn a work role achievement certificate within Project Ares.

This kind of thing is taken very much from Call of Duty and other types of games where you can really build up your skills by doing a very specific skill-based activity and earn points towards badges. One of the other things that is great about Project Ares is it’s quite immersive. For example, Missions allows a user to come into a specific cyber situation or cyber response situation (e.g., water treatment plant cyberattack) and have multimedia effects that demonstrate what is going—very much reflective of that cool guy video look. Being able to talk through challenges in the exercises with our in-game advisor, Athena, adds another element to the learning experience as shown in the illustration below.

Athena was inspired by the trends of personal assistants like Cortana and other such AI-bots, which have been integrated into games. So things like chat bots, narrative storylines, and skill badges are super important for really immersing the individual in the process. It’s so much more fun, and easier to learn things in this way, as opposed to sitting through a static presentation or watching someone on a video and trying to learn the skill passively.

Athena—the in-game advisor.

Q: What kinds of insights and reporting capability can Project Ares deliver to cyber team supervisors and C-Suite leaders to help them assessing cyber readiness?

A: Project Ares offers a couple great features that are good for managers, all the way up to the C-Suite, who are trying to understand how their cybersecurity team is doing. The first one is called Project Ares Trainer View. This is where a supervisor or manager can jump into the Project Ares environment, with the students or with the enterprise team members, and observe in a couple of different ways.

The instructor or the manager can jump into the environment as Athena, so the user doesn’t know that they are there. They can then provide additional insight or help that is needed to a student. A supervisor or leader can also jump in as the opponent, which gives them the ability to see someone who is just breezing by everything and maybe make it a little more challenging. Or they can just observe and leave comments for the individuals. This piece is really helpful when we’re talking about managers who are looking to understand their team’s skill level in much more detail.

The other piece of this is a product we have coming out soon called Dendrite—an analytics tool that looks at everything that happens at Project Ares. We record all the key strokes and chats a user had with Athena or any with other team members while in a mission or battle room. Cyber team leads can then see what’s going on. Users can see what they’re doing well, and not doing well. This feedback can be provided up to the manager level, the senior manager level, and even to the C-Suite level to demonstrate exactly where that individual is in their particular skill path. It helps the cyber team leads understand what tools are being used appropriately and which tools are not being used appropriately.

For example, if you’re a financial institution and you paid quite a bit of money for Tanium, but upon viewing tool use in Dendrite, you find that no one is using it. It might prompt you to rethink your strategy on how to use tools in your organization or look at how you train your folks to use those tools. These types of insights are absolutely critical if you want to understand the best way to grow the individual in cybersecurity and make sure they’re really on top of their game.

The Dendrite assessment and analysis solution.

Q: How can non-technical employees improve their cyber readiness?

A: At Circadence, we don’t just provide learning capabilities for advanced cyber warriors. For mid-range people just coming into the technical side of cybersecurity, we have an entire learning path that starts with a product called inCyt. Now, inCyt is a very fun browser-based game of strategy where players have some hackable devices they must protect—like operating systems and phones. Meanwhile, your opponent has the same objective: protect their devices from attacks. Players continually hack each other by gathering intel on their opponent and then launching different cyberattacks. While they’re doing this, players get a fundamental understanding of the cyber kill chain. They learn things like what reconnaissance means to a hacker, what weaponizing means to a hacker, what deploying that weapon means to a hacker, so they can start to recognize that behavior in their everyday interactions online.

Some people ask why this is important and I always say, “I used to be a bomb technician, and there is no possible way I could defuse an IED or nuclear weapon without understanding how those things are put together.” It’s the same kind of concept.

It’s impossible to assume that someone is going to learn cyber awareness by answering some questions or watching a five-minute phishing tutorial after they have already clicked a link in a suspicious email. Those are very reactive ways of learning cyber. inCyt is very proactive. And we want to teach you in-depth understanding of what to look for, not just for phishing but for all the attacks we’re susceptible to. inCyt is also being used by some of our customers as a preliminary gate track for those who are interested in cybersecurity. So if you demonstrate a very high aptitude within inCyt, we would send you over to our CyberBridge portal where you can start learning some of the basics of cybersecurity to see if it might be the right field for you. Within our CyberBridge access management portal, you can then go into Project Ares Academy, which is just a lighter version of Project Ares.

Professional and Enterprise licenses in Project Ares pave more intricate learning pathways for people to advance in learning, from novice to expert cyber defender. You’ll be able to track all metrics of where you started, how far you came, what kind of skill path you’re on, and what kind of skill path you want to be on. Very crucial items for your own work role pathway.

How to close the cybersecurity talent gap

Keenan’s perspective and the solution offered by Project Ares really helps to understand how to train security professionals and give them the hands-on experience they require and want. We’re in interesting times, right? With innovations in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), we’re increasingly able to pivot from reactive cyber defense to get more predictive. Still, right now we’re facing a cybersecurity talent gap of up to 4 million people, depending on which analyst group you follow. The only way that we’re going to get folks interested in cybersecurity is to make it exactly what we have been talking about: a career-long opportunity to learn.

Make it something that they can attain, they can grow in, and see themselves going from a novice to a leader in an organization. This is tough right now because there are relatively few cybersecurity operators compared to demand, and the operators on the front lines are subject to burnout. With uncertain and undefined career paths beyond tactical SecOps, what is there to look forward to?

We need to get better as a community in cybersecurity, not only protect the cybersecurity defenders that we have already, but also help to bring in new cybersecurity defenders and offenders who are really going to push the boundaries of where we’re at today. This is where we have an excellent and transformational opportunity to introduce more immersive and gamified learning to improve the learning experience and put our people in a position to succeed.

Learn more

To learn more about how to close the cybersecurity talent gap, read the e-book: CISO essentials: How to optimize recruiting while strengthening cybersecurity. For more information on Microsoft intelligence security solutions, see Achieve an optimal state of Zero Trust.

You can also watch my full interview with Keenan.

Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters and follow us at @MSFTSecurity for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

Posted on November 25, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Vote of confidence: Politico Europe makes polling data visual to give readers a better election view

In an era rife with hacked campaigns, bots and election interference, one news organization has returned to an age-old maxim: Every vote truly does count. And they’re using data to prove it to readers.

Politico Europe, a joint venture between the American media organization Politico and German publisher Axel Springer, unveiled an election-coverage hub ahead of the 2019 European parliamentary votes held in May. It gives citizens a deeper look at the democratic process and allows them to connect their top issues with candidates in the field.

Now called Poll of Polls, the platform offers interactive data visualizations built with Microsoft Power BI. It also provides political news stories and analyses of votes cast during elections within each of the 28 member states of the European Union.

Rings of empty seats inside the European Parliament building. — The European Parliament building. (Getty Images)

Launched in collaboration with Microsoft, the site aims to show readers how their individual votes can affect political outcomes on a continental level.

“To illustrate that, we have charts showing how many votes it would take to switch an MEP (Member of European Parliament),” says Etienne Bauvir, director of business intelligence and technology at Politico Europe.

“In countries where turnout is notoriously low, like some Eastern European countries, it didn’t take many votes in May to shift an MEP and to have her lose a seat or win a seat. That’s one thing we wanted to make evident to readers – the impact of one vote can be big in some countries,” he says.

Case in point: Romania, where the Social Democrats earned 22.5% of the vote – causing the party to lose six parliament seats – while Renew Europe collected 22.4% of the vote – causing that party to gain seven seats. European parliamentary elections are held every five years.

Politico Europe’s new hub provides one page for each country, enabling readers to drill further into more precise 2019 election results, such as how pro-European Union candidates fared in France against skeptics of the EU. (Pro-EU MEPs in France currently outnumber EU skeptics 48 to 28.)

Poll of Polls also tracks fresh polling data in each country, offering projections of 2020 votes in individual nations. That helps readers better understand some of the complexities of European politics, including the power of ideological groups.

Etienne Bauvir's face. — Etienne Bauvir.

“In the projections, we can be reactive and proactive in our data analyses,” Bauvir says. “In the European election process, many national parties come together to form groups in the European Parliament. It’s often not clear which party will form which group. We can offer an accurate picture of that reality.”

Think U.S. elections are confusing? Elections to the European Parliament can span thousands of candidates representing hundreds of parties across 28 nations.

With Power BI, visitors to the Politico hub can use interactive features to maneuver polling or election data in ways that help them digest election night results or votes yet to come – both in national parliaments and for the entire European Parliament.

For example, one Politico visualization shows a graph of polling data in the United Kingdom, where citizens will elect their new parliament Dec. 12. By moving a cursor left and right, readers can view how the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties have performed in polling each day from late 2018 to present.

“In the spring, we also had visualizations showing forecasts of how the future European Parliament will look. We could update those visualizations just by changing one data file,” says Hanna Pawelec, a Politico Europe data analyst. “By quickly updating those visualizations, we were one of the first newsrooms to show more in-depth analysis.”

“Power BI is easy enough for a citizen journalist to create a simple interactive with little training, but powerful enough for a seasoned data scientist to do complex analysis across multiple datasets,” says Ben Rudolph, senior director of Microsoft News Labs. “It’s the definition of democratized technology.”

Microsoft News Labs represents the company’s global effort to help journalists and journalism succeed by augmenting human creativity with innovative AI and content-creation technology.

Rudolph’s team began collaborating with Politico Europe after learning that the news organization wanted its audience to understand how the vote in one country could re-shape the entire European political landscape.

The two groups met in Brussels, Belgium (where Politico Europe is based) to discuss solutions that would help readers and viewers better engage with the news organization’s election coverage.

“The challenge wasn’t just wrangling the complexity of 242 parties competing for 705 seats in the European Parliament, but creating an experience that was at once compelling and transparent,” says Vera Chan, Microsoft senior manager for worldwide journalist relations.

Readers flocked to the news site. During the final stages of the European elections in May, Politico Europe’s traffic hit an all-time high with a nearly 30% increase compared to traffic measured one year earlier.

“This election,” Bauvir says, “was the moment to really widen our readership to the average citizen throughout Europe. We’ve now succeeded in retaining much of the additional audience we engaged. That’s another big success due in part to this hub and those visualizations.”

The Politico Europe newsroom where several journalists worked at their desks. — The Politico Europe newsroom in Brussels.

In the months since the election, traffic to Politico Europe remains on average 24% higher compared to the same period in 2018.

Politico Europe is now examining ways to expand the platform, focusing again on Europe, says Natasha Bernard, communications coordinator at Politico Europe.

“Data journalism with Power BI can play a unique role building audience trust,” Rudolph says. “Not only does an interactive visual give readers deep insight into a story, it also gives them unprecedented access to the data behind that insight.

“It’s a completely transparent means of storytelling,” he adds. “We think this will be increasingly important for outlets of all sizes as we approach the 2020 election cycle.”

Images courtesy of Politico Europe.

Posted on November 22, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Black Friday deals start today at Microsoft Store online and physical locations

Black Friday deals from Microsoft Store kick off today in the U.S. Save big on Surface, Xbox, Windows 10 PCs and more this holiday!

Whether you shop online from the comfort of home, line up before dawn with the holiday crowds, or like most people, mix it up and shop online and in stores – our Microsoft Store Black Friday deals* are here to solve all your shopping needs. The first Black Friday deals are available starting today in the U.S., and we’ll continue to introduce even more great holiday gift deals through Cyber Monday.

This holiday season Microsoft Store is offering shoppers our best guarantee ever. With our new Give Wonder Guarantee, you are promised our best price of the season no matter when you shop.** If something you purchased at Microsoft Store is offered at a better price later in the season, you can receive savings back for the difference. Plus, with free 2-3-day shipping, free extended holiday returns through Jan. 31, 2020, options to buy online and pick up in stores, we’re making it easier than ever to shop at Microsoft Store. And our Store associates are ready to help you find the perfect gift for everyone on your list.

No matter how you shop this holiday, Microsoft Store has great deals for every type of holiday shopper – read on for our top deals starting today! Visit microsoft.com or your local Microsoft Store to purchase.

The “Early” Buyer

Eager to get a jump start on your shopping list even before Thanksgiving? Start crossing off your list today with great deals including:

The “Treat Yourself” Gift Giver

What better way to “treat yourself” than to get a gift that keeps on giving – sleek new technology. Starting Nov. 24, save hundreds on the best deals of the season and find a little something for yourself like the Surface Pro 7 or the Surface Laptop 3. Other offerings include:

The “Game On” Gift Giver

Whether you’re stocking up your game library or buying gifts for the gamer in your life, incredible deals on Xbox consoles, games and accessories also start on Nov. 24.

The “First One in Line” Shopper

Set your alarm clock, grab your coffee and get ready to shop the best deals of the holiday season. Starting Nov. 28, you can shop all our Black Friday deals, from Surface Pro 7 to HP Laptop 15, with offers including:

The “Bargain” Shopper

In addition to the great deals above, Microsoft Store offers a collection of gifts under $100, so you can stock those stockings or find gifts for less than $20. Here are bargain ideas for anyone on your list:

See our Microsoft Store Black Friday Deals page for full details on all the best deals this holiday. Start shopping today at your local Microsoft Store or online at microsoft.com, and rest easy knowing you’ll get the best price of the season with our Give Wonder Guarantee. Stop into your local Microsoft Store to join activities and festive celebrations all season long. Some local Microsoft Store locations are open on Thanksgiving Day. See full holiday operating days and hours.

Happy shopping!

Visit your local Microsoft Store or microsoft.com for more details on availability and pricing. Follow Microsoft Store on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

* Black Friday offers shown are available online and in Microsoft Stores while supplies last. U.S. prices are shown. Offers and content varies by market and may change at any time. Not valid on prior purchases. May not be combinable with other offers. Other exclusions may apply.

**Offer valid from 12 a.m. PT Nov. 1, 2019 to 11:59 p.m. PT Jan. 3, 2020 (“Offer Period”) on qualifying purchases of select physical goods made at Microsoft retail and online stores in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and Canada during the Offer Period. Excludes certified refurbished devices, Surface for Business devices, and all digital services and products. Offer not valid on purchases made at third-party retailers. Customer eligible for price adjustment only if 1) Customer purchases eligible item during the Offer Period, (2) the price of the item is reduced during the Offer Period, and 3) Customer requests a price adjustment while the item’s price is currently reduced and in-stock for purchase. For purchases made at a physical store and online, Customer can go to any physical store and present receipt to get a qualifying price adjustment. For purchases made online, Customer must contact Microsoft Store Sales and Support at 1-877-696-7786 with order number and any other information requested by the Store Sales representative. Refunds will be provided to Customer in same manner as item was purchased (credit card use will be credited to original card). Maximum of one price adjustment per item will be granted during Offer Period. Bulk buys of more than two of the same device, per customer’s Microsoft Account, will not qualify for price adjustments. Price adjustments do not include taxes, or shipping or other fees. Void where prohibited or restricted by law. Microsoft reserves the right to modify or discontinue offers at any time. Other exclusions and limitations may apply.

*** Not valid for existing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members, other exclusions apply. Credit card required. After promotional period, subscription continues to be charged at the then-current regular price (subject to change), unless cancelled. Plus applicable taxes. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Limit 1 offer per account. Game catalog varies over time and by country.

Posted on November 21, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Microsoft Translator to recognize New Zealand’s Māori language, allowing it to be preserved for generations to come

There are close to 7,000 languages spoken around the world today. Yet, sadly, every two weeks a language dies with its last speaker, and it is predicted that between 50% and 90% of endangered languages will disappear by next century. When a community loses a language, it loses its connection to the past – and part of its present. It loses a piece of its identity. As we think about protecting this heritage and the importance of preserving language, we believe that new technology can help.

More than many nations, the people of New Zealand are acutely aware of this phenomenon. Centuries ago, the Māori people arrived on the islands to settle in and create a new civilization. Through the centuries and in the isolation of the South Pacific, the Māori developed their own unique culture and language. Today, in New Zealand, 15% of the population is Māori yet only a quarter of the Māori people speak their native language, and only 3% of all people living in New Zealand speak te reo Maori. Statistically, fluency in the language is extremely low.

New Zealand and its institutions have taken notice and are actively taking steps to promote the use of te reo Māori in meaningful ways. More and more schools are teaching te reo Māori, and city councils are revitalizing the country’s indigenous culture by giving new, non-colonial names to sites around their cities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has promoted the learning of te reo Māori, calling for 1 million new speakers by 2040. In a simple, yet profound, statement Ardern said, “Māori language is a part of who we are.” Despite all these efforts, today the fluency in te reo Māori is low.

For the past 14 years, Microsoft has been collaborating with te reo Māori experts and Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission) to weave te reo Māori into the technology that thousands of Kiwis use every day with the goal of ensuring it remains a living language with a strong future. Our collaboration has already resulted in translations of Minecraft educational resources and we recently commissioned a game immersed entirely in the traditional Māori world, Ngā Motu (The Islands).

To focus only on shaping the future ignores the value of the past, as well as our responsibility to preserve and celebrate te reo Māori heritage. This is why we are proud to announce the inclusion of te reo Māori as a language officially recognized in our free Microsoft Translator app. Microsoft Translator supports more than 60 languages, and this means that the free application can translate te reo Māori text into English text and vice versa. It will also support Māori into and from all other languages supported by Microsoft Translator. This is really all about breaking the language barrier at home, at work, anywhere you need it.

Dr. Te Taka Keegan, senior lecturer of computer science at the University of Waikato and one of the many local experts who have helped guide the project from its inception, says: “The language we speak is the heart of our culture. The development of this Māori language tool would not have been possible without many people working towards a common goal over many years. We hope our work doesn’t simply help revitalize and normalize te reo Māori for future generations of New Zealanders, but enables it to be shared, learned and valued around the world. It’s very important for me that the technology we use reflects and reinforces our cultural heritage, and language is the heart of that.”

Te reo Māori will employ Microsoft’s Neural Machine Translation (NMT) techniques, which can be more accurate than statistical translation models. We recently achieved human parity in translating news from Chinese to English, and the advanced machine learning used for te reo Māori will continue to become better and better as even more documents are used to “teach” it every nuance of the language. This technology will be leveraged across all our M365 products and services.

But while the technology is exciting, it’s not the heart of this story. This is about collaborating to develop the tools that boost our collective well-being. New Zealand’s government is also spearheading a “well-being” framework for measuring a nation’s progress in ways that don’t solely reflect economic growth. We need to look at cultural heritage the same way. Preserving our cultural heritage isn’t just a “nice thing to do” – according to the U.N., it’s vital to our resilience, social cohesion and sense of belonging, celebrating the values and stories we have in common.

I was fortunate to visit New Zealand this year, and it is a country that is genuinely working to achieve a delicate cultural balance, one that keeps in mind growth as well as guardianship, which maintains innovation and a future focus whilst preserving a deep reverence for its past. This kind of balance is something all nations should be striving for.

Globally, as part of our AI for Cultural Heritage program, Microsoft has committed $10 million over five years to support projects dedicated to the preservation and enrichment of cultural heritage that leverage the power of artificial intelligence. The ultimate role of technology is to serve humankind, not to replace it. We can harness the latest tools in ways that support an environment rich in diversity, perspectives and learnings from the past. And when we enable that knowledge and experience to be shared with the rest of the world, every society benefits.

For more information on Microsoft Translator please visit: https://www.microsoft.com/translator

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8-0g0rlhKM]

Posted on November 21, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Minecraft Earth interactive pop-ups will continue over the next 2 weekends in New York City, London and Sydney parks

Summary

Last week, we unveiled the Mobs in the Park pop-up experience in New York City, Sydney and London
Since kicking off early access on Oct. 17, the global community has placed 240.4 million blocks, collected 76 million tappables and started 6.8 million crafting and smelting sessions
The Mobs in the Park will continue over the next two weekends from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. local time, as well as a special appearance on Black Friday in New York City

Last week in celebration of Minecraft Earth’s early access
rollout, we unveiled the Mobs in the Park pop-up experience in three locations around
the world – Hudson Yards in New York City, Campbell’s Cove in Sydney and the
Queen’s Walk in London – granting players exclusive in-game access to the
holiday-themed Jolly Llama mob. The community’s response to Mobs in the Park has
been humbling over the first weekend, and we can’t wait to see even more reactions
leading into the next two weekends.

The fun doesn’t stop with Mobs in the Park as Minecraft Earth
continues to gain momentum and roll out to more countries worldwide. Last week
the game released in the U.S., earlier this week it became available to players
in Western Europe and Japan, and the goal is for the game to be worldwide by
the end of the year.

Since kicking off early access on Oct. 17, the global community has
placed 240.4 million blocks, collected 76 million tappables and
started 6.8 million crafting and smelting sessions! We’re so proud of
how the community has embraced the game in early access rollout and look
forward to bringing even more exciting experiences to players everywhere in the
coming weeks.

Minecraft Earth’s Mobs in the Park will continue over the next two weekends, so players interested in receiving the Jolly Llama for themselves can visit the interactive pop-ups from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. local time during the weekends of November 23-24 and November 30-December 1, or during a special appearance at Hudson Yards in New York City on Black Friday, November 29. Only at these locations will players be able to get first access to the holiday-inspired Jolly Llama before it’s available broadly in December.

For more information on Mobs in the Park and what’s next
with early access rollout, visit Xbox
Wire and Minecraft.net.

Posted on November 21, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

The next chapter of collaborative experiences: how we’re pushing beyond the status quo

In real life, collaboration is keenly felt; it’s communal, fast, frustrating, fun, and everything in between. In digital products, however, we currently only see collaboration (hello, co-authoring flags!). While that’s still useful, this difference turns a dynamic process into a series of static hand-offs.

At Microsoft Design, we know collaboration to be much more than the visual evidence that someone else has worked on a document. We operate as a close-knit creative collective and work across myriad geographies, so we know firsthand the importance of understanding, supporting, and enhancing digital collaboration processes.

To build more dynamic collaborative experiences across Microsoft 365, we’ve focused on thoughtful creation points to help people foster meaningful and organic connections, build on each other’s ideas, and carry creative momentum forward.

Through more unified Teams experiences, new Planner designs that streamline task management, and a future-forward approach to co-authoring with the Microsoft Fluid Framework, we’re ensuring the next chapter of Microsoft 365 supports true collaboration.

Collaboration is both an individual and collective act, a duality that necessitates having a shared purpose. When everyone on a team sees a common goal and understands how to achieve it, we amplify our efforts. Microsoft Teams supports this by breaking down barriers to communication and providing a centralized hub for open, transparent collaboration.

Designed as a unified space, apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint can be seamlessly used within Teams via an integrated experience. This allows people to share insights and feedback in context, with the right information and tools at their fingertips, without switching apps or interrupting flow. Microsoft Search, which is built right into Teams, uses powerful AI and an understanding of natural language to bring forward what you’re looking for.

Posted on November 21, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

The week it snowed everywhere: Novel handwriting recognition project casts a new light on historical weather data

NIWA and Microsoft Corp. are teaming up to make artificial intelligence handwriting recognition more accurate and efficient in a project that will support climate research.

The project aims to develop better training sets for handwriting recognition technology that will “read” old weather logs. The first step is to use weather information recorded during a week in July 1939 when it snowed all over New Zealand, including at Cape Reinga.

NIWA climate scientist Dr. Andrew Lorrey says the project has the potential to revolutionise how historic data can be used. Microsoft has awarded NIWA an AI for Earth grant for the artificial intelligence project, which will support advances in automating handwriting recognition. AI for Earth is a global programme that supports innovators using AI to support environmental initiatives related to water, climate change, sustainable agriculture and biodiversity.

Microsoft’s Chief Environmental Officer, Lucas Joppa, sees a project that could quite literally be world-changing. “This project will bring inanimate weather data to life in a way everyone can understand, something that’s more vital than ever in an age of such climate uncertainty.

“I believe technology has a huge role to play in shining a light on these types of issues, and grantees such as NIWA are providing the solutions that we get really excited about.”

Dr. Lorrey has been studying the weather in the last week of July 1939 when snow lay 5 cm deep on top of Auckland’s Mt. Eden, the hills of Northland turned white and snow flurries were seen at Cape Reinga. “Was 1939 the last gasp of conditions that were more common during the Little Ice Age, which ended in the 1800s? Or the first glimpse of the extremes of climate change thanks to the Industrial Revolution?”

Weather records at that time were meticulously kept in logbooks with entries made several times a day, recording information such as temperature, barometric pressure and wind direction. Comments often included cloud cover, snow drifts or rainfall.

“These logs are like time machines, and we’re now using their legacy to help ours,” Dr. Lorrey says.

“We’ve had snow in Northland in the recent past, but having more detail from further back in history helps us characterise these extreme weather events better within the long-term trends. Are they a one-in-80-year event, do they just occur at random, can we expect to see these happening with more frequency, and why, in a warming climate, did we get snow in Northland?”

Until now, however, computers haven’t caught up with humans when it comes to deciphering handwriting. More than a million photographed weather observations from old logbooks are currently being painstakingly entered by an army of volunteer “citizen scientists” and loaded by hand into the Southern Weather Discovery website. This is part of the global Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions over the Earth (ACRE) initiative, which aims to produce better daily global weather animations and place historic weather events into a longer-term context.

“Automated handwriting recognition is not a solved problem,” says Dr. Lorrey. “The algorithms used to determine what a symbol is — is that a 7 or a 1? — need to be accurate, and of course for that there needs to be sufficient training data of a high standard.” The data captured through the AI for Earth grant will make the process of making deeper and more diverse training sets for AI handwriting recognition faster and easier.

“Old data is the new data,” says Patrick Quesnel, Senior Cloud and AI Business Group Lead at Microsoft New Zealand. “That’s what excites me about this. We’re finding better ways to preserve and digitise old data reaching back centuries, which in turn can help us with the future. This data is basically forgotten unless you can find a way to scan, store, sort and search it, which is exactly what Azure cloud technology enables us to do.”

Dr. Lorrey says the timing of the project is especially significant.
“This year is the 80th anniversary of The Week It Snowed Everywhere, so it’s especially fitting we’re doing this now. We’re hoping to have all the New Zealand climate data scanned by the end of the year, and quality control completed with usable data by the end of the next quarter.”

Ends.
About NIWA
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) is New Zealand’s leading provider of climate, freshwater and ocean science. It delivers the science that supports economic growth, enhances human well-being and safety and enables good stewardship of our natural environment.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information contact:

Dr. Andrew Lorrey
NIWA climate scientist
Ph 09 375-2055
Mob 021 313-404
Andrea Jutson
On behalf of Microsoft New Zealand
Ph: (09) 354 0562 or 021 0843 0782
ajutson@acumenrepublic.com

Posted on November 20, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Smithsonian magazine: Inventor Alex Kipman’s grand vision for how holograms will change our lives

I’m in Redmond, Washington, in a room at Microsoft, pondering an all-terrain vehicle that has a busted engine. I have no idea how to fix it. I’ve never done engine repair before.

But I do have some help: On my head, I’m wearing the HoloLens 2, Microsoft’s “augmented reality” device. It has a see-through visor, almost like the one on a motorcycle helmet, and the HoloLens projects images onto the visor so they appear to float in the air before you.

When I look at the vehicle, the HoloLens flickers to life, and a guide to fixing the engine pops up in the air. A blue arrow points at a tableful of tools, and when I walk over to it, the arrow indicates that I should grab a torque wrench. Once I take that tool, a new arrow appears, beckoning me across the room to a case of bolts. I grab a bolt, and a third arrow shows me where on the engine to install and tighten it. In under two minutes I’ve completed the repair.

The sensation is bizarre, like living in a world of Harry Potter magic. I can even touch the holograms. While I’m doing another repair job, a virtual screen with the face of a remote mechanic materializes before me to talk me through the job. The screen is in my way, though—so I grab it by the corner with my fingers, right there in the air, and drag it off to the side.

It’s weird. It’s fun. And it is, argues Alex Kipman, the Microsoft engineer who invented the device, the future. “I have no doubt that devices like this are going to be the pervasive way of interacting with technology,” he tells me. Around Microsoft, Kipman is famous for pushing these sorts of oracular, sci-fi visions. “It’s kind of inevitable,” he shrugs. “It’s almost obvious.”

Built on the breakthrough technology of HoloLens 1, HoloLens 2 is more than twice as immersive and three times as comfortable as its predecessor. (Microsoft)

I met Kipman in his office, where he was wearing a gray sport coat over a T-shirt with an icon of pixellated sunglasses. He has long hair and a beard and when he talks he fixes you with an intense, Delphic gaze. The glass wall behind his chair was festooned with pink doodles made by his 9-year-old daughter, and the room was cluttered with relics of his work, including a square blue robot, a drone, and a gaming computer with a high-powered graphics card. He beckoned me to sit down at a glass coffee table that was also an art object: Inside was a huge pile of sand, on top of which a magnetic mechanism rolls a ball around, tracing hypnotically pretty patterns.

It’s a Kickstarter project he backed. The pattern it’s drawing is from software he wrote, he added. “I created a generative AI algorithm that overnight will scour the internet, and, like, dream the internet—and in the morning whatever the AI created, it puts it on the table.”

Kipman grew up in Brazil, got turned onto software by playing with his family’s Atari 2600 console, and after studying computer science at Rochester Institute of Technology, joined Microsoft in 2001 as a wunderkind. He toiled for years on Vista, Microsoft’s 2007 train wreck of an operating system. Then he shifted into hardware, leading a team to create the Kinect, a newfangled 3-D camera that plugged into Microsoft’s Xbox gaming system and tracked players’ body movements, allowing them to control a game by moving their limbs. It was a hit, selling 35 millions units, and it fired his enthusiasm for reimagining how we use computers.

He assembled another team to build the first HoloLens, which was released in 2016 to surprised enthusiasm. Surprised because augmented reality (or what Microsoft calls “mixed reality”) had recently seen a hostile reaction to Google Glass, a computer and camera mounted on an eyeglasses frame, which critics derided as too creepy and intrusive for everyday life. (People who wore the device were called “glassholes.”) To keep the HoloLens from falling into the creepiness pit, Kipman pitched it as a tool not for socializing but for working. He imagines an airplane mechanic in Japan using the HoloLens to summon a Rolls Royce engineer to help diagnose a busted engine, or a surgeon having hands-free, holographic access to a patient’s X-rays and medical history in the operating room. (Indeed, the recently reborn Google Glass also aims at industrial uses.)

“In our world, nothing really is impossible. Everything at best is improbable,” says Alex Kipman, as he discusses the holographic, augmented reality technology his team at Microsoft is pioneering.

Crafting the HoloLens required feats of miniaturization. One prototype “was like wearing a scuba thing,” laughs Ori Amiga, who develops software for HoloLens. It was shrunken down small enough to wear on your head, but people still complained that it was heavy, and the screen area where holograms appeared was narrow.

For HoloLens 2, Kipman and his team invented tiny mirrors that vibrate 12,000 times per second, generating holograms twice as wide as before. They upgraded to carbon fiber for the device’s body, which is half as heavy as aluminum and far more rigid. The carbon fiber also helps stabilize the delicate electronics in the headset, including dozens of sensors that track exactly where your head is turning or where your arms are. “And I’m talking like micron precision, right?” Kipman says. “Nanometer precision.”

Engineering on that vanishingly small scale is what allows Kipman to think big. His ultimate goal: Replace every screen, from smartphone to tablet to monitor, with the HoloLens or one of the next versions of it. “Why would I have my computer if I have infinite monitors in front of me?” he says. “Why would I have a phone?”

Granted, that vision is still years away. HoloLens 2 is a leap in technology from its predecessor, but “we’ve got a ways to go before we’ve got something that you can wear all day,” Kipman says. Eventually, he figures it’ll be as compact as a normal pair of horn-rimmed glasses. By then, perhaps its sheer ubiquity in the workplace will make it seem acceptable in social life. “You wear them all day,” he says.

When I said goodbye, Kipman argued that if he’s really successful, a reporter like me wouldn’t need to fly to Seattle to talk to him. We could use HoloLens to speak with the intimacy of being in the same room—a sort of supercharged version of Skyping. But why stop there? Maybe, he mused, artificial intelligence will advance to the point that neither space, nor time, nor anything else on this earthly plane can limit whom we speak to, as AI versions of people are preserved and available at a dial for chatting via hologram.

“Wouldn’t it be nice,” he laughed, “if you were in your home, and I had been dead a hundred years, and we were having this conversation?”

Posted on November 20, 2019 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Microsoft for Startups and NVIDIA Inception join forces to accelerate AI startups

Startups, especially in the AI space, have a multitude of unique, daily challenges, from selecting the right technology systems to improving their algorithms to building a robust sales pipeline.

That’s why today at Slush we announced that we are teaming with NVIDIA to give cutting-edge startups developing AI technologies fewer things to worry about by providing them preferred access to the Microsoft for Startups and NVIDIA Inception programs. Now, eligible startups active in our respective programs can receive preferred access and reciprocal benefits, including free or discounted technology, go-to-market support and access to technical experts.

Eligible NVIDIA Inception AI startups can access Microsoft for Startups’ premium offer, providing:

· Free access to Microsoft technologies, including up to $120k of free Azure cloud.

· Dedicated go-to-market resources to help startups sell alongside our global sales teams and partner channel.

Eligible Microsoft for Startups AI members can access NVIDIA Inception benefits including:

· Free credits for NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute online courses, such as the Fundamentals of Deep Learning for Computer Vision, Accelerating Data Science, and Image Classification.

· Access to go-to-market NVIDIA Inception Connect events and marketing support.

· Unlimited access to DevTalk—a forum built for technical inquiries and community engagement.

· Guidance on which GPU applications and hardware are best suited for your needs.

· Discounts on NVIDIA DGX systems, NVIDIA GPU accelerators, NVIDIA Quadro pro graphics, and NVIDIA TITAN GPUs for deep learning.

This partnership will allow us to accelerate AI startups with NVIDIA’s deep technical expertise and market-leading GPU technology on Microsoft Azure, combined with both companies’ ability to connect startups with customers.

Launched in February 2018, Microsoft for Startups is a comprehensive global program designed to support startups as they build and scale their companies. Since we launched, companies active with Microsoft for Startups are on track to drive $1B in pipeline opportunity by the end of 2020. To find out more about the Microsoft for Startups and to apply for the program, click here.

NVIDIA Inception is a virtual accelerator program that supports startups harnessing GPUs for AI and data science applications during critical stages of product development, prototyping and deployment. Since its launch in 2016, the program has expanded to over 5,000 companies. To find out more about NVIDIA Inception, click here.