Short Takes – 4-15-24

Thermoset plastic made from wood waste catalyzes its own degradation. CEN.ACS.org article. Pull quote: “lenty of researchers have tried making degradable thermoset plastics by incorporating functional groups whose bonds can be severed by a catalyst or other external trigger. Barta and coworkers designed their new biobased epoxy-amine polymer similarly, with easily cleaved ester groups in the polymer backbone. But the polymer turned out not to need an external catalyst to break it down. “The fact that it catalyzes its own degradation was definitely serendipity,” Barta says. “We didn’t hope for such a wonderful effect.””

Ukrainian Hackers Hijacked 87,000 Sensors to Shut down Sewage System. A tad bit of click-bait in the headline. CybersecurityNes.com article. Pull quote: “The malware has begun to flood communication protocols such as RS485/MBus, sending random commands [emphasis added] to the compromised control and sensory systems.” ‘Random commands’ as opposed to system knowledge… not as effective but easier to pull off.

Open Meeting of the Internet of Things Advisory Board. Federal Register NIST meeting notice. Pull quote: “The agenda for the May 14-15, 2024 meeting is expected to focus on finalizing the IoT Advisory Board's report for the IoT Federal Working Group and the recommendations and findings in that report.”

The Space Force Is About to Play Space Wars in Earth Orbit. Gizmodo.com article. Pull quote: “Rocket Lab will build and launch its own spacecraft using the company’s Electron rocket, while True Anomaly will build a rendezvous and proximity operation-capable spacecraft, as well as provide a command and control center. The mission is scheduled for launch in 2025, and each company will be given its own launch and mission profiles at the time.”

Rocket Lab Wins Space Force Contract -- at Twice the Usual Price. Fool.com article. Unusual look at Space Force contract. Pull quote: “For the record, when SpaceX began reusing rockets in 2017, the company calculated the cost savings at approximately 40% -- 40 full percentage points of additional gross margin on its launches. Assuming Rocket Lab succeeds in this endeavor, it could be enough to turn Rocket Lab's launch business profitable when combined with more lucrative U.S. government launch contracts.”

A Glimpse Into the CISA KEV. Jericho.blog blog post. Pull quote: “Before this talk, I certainly had some criticism of the KEV, but this talk really opened my eyes to some of the details on how they operate and why the KEV seemingly fell short. I think after the talk and thinking on it more, the big thing that stands out to me is the KEV is one thing while the industry thinks it is another thing. This talk bridged that gap for me. Now, my criticism is leveled more at organizations and vendors that have evidence of exploitation and don’t share it with CISA, so that the KEV can be updated more rapidly, and be more thorough.”