Awareness increases selfishness. Free Technical Library News

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Mindfulness enhances selfishness

25.04.2021

It is believed that mindfulness can overcome stress and anxiety, and generally begin to enjoy life. Psychological tricks and meditation techniques that help achieve mindfulness have recently become extremely popular. Many psychologists are trying to increase the awareness of their clients, and those who have not got a psychologist download applications and comprehend awareness using their own smartphone - anything is better than nothing.

Researchers from the University of Buffalo tried to look at mindfulness from a different angle - they were interested in how it affects interpersonal relationships. In general, awareness is perceived as something absolutely positive, so it would be worth expecting the same joy from it for interpersonal relationships. However, experiments show that everything is not so simple. The study involved several hundred people who were primarily assessed for how prone they are to social interactions, how much they feel independent or, on the contrary, connected with other people. Then some of them did mindfulness-enhancing exercises, while others, being in the control group, simply hovered their thoughts in the clouds.

After the mindfulness exercise, participants were told about volunteers doing some simple work for charities. By the reaction of those who heard about it, one could understand whether they were also ready to volunteer or not. Those who initially had a strong sense of independence became even more independent after the mindfulness exercise—they were less responsive to the opportunity to volunteer than the “independents” of the control group. On the contrary, those who believed that we are all very dependent on each other, after the exercises in mindfulness, reacted with greater sympathy to stories about volunteers.

In another experiment, people were initially swayed into an independent or codependent mindset through psychological tasks. The researchers did not check what they were like on their own, but suggested such exercises, made them think of themselves as an independent person or, conversely, as a person who is highly dependent on others. This was followed by another exercise that increased awareness.

At the end, the participants in the experiment were offered to participate in negotiations with people who could donate money to charity. Those who were initially encouraged to feel independent from others experienced a 33% decrease in willingness to volunteer in negotiations, while those who were encouraged to feel connected to others experienced a 44% increase in willingness to help raise money for charity.

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Vulnerability of USB devices 09.08.2014

German experts have discovered a fundamental vulnerability in all USB devices. When a device is infected, the user will simply have to throw it away, since the malicious code will be located directly in the chip responsible for its operation. No antivirus can reach this controller.

Any USB device can become a hacker's tool: a mouse, a flash drive, a keyboard, an external hard drive, or even a smartphone connected via a USB interface. This is warned by Jakob Lell and Karsten Nohl, experts at the German consulting firm Security Research Labs.

According to experts, every USB peripheral includes a chip - an interface controller - that can be easily reflashed. There is no protection that could prevent this action.

After flashing the USB controller, an attacker can, for example, emulate a USB keyboard, then enter commands on behalf of the user and install malicious software, penetrate the network card in order to change the DNS so that all Internet traffic flows through the hacker's node, or launch a virus into the operating system right during the PC boot (provided that the compromised device is connected to it at that moment).

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Experts believe that if the system is infected in this way, the problem will be very difficult to fix. Even reinstalling the OS will not help get rid of viruses, since they will be inside the controllers, and not on the hard drive with system files. The virus can also infect other devices that are connected to the PC via USB, such as a webcam or speaker system.

"After a PC is infected, all peripheral devices that are connected to it via a USB interface can never be trusted," the experts conclude.

At the Black Hat conference, which will be held in Las Vegas (USA), the researchers plan to present a report on the discovered new type of vulnerability.

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