Military contractors want to use drones to hack into personal computers on the ground. The revelation came in e-mails posted by WikiLeaks, The Washington Post reported: “Boeing and Hacking Team — a Milan-based company criticized for selling surveillance software to repressive governments — were in talks earlier this year to plant malware on drones to perform such activities, according to the e-mails, which were stolen from Hacking Team in July.” The collaboration could create the “ability to conduct cyberwarfare and espionage in ways that formerly required close proximity with the target,” analysts told The Post.
THIEVES TARGET TAX RETURNS: Criminals are using online tools to intercept tax returns in a new wave of fraud that has cost consumers $68 billion in the past four tax years. “The Internal Revenue Service identified more than 19 million suspicious tax returns filed between 2011 and 2014, two senior government officials told state legislators on Monday, as thieves target both social media channels and tax preparation software to obtain consumer identity information they can then use to intercept refunds owed to taxpayers,” the Morning Consult reported. “The thieves then use that data to access a taxpayer’s previous returns, which they use to mimic the next year’s return.”
BONUS: Netflix stock rose to an all-time high on Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported.
3D PRINTING YOUR MEDS: The Food and Drug Administration has approved the production of the world’s first 3D-printed pill, a decision that could eventually revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry. “The FDA has previously approved medical devices – including prosthetics – that have been 3D printed,” BBC News reported. “The new drug, dubbed Spritam, was developed by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals to control seizures brought on by epilepsy … Printing the drugs allows layers of medication to be packaged more tightly in precise dosages.”