Electronic Billboard Hacked In Belgrade

Electronic Billboard Hacked In BelgradeWhile old school billboards that are set up with printed paper can be defaced via acts of vandalism in the physical sense, electronic billboards which require far less manpower to change the face of it as all you need to do is to flash a new image or file, are susceptible to the dark art of hacking. Yes sir, those in the advertising world who decided to make the move from printed billboards to those with LCD and LED units might have overlooked such a danger, as an example in Belgrade, Serbia recently demonstrated.

The electronic billboard that was raised at Republic Square in the center of Belgrade is one that will not fail to catch the eye of anyone in the vicinity. The display has been hacked to depict the logo of The Pirate Bay, while sporting a peace symbol with a quote from Gandhi, stating, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

This whole exercise was done by a group of computer science students to show just how loose security is in the IT field, although the Serbian media claimed otherwise that Anonymous were the ones behind the attack, as those students trumpeted denials of being linked to Anonymous.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Metal-air Batteries, Cheaper Alternative For Communication Grid Backup , Google I/O 2013 Tickets Sold Out,

Galaxy Note II info ticker, pop-up browser and ICE menu combo reveal another lock screen flaw (video)

Galaxy Note II info ticker, pop-up browser and ICE menu combo make for another lock screen flaw (video)

The emergency contacts (ICE) menu is proving to be a Pandora’s Box of lock screen vulnerabilities on several Samsung Galaxy handsets. Users are finding ways to exploit this weak point and the latest flaw that’s come to our attention employs the pop-up browser on the Note II as an accomplice. It requires the information ticker to be active (found in lock screen settings) so news bites and such are displayed on the screen you encounter when waking the device. Touch upon something to find out more and you’re sent to the lock screen; from there, head to the ICE menu to find a pop-up browser window containing the item you chose in the ticker. Within that window, anyone can access the handset’s clipboard or point the browser to sites holding personal data. Sure, it isn’t as bad as the bug that completely disables the lock screen — identified on the Galaxy S III, but also found to work on the Note II — but is just another reason to hope the mythical box is almost empty and at the bottom lies a fix.

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Source: Ganesh’s Blog

Dad Hacks Donkey Kong So Daughter Can Play as the Damsel and Save Mario

What would you do if you introduced your daughter to Donkey Kong and she was disappointed that she couldn’t be the female and save Mario? Would you just say, oh well, that’s the way it is? Well, Mike Mika wanted his daughter to have the game her way. So he hacked the game.

donkey kong pauline edition

His daughter wanted to play as a princess in Donkey Kong, like she did in Super Mario Bros. 2. So, like Kirk with the Kobayashi Maru, Mike changed the program and put together a patch that let his daughter play as Pauline, the damsel who is no longer in distress. In fact, she has a mallet, and she knows how to use it.

Check out the video. Mike is one great dad.

[via Geekosystem]

Colin Powell’s Facebook hacker also breached Bush Family e-mail accounts

It turns out that Colin Powell’s Facebook hack wasn’t just an isolated incident performed by a 13-year old with good password-guessing skills. The hacker, who is known as Guccifer, is also the same hacker who breached e-mail accounts belonging to over a dozen of George W. Bush’s friends and family members. He obtained “interesting e-mails”, photos, list of home addresses, cell phone numbers, and more. The hacker even obtained the gate code to Bush’s home.

Colin Powell's Facebook hacker also hacked Bush Family e-mail accounts 1

Guccifer took over Colin Powell’s Facebook and made posts that were vulgar, juvenile, and in all caps. Guccifer had also uploaded various private photos to Colin Powell’s Facebook as well. One of the photos showed George H. W. Bush lying in a hospital bed, another showed George W. Bush “wearing” a Ku Klux Klan hat, and there were a few self-portraits of Bush in a bath, taking a shower, and attending church.

Colin Powell's Facebook hacker also hacked Bush Family e-mail accounts

There were many references made on Powell’s Facebook page that claimed George W. Bush was affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan, and that the entire Bush family were “puppets of the Illuminati.” Guccifer posted on Powell’s wall, “Kill the Illuminati! Tomorrow’s world will be a world free of Illuminati or will be no more.” The hacker has stated that he has no intentions of stopping his attacks on the Bush administration.

There has been a federal criminal investigation on Guccifer ever since he breached Bush’s e-mail accounts back in early February. Along with those e-mail accounts, Guccifer had also accessed the accounts of U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, a senior UN official, security contractors in Iraq, and several former FBI agents. Colin Powell’s hack is the latest attack in this case, and judging from the timing of the attacks, there may be another hit within the next 2-3 weeks.

[via The Smoking Gun]


Colin Powell’s Facebook hacker also breached Bush Family e-mail accounts is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Hackers get a hold of Colin Powell’s Facebook page

It looks like hackers were able to take over Colin Powell’s Facebook. Many of the former Secretary of State’s followers were surprised this morning when they began receiving vulgar updates from Powell’s Facebook page. All of the posts were juvenile and vulgar, and apparently the hacker jammed his caps lock button. Most of the posts were directed towards Powell’s old boss and former president of the United States, George W. Bush.

Hackers get a hold of Colin Powell's Facebook page

The posts were sent out in quick bursts, within seconds of each other. Some accused Bush of being related to the Ku Klux Klan, others flamed the entirety of the Bush administration, and others were attacks on Colin himself. Many users took to Powell’s Facebook page, stating the obvious. The Facebook page was taken down by moderators so that they could address the issue and fix it in a timely manner.

Hackers get a hold of Colin Powell's Facebook page 1

Powell took to his Facebook page and apologized to all of his followers. He stated, “Dear Friends, I’m happy to report that the hacking problem has been fixed. We have been working with FB this morning and they took immediate action to remedy the situation.” Powell’s Facebook page has been restored to its old self, much to the relief of all of his followers. Many users are pushing Powell and Facebook to find the hacker, but it may not be worth the effort.

Many famous businesses and entities succumb to hacks all the time. The most recent one I can think of was when Burger King had its Twitter account hacked. The hackers made it seem like Burger King was sold to it’s rival, McDonalds. The hackers let out 55 hilarious tweets that made fun of the franchise before the account was finally suspended. Ironically enough, Burger King gained over 27,000 new followers because of the incident.

[via Gawker]


Hackers get a hold of Colin Powell’s Facebook page is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Xbox hacker “bunnie” Huang makes book free in Aaron Swartz tribute

Xbox hacker and EFF Pioneer Award winner Andrew “bunnie” Huang has waded into the Aaron Swartz controversy, making his ebook Hacking the Xbox free to highlight the important role tinkerers and explorers play. The book, which details Huang’s exploits of the original Xbox console, and subsequent legal battle with Microsoft, was first published in 2003, and had a troubled release with the first publisher pulling out at the last minute over fears of courtroom reprisals.

hacking_the_xbox

It’s that arduous legal process that has motivated bunnie to release the free ebook in association with No Starch Press. Swartz, who committed suicide in January, was the target of a lawsuit around computer hacking, and faced a potential $1m in fines and up to 35 years in prison.

“Without the right to tinker and explore, we risk becoming enslaved by technology; and the more we exercise the right to hack, the harder it will be to take that right away” Andrew “bunnie” Huang

The threat of the lawsuit was widely believed to have contributed in no small part to Swartz’s suicide, though the US Attorney strongly denies pressuring the code expert. For Huang, the issue is made particularly personal by the involvement of MIT, accused of hanging Swartz out to dry in the courts, and something he himself had experience of when Microsoft took issue with his console hacking.

“In this book, you will find the story of when I was an MIT graduate student, extracting security keys from the original Microsoft Xbox” Huang writes. “You’ll also read about the crushing disappointment of receiving a letter from MIT legal repudiating any association with my work, effectively leaving me on my own to face Microsoft.”

Physical copies of Hacking the Xbox remain on sale, but the free ebook can be downloaded in PDF format. Huang suggests the EFF, Demand Progress, and GiveWell as suitable donation recipients should readers want to reward his generosity.


Xbox hacker “bunnie” Huang makes book free in Aaron Swartz tribute is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

China calls for global “rules and cooperation” on hacking issues

China has once again denied its involvement in a series of hacks that plagued various entities in the United States, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and several U.S. companies. The Chinese government believes that the allegations were based on groundless facts and that this is just some scheme to worsen China’s reputation.

China calls for global rules and cooperation on hacking issues

The Chinese government has issued a call for international “rules and cooperation” on the recent hacking issues. China has stated that they have been the target of several internet hacks as well, and that it’s not just the United States who are the victims. They stated that by tracing the cyber attacks, they discovered that the hackers were located in the United States. This could just be a case of finger pointing, or the attacks may be a case of retaliation.

A United States security firm, Madiant, issued a 60+ page report that provides evidence that there is a link between the cyber attacks on U.S. businesses, the Chinese hacking groups, and also the Chinese government. The cyber attacks originated at the HQ for the People’s Liberation Army Unit 61398 in China. China has stated that those accusations were false and that the IP addresses could have been easily spoofed in order to plant the blame on them.

Yang Jiechi, China’s Foreign Minister, stated that the “international community is closely interconnected on the Internet, therefore cyberspace needs rules and cooperation, not war.” He says that he hopes the accusations against China would stop because they will “not be able to blacken the name of others nor whitewash themselves.” However, it’s hard to refute the report from Mandiant, that shows that around 141 companies had their data stolen by the People Liberation Army, and 115 of those companies were from the United States.

[via New York Times]


China calls for global “rules and cooperation” on hacking issues is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google shows off hacked shoes at SXSW

Google has shown off another one of its creative projects that, sadly, will not be making it to the market place. At SXSW, Google showed off its talking shoe. The modified shoe is part of a pair of Adidas high tops. It is customized with accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, and a microphone attached to its tongue. This shoe could be your best friend or worst enemy when it comes to exercising.

demonice

The talking shoe speaks to you and provides you feedback based on your movements. The shoe has its on personality which is customized by a series of if-and statements, and it communicates to your Android device through Bluetooth. The shoe demonstrated by Google’s representative encouraged athletic activity. If you aren’t moving, it will say things like, “I’m snoring”, or “In case you forgot, it’s left right left right.” However, some shoes may encourage laziness, and complain when you make any movement.

The shoe experiment is part of Google’s way to encourage creativity and entice more of the young folk at SXSW to get into computer technology and software development. It’s part of the Art, Copy & Code project Google has launched to improve online advertising and get readers interested. The project is meant to create experiments so Google and its partners can see what concepts interests consumers the most. Google says its “a series of experiments to re-imagine advertising.”

The Art, Copy & Code project was the main part of Google’s set-up at SXSW. It was across the street from the Austin Convention Center, and it was sports themed. There was a basketball court and an obstacle course inside. While Google is mainly trying to get people interested in development, it’s nice that they are also encouraging physical activity at their SXSW ‘Playground’. The shoes won’t be making it to a store near you, however Google may open-source the information on the experiment so you (or someone) can make your own.

[via Engadget]


Google shows off hacked shoes at SXSW is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Simple wallet hack uses magnetic alarms to stave off pickpockets

Simple wallet hack uses magnetic alarm to stave off pickpockets

We just wrapped up our tour of duty at MWC dodging the notorious pickpockets in Barcelona, so perhaps that’s why we’re particularly intrigued by Cabel Kraft’s anti-snatch wallet hack over at Hackaday. Most billfold alarms rely on a light trigger, which can be problematic if the thief squirrels away his prize for a later reveal. Kraft solves that issue by using magnetic alarms — the sort attached to windows for break-in alerts — that set off when the wallet is removed from the victim’s pocket. He did have to remove a lot of the alarm’s bulk and alter the location of the reed switch, but the setup seems otherwise uncomplicated. If you’d like to prevent your wallet from getting picked and have some soldering chops to boot, have a peek at Kraft’s handiwork at the source or just view the video after the break.

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Source: Hackaday

Chrome OS fends off all hacks at Pwnium 3, others fall at Pwn2Own

Chrome OS fends off all hacks at Pwnium 3

Google’s Pwnium challenge followed a familiar pattern in its first two years, with white hat hackers invariably finding a Chrome vulnerability and prompting a round of patches that ultimately made the software stronger. For the Chrome OS-focused Pwnium 3, there’s been a slight hiccup: there were no hacks to patch. Despite Google offering a total of $3.14159 million in bounties, entrants couldn’t demonstrate a working exploit on the Series 5 550 target machine. That may be a testament to Google’s steady security improvements, but it doesn’t help discover what holes are left. We’d add that few were left unscathed at the Pwn2Own competition running in tandem — the regular Chrome browser, Firefox and Internet Explorer all came tumbling down, and Safari may have escaped only because contestants didn’t register in advance. Even so, the Chrome OS results may have Chromebook Pixel owners feeling better about their purchases.

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Source: Geek.com, eSecurity Planet