Hasta La Gadget!

Mobile security company Intrepidus Group presented evidence during the EUSecWest security conference potentially identifying a major flaw in at least two US transit systems. Creating an Android app named “UltraReset” and using it in tandem with an NFC-enabled Android phone (a Nexus S, in this case), security researchers Corey Benninger and Max Sobell were able to reset and reuse — free of charge — transit access cards in both San Francisco’s MUNI system and New Jersey’s PATH system. Before you go getting any bad ideas, know that Benninger and Sobell haven’t released the app for public use, and warned both transit systems in late 2011 (though neither region has fixed the exploit, the duo claim). PATH and MUNI share a common chip access card — the Mifare Ultralight — which can apparently be reset for 10 extra rides (as demonstrated on video below) via Android phones with NFC, an OS newer than 2.3.3 (Gingerbread). Starting to sound familiar?

Intrepidus is, however, releasing a modified version of the app, named “UltraCardTester.” The modified app functions just like its nefarious progenitor, except it can’t add time to cards (see it in action below). The app can tell you how many rides you have left, and if a system is open to exploit, but it won’t assist you in the act of exploiting. We reached out to both New Jersey’s PATH and San Francisco MUNI on the issue, but have yet to hear back as of publishing.

Continue reading Security researchers identify transit system exploit in San Fran and New Jersey, create app to prove it

Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation, Wireless, Software, Mobile

Security researchers identify transit system exploit in San Fran and New Jersey, create app to prove it originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Sep 2012 19:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What does the media queue for a major launch event look like? Picture the line in front of an Apple Store before any new product hits the shelves, add in a few hundred cameras and sat trucks, and there you go. Weather-wise, the scene is a bit dreary outside the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in downtown San Francisco, but things are undoubtedly heating up inside the relatively petite venue, beyond those black velvet ropes and the white polo shirt-clad security team. The scene outside will be long forgotten less than an hour from now, so click through the gallery below before it fades to irrelevancy, then hit up our liveblog to catch all the action inside.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Just one hour to go until Apple’s launch event, here’s the scene in San Francisco originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh New Yorkers and their marvelous, no-cost WiFi access points. Only a few days after Google Offers and Boingo happily announced they’d brought gratis wireless connectivity to additional underground locations within the city, The Wall Street Journal is now let it be known it too will be kind enough to gift the NYC crowd with some WiFi hotspots of its own. The nice gesture will bring around 1,300 network units to areas such as SoHo, Greenwich Village, Union Square, Chelsea and, naturally, the renowned Times Square during the month of September — all in hopes of giving “people the opportunity to sample The Wall Street Journal.” Meanwhile, folks in San Francisco can also grab the internet-friendly freebies in a couple of different places, including Nob Hill and Fisherman’s Wharf. And don’t worry, there won’t be any donkeys involved here.

Filed under: Misc, Wireless, Internet

Wall Street Journal to offer free WiFi hotspots in NYC and San Francisco during September originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When they’re not breaking world records, fuel-hating Wave Glider seabots like to indulge in other hobbies, like shark tracking. One of the vessels has just been launched off the coast near San Francisco (vid after the break), adding a mobile worker to the existing local network of buoy-mounted receivers. They monitor the movements of electronically tagged sea life, including the fearsome Great White, picking up signals within a 1,000-foot range while researchers from Stanford University analyze the data from the safety of the shore. Better still, the free Shark Net iOS app gives anyone the chance to track these things, and activity should increase as the monitoring network (hopefully) expands along the west coast and more bots are introduced. You didn’t think the world’s fascination sharks was limited to only a single single week, did you?

Continue reading Autonomous Wave Glider bot launched to track sharks, beam real-time data to your iPhone and iPad

Filed under: Robots, Science, Software

Autonomous Wave Glider bot launched to track sharks, beam real-time data to your iPhone and iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Aug 2012 19:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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