There’s not much in the way of official statements on this one just yet, but itp.net is reporting that a recently pushed out update for all BlackBerry users on the UAE-based carrier Etisalat is not a “performance enhancement patch” as advertised, but rather some spyware that could potentially give Etisalat the ability to keep an eye on its customers’ messages. The first suspicions about the update apparently arose when users noticed dramatically reduced battery life and slower than usual performance from their phones, which led to a bit of detective work from programmer Nigel Gourlay, who pegged the software down as coming from electronic surveillance company SS8. While it’s not switched on by default, the software can reportedly let Etisalat flip the switch on phones one by one and monitor their emails and text messages — or it could if it hadn’t completely bogged down the network. Apparently, the software wasn’t designed for such a large scale deployment, which resulted in the slowdown and battery drain as some 100,000 BlackBerrys constantly tried and failed to sign in to the one registration server for the software.
Check it, big spenders. If you just can’t get enough of that swipe-to-buy action seen prominently at most modern fuel pumps and McDonald’s restaurants, why not bring the action back to your home turf? Available now in the wondrous United States of America, NetSecure’s $99.95 SmartSwipe is a USB-enabled device that literally allows you to swipe your credit card in order to make online purchases. Reportedly, this device “scrambles and encrypts the user’s credit card data before it reaches the user’s computer or internet,” thus making online shopping safe once and for all. If you’re still confused, hop on past the break for a dead-serious infomercial. Trust us, it’s a must-watch.
Biometric security might sound cool, but relying on fingerprint recognition alone for securing anything more serious than your Windows password typically results in the rapid hacking, whether through flesh or software, of that protection. Well, Axxis is trying to address this problem with a new dual-factor security lock — requiring a PIN alongside fingerprint identification — which allows you to customize access times for each registered user and also spy on their comings and goings. Retailing for $699 per lock, alongside an entirely-not-optional $299 accessory, this is hardly a bargain bin item — with a price like that, a burglar might be inclined to steal the locks instead of your treasured possessions.
Given the hype surrounding Apple’s iPhone, we’re actually surprised that we haven’t seen more holes to plug over the years. In fact, the last major iPhone exploit to take the world by storm happened right around this time two years ago, and now — thanks to OS X security expert Charlie Miller — we’re seeing yet another come to light. Over at the SyScan conference in Singapore, Mr. Miller disclosed a hole that would let attackers “run software code on the phone that is sent by SMS over a mobile operator’s network in order to monitor the location of the phone using GPS, turn on the phone’s microphone to eavesdrop on conversations, or make the phone join a distributed denial of service attack or a botnet.” Charlie’s planning to detail the vulnerability in full at the upcoming Black Hat conference, but Apple’s hoping to have it all patched up by the end of this month.
Let’s face it: no one digs long security lines at airports. But if you reckoned a healthy amount of folks would be willing to pay $128 per year in order to bypass said lines at only a few airports in the world, you’d be wrong. After launching with high hopes back in 2005, Clear has quietly folded after failing to “negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations.” There’s no word on what’ll happen to existing paying customers, but we get the feeling they’ll be directed towards a somewhat unpleasant creek sans a paddle. Or, you know, that poorly staffed lane to the left with 384 (give or take) cantankerous, shoeless travelers.
How many laptops have border officials searched at U.S. borders? The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wants to know.
The group filed a freedom of information (FOIA) request with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Homeland Security Department requesting any and all records dating back to January 1, 2007.
“Disclosure of the requested information … will further public understanding of the government’s expansive exercise of search authority over all travelers, including U.S. citizens, passing through the country’s international borders,” the letter reads.
“These searches implicate core Fourth Amendment interests, because they involve highly intrusive governmental probing into a traveler’s most private information,” it continued. “They also implicate the First Amendment, because searching or retaining a traveler’s ‘information’ – especially the vast stores of information contained in a laptop or other electronic device – risks chilling the free exchange of ideas.”
Peaches and cream. Smoked salmon and cream cheese. Robots with guns. All these things are natural partners, combinations sent from heaven to us Earth-bound monkeys to make our sad lives better. Only the last, though, is at the same time both awesome and terrifying.
The video shows a montage of the best and worst of the creations of RoboteX Inc (ignore the powerpoint-style opening. The real action starts just shy of one minute in). First, we see a tiny, bullet firing spider of a robot, able to keep a bead on its target even when bouncing over rocky terrain or walking up stairs (yes, stairs. Take that, Daleks). This is just plain neat.
The next bot, though, is actually rather menacing: a humanoid machine that walks amongst the urban population, “helping” the police. Can you imagine how you’d feel if you saw this thing on your street, a cold, emotionless killing machine bristling with advanced weaponry, its cold metal body empty of anything so warm as a soul or conscience? Maybe like one of the nine soldiers who were mown down by a marauding robot in an ED-209 style massacre in South Africa two years ago.
After that, the video quiets down a little, showing us guns mounted upside-down on wheels, but wait for the denouement at 3:53 minutes in — a robot-drone helicopter with not one but two (2!) automatic rifles on the sides. I gotta get me one of those.
In a bid to attract more business users to the iPhone, Apple introduced several security enhancements on Monday for its popular handset. However, there are still a number of weaknesses that need addressing before the company can climb into the business market.
At its 26th Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple demonstrated an emergency feature that remotely erased an iPhone’s data in the event that the handset is lost or stolen. Additionally, a new tool called “Find My iPhone” will enable users to view the location of their lost or stolen iPhone on a map. Third, for the next-generation iPhone 3GS, Apple implemented encryption to prevent thieves from retrieving confidential, sensitive information.
While these new features do increase security, they still fall short of Research In Motion’s BlackBerry, said Jonathan Zdziarski, forensics expert and author of the book iPhone Forensics: Recovering Evidence, Personal Data, and Corporate Assets.
“I don’t think some of the features were as big of a solution as Apple made them sound,” Zdziarski said. “The remote wipe is useful, but for someone who’s targeting an enterprise phone specifically, that remote wipe can only take place if the iPhone is on a network. If I steal someone’s phone and I have the goal of stealing information on that phone, the first thing I’m going to do is pop the SIM card out.”
Historically, Apple has aimed its products at consumers, and thus the popular iPhone has received criticism for its relatively lackadaisical security. In September, for example, Zdziarski revealed a security flaw in Cupertino’s wonder device: The handset snaps a cached screenshot of your most recent action whenever the Home button is pressed. A tech-savvy thief could potentially access a pilfered iPhone’s cache and see previously written text messages, password entries and so forth.
Despite this, Apple recently began heavily marketing the iPhone as a business device. A recent iPhone ad (above) demonstrates business apps available for the iPhone. Apple even launched an entire web page hoping to pitch the iPhone’s suitability in this area.
But as intriguing as business applications can be, the security of the iPhone still isn’t on par with BlackBerry smartphones, Zdziarski said. For remote-wiping on a BlackBerry, customers can opt for an emergency feature where their phone automatically erases all of its data if it’s been off the network for a set amount of time — think of it as the cellular equivalent of the nuclear option. Even if the SIM is removed, the phone would still wipe itself, Zdziarski said.
As for encryption for iPhone 3GS, security experts have yet to put the smartphone through any thorough testing. Thus, employees and business users eager for new iPhones should wait to see just what level of encryption has been deployed before putting in orders, he said.
“Any kind of encryption is an improvement … and Apple is heading in the right direction. But BlackBerry still has the upper hand in their technology,” Zdziarski said.
Nonetheless, Apple is just beginning to tap the business market with these new announcements. And tech strategist Mike Gartenberg says to expect Apple to shake up the OS space, as the company continues to roll our additional enterprise-centric features for Mac OS X Snow Leopard and future iPhones iterations.
“The OS wars have finally begun,” Gartenberg said. “Apple is very well positioned in the PC space for consumers, and we can expect Apple to begin its first major onslaught in the business market.”
Last year, the results of the New York CityRacks Design Competition were announced. The winner? Woking, in leafy Surrey, England. While New Yorkers get a fragile, ugly and hard-to-use steering-wheel-shaped rack, the rather prettier and much more functional Y-Rack (a losing entry in the contest) is being installed on English streets.
Just take a look at the picture and decide which you would be happier locking your ride to: The useless, circular rack that looks like a quick kick would snap it off at the root, or the handsome, thick y-shaped rack, a sturdy looking design that looks like it could even accommodate four bikes.
On a related note, I’m in NYC right now and I have been checking out the bikes. You guys need to learn to use a lock. Do you really think that locking a fixie to a railing using a single D-lock around the seat-stem is secure? If you do, you deserve to have your bike stolen. Just sayin’ is all.
It’s just been a few short months since a proposed bill called for the creation of a National Cybersecurity Advisor, but it looks like there’s now not one but two new positions in the offing, with both the Pentagon and President Obama himself announcing plans for some newly elevated offices charged with keeping the nation’s networks secure. While a specific “Cybersecurity Czar” hasn’t yet been named, the White House position will apparently be a member of both the National Security Council and National Economic Council and, in addition to coordinating U.S. response in the event of a major attack, the office will also be tasked with protecting privacy and civil liberties. Details on the new Pentagon office, on the other hand, are expectedly even less specific although, according to The New York Times, it’ll be a military command that will work to coordinate efforts now scattered across the four armed services, and will apparently serve as complement to the civilian office in the White House.
Read – Reuters, “Obama to name White House cybersecurity czar” Read – The New York Times, “Pentagon Plans New Arm to Wage Cyberspace Wars”
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