security Archive

  • Be alert! Mac malware targets unsuspecting users of adult Web sites

    Be alert! Mac malware targets unsuspecting users of adult Web sites

    Posted on June 23, 2010 | No Comments
    If I've said it once I've said it 1,000 times: the best way to stay safe online is to keep your wits about you and not to venture off into the darker corners of the Internet, if you know what I mean. I bring this up because there's a nasty bit of kit out there that means to attack unsuspecting Mac users. It sorta makes sense from the malware creator's perspective: Mac users tend to operate under the assumption that they're immune from malware because A) their numbers are too few to be a juicy target B) their system is inherently more secure. You can debate point B all day long, but as Apple sells more and more Macs you can bet that miscreants will be targeting the platform with increasing frequency.

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  • Droid Incredible saves browser screenshots to internal memory, turns into a privacy nightmare?

    Droid Incredible saves browser screenshots to internal memory, turns into a privacy nightmare?

    Posted on June 17, 2010 | No Comments
    June must be the month when privacy issues leave their hibernation and return to trouble our fragile minds. First we had Flash going loco, then AT&T's airwaves exploded with iPad users' email addresses, iPhone 4 pre-orders started sending people to the wrong account, and now this. Boy Genius Report has come across a rather worrying "feature" of the HTC Sense bookmarking widget on the Incredible, which takes sporadic screenshots of your browsing sessions. That wouldn't be so bothersome in itself, but try to remove said pictures, and you find where the problem lies. Ending the browsing session, deleting your history, and even a full reset to factory settings failed to eviscerate the indiscreet imagery. You have to manually discover their location and delete them by hand. Considering the high likelihood of Incredibles being sold and resold for years to come, this could turn the phone into a little cache of treasure for the proactive identity thief. And since it's a Sense issue, it might be affecting other HTC handsets as well. Wunderbar.

    Droid Incredible saves browser screenshots to internal memory, turns into a privacy nightmare? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • We’re Awarding Goatse Security A Crunchie Award For Public Service

    We’re Awarding Goatse Security A Crunchie Award For Public Service

    Posted on June 14, 2010 | No Comments
    This iPad security breach story from last week continues to spin way out of control, and in our opinion fingers are being pointed in the wrong direction. The FBI is investigating the incident, and a few hours ago AT&T finally communicated with customers to tell them about the breach (I've reprinted the AT&T email below). Here's what happened: Goatse Security discovered a rather stupid vulnerability on the AT&T site that returned a customer email if a valid serial number for the iPAD SIm card was entered. An invalid number returned nothing, a valid number returned a customer email address. Goatse created a script and quickly downloaded 114,000 customer emails. They then turned all that over to Gawker, after, they say, AT&T was notified and the vulnerability was closed. Gawker published some of the data with the emails removed. Says Goatse: "All data was gathered from a public webserver with no password, accessible by anyone on the Internet. There was no breach, intrusion, or penetration, by any means of the word."

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  • iPhone vulnerability leaves your data wide open, even when using a PIN

    iPhone vulnerability leaves your data wide open, even when using a PIN

    Posted on May 27, 2010 | No Comments
    iPhone vulnerability leaves your data wide open, even when using a PIN
    if you feel like going through the process of typing in your PIN every time you unlock your iPhone is worth it thanks to the unconquerable security it implies, you might want to read this report from Bernd Marienfeldt about the chosen one's security model. Yes, a PIN will keep casual users from picking up your phone and making a call with it, or firing off an e-mail to your co-workers saying that you're quitting and becoming an exotic dancer, but it won't keep someone from accessing all your data. Bernd and fellow security guru Jim Herbeck have discovered that plugging even a fully up-to-date, non-jailbroken iPhone 3GS into a computer running Ubuntu Lucid Lynx allows nearly full read access to the phone's storage -- even when it's locked. The belief is that they're just a buffer overflow away from full write access as well, which would surely open the door to making calls. Bernd believes the iPhone's lack of data encryption for content is a real problem, and also cites the inability to digitally sign e-mails as reasons why the iPhone is still not ready for prime time in the enterprise.

    [Thanks, Amit]

    iPhone vulnerability leaves your data wide open, even when using a PIN originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 May 2010 06:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Ask Engadget: best smartphone without a camera?

    Ask Engadget: best smartphone without a camera?

    Posted on May 20, 2010 | No Comments
    We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget question is coming to us from James' best bud, who would love to own an EVO 4G... if not for that 8 megapixel camera that's strictly against protocol. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.
    "I have a friend who's taken a job in a security field and the employer doesn't allow cameras on cellphones. He's currently happy with an iPhone 3GS and would definitely consider an Android device but is having trouble finding a decent phone with no camera. The only caveat is that for whatever reason he doesn't want a BlackBerry. Does anyone else make a decent smartphone sans camera? Thanks!"
    This is a fairly common question, actually, and despite the fact that few phones are made any more sans a camera, many organizations refuse to allow them. We'd hate for your friend be stuck with a dumbphone, so here's hoping our readers can drop some knowledge below. Otherwise, we suggest he / she just mail in a two-week notice -- Sent from their iPhone, of course.

    Ask Engadget: best smartphone without a camera? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 May 2010 22:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • And now your car can be hacked, so what are you gonna do?

    And now your car can be hacked, so what are you gonna do?

    Posted on May 17, 2010 | No Comments
    Looks like your car is one dumb "hacker" kid away from careening into a pole, or, more comically, into a big bale of hay. Researchers have demonstrated how to take control of a car's engine, brakes, and fiddle with the instruments. Is there anything you can do about this?

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  • Student loan data stolen: 3.3 million ex-college students look forward to giant headache

    Student loan data stolen: 3.3 million ex-college students look forward to giant headache

    Posted on March 29, 2010 | No Comments
    It was only a few days ago that I mentioned that, you know, your data is never secure. So, this story isn't surprising at all. It turns out that the records of more than 3.3 million student loans were stolen a few days ago. Data stolen includes names, Social Security numbers, and credit card numbers. Awesome.

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  • TSA to track your cellphone signal to improve airport security waiting time

    TSA to track your cellphone signal to improve airport security waiting time

    Posted on March 23, 2010 | No Comments
    The Transportation Security Administration, ominously known as the TSA, wants to be able to track your cellphone while you go through airport security. It wants to do so in order to better understand how airport security lines work in order to streamline the process. That's the official reason. We could always jump to conclusions and assume the TSA just wants to know where you are so the government can control your every move. Not even I am that conspiratorial.

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  • Seattle is the most dangerous place in cyberspace

    Seattle is the most dangerous place in cyberspace

    Posted on March 22, 2010 | No Comments
    Symantec published a report recently listing the 50 riskiest places to be online, as apparently having that many beardos in one place can only result in evil. Seattle made the top of the list, however San Fransisco, Boston, and Washington D.C. made it up near the top as well.

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  • So surveillance cameras are actually good for something

    So surveillance cameras are actually good for something

    Posted on March 10, 2010 | No Comments
    Brickhouse Security in New York sells lots and lots of cameras. They even have one hidden in a teddy bear and they've got this crazy one inside a clock. Anyway, they were filming their office one evening when a frayed vacuum cord started to burn. Things would have been fine but management decided to move a file cabinet over the burn and then blame it on cigarette smoke. Boy were their faces red when they whipped out some footage from the scene, catching the nefarious manager in the act.

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  • Security expert: Flash is horrible

    Security expert: Flash is horrible

    Posted on March 1, 2010 | No Comments
    An Italian security site ran an interview with Pwn2Own contest winner Charlie Miller about secure systems. He said Windows 7 was pretty darn secure but that - get this - Flash eats it big time when paired with an insecure browser.

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  • Schneier: CCTV is useless

    Schneier: CCTV is useless

    Posted on February 26, 2010 | No Comments
    Remember that big, 15-member hit squad that assassinated Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh? They were on camera for most of the time they were on the job, walking in and out of hotels, getting picked up on cameras at the airport. No one still knows who they are and they couldn't have stopped them. It was dead tape until something happened.

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  • TSA orders some full body scanners, to be delivered some time

    TSA orders some full body scanners, to be delivered some time

    Posted on February 23, 2010 | No Comments
    L3 Communications has been awarded a $165 million contract from the Transportation Security Administration for the indefinite delivery of an indefinite number of their ProVision millimeter wave security scanners. So, the TSA is sure that they're going to get some of these, but they don't know how many, or when. More than 200 ProVision scanners are currently deployed around the world, despite myriad privacy concerns. L3 had more than fifteen billion in sales in 2009, so this agreement doesn't seem like that big a deal, financially.

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  • Beating hotel locks using a “government” tool

    Beating hotel locks using a “government” tool

    Posted on February 23, 2010 | No Comments
    Destined to become a local news hit this week ("Next, something you don't know about hotel room doors could shock your... or get you killed. But now, sports!"), this video of a portly, if happy, man named Barry Wels unlocking a hotel room with what amounts to a weird slim jim is just outrageous enough to scare most of America for at least two news cycles. Appearing on Black Bag, the trick involves moving a long piece of wire under and up along a door to pop the door handle. You could feasibly do this with a wire hanger, were it long enough, and as you notice it's loud as heck when he slides in and tries to grab the handle.

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