All things Tech!

[*Anya*]

'Contagious' wi-fi threat created
Last updated 2 hours ago

By Dave Lee

Technology reporter, BBC News

Networks most at threat are small businesses and home users, researchers said
A computer virus that can spread via wi-fi like a "common cold" has been created by researchers in Liverpool.

In densely populated areas with lots of wi-fi networks, the virus can go from network to network finding weaknesses.

Once in control of a wi-fi access point, it leaves computers on the network extremely vulnerable.

The team's lead researcher told the BBC it was working on software to prevent such attacks being possible.

"Rather than rely on people to use strong passwords, you want to integrate intrusion detection systems to the access points," said Alan Marshall, professor of communication networks at the University of Liverpool.

He would not go into detail about the methods in order to prevent the attack being used on real victims but said a proof-of-concept attack had been developed at the university.

'Under control'

The virus, dubbed Chameleon, seeks out wi-fi access points - devices that transmit the wi-fi signal, found in many homes - that have not had their admin password changed.

Many people do not change their wi-fi admin password
This password is different from the one used to log on to the wi-fi network itself, and is often left unchanged from the default setting.

Once an access point is under a hacker's control, new firmware can be installed.
"So it's now under our control," explained Prof Marshall". Once you do that you can then do other things with it. You can recover passwords, steal data - anything you want."

Spreading out

But it is the next step of the virus that is most unusual. Once installed on one access point, the virus can - without being controlled by a human - automatically seek out other vulnerable access points, taking them over as and when they are found.

Prof Marshall told the BBC that this was unlikely to be a threat to big business wi-fi networks, which should have enhanced security in place.

However, networks in homes, or at small premises like coffee shops, are typically found with less stringent protection measures in place.

Now that his team has demonstrated the threat, Prof Marshall said attention would turn to creating a product that could be installed in wi-fi access points to prevent this kind of hijacking - without requiring the user to take responsibility.

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC

BBC © 2014

[Wintermoon]

This is great info and it explains why professionals always set passwords to secure as possible numerical ones and set the ssd not to broadcast. If you do not know how to check your admin logs in the router, fine tune the security and set it up without changing settings PLEASE hire a Professional. This is the reason we are here paying for our business licenses and being certified. Some of us work via e-mail as well. DO not let anyone have remote access to your pc without verifying they are a legit certified business who is accountable.

Sincerely, ~~~ Winter

** available tech is at your fingertips

[*Anya*]

Simgo takes the sting out of roaming charges

By Rich Trenholm

Rich Trenholm is a Senior Editor at CNET, covering everything from phones to bionic implants. Based in London since 2007, he has travelled the world seeking out the latest and best consumer technology for your enjoyment.

Anywhere I roam, where I lay my head is home. If only that was the case for the humble smart phone, which as soon as you board a boat, plane or dirigible magically transforms into a pocket-sized money-vampire, international roaming charges sucking money straight out of your wallet with every call, text or data connection.

But to help you relax and enjoy your vacation, business trip or hot-footed flight to somewhere without an extradition treaty, Simgo turns your iPhone or Samsung Galaxy phone into a local native and dodges those shocking international costs.

Simgo is a special iPhone or Samsung Galaxy case that cuts out wallet-melting international roaming bills.

Off the beaten path I reign

At present, to use your phone when you head for foreign climes, you need to either hunt for an elusive Wi-Fi hotspot; or you have to buy a SIM card when you arrive and tell everyone your temporary number; or you have to go through the wallet-melting expense of roaming on your home SIM, complete with the delightful surprise of a massive bill waiting on the mat when you return home. Basically, it's a big ol' rigmarole.

Enter Simgo. Simgo is a case for your phone that takes over the job of your SIM card. You take out your SIM card and attach the special protective cover to your phone, which then acts as a virtual SIM card. So no matter where you go you're not stung with exorbitant international rates -- and best of all you're still on your own number.

Simgo cases fit the Samsung Galaxy S2, S3 and S4, and the iPhone 4, 4S, iPhone 5 and 5S. It works with an app available from the Google Play or Apple App Store.

I'm free to speak my mind anywhere

Each time you travel you tell the app that you're going overseas and it assigns you a local number for local charges. But it also switches on call forwarding so your calls are made with your usual number, and people can still call you on your regular number. The service works on 3G and 4G networks in over 30 countries across North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

CNET Reviews Cell Phones Simgo Mobile ltd. cell phones Simgo
Simgo takes the sting out of roaming charges

CNET Editors' Take February 21, 2014 3:04 AM PST

http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phone-a...-35835221.html

[*Anya*]

Password 'treasure trove' found
Last updated 6 hours ago 2/26/14

By Kevin Rawlinson

BBC News

The batch could be used to launch email scams and crack into online accounts, experts said

A "treasure trove" of stolen personal details has been found on sale on black market websites, a security firm says.

About 360 million account credentials including email addresses and passwords were reportedly uncovered.

Hide Security said it had also found 1.25 billion email addresses without passwords.

It is unknown where the credentials, which were found in the past three weeks, came from - but the company said they included major email providers.

Experts said that the batch was exceptionally large in size. "It is Godzilla-sized, it is a monster," said online security consultant Graham Cluley.

He added: "There may be some duplicates but, even so, it sounds like a complete treasure trove for cybercriminals."

Hide Security said that its findings were the result of "multiple breaches which we are independently investigating".

'Mind boggling'

In a post on its website, it said: "In the first three weeks of February, we identified nearly 360 million stolen and abused credentials and 1.25 billion records containing only email addresses.

According to Mr Cluley, the details could be used to access not only the accounts they are directly associated with, but potentially others.

"What normally comes out is not only spam and phishing attacks, but also that the combination of email and password can be used in multiple places because people use the same ones across different sites," he said.

Mr Cluley added: "If people have a big database of passwords, they use it to find out what the regular ones are. The next time they want to crack into an account, they can use the most common passwords."

And Reuters reported concerns that the discovery could represent more of a risk to consumers and companies than stolen credit card data because of the chance the sets of user names and passwords could open the door to online bank accounts, corporate networks, health records and virtually any other type of computer system.

Spamming and phishing

Alex Holden, chief information security officer of Hold Security, told the agency: "The sheer volume is overwhelming."

He said the credentials had been stolen in breaches yet to be publicly reported. The companies attacked could remain unaware until they were notified by third parties who found evidence of the hacking, he said.

"We have staff working around the clock to identify the victims," he said.

The batch also included email addresses not paired with passwords, which would be of use to people intending to launch spamming and phishing attacks.

BBC © 2014

[*Anya*]

28 March 2014 Last updated at 08:53 ET

Facebook has ambitious plans to connect the two-thirds of the world that has no net access, using drones, satellites and lasers.

By Jane Wakefield
Technology reporter

Solar-powered drones will deliver net access to remote places.

The move was announced on the social media platform by founder Mark Zuckerberg.

It will put it in direct competition with Google, which is planning to deliver net access via balloons.

Both of the net giants want to extend their audiences, especially in the developing world.

Details about Facebook's plan were scant but it will include a fleet of solar-powered drones as well as low-earth orbit and geosynchronous satellites. Invisible, infrared laser beams could also be used to boost the speed of the net connections.

Last year Facebook and other technology companies launched internet.org to help bring net access to the huge swathes of the globe that are still not connected.

Aerospace experts
The social network has already teamed up with telecoms operators in the Philippines and Paraguay to double the number of people using the internet in that region.

"We're going to continue building these partnerships, but connecting the whole world will require inventing new technology too," Mr Zuckerberg said in his post.

To bring the project to fruition, Facebook has set up a Connectivity Lab that will include experts in aerospace and communication technology, from Nasa's jet propulsion lab and its Ames research centre.

It has also hired a five-member team that worked at British firm Ascenta, which developed the Zephyr, which holds the record for the longest-flying solar-powered unmanned aircraft.

Earlier this month there were rumours that the social network was interested in buying drone-maker Titan but there was no mention of this in the announcement.

Altruistic?
The plans form part of Facebook's ambitions to extend its reach beyond its 1.2 billion audience, thinks Ovum analyst Mark Little.

"Zuckerberg is pushing this as an altruistic way of connecting more people in the world - the net as a basic human right - but by increasing the total of net connections it also increases Facebook's members and the amount of sharing done, which in turn creates more space for advertising and drives its revenues in a massive way."

Last year Google announced similar plans to develop solar-powered balloons to deliver net access to remote areas of the world.

Code-named Project Loon, 30 of the super-pressure balloons were launched in New Zealand in June.

"It is perhaps aptly named," said Mr Little.

"It is going to have a lot of political hoops to jump through. Some governments won't put up with having that fleet over their airspace."

Mr Little thinks that for both Facebook and Google, the technology in their projects may prove to be "the easy bit" and that the real challenge will lie in persuading governments around the world that its alternative networks are viable.

"Mobile operators are always under threat from alternative ways of delivering net services. This becomes a concern for governments when a nation's communications rest on an outside provider," he said.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26784438

[*Anya*]

Apple confirmed a longtime conspiracy theory — and gave regular customers a big reason to distrust it

Troy Wolverton December 20, 2017

Apple on Wednesday admitted it had been secretly throttling the performance of older iPhones.

The admission outraged even some of the company’s biggest fans.

Customers have good reason to be distrustful of the company and to suspect its motives.

Apple has long inspired an almost religious devotion among customers and tech aficionados – but it just seriously undermined its fans’ faith and loyalty.

The company on Wednesday acknowledged what some people have long suspected: that it has been secretly stifling the performance of older iPhones.

Critics have accused the company in the past, based on anecdotal evidence, of purposely slowing phones to compel users to upgrade to the latest model. While Apple admitted to the practice on Wednesday, it sought to underscore that it had done so for a purely altruistic reason: to prevent older phones from shutting down unexpectedly.

The justification hasn’t mollified Apple’s outraged fans. If anything, the company’s statement has stoked the conspiracy theories, and for good reason.

Apple was caught red-handed: By the company’s own admission, it’s been throttling the performance of iPhones since last year.

Apple hasn’t explained why it didn’t disclose the practice until now, after GeekBench released charts based on its data that showed how older iPhones were not performing as quickly as they had when they launched.

Apple’s secrecy – a badge of honor when it comes to unveiling new products – is certain to encourage distrust in this situation. Apple comes across as an organization that was intentionally hiding something, something it acknowledged only when it was caught red-handed.

If Apple didn’t acknowledge that it was throttling older phones until one year after it started doing so, what else is the company not telling customers? Why should iPhone users believe the company’s explanation for why it’s throttling phones? And why should they believe that it only started doing that a year ago?

Such questions might sound like the ravings of conspiracy theorists. But in this case, the conspiracy mongers were proved right: Apple was slowing down their phones. And there are rational reasons to think the company may not be offering a full explanation for why.

The iPhone maker has a big reason to push customers to upgrade

The fact is that Apple has an incentive to push users to upgrade; it makes money selling new devices, after all. And the company has a history of artificially making older devices look inferior to new ones. The iPhone 4, for example was perfectly capable of running Siri, but Apple reserved that feature for the model that replaced it, the iPhone 4s. Likewise, the camera in the iPhone 3G was capable of shooting video, but Apple didn’t turn that feature on and instead made video recording the signature capability of its next device, the iPhone 3GS.

Planned obsolescence is a long-standing practice in the tech and broader manufacturing industries.

Apple may well be honest in explaining its motives for throttling phones and about the time frame when it started doing so. But many folks just aren’t going to believe that.

“For years, we’ve reassured people that no, Apple doesn’t secretly slow down their older iPhones to make them buy new ones,” the blogger and iPhone developer Marco Arment said in a tweet on Wednesday. He added in a follow-up Twitter post: “The reputation damage from secretly slowing down old iPhones, regardless of the reason, will likely linger for a decade.”

Whatever the company’s motives for throttling iPhones, it should have made clear long ago what it was doing, if only for public-relations reasons. If it had told users what it was doing when it introduced the throttling feature – or heck, even better, when it first started seriously considering building the feature into the iPhone’s operating system – it would have been able to shape the discussion and maybe even improve how the feature works.

Instead, it’s now drawing customers’ criticism, distrust, and ire. And it has no one to blame but itself.

https://www.businessinsider.nl/apple...onal=true&r=US