02/12, 2:45pm
Microsoft Store India compromised
Microsoft's India web store (currently down) was hacked this weekend in a move that also just revealed how vulnerable its data was. As relayed to WPSauce, the page was originally overwritten with a page giving credit to the Chinese group Evil Shadow and merging images both of the classic Activision game Hacker and Anonymous' well-known Guy Fawkes mask. Anonymous hasn't taken any credit, suggesting the use of the mask was strictly an instance of riding on Anonymous' reputation.
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02/10, 8:15pm
Relies on brute force, forensic specialists
A somewhat sensationalist press release from Russian forensic-cryptology company ElComSoft claims that it can "crack" passwords users put on documents created in Apple's iWork software (which comprises Pages, Numbers and Keynote). However, the company admits that the attack is just a variation on a brute-force cracking method that attempts to guess the password.
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02/09, 6:40pm
Bug allows users to create new PIN
Yet another Google Wallet vulnerability has been spotted, just one day after security researchers published details of a similar issue that only affects rooted devices. The latest vulnerability is claimed to affect all Android devices, however, including those running stock software.
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02/09, 2:00am
Potential remains for fraudulent orders
A hacker group calling itself SwaggSec has published data from internal Foxconn servers that the group hacked into, including usernames and passwords for management officials right up to and including CEO Terry Gou. While initial analysis of the data hasn't turned up any other sensitive information, the security breach prompted company officials to shut down its servers to prevent fraudulent orders that could appear to be from Foxconn's clients using the passwords.
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02/08, 10:25pm
Google working quickly to fix bug
Researchers at security firm Zvelo have released details surrounding a Google Wallet vulnerability that is claimed to leave a user's PIN data exposed. Engineers were reportedly able to develop a crack that quickly determines a user's four-digit PIN, which serves as an essential security layer to prevent the NFC system from transmitting card data without authorization.
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02/06, 7:00pm
Bug keeps messages flowing to stolen iPhones
A flaw in the iMessage protocol that causes it to continue to route messages to an iPhone even after its SIM has been removed and deactivated has gotten the attention of Apple in a very direct way: a customer demand to be compensated for the problem, which the company has allegedly done. TheNextWeb reports that an unnamed customer who had her iPhone stolen but which continued to receive iMessages has now received an iPod Touch as compensation.
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02/04, 10:05pm
Android 4.0.4 scoop shows speed, touch boosts
One unintentional early adopter has posted the as yet unpublicized Android 4.0.4 for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus. The update was sent out over the air to an Android Central reader but can now be installed by anyone comfortable with digging into the platform to manually install firmware. As it's intended for the regular upgrade path, it only works with the official firmware and not mods or custom installs.
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02/03, 7:15pm
Takes another shot at widespread problem
Users who have been recommended to get a certain game but are not totally clear on the name of the app are the target market of "copycat" games that have similar names and borrow gameplay and other elements from more successful apps, hoping to cash in on brand confusion, TechCrunch reports. Titles like "Plants Vs. Zombie" and "Tiny Birds" are "fast fakes" of real apps. Apple is again removing such apps from the App Store, highlighting an ongoing problem.
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02/03, 2:45pm
Anonymous shares secret FBI investigation call
The hacking group Anonymous has intercepted a 15-minute call between the FBI and the British police's cybercrime investigators, according to a Friday report. Available to download, the conference call ironically focused on how to track and prosecute the very group of hackers. The FBI has launched an investigation into how Anonymous able to attain the recording, which has some names of the suspects edited out.
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02/01, 3:00am
Company run by former ZFS Apple engineer
[Update: ZEVO web site is back up after prolonged outage] A former Apple engineer who worked on ZFS integration in Leopard and Snow Leopard has debuted a new software program to implement full ZFS support on the Mac. The alternative disk formatting, which offers a more efficient way to utilize disk space and actively prevents file corruption among other benefits, was touted by Sun Microsystems and considered by Apple as a possible replacement for HFS, but ultimately abandoned due to licensing issues.
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01/31, 2:40pm
Unofficial Android 4.0.4 leaks out for Nexus S 4G
The Nexus S 4G may soon get an update to Android 4.0, as indicated by a leaked ROM for testing on Google's servers. While it's since been removed, one developer over at the XDA Developers forum managed to get his hands on the code and shared it. The software carries build number IMM26 and will update the handset to Android 4.0.4, which isn't officially on any device.
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01/27, 2:00pm
Early version of ClockworkMod Recovery teased
CyanogenMod team member Koushik "Koush" Dutta has just shared a video teaser (below) of his latest project, a touch-native version of ClockworkMod Recovery. The early build shows touch to select and scrolling working, and treats the menu as buttons. The software will let users create full firmware backups to ensure they can go back to a stock phone if their hacked operating system isn't what they expected.
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01/25, 4:00pm
EFF seeking petition to keep jailbreaking legal
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is lobbying users to sign a petition in its quest to convince the US government that jailbreaking smartphones and tablets is legal. Back in mid-2010, the Library of Congress ruled that the act is legal, provided it doesn't violate copyright laws. That ruling will soon expire, some believe, and doesn't cover tablets; the EFF is concerned that both need to be address.
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01/24, 9:25am
Pwn2Own will not allow pre-made exploits
Tipping Point's Pwn2Own security contest is changing its methodology in a way that could break from "sensationalist" headlines, the company's security team lead Aaron Portnoy explained. When it takes place at CanSecWest in March, the hacking competition as explained to PC Advisor would partly switch to an on-the-spot contest where teams didn't have to have ready-made hack by the time they got to the show. It would become a form of "spectator sport" and reward teams based on the speed it takes at Pwn2Own itself, scoring based on the frequency of hacks each day.
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01/24, 1:00am
Turns voice commands into OS actions
Hacker developer Nick Frey is now offering a utility forjailbroken iPhone 4S models that extends Siri slightly, allowing users to speak commands beginning with "open" or "launch" to allow Siri to launch programs (even "webclips") or execute system commands such as "unlock" (if password protection isn't on) and "reboot." The program can open both first- and third-party programs and relies on the recently-released Absinthe program for jailbreaking.
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01/23, 10:45pm
PS Vita can control full PS3 games with tricks
A new hack demoed on video (below) has shown that the PS Vita can play full PS3 games through Remote Play. A jailbroken and modified version of the PS3's 3.55 firmware, lower than the most recent official build, can pipe through full games such as Battlefield 3 and the Mortal Kombat remake without having to get official support. Sony only allows its current list of PSP-aware Remote Play games to work.
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01/23, 9:40am
OS X, Windows releases updated
The makers of the Absinthe jailbreak for the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S have released a minor update, v0.2. The code does, however, fix two important glitches, including one in which devices would fail to reboot properly after the exploit was pushed. The other involved icons appearing white on devices' homescreens.
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01/21, 2:40pm
Raspberry Pi tested with XBMC
Having just shown its hardware running AirPlay, the Raspberry Pi team has shown the $25 and sometimes $35 micro PC running XBMC (video below). The hardware, even at its price, can still run the full interface smoothly. It also plays back 1080p through the use of Open Max to give a hardware accelerated boost to the video and audio sides.
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01/20, 1:05pm
Absinthe ready to go
(Update: Windows too) The promised iPhone 4S and iPad 2 untethered jailbreak has been posted as of Friday. Absinthe lets Mac users crack iOS 5 on the modern Apple hardware to run Cydia as well as other unsigned apps. Demand is such that the main host, greenpois0n, is currently having trouble; Chronic Dev Team contributor Josh Hill warned that the jailbreak might not run at first, since it's dependent on reaching the greenpois0n site.
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01/18, 6:00pm
Custom v3.1.3 replicates look, some features
One of the lesser-known iPhone "teams" dedicated to hacking and modifying iOS devices has released Whited00r 5.1, a heavily customized and modified version of iOS 3.1.3 that brings the look and feel of iOS 5 to all iOS devices, all the way back to the original first-generation iPhone and iPod Touch. The team have added features from iOS 4 and iOS 5 such as folders, custom backgrounds and reminders and made them work under the "iOS 5" style v3.1.3.
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01/18, 5:35pm
Update blocks BurritoRoot
Amazon has released yet another firmware update for its Kindle Fire tablet, as the company continues to quietly battle with unofficial tools that enable users to gain root access. The latest firmware, version 6.2.2, temporarily closed the loophole that had been exploited by BurritoRoot, however developers quickly released an update to the root utility to restore its functionality.
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01/18, 10:50am
TouchPad gets Android 4 from CyanogenMod team
The CyanogenMod TouchPad team has now officially released the previously teased CyanogenMod 9 software for the HP TouchPad over on the RootzWiki forum. This alpha release will allow users to run Android 4.0 on the discontinued tablet. As the software is at an early stage, however, many features do not work.
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01/16, 12:00pm
Public release coming soon
A member of the Chronic Dev Team has taken the exploit that allowed for an "untethered" jailbreak of iOS 5.0.1 on A4 devices and made it work on A5 devices, as demonstrated by a video showing an iPhone 4S running the stock operating system rebooting with its jailbroken apps (including Cydia and iFile) intact, reports hacker pod2g. The new technique is planned for a public release in the near future, though pod2g was not specific about when.
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01/16, 3:55am
MIUI custom Android ROM reaches E4GT
The MIUI Android custom ROM has made its way
to Sprint’s Epic 4G Touch. A variant of the Samsung Galaxy S II, a user’s Epic 4G Touch must first be rooted for the MIUI ROM to work, although installation comes with all the usual caveats including voiding a user’s warranty and even the possibility of bricking the device. As the video below shows, the popular MIUI interface gives Ice Cream Sandwich an iOS-like interface with the slick Ice Cream Sandwich experience retained.
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01/04, 2:20pm
Simple Transformer Prime root tool released
Those with an ASUS Transformer Prime and the need to modify its software can now do so thanks to a new, unofficially root tool shared by ViperBoy over on the RootzWiki forums. The root is simple, requiring Windows users only to download a ZIP file, install the contained drivers onto their tablet, and run the viperMOD Primer Tool executable. With this process, users can freely root or unroot their devices.
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01/03, 6:40pm
Image shows superuser access
Corroborating earlier reports, ASUS' Transformer Prime tablet appears to have been hacked to gain root access. A YouTube video shows an unnamed exploit being used to enable superuser privileges, using the unofficial tool "NachoRoot" that was developed by TeamAndIRC.
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01/03, 2:20pm
Galaxy Note gets experimental Android 4 build
The Samsung Galaxy Note that will arrive in the US sometime in 2012 has now got an unofficial first Android 4.0.3 ROM thanks to CyanogenMod 9's custom firmware. As is usually the case with such early builds, there are many features that don't yet work, including Bluetooth, battery usage, the media transfer protocol, camera support and likely some other detailed differences. Samsung plans to release an official Android 4.0 build for the smartphone/tablet early this year.
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01/03, 12:00pm
ASUS Transformer Prime gets Android 4 timetable
ASUS posted word of a definitive timetable for the Android 4.0 upgrade on the Transformer Prime. The over-the-air update will be ready worldwide starting from January 12. ASUS hasn't said how quickly it expects the updates to finish, or if owners can push the update manually.
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01/02, 9:15pm
Arcade games run on Chrome software
Google engineers have reportedly managed to port Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator (MAME) to Native Client. The move theoretically enables users to play a wide range of classic arcade games on Google's Chrome software on Windows, Mac and Linux machines.
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01/02, 7:00pm
Using iPad apps at 720p, more possibilities
Using a scratch-written replacement for the normal iOS launcher known as "Springboard," developers Steve Troughton-Smith and a Canadian colleague known as TheMudKip have moved forward from their discovery that iOS apps can be run inside Apple TV's version of iOS and have now gotten full-screen iPad applications (that are normally landscape in orientation) to work at full 720p resolution. The find opens the door to eventual native Apple TV iOS apps.
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01/02, 6:50pm
PS Vita runs Genesis mutiple layers deep
Attempts to get unofficial PS Vita code running took their next step this weekend after video proof emerged of Sony's system running Sega Genesis games. Picodrive, the offshoot of a competition for a classic console emulator on the PSP, can run games like the Sonic series on the Vita using the official PSP emulator and the Half Byte Loader. It doesn't yet run perfectly and is plagued by stuttering sound, although video performance is very smooth.
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01/02, 5:35pm
ChevronWP7 runs out of tokens, may not renew
The ChevronWP7 team's Rafael Rivera confirmed Monday that it had run out of tokens for access to its jailbreak tool in what might be an end to the program. ChevronWP7's creators had struck a deal to make no more than 10,000 of the credits available and was now considering whether or not it wanted to "up this number" later. Contrary to some fears, Microsoft hadn't forced it to shut down and hadn't been involved yet.
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01/02, 1:50pm
ClockworkMod Tether Alpha arrives
ClockworkMod developer Koushik Dutta has posted a test version of what he claims is a potentially undetectable tethering app. ClockworkMod Tether Alpha lets Linux, Macs, and Windows PCs borrow an Android phone's 3G or 4G connection as though it were a proxy, not a router. The technique theoretically makes it "not blockable," as carriers are checking for the TTL (time to live) of data coming from a desktop OS, which would be masked by a proxy.
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01/02, 12:10pm
ASUS Transformer Prime foudn with encrypted boot
Early Transformer Prime buyers have discovered that ASUS has locked the bootloader on the quad-core tablet. A 128-bit AES encryption layer spotted by XDA-Developers forum members effectively prevents custom firmware from being loaded on the Android device. The limit prevents users from upgrading to Android 4.0 early or otherwise instituting any third-party code that needs a fundamental OS-level change.
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12/31, 11:50pm
Apple TV iOS trick now using multiple app windows
The Apple TV iOS app hack has been improved in the last hours of 2011 after updates by Steve Troughton-Smith and Canadian developer TheMudkip. Along with help of a launcher from Grant Paul, the team has managed to get full-sized iPad apps running on the TV. Apps can run windowed or at full screen, and proofs of concept have been used with Angry Birds, Cydia, Facebook, Safari, and YouTube.
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12/31, 4:55pm
PS Vita proof of concept app hack appears
The first steps to get homemade code running on the PS Vita have taken place after Japanese developer teck4, with elaboration by mamosuke, has shown a very early example. The "hello world" app runs in the PlayStation's PSP emulator and uses just hardware controls. While rough, it lets gamers change the color and movement of the "snowfall" in a test scene.
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12/30, 9:45pm
Adds abilities but can cause issues, void warranty
[Updated: video of Troughton-Smith demonstrating Mudkip's iOS window manager and apps on Apple TV] The untethered jailbreak for some iOS 5.0.1 devices has migrated into Seas0npass, a tool for jailbreaking the black (current model) Apple TV, resulting in the option of extra abilities on the $99 device, including the potential to run some iOS apps as demonstrated by hacker Steve Troughton-Smith. The updated Seas0npass works even with Apple TV software version 4.4.4, and third-party options give users the ability to play other video formats, implement custom Bluetooth options and more.
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12/30, 5:55pm
Apple shuts down cracked iOS app culture
Pirate app haven Apptrackr revealed in an update for its Installous app installer that Apple has been cracking down on its bootlegs. "Huge" volumes of takedown requests have made it move servers to areas with looser copyright laws and impose Captcha checks to avoid the legal ramifications of direct links. New hosts were also coming to diminish the impact.
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12/30, 3:40pm
GameCube console fit into small handheld footprint
Gamer and modder Tchay today unveiled the Envision, a GameCube squeezed into the form-factor of a small handheld device. The Envision is powered by batteries and and stores the video games on an SD card. The gaming experience has been enhanced with embedded progressive scanning.
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12/29, 11:40pm
Support extended to LG Optimus Hub, Optimus Pro
Developers have continued to expand the list of devices supported by CyanogenMod, adding several LG devices and Samsung's Epic 4G. The unofficial custom firmware can now be installed on LG's Optimus 3D, Optimus Hub and Optimus Pro, while the Optimus Black has been added back onto the list of supported devices for the CM7 build.
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12/29, 9:00pm
Emulates functionality found on iPad
A hacker known as chpwn has released a tweak for owners of jailbroken iPhones that recreates two of the multi-tasking gestures that can be optionally turned on with non-jailbroken iPad 2 units running iOS 5.0.1. The tweak, known as Zephyr, allows iPhone users to do a single-finger swipe up from the bottom of the screen to reveal the app tray, and also lets users swipe in from the sides to bring in the active screen of other open applications.
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12/29, 1:25pm
PS Vita content manager app may limit use
A discovery earlier in the week has found that Sony's Content Manager app for the PS Vita may be overzealous in trying to curb the perceived piracy threat. Wololo found that the Windows app for sideloading apps and media wouldn't load if a Vita attached to the PC wasn't using the latest firmware. It also wouldn't run if the PC was offline.
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12/28, 8:55pm
Company fulfills promises
HTC has finally expanded the list of devices that are included in the official bootloader unlocking program. The company has updated its developer site, notifying visitors that all of the HTC Android devices launched after September 2011 are unlockable.
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12/28, 6:50pm
Company claims to have found root cause
Microsoft is reportedly testing a bug fix that aims to resolve a security vulnerability affecting Windows Phone devices. The individual who discovered the bug, Khaled Salameh, suggests Microsoft's security team has confirmed the exploit and determined the root cause, according to a Twitter post.
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12/28, 4:45pm
Glitch affected some apps for jailbroken devices
The unofficial iPhone Dev Team has posted a minor update of redsn0w, its popular jailbreaking utility for iOS devices. The v0.9.10b2 update incorporates a launchctl-related fix on top of the base v0.9.10 release, which was published earlier this week as one of the first tools allowing untethered jailbreaks for iOS 5.0.1. Mac and Windows distributions are available.
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12/28, 4:00pm
Modded GameCube available on eBay for $950
A modder who calls himself Slipstream has breathed new life into the 10-year old GameCube home console from Nintendo through a portable hack. He calls his creation the Sly Cube, and it includes a seven-inch LCD flip screen. The integrated 7.2V, 600mAH battery is said to provide between three and four hours of play time.
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12/28, 12:00am
Flaw makes for easier brute-force attacks
The US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has reportedly issued a warning regarding a vulnerability in Wi-Fi routers that use Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) PINs. The security flaw, which was said to be discovered by security researcher Stefan Viehbock, enables hackers to easily gain access to routers by using brute-force attacks and software tools to guess the PIN codes.
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12/27, 11:20am
Kindle Fire modified to run buggy Android 4.0.3
Those on the XDA-Developers forums have brought a rough build of Android 4.0 to the Kindle Fire tablet. The early build is meant to hash out a number of problems and features that still don't work with the help of the community. The About screen shows Android 4.0.3 is onboard, which was placed there with a CyanogenMod 9 root.
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12/27, 10:55am
New hack should dodge copyright worries
Two iOS hackers, Chpwn and Ryan Petrich, have released Spire, a new implementation of Siri for jailbroken iOS 5 devices. The code brings Siri to hardware other than the iPhone 4S, specifically the iPhone 4 and 3GS, the iPad 1, and third- and fourth-generation iPod touches. Chpwn claims that unlike a hack published earlier this month, there should be no copyright issues putting the legality of Spire in question.
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12/27, 9:40am
iPad 2, iPhone 4S still excluded
Hacker pod2g has released the first public version of an untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.0.1, according to the unofficial iPhone Dev Team. The Dev Team has built the technology into redsn0w 0.9.10 and PwnageTool. A separate team, Chronic, has meanwhile implemented it into a Cydia package. The pod2g technique involves "two separate exploits and a few other 'tricks'," the iPhone Dev Team explains.
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