A hacker in the Netherlands broke into some jailbroken iPhones and sent text messages to the owners asking them to pay to find out how to secure their phones, according to postings in a Dutch forum called Tweakers.net.
One of the victims posted a screenshot from his iPhone of the SMS received. It said: "Your iPhone's been hacked because it's really insecure! Please visit doiop.com/iHacked and secure your iPhone right now! Right now, I can access all your files."
The URL provided now displays a message indicating that it was reported for spam or phishing abuse and has been deactivated.
Ars Technica reports that before the page was removed, it asked that victims send 5 euros ($7.36) to a PayPal account and then await an e-mail with instructions on how to secure the phone. The fix probably would involve restoring the factory settings, according to the Ars Technica post.
"If you don't pay, it's fine by me," the hacker's page said. "But remember, the way I got access to your iPhone can be used by thousands of others--they can send text messages from your number (like I did), use it to call or record your calls, and actually whatever they want, even use it for their hacking activities! I can assure you, I have no intention of harming you or whatever, but, some hackers do! It's just my advice to secure your phone."
... Read moreWe're all still in shock about receiving a tweet from one @LesMoonves, but we get through it to bring you an awesome Monday show. Today's stories cover Twitter getting hacked and why it does (and doesn't) matter; a guy who got a Palm Pre tattoo; and Kazaa making a (paid) comeback!
(Credit:
Icon Designer/Flickr)
Per usual, there's a lot of Twitter news today, including a story about employee data getting hacked. According to TechCrunch, which broke the story, a hacker calling himself "Hacker Croll" managed to steal a Twitter employee's e-mail password and access to users' personal information and even some documents that exposed Twitter's inside business practices. Within this story, though, are two hidden stories. First of all, why is TechCrunch even posting about this? Instead of just reporting the information, they actually posted some of the stolen information...is that a smart thing to do?
My other question is, even after gaining access to Twitter's business notes, has anyone figured out how that site is going to make money, if at all? I'm sure Biz Stone is living comfortably, but what about the admin assistant that got his or her e-mail account jacked by the hacker? What about the little people!?
In other ridiculous Twitter news, check out this video of a guy getting a Palm Pre tattooed on his arm for PreCentral.net's "What would you do for a Palm Pre?" contest. I know we've seen this before with the guy who got a Microsoft Zune tattoo, but this is getting ridiculous. A lifetime of permanent artwork for a device with a two-year relevance, at most! It might be even shorter if people can't figure out a way to sync a Palm Pre with iTunes. Wilson actually found two ways to sync your Pre to iTunes, but neither of them are free or work with Windows, so PC users should still stick with the previous version.
Also, get ready for the resurgence of Kazaa, but this time it's a paid service. Is anyone paying attention to what happened to BitTorrent and Napster?
EPISODE 385
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We've seen keyboards integrated into pants before (in this edition of DO NOT CRAVE), but we're willing to give it another chance because Brooklynite Zach Hoeken actually made these himself.
Zach spawned the keyboard pants idea at Sunday's Fashion Hacking Day sponsored by NYC Resistor, a collective that brings hackers together to share knowledge and collaborate on creative projects. Instead of throwing away a flexible silicone keyboard he had lying around the house, he decided to cut it in half and sew it onto a pair of shants.
Hoeken lists the required tools and outlines a basic six-step process to making your own keyboard pants on his blog, but we still can't understand why someone would want to walk around in this things (I don't even think nerdy girls will want to get anywhere close to that spacebar).
Nevertheless, we applaud Zach's DIY mentality and encourage him to get to work on the Nike high tops from "Back to the Future 2" as soon as possible.
According to Outdustry, iTunes gift cards have been pirated, and China's biggest C2C online shopping site, Taobao, is the platform used to sell the cards.
(Credit:
Taobao)
Chinese hackers have figured out a way to generate iTunes gift card keycode numbers and help themselves to songs from Apple's music store. The hackers have been selling pirated $200 iTunes gift cards on Taobao for as little as 17.9 RMB, or just $2.60--a savings of almost 99 percent!
... Read moreA little more than a week after the release of Apple's iPhone 3G, an unofficial development team has announced the release of software that "jailbreaks" the new device, allowing unauthorized third-party applications to be loaded.
In a post titled "Thanks for waiting," the self-dubbed iPhone Dev Team announced the release of Pwnage 2.0, which also allows unauthorized third-party applications to be loaded on older iPhones and iPod Touchs running the iPhone 2.0 operating system. In hacker jargon, to "pwn" means "to compromise" or "to control."
While the tool allows third-party applications not available at Apple's App Store to be installed on the iPhone 3G, it apparently does not unlock the new phone to allow it to be used on unauthorized cell networks.
However, installation is going smoothly on both the new and older models of iPhone, according to users who posted their comments on the site. One reader told CNET News that the software "works like a charm. Best thing is you can share your custom firmware with others."
While the Dev Team may not have unlocked iPhone 3G, a Brazilian blog reported earlier this week that the iPhone 3G had been unlocked by using a special SIM card adapter that tricks the phone into thinking it's on an approved network.
Of course, the real trick right now is actually getting your hands on one of the new phones. Apple announced last week that it had sold 1 million iPhone 3Gs during its first weekend on the market. And an AT&T representative confirmed earlier this week that most of the company's stores ran out of iPhones the first day the devices were for sale.
(Credit:
Crave Asia)
It seems there's no gadget immune to hacking. When Sony's PSP was first released, a homebrew firmware was spotted online a few days later. And some of the latest examples are in firmware for digital cameras.
The CHDK (Canon Hacker's Development Kit) is an open-source software that creates more shooting options (RAW image capture) and controls (max shutter speed of 1/60,000) for your Canon point-and-shoot that uses the DIGIC II and III processor. Developers claim that the camera's hardware is able to support many more functions but is being held back by the original firmware. What CHDK does is to "liberate" the system.
This upgrade is making its rounds on the Web, spawning fans and even its own forums where both programmers and users talk about their experience and how they can make CHDK even better.
Developers say that the firmware will not replace the original in the camera and that "the process is reversible." However, we don't advocate the usage of third-party firmware or upgrades because the manufacturer's warranty is void if the camera is damaged while using unauthorized software.
If you're already using this firmware, you can share your feedback and experience here.
(Source: Crave Asia)
Editor's note: This story was updated at 9:59 a.m. PDT.
Steve Jobs made it official Wednesday morning: third-party applications are coming to the iPhone.
Apple's CEO posted another of his open letters to the world Wednesday on Apple's Hot News section of its Web site, confirming reports that a software development kit (SDK) for the iPhone will be released to developers next year. It's coming in February, rather than January as reported, but application developers and iPhone owners will probably be able to wait the extra month.
"We are excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users," Jobs wrote. "It will take until February to release an SDK because we're trying to do two diametrically opposed things at once--provide an advanced and open platform to developers while at the same time protect iPhone users from viruses, malware, privacy attacks, etc."
It always made sense for Apple to go down this road, since it was never going to win a hacking war and users clearly want third-party applications on their iPhones and iPod Touches, which will also be opened up by the SDK, Jobs confirmed. I actually thought it would take a little longer for Apple to open its precious iPhone up to developers, but the company probably has become more satisfied in recent months with the stability of the OS X operating system. Apple has always said that the iPhone runs Mac OS X at its core, but in practical terms it's really a new operating system that Apple has put together for the iPhone with common DNA from Mac OS.
Jobs implied that the first iPhone SDK would be a step past what Nokia is doing with its developers. Nokia has a huge developer community that creates applications for both Java and Symbian-based phones, and Jobs said those
"While this makes such a phone less than 'totally open,' we believe it is a step in the right direction," he wrote, hinting that Apple would somehow make it possible for almost any developer to add trusted applications to the iPhone using the SDK.
We'll have to see how Apple decides to strike a balance between openness and security, but it's good to see the company acknowledge that there are more options for keeping the iPhone secure than just
A 13-year-old hacker claims to have developed code that would let you put third-party applications on an iPod Touch without having to take a computer science class.
A simple iPod Touch jailbreak program is out that apparently lets you install third-party applications.
(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News.com)
AriX sent us a press release Sunday promoting iJailbreak, an automated program that allows third-party applications to run on the iPod Touch. It doesn't work for the iPhone, and it's only available for iPod Touch owners who are using Intel-based Macs. I don't have an iPod Touch at my disposal right now, so I'm unable to test whether it actually works, but some users on MacRumors.com reported that it worked.
Ever since Apple released the 1.1.1 software update for both the iPhone and the iPod Touch in late September that broke older third-party application installers, hackers have been hard at work searching for a new way to bypass the restrictions. A preliminary jailbreaking application was released last week, but it required a great deal of expertise to get up and running. Erica Sadun, a writer for The Unofficial Apple Weblog, installed that iPod Touch jailbreak Friday evening but warned, "This is not ready for prime time, kids. Don't do this at home."
The iJailbreak program, however, is apparently designed for those who would like to put other applications on their iPod Touch but aren't crack coders. According to the press release, "the only user interaction required for iJailBreak to work is to restart the iPod Touch using the button on the top of the iPod. The application does the rest." AriX said he spent about nine hours writing a program in AppleScript that automatically does the scripting required to install the update released last week.He said there's a slight risk that the program could "brick" your iPod Touch, but it's pretty easy to restore an iPod Touch to the factory settings if something goes wrong. As we noted last week, we don't link to these kinds of programs, but it's called iJailBreak. That's iJailBreak. One more time, in case you missed it, iJailBreak.
If you've successfully installed this program, or if you can't get it to work, let us know in the comments below or drop me an e-mail at tom dot krazit at cnet dot com.
(Credit:
Magellan's Travel Supplies)
Here's the latest indication that RFID passports--and concerns about the security of the scannable information embedded in them--are going mainstream.
Until recently, passport pouches and wallets designed to block RFID signals from hackers have ranged from industrial-strength versions that resemble burlap sacks to Italian leather goods that go for $50 to $180. But now there's a reasonable compromise from Magellan's Travel Supplies, whose "RFID Blocking Passport Wallet" lists for $19.85. It may not be hand-crafted by European artisans, but it does claim to be top-quality leather.
Now if we can just find a way to secure the RFID signals in our "Nabaztag," we might be able to get a decent night's sleep.
What do you get when you mash up the latest, greatest Google feature with an unconference full of hackers?
I'm tempted to say pure magic, but instead I'll say you get Hacking Google Street View, the report from WhereCamp that I found on my favorite blog, Waxy.org, Monday.
Google's Street View feature lets people see street-level images from several U.S. cities
(Credit: Google)So what is it? It's hackers playing with the Street View APIs, figuring out ways to do things like mash up Grand Theft Auto with the hot new mapping phenomenon.
"Greg Sadetsky cracked Street View a couple hours after the announcement at Where 2.0," the Brain Off post reported. "It was pretty easy and comprehensible...almost as if the Google engineers wanted it hacked. I'm sure they did."
Nothing specific came out of the late-night geekery, but knowing what people with good ideas can come up with, especially when enabled as they usually are when it comes to Google Maps projects, I'm sure that within days, we'll be seeing some very cool things spreading across the Intertubes.
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