Palm's webOS root image leaks out, code enthusiasts reschedule their normal nightly plans
by Ross Miller 
posted Jun 9th 2009 @ 9:27PM
hackers posts
T-Mobile tweaks data breach statement again, now says nothing was compromised
by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 9th 2009 @ 4:19PM
Once again, T-Mobile has released a statement regarding the alleged hack into its systems last weekend, and it's backtracked a bit from the last one -- now, it's starting to sound like no data was stolen at all. Here's what we've got this time around from a company spokesperson:"Following a recent online posting that someone allegedly accessed T-Mobile servers, the company is conducting a thorough investigation and at this time has found no evidence that customer information, or other company information, has been compromised. Reports to the contrary are inaccurate and should be corrected. T-Mobile continues to monitor this situation and as a precaution has taken additional measures to further ensure our customers' information and our systems are protected. As is our standard practice, customers can be assured if there is any evidence that customer or system information has been compromised, we would inform those affected as quickly as possible."
We're taking this as a good sign for customers at this point, but it's hard to say how many more statements we'll get before the matter's fully closed, so stay tuned.
T-Mobile thinks data leak "not enough to cause harm" to customers
by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 9th 2009 @ 8:49AM
After news broke of a possible breach into T-Mobile's systems over the weekend, subscribers were understandably concerned over claims that personal information (among other things) may have been pilfered by the offenders who later offered the data for sale to the carrier's competitors. An investigation has been launched, and so far, it sounds like T-Mobile is admitting some data was taken -- but that it wasn't enough to be of any concern to its customers. Work is ongoing to determine exactly what the hackers got their hands on and how, but it's a promising sign that subscribers don't need to step up fraud monitoring on their accounts. The full statement is below:"To reaffirm, the protection of our customers' information and the security of our systems is paramount at T-Mobile. Regarding the recent claim on a Web site, we've identified the document from which information was copied, and believe possession of this alone is not enough to cause harm to our customers. We continue to investigate the matter, and have taken additional precautionary measures to further ensure our customers' information and our systems are protected. At this moment, we are unable to disclose additional information in order to protect the integrity of the investigation, but customers can be assured if there is any evidence that customer information has been compromised, we would inform those affected as quickly as possible."
Nokia 1100 seemingly hackable, making a big comeback
by Laura June posted Apr 21st 2009 @ 11:21PM
Apparently some shady hackers and cyber-criminals have recently started offering upwards of $30,000 for the Nokia 1100 which were manufactured at a specific plant in Bochum, Germany. You may ask yourself, "why?" Well, beyond the obvious answer (style), certain makes of the super-popular handset can apparently be reprogrammed to use someone else's phone number, allowing them to receive text messaged bank passwords (common in parts of Europe), thus making it much, much easier to steal people's money. The software flaw has been pointed out by Ultrascan Advance Global Investigations, who were contacted by police who had noted the curiously high offering prices on the old-timey candybar. Nokia has contended that it has not identified any software problems which would allow such use, so it's hard to say what exactly is going on at this point, but we'll let you know if we hear anything concrete.[Via SlashGear]
India's Airtel claims "deadliest hackers" still can't crack its iPhone 3G
by Darren Murph posted Aug 23rd 2008 @ 7:41AM
Hey, hackers! Now that we've got the attention of millions upon millions of incredibly talented individuals, here's your next challenge. India's Airtel -- which is offering Apple's iPhone 3G at a near-stratospheric price -- has claimed that "even the most deadly hackers on the planet won't be able to crack the codes that support the iPhone's Airtel applications with rival company SIMs." Just so you know, it appears that Airtel worked with Apple to develop "operator-specific iPhone applications," which is an interesting tidbit in and of itself. But let's focus on the task at hand here, and that's proving that making ridiculous claims about impenetrability always comes back to bite ya.[Image courtesy of Zedomax, thanks Akshay]
Experts predict malware field day for iPhone in '08
by Chris Ziegler posted Dec 17th 2007 @ 6:40PM
Like Y2K and the end of rock and roll, pundits love to call out platforms that are ripe for a nightmarish, post-apocalyptic hell-on-earth sort of attack by the world's technologically inclined miscreants. In that vein, mobile phones have been billed for years as the next great frontier in virii, largely because they're getting smarter, more open, and more ubiquitous than ever before. We can buy that logic, but the waves upon waves of malicious code infecting the world's smartphones simply haven't happened. So at what point do we say that these analysts are crying wolf?Now might not be a bad time to start, as Arbor Networks' security group is calling the iPhone a likely target in 2008 by hackers who want to "be the first to hack a new platform." We wouldn't dare say that there won't be attacks on the iPhone's security holes next year and beyond, but we don't think users need to be scrambling to disable their data connections, either; Windows Mobile, Symbian, Palm OS, and everyone else have gotten along fine for years aside from the occasional malware blip on the radar that barely makes a splash and goes unnoticed by 99 percent of the world's users. Not to mention the fact that the opportunity to "be the first" to hack the iPhone has come and gone -- so to the hackers of the world who're thinking about diving into the wide world of iPhone hacking, may we suggest you put your brainpower to the forces of good, not evil?
Hackers enable GPS on HTC Trinity
by Michael Caputo posted Jan 30th 2007 @ 12:46PM
It seems like nowadays, a hacker's work is never done and with a little time and know-how, anything is possible. Does everyone remember when the HTC Trinity first appeared on our radar? It had all the makings of a great one less being shipped with the GPS receiver in a dormant state. Lucky for us all it took was a few well-skilled hackers and some determination to come up with how to enable it. Looking at the instructions, seems like a pretty simple procedure. If anyone is brave enough to try it, drop us a line and let us know the outcome. [Thanks, Chymmylt]
Silicon Valley Homebrew Mobile Phone Club formed
by Evan Blass posted Apr 17th 2006 @ 6:00PM
Generally we're not
the type to engage in wild and baseless speculation, but we imagine that if the just-formed Silicon Valley Homebrew
Mobile Phone Club produces even a fraction of the wealth-producing talent of its namesake, the area's venture
capitalists would be wise to show up to a few meetings and press some flesh. This new club, an homage to the Homebrew
Computer Club that included Apple founders Steve and Steve, was organized by Matthew Hamrick and Larry Cohen as a first
step in turning cellphones into the configurable platforms that PCs have become. Hamrick and Cohen envision hackers and
modders worldwide (but no cloners, thank you) sharing information on their disparate wireless tinkering, meeting both
virtually on the 'net and face-to-face at regular gatherings, with the goal of creating more feature-filled,
individually-tailored convergence devices. Our first request for the members? We want a Motorola MPX-styled handset
running Vista for Tablet PC on a 1.xGHz dual core processor with 4GB of RAM, 30GB hard drive, SLI-enabled graphics
(good luck with that!), eight megapixel camera, and of course, 802.11a/b/g/n, WiMax, Bluetooth 2.0, and, just for fun,
both HSDPA and EV-DO Rev. B.
