Samsung Galaxy S3, S2 & HTC Android Phones are Vulnerable to 'remote wipe' Hack

Samsung Galaxy S3, S2 & HTC Android Phones are Vulnerable to 'remote wipe' Hack

Yet again a large number of Android users have been warned of a security hole. Security experts have uncovered that millions of Android handsets including the Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy S2, HTC One X and HTC Desire can be wiped just by visiting a malicious website that embeds particular code in weblinks. A user with a vulnerable handset who visits a page and clicks a link containing the malicious code would see their phone wiped, losing personal data such as photos and texts as well as repleaceable data such as contact details and apps. The flaw is caused by a security hole in some versions of Android's dialler software, which allows the "tel:" URL prefix to be used on a webpage to perform functions on the phone's dialling software. Normally that is useful for functions such as initiating a call on the handset directly from a site. But the tel: prefix can also be used to pass a string of non-numeric data to the dialler.

Special strings of characters can perform other functions; for example typing #06# on the dialler will display a phone's IMEI number. The flaw exploits a string that activates a factory reset of some phones because they do not force a user interaction before carrying out the function encoded in the string. The code would have to be embedded as a link to cause the user to activate it - but it would be easy to represent it as an innocent link to Google or any site. Pressing the link would initiate the wipe.

Users of vulnerable handsets may be able to install a third-party dialler and make that the default as protection against the "remote wipe" attack. Experts also pointed out that not all Android handsets have the capability for a remote wipe built in - although the number of models discovered with the vulnerability has grown since it became known on Tuesday.

Dylan Reeve, a New Zealand-based TV editor who first brought the flaw to wide notice, says that Samsung Galaxy phones which use Android 4.1 will be safe from the hack. But that still leaves millions of Galaxy S2 and some S3 models which will not have had the correct revision of the firmware rolled out to them and which could be hit.  

Though the vulnerability was fixed in Android's core code earlier this year, that code has not been propagated to every handset in use. The fact that the flaw existed in handsets from Samsung and HTC - the two biggest vendors of Android handsets - also suggests that a huge number of existing handsets could include the outdated code.

Samsung said in a statement that it has already provided a patch for the Galaxy S3, but it is not clear how long that will take for operator approval and rollout. In general software updates to any phone have to first be tested and approved by the carrier supporting the phone. Samsung said it is testing a patch for the Galaxy S2, but had no information on when it will be available or how it will be distributed. But HTC has issued a statement saying that "our devices do not support a USSD code to factory reset option." This means that they should not be vulnerable to the exploit described below.

-Source (Guardian)

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">Samsung Galaxy S3, S2 & HTC Android Phones are Vulnerable to 'remote wipe' Hack"https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/09/Samsung-Galaxy-HTC-Android-Phones-are-Vulnerable.html</a>

Twitter Hires Renowned Apple Hacker Charlie Miller For Twitter Security Team

Twitter Hires Renowned Apple Hacker Charlie Miller For Twitter Security Team

It is almost impossible task for social networks to keep everything safe against hacks and other vulnerabilities. Hackers will constantly find their way around anything that you put in place. So they often deals with hackers & turn themselves to beef up the security level. Social networking giant Twitter exactly did the same thing. The micro-blogging network has hired the famous/infamous Apple hacker, Charlie Miller, to be a part of its security team. Charlie Miller, a popular figure among hackers, broke the news via his Twitter account, saying, “Monday I start on the security team at Twitter. Looking forward to working with a great team there!” Twitter issued a short statement noting that Miller’s title will be that of Software Engineer, but declined to discuss any further details.

Charlie Miller has a background as a Global Exploitation Analyst in the National Security Agency, and has hacked devices running on iOS, OSX, and Android. He is considered to be a white-hat hacker, which means that he hacks to expose vulnerabilities in a system in order to have those weaknesses fixed. Five year ago, Miller was said to be the first to hack the iPhone using the device’s browser, exposing the handset’s vulnerability to security attacks. Several months after this, he was likewise able to hack a MacBook Air in just two minutes. This feat allowed Miller to win the Pwn2Own hacking competition. Miller also showed a way to hijack iPhones through SMS in 2009. In 2011, he used the MacBook power adapter to implant malware on the laptop. In the same year, his license as an Apple developer got revoked because Apple found that he breached the development agreement. 

In more recent times, Miller had been working on Android devices. In June, he was able to overcome Bouncer, Google’s security program. He has furthermore experience in using Near Field Communications to control Samsung and Nokia handsets with a simple wave of another phone that is within the vicinity. 

While talking about Charlie Miller, we must have to take another name and that is Nicholas Allegra, the world-famous hacker known as "Comex", creater of JailbreakMe.com; who later has been hired by Apple itself . In case of Twitter we must have to say, apart from Miller, Twitter also hired Moxie Marlinspike, a hacker who specializes in SSL and VPN encryption.

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">Twitter Hires Renowned Apple Hacker Charlie Miller For Twitter Security Team"https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/09/Twitter-Hires-Renowned-Apple-Hacker-Charlie-Miller.html</a>

11,000 Guild Wars 2 Account Hijacked On a Campaign By Chinese Hackers

11,000 Guild Wars 2 Account Hijacked On a Campaign By Chinese Hackers 

After the security breach on Gamigo & Blizzard yet again online gamer's have fallen victim to cyber criminals. The second sequel of the popular Guild Wars multiplayer online RPG by ArenaNet has been released less than two weeks ago, and player accounts are already being heavily targeted by what seems to be a dedicated account hijacking campaign coming from China. ArenaNet and publisher NCSoft have been in touch to dispute the number of Guild Wars 2 accounts that have been hacked, saying in a statement: "Over the past three days we've received approximately 8,500 new support tickets related to hacked accounts and other blocking login issues." The accounts of an estimated 11,000 Guild Wars 2 players have been hacked - and developer ArenaNet says they only have themselves to blame for not using unique usernames and passwords. In a post on the official Guild Wars 2 Wiki, the developer says that its customer support team is treating the recovery of hacked accounts as a priority, and urges those who have escaped unscathed to change their passwords as a precaution.

"Hackers have lists of email addresses and passwords taken from other games and websites, and collected through spyware, and are systematically testing Guild Wars 2 looking for matching accounts," the post reads. "To protect yourself, use a strong, unique password for Guild Wars 2 that you've never used anywhere else. "If your current password isn't unique to Guild Wars 2, change it today. Do not under any circumstances use the same password for Guild Wars 2 as you do for your email account. "We've observed hack attempts against hundreds of thousands of accounts that don't even exist. To protect those people in case they purchase Guild Wars 2 and create an account, we will now disallow customers from picking passwords that we've previously seen used in a hack attempt." 

The company has so far received around 11,000 support requests related to hacked accounts, and is likely to receive more as time goes by, Here we want to draw the attention of our readers that not only  Guild Wars  2 players,  In the last few months we have been a slew of attacks against the following sites: Yahoo, LinkedIn, eHarmony, Formspring, Android Forums, Gamigo,  Nvidia, Blizzard and  Philips. Earlier in 2011 we have seen several other gaming sites became victim of cyber attacks, among them there are Square Enix, Eidos, MapleStory & so on. So all customers are advised to change their passwords now to a long and unique one for Guild Wars 2 that they never before used for any other game or website. 

-Source (Edge, Net Security)

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">11,000 Guild Wars 2 Account Hijacked On a Campaign By Chinese Hackers "https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/09/11000-GuildWars2-Account-Hijacked.html</a>

Wikipad -Android Based Gaming Tablet Coming on October For $499

Wikipad -Android Based Gaming Tablet Coming on October For $499

The long awaited gaming tablet with detachable controls based on Android  is set for release on October 31st. The mobile gaming tablet is named 'Wikipad' will be available for $499. Online retailing store, GameStop which has tied-up with Wikipad, has already started taking pre-orders for the Tegra-3 based tablet. Furthermore, those who pre-order a Wikipad will receive value added extras, including one issue of the GameStop-owned Game Informer digital magazine, and "full-length titles." Though these games were not announced, but GameStop plans to reveal them soon. The Wikipad will support games downloadable through PlayStation Mobile, Nvidia's Tegra Zone, Google Play and other forthcoming platforms.

Wikipad sports a 10.1-inch IPS display and will have a 1280×800 resolution. It is powered by an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor clocking at 1.4GHz. It will come with 1GB RAM and 8GB on-board storage expandable to 64GB. To put your game face on, just attach the gaming controller which features multiple buttons and analog joysticks.

Wikipad has also partnered with Gaikai for streaming video games. Gaikai, previously known as the Sony Cloud service, was bought by the company for $380 million. Gamers will be able to stream Gaikai's library of titles to their Wikipad, including big titles like Battlefield 3, Mass Effect 3 and Saints Row: The Third. 

About Wikipad:- Wikipad Inc. is a leading developer and designer of video game console tablets and devices. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Wikipad Inc. is uniquely positioned as pioneers and innovators in the mobile entertainment world. Wikipad is leading the way with its accessible and comfortable consumer devices focused on video game content while enabling traditional functions such as productivity, web, education, media and music content.

For Pre-Order Booking Click Here

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">Wikipad -Android Based Gaming Tablet Coming on October For $499"https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/09/Wikipad-Android-Based-Gaming-Tablet.html</a>

Android Malware 'Loozfon' Targeting Female Android Users -Said Symantec

Android Malware 'Loozfon' Targeting Female Android Users -Said Symantec

We are very much familiar to see Malware has targeted men by enticing them to view videos or pictures of a sexually-oriented nature. But here the story is totally different, recently Antivirus firm Symantec has discovered discovered 'Android.Loozfon' a rare example of malware that targets female Android users.

According to the symantec official blog -A group of scammers is attempting to lure female Android users in Japan into downloading an app by sending emails stating how the recipient can easily make some money. The email includes a link to a site that appears to be designed to assist women to make money simply by sending emails. When a certain link on the site is clicked, Android.Loozfon is downloaded onto the device. Other links direct the user to a dating service site that likely attempts to charge money to use the service, which supposedly helps women meet rich men.

If this trick does not work, the criminal group has another trick up its sleeve. It also sends spam that states that the sender of the email can introduce the recipient to wealthy men. When the link included in the body of the email is clicked, the malware is automatically downloaded onto the device. The downloaded app is titled “Will you win?” in Japanese. It has nothing to do with earning extra income or wealthy men.

If the app is installed and launched, it counts down from two to zero and then states that the user has lost. The app is programmed to lose every time, although there is nothing to either lose or win. It steals contact details stored on the device as well as the phone number of the device, which is the main goal of the malware. The scammers are likely harvesting email addresses in order to send spam to the contacts they were able to steal to lure them to the dating service site and/or sell the data to another group of spammers.

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">Android Malware 'Loozfon' Targeting Female Android Users -Said Symantec"https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/08/Android-Malware-Loozfon-Targeting-Female-Android-Users.html</a>

Microsoft Releases SkyDrive For Android Phones

Microsoft Releases SkyDrive For Android Phones

Few weeks ago software giant Microsoft announced to release an official SkyDrive app for Android phones.  So finally the application is ready to download and use. This new app for Android is similar to other mobile apps for Windows Phone and iOS and is a key part of making sure your SkyDrive files are accessible and shareable from all your devices. The app was mainly designed to work best with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, though it will work on Android 2.3 and above. "In building the new SkyDrive app for Android, we wanted to ensure we kept the same intuitive design of all SkyDrive experiences while also making use of Android design patterns and conventional interactions, so this feels natural for people with Android phones," Mike Torres, group program manager for SkyDrive Apps, wrote in a blog post Tuesday.

Brief Description:-

SkyDrive is the place to store your files so you can access them from virtually any device. With SkyDrive for Android, you can now easily access and share files on the go. You can also upload photos or videos from your phone to SkyDrive.

Features:-

• Access all of your SkyDrive content including files shared with you.
• View recently used documents.
• Choose multiple photos or videos to upload from your phone.
• Share your files and photos – send a link in email or in another app.
• Open your SkyDrive files in other Android apps.
• Manage your files – delete, or create new folders.

The official SkyDrive app is now available in the Google Play store. For more information and to download click here.

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">Microsoft Releases SkyDrive For Android Phones"https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/08/Microsoft-Releases-SkyDrive-For-Android.html</a>

Philips Sub-domain Hacked, Database Stolen & User Information Leaked

Philips Sub-domain Hacked, Database Stolen & User Information Leaked  

Dutch technology giant Philips have fallen victim to hackers. Philips Electronics said it shut down one of its servers on Monday because of a possible cyber attack. A couple of hackers known as Bch195 and HaxOr managed to get access on Philips server and defaced one of Philips' sub-domain.

The above screen-shots, is clearly showing that those hackers have uploaded a php shell on Philips server, which lead them to deface the sub-domain, as shown below.  

As per sources the hackers not only breached the server, but also leaked few SQL databases containing data such as user IDs, names, email addresses, country names, and occupations. From another part of the database the hackers allegedly managed to obtain 200,000 email addresses which they plan on selling. One of the databases, fortunately containing fewer than 400 records, has passwords stored in plain text.

Philips spokesman Steve Klink couldn't confirm whether any personal customer information or sensitive company data were put at risk. "It isn't prudent to make any statements until we've gotten to the bottom of this and completed the investigation," said Klink. The Dutch consumer electronics, lighting and healthcare group issued a short statement on its website on Tuesday stating that some of its small websites used for marketing might have been hacked on Monday. Philips said within an hour of becoming aware of the event, the compromised server was shut down. Immediately after this hack, Philips started investigating the nature and extent of the information that might have been accessed. 

Not only Philips,  In the last few months we have been a slew of attacks against the following sites: Yahoo, LinkedIn,eHarmony, Android Forums, Formspring, Gamigo, Nvidia and  Blizzard.  

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">Philips Sub-domain Hacked, Database Stolen & User Information Leaked"https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/08/Philips-Sub-domain-Hacked-Database-Stolen.html</a>

Blizzard's Battle.net Server Hacked, Millions of Users Affected

Blizzard's Battle.net Server Hacked, Millions of Users Affected

Blizzard has revealed that its Battle.net servers have been compromised, leading to millions of account details being stolen by hackers. The service is employed in all of Blizzard's popular games, including World of Warcraft, Diablo 3 and StarCraft 2. The news is particularly bad considering the upcoming release of an expansion for World of Warcraft, called Mists of Pandaria, set to launch on 25 September.

According to Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment - the company's servers have suffered unauthorised access that exposed customer information to the attackers. The company learned of the intrusion on 4 August and decided to first investigate the problem and close the security holes before making the incident public. The data accessed by cyber-criminals includes email addresses, security question answers for players on North American servers, and information relating to authenticators, including the mobile authenticator app. More worryingly for North American players is that cryptographically scrambled passwords were also taken, though they may be extremely difficult to unscramble, which at least shows that Blizzard is responsible with password data. Only those outside of China are affected by the hack.

Blizzard believes that this data alone is not enough to gain access to an account, but it is still urging players to change their passwords. It suggested changing passwords elsewhere if the passwords are the same or similar, though that is always a major faux pas in net security. The company also emphasised that it never looks for passwords in emails, warning of the potential of phishing scams.

Blizzard will be forcing players to change their security questions and update their authenticator software in the coming days. Traditionally an authenticator is considered one of the best ways to ensure account security, but not if Blizzard's own servers have been compromised.

"At this time, we’ve found no evidence that financial information such as credit cards, billing addresses, or real names were compromised. Our investigation is ongoing, but so far nothing suggests that these pieces of information have been accessed," -said Mr. Morhaime. For more information about the break-in, including the actions that Blizzard has already taken to resolve problems caused by it, is available in an FAQ on the Battle.net support site. Earlier in 2011 we have seen several other gaming sites became victim of cyber attacks, among them there are Square Enix, Eidos, MapleStory & so on. In the last few months there have been a slew of attacks against the following sites: Yahoo, LinkedIn,eHarmony, Android Forums, Formspring, Gamigo, and Nvidia. We advice to all the users who are registered with Gamigo and have used the same password at other web sites should immediately change their login credentials. Enjoy reading Voice of Greyhat, stay safe and happy on the Internet.  

-Source (VR-Zone, The-H)

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">Blizzard's Battle.net Server Hacked, Millions of Users Affected"https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/08/Blizzard-Battle.net-Server-Hacked.html</a>

EPA -Environmental Protection Agency Hacked, Personal Information of 8,000 Employees Exposed

EPA -Environmental Protection Agency Hacked, Personal Information of 8,000 Employees Exposed

Another security breach occurred which effected thousands of employees of Environmental Protection Agency also known as EPA. The EPA authority confirmed that breach exposed the Social Security numbers and banking information of nearly 8,000 people. This security breach added the name of EPA among those (LinkedIn, eHarmony, Formspring, Yahoo, Android Forums, Nvidia, Gaimgo and Dropbox) who recently fallen victim to the cyber criminals. The agency wouldn't say whether the breach involved or affected any government contractors but the resources is saying that 5,100 current employees and some 2,700 "other individuals" about a March security incident that exposed personal information on an EPA database. Those impacted were informed about the breach Tuesday, four months after it occurred. Included among the exposed information was Social Security numbers, bank routing numbers and home addresses. The EPA is offering free credit-monitoring services for one year to people affected by the breach and established a hotline for those who want to call about their concerns.

According to the EPA statement- "Vigilantly keeping data secure from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats is a top priority at EPA. The agency has already added new safeguards in response to the incident." The agency's Office of the Inspector General confirmed only that an investigation is underway. 

-Source (Business Journal) 

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">EPA -Environmental Protection Agency Hacked, Personal Information of 8,000 Employees Exposed"https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/08/EPA-Environmental-Protection-Agency-Hacked.html</a>

Dropbox Acknowledged It was Hacked & File Containing Private Customer Data Was Stolen

Dropbox Acknowledged It was Hacked & File Containing Private Customer Data Was Stolen 

Very popular file hosting service Dropbox which offers cloud storage & file synchronization have fallen victim to cyber criminals again. In the middle of last month a large numbers of Dropbox users have reported receiving spam mails to their e-mail address. The online file storage service confirmed that hackers accessed usernames and passwords from third party sites and then used them to get into Dropbox users' accounts. Dropbox has acknowledged that a file containing private customer data was stolen from the Dropbox account of one of the company's employees and that the information was subsequently used to send out spam messages to users. According to the official blog of Dropbox:- "Our investigation found that usernames and passwords recently stolen from other websites were used to sign in to a small number of Dropbox accounts. We’ve contacted these users and have helped them protect their accounts.

A stolen password was also used to access an employee Dropbox account containing a project document with user email addresses. We believe this improper access is what led to the spam. We’re sorry about this, and have put additional controls in place to help make sure it doesn’t happen again..."

This security breach added the name of Dropbox among those ( LinkedIn, eHarmony, Formspring, Yahoo,  

Android Forums, Nvidia and Gaimgo) who recently fallen victim to the cyber criminals. As countermeasure the cloud storage provider has created a new section on the Account Security page that allows users to see what web browsers are currently logged into their account, and has implemented new automated mechanisms to identify suspicious activity. Dropbox says that it also plans to offer a two-factor authentication option in a few weeks' time. The company didn't say how exactly this option will be implemented, but that users could, for example, receive an SMS text message with a temporary code that must be entered together with the password each time they log in. From the above seenerio we can predict that the said security measure will be exactly like the "2-Step Verification" of Google Account. 

-Source (The-H, Dropbox Blog)

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">Dropbox Acknowledged It was Hacked & File Containing Private Customer Data Was Stolen"https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/08/Dropbox-confirms-it-was-hacked.html</a>

KT Corp. -South Korea's No. 2 Wireless Service Provider Hacked, 8.7 Million Subscriber Effected

KT Corp. -South Korea's No. 2 Wireless Service Provider Hacked, 8.7 Million Subscriber Effected

Yet again South Korea became victim of cyber-attack. Few days ago hacker collective Anonymous attacked Australian internet service provider named AAPT and stolen 40GB user data. After AAPT another  service provide named 'KT Corp.' which is the second largest wireless service provider in South Korea became victim to cyber-criminals. Authority of KT Corp apologized after personal data of millions of mobile phone subscribers was hacked. "We deeply apologize for worrying you," KT said in a statement. The company said it had blocked any further illegal access to data. The hacking began in February this year.

It is the latest in a string of large-scale personal information hacking cases in one of the world's most wired countries. Police said two computer programmers had been arrested for hacking personal data of about 8.7 million KT subscribers. KT claims a mobile service subscription membership of 16 million. Police were also investigating seven others suspected of having purchased and used the hacked KT data, which included names, resident registration numbers and phone numbers. We would like to remind you that last year another massive cyberattack generated from China stolen personal details of more than 13 Million of MapleStory players. After that hack this one is the second largest attack which infected millions of South Korean people.  

In the last few months there have been a slew of attacks against the following sites: Yahoo, LinkedIn,eHarmony, Android Forums, Formspring, Nvidia and Gamigo which infected total of almost 50 Millions of users world wide. This hack on KT corporation again establishing that security experts are far behind from cyber-criminals. Stay tuned with VOGH for all the latest information and updates on cyber-security & hacking news. 

-Source (Reuters)

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">KT Corp. -South Korea's No. 2 Wireless Service Provider Hacked, 8.7 Million Subscriber Effected"https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/07/KTCorp-SouthKoreasNo2WirelessServiceProviderHacked.html</a>

More Than 8 Million Gamigo Passwords Leaked After The Hack

More Than 8 Million Gamigo Passwords Leaked After The Hack 

Several months after Gamigo warned its users of a server breach infected 8,243,809 user account credentials including e-mail addresses and encrypted passwords. In February 2012 Gamigo was hacked by a hacker named "8in4ry_Munch3r." Immediately after the breach company's website was taken down for an extended period of maintenance. After five months now the hacker published millions of password hashes belonging to users of the online games platform Gamigo. A 478MB file contains 8.2 million email addresses, usernames and password hashes. Among them around 3 million of these belong to users from the US, 2.4 million are German addresses and 1.3 million are supposed to originate in France. The list also includes corporate email addresses from companies such as IBM, Siemens, Deutsche Bank and the German insurance company Allianz. The file appeared in the same forum which had previously circulated millions of password hashes from Linkedin, eHarmony and other web sites. One user of the forum has claimed to have cracked 94% of the MD-5 hashes in a trivial amount of time. The fact that it was possible to crack the hashes this quickly would suggest that they were not salted. Earlier in 2011 we have seen several other gaming sites became victim of cyber attacks, among them there are Square Enix, Eidos, MapleStory & so on. This breach is bigger than anything we've seen so far this year. In the last few months there have been a slew of attacks against the following sites: Yahoo, LinkedIn, eHarmony, Android Forums, Formspring, and Nvidia. We advice to all the users who are registered with Gamigo and have used the same password at other web sites should immediately change their login credentials. Enjoy reading Voice of Greyhat, stay safe and happy on the Internet. 

Brief about Gamigo:- Gamigo is a German online games publisher that focuses on Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) and has so far released 14 client games as well as five browser games.

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">More Than 8 Million Gamigo Passwords Leaked After The Hack"https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/07/8MillionGamigoPasswordsLeaked.html</a>

Android & NVIDIA Forum Hacked, Millions of User Credentials Stolen

Android & NVIDIA Forum Hacked, Millions of User Credentials Stolen 

After the massacre of Formspring & Yahoo! Voice yet again security breach effected NVIDIA & Phandroid Forum. Hackers have gained illegal access and stolen millions username & password hashes from those said forums.

NVIDIA has temporarily shutdown its online developer forum, after it fell victim to cyber criminals who may have gained access to members' hashed passwords. NVIDIA says that it took the site down last week to investigate intrusions into its systems by unauthorised third parties. The intruders reportedly gained access to private user data, including usernames, email addresses, and hashed passwords with random salt values. Data in users' "About Me" profiles, such as age, birthdate, gender and location, was also accessed in the breach; however, this information was already publicly accessible on the site.

In the security notice, NVIDIA said that it is currently "employing additional security measures to minimize the impact of future attacks", adding that it hopes to restore the Forums as soon as possible. Once restored, the company says that it will reset all user passwords and send an email to users with a temporary password and instructions on how to change it

Phandroid, a popular Android news site & online community popular with fans of Android smartphones faced cyber attack. Phandroid has confirmed that its Android Forums was compromised using "a known exploit", and data including usernames, hashed passwords and so forth were accessed. According to Phandroid's notice about the security breach, the user table of Android Forum's database was accessed by unknown intruders. 

The database in question contains a variety of information on forum users, including usernames, email addresses, hashed and salted passwords, registration IP addresses; also other forum-related data, such as last time online and post date as well as post count. Based on current information, the site's community manager says that they cannot confirm if the data was in fact downloaded, adding that they believe the attack was "most likely an e-mail harvesting attempt". Additional steps to further harden server security and "extra 'just in case' actions" have also reportedly been taken.

As per report more than 1 million users of Phandroid forum are potentially affected by the security breach. The site's administrators advise all users to change their passwords as soon as possible through the User Control Panel (UserCP) or by using the "Forgot your password?" function.

We would like to give you reminder that other sites who have been hit by hackers, while stealing information about users in recent weeks include Yahoo Voices, Formspring, eHarmony and LinkedIn. There also we have seen the same scenario where hackers have stolen millions of user credentials of those sites. 

 -Source (NVIDIA, Phandroid, The-H)

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">Android & NVIDIA Forum Hacked, Millions of User Credentials Stolen"https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/07/android-nvidia-forum-hacked-millions-of.html</a>

Facebook Launched Its App Center in India & Six Other Countries

Facebook Launched Its App Center in India & Six Other Countries

Today the world's largest social networking site Facebook has started Application Center (App Center) in India and six other countries around the world. We all know that App Center makes it easier for people around the world to discover the best apps and games for them, wherever they are. Last month this social networking giant had launched its App Center in the U.S. According to Facebook software engineer Drew Hoskins - “The App Center is now available to everyone in the U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K.” In addition, Facebook said that it will be launching App Center to users in Brazil, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, and Turkey in the coming weeks. The launch is part of a plan to expand its reach to a large number of Facebook users, with 80 per cent residing outside the U.S. and Canada. The users can access new App Center icon located on the left side of the home page on Facebook.com recommending apps to users based on their interests. Additionally, the service is also available on Apple and Android mobile devices.

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">Facebook Launched Its App Center in India & Six Other Countries"https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/07/facebook-launched-its-app-center-in.html</a>

CyanogenMod 9.0-RC1 Based on Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich"

CyanogenMod 9.0-RC1 Released Based on Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich"

CyanogenMod team has released the first release candidate of CyanogenMod 9 based on Android 4.0. Six months ago Google published the source code of its Android 4.0, code-named "Ice Cream Sandwich" (ICS), and this first release candidate of CyanogenMod 9.0 is based on that code.  According to the release note "The jump from 2.3.7 to 4.0.4 in many ways was a fresh start for this project, and as much as the code changed, the structure and organization of CM as a whole changed as well. It meant a lot of hard work, and late nights, but also a ton of fun. We are in this for the challenge, and the reward is always the satisfaction received when we release it to the masses as a ‘stable’ product. This RC1 brings us a step forward toward that payoff ..."

This release comes just as Google is expected to launch the next version of Android, code-named "Jelly Bean", at its Google I/O conference. CyanogenMod RC1 is available for 37 devices and support for several more devices is expected to be added with future release candidates.  This is the first version of the ROM which does not include root access by default. This change fixes potential security problems while at the same time being unnoticeable to most users. For users who need root access this feature can be enabled from within the system settings to allow for USB debugging and applications that need root access. 

Interested developers can download a version of the release candidate for their specific device from the redesigned get.cm web site or through the ROM Manager application on their phone or tablet. 

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">CyanogenMod 9.0-RC1 Based on Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich""https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/06/cyanogenmod-90-rc1-based-on-android-40.html</a>

Aakash 2 “World’s Cheapest Tablet” Ready For Release With Handy Features

Aakash 2 “World’s Cheapest Tablet” Ready For Release With Many Handy Features 

Earlier in October, 2011 the long awaited 'Aakash' came in front of us and after the countdown in December last year UbiSlate 7, the upgraded version of Aakash finally made available for online booking. After a huge success now  HRD Minister of India Mr. Kapil Sibal has unveiled a new version of the "world's cheapest tablet computer" - widely known as "Aakash 2".  The device, primarily for students, is to be sold for 2,263 rupees ($40; £26). It has a faster processor, longer battery life and more programming capability than an earlier version.

“Unlike other tablet devices, Aakash can also be used to create computer programs, in Python, C, C++ and Scilab,” - said Kapil Sibal, adding that the tablet can be further used for accessing e-governance services. The government has approved the specifications of the upgraded version of the tablets submitted by Datawind, to IIT-Bombay for testing. “The government has approved the specifications,” Datawind CEO Sunit Singh Tuli confirmed. The Aakash 2 sample devices are now being tested, with manufacturing projected to start by July or August. Like its predecessor, the Aakash 2 allows users to watch online tutorials and videos, browse the internet and play games. "It's a fully-fledged computer, not just an access device," said Prof DB Phatak from Bombay IIT. "The applications and the content on Aakash 2 are most important, not just the device." The new version of the Aakash tablet has an 800Mhz processing speed, a three-hour battery life and operates on the latest Android software. It also has an SD card slot, a USB port and works over wi-fi. It does not have 3G capability, however, so users need access to a good internet connection. Bombay IIT has developed new apps like interactive class quiz programme Clicker and Sci-lab, which allows students to conduct interactive classes. For detailed information about "Aakash" click here. 

-Source (BBC, Hindustan Times)

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">Aakash 2 “World’s Cheapest Tablet” Ready For Release With Handy Features"https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/06/aakash-2-worlds-cheapest-tablet-ready.html</a>

Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 8 Codenamed “Apollo”

Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 8 Codenamed “Apollo”

Few days ago in a report we have said that Microsoft is expected to launch it's own tablet (Microsoft Surface) while aiming to compete with iPad. Redmond based software and hardware giant just unveiled the next big step in its mobile software, Windows Phone 8 codenamed “Apollo” Windows Phone 8 brings the platform in line with other mobile OSes by adding support for muti-core processors, higher screen resolutions and newer wireless technologies like near field communication (NFC). Importantly, Microsoft has re-coded Windows Phone from the ground up for the new version. Previous versions of Windows Phone were based on Microsoft’s old mobile OS, Windows CE, but now the platform will share the same source code as the company’s coming desktop OS, Windows 8. That has big consequences for developers and consumers. For developers, it will be extremely easy to create a Windows Phone app if they already have a Windows 8 app that runs in the Metro environment (and vice versa). For consumers, it means more apps and better hardware to run them. It also has the effect of rendering every current Windows Phone obsolete, since those phones won’t be able to run the new software. They will, however, get an upgrade to Windows Phone 7 to 8. Windows Phone 8 adds support for many new hardware features. The most anticipated is support for multi-core devices, which have become common on both Android and iOS platforms. There’s also support for better screen resolutions, including 720p and 1,280 x 768 (WXGA). That’s not quite retina, but it’s better than the 800 x 480 screen of the Nokia Lumia 900, one of the current leading Windows Phones.

New Features At a Glance :-

• Support for multi-core processors. Existing support for single core has been a major concern for some high-end users wanting faster processing ability.

• Two new high-definition screen resolutions for the coming OS. They are 1280 x 768 and 1280 x 720.

• Removeable micro-SD support for the first time to allow expansion of base storage.

• A busier start screen with room for more live tiles than in Windows Phone 7.5. Today's Windows Phones have room for up to eight live tiles and WP8 will have room for up to 32 live tiles, which can be sized differently.

• IT support. Adminstrators will see some gaps in the existing OS filled, including support for encryption and secure boot in WP8, as well as the ability to allow IT to deploy apps without going through Windows Marketplace.

• Built-in Nokia Navteq map technology, with turn-by-turn driving instructions in many countries.

• Full Internet Explorer 10 support with more features of HTML 5 added. Belfiore said that Windows Phone 8 with IE10 will download Web pages slightly faster than three other popular smartphones on the market.

• Native code support, a feature seen as useful to developers eager to move their apps from iOS or Android to Windows Phone. 

-Source (Mshable & CW)

SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-
<a href=">Microsoft Unveils Windows Phone 8 Codenamed “Apollo”"https://www.voiceofgreyhat.com/2012/06/microsoft-unveils-windows-phone-8.html</a>