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Attackers Can Track Kids' Locations Via Connected Watches
by Peter Reutemann 31 Jan '19

31 Jan '19

'A gamut of kids' GPS-tracking watches are exposing sensitive data involving 35,000 children -- including their location, in real time. Researchers from Pen Test Partners specifically took a look at the Gator portfolio of watches from TechSixtyFour. The Gator line had been in the spotlight in 2017 for having a raft of vulnerabilities, called out by the Norwegian Consumers Council in its WatchOut research. "A year on, we decided to have a look at the Gator watch again to see how their security had improved," said Vangelis Stykas, in a Tuesday posting. "Guess what: a train wreck. Anyone could access the entire database, including real-time child location, name, parents' details etc. Not just Gator watches either -- the same back end covered multiple brands and tens of thousands of watches." "At issue was an easy-to-exploit, severe privilege-escalation vulnerability: The system failed to validate that the user had the appropriate permission to take admin control," reports Threatpost. "An attacker with access to the watch's credentials simply needed to change the user level parameter in the backend to an admin designation, which would provide access to all account information and all watch information." ' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/01/30/2337239 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Hackers Are Passing Around a Megaleak of 2.2 Billion Records
by Peter Reutemann 31 Jan '19

31 Jan '19

'When hackers breached companies like Dropbox and LinkedIn in recent years -- stealing 71 and 117 million passwords, respectively -- they at least had the decency to exploit those stolen credentials in secret, or sell them for thousands of dollars on the dark web. Now, it seems, someone has cobbled together those breached databases and many more into a gargantuan, unprecedented collection of 2.2 billion unique usernames and associated passwords, and is freely distributing them on hacker forums and torrents, throwing out the private data of a significant fraction of humanity like last year's phone book. Earlier this month, security researcher Troy Hunt identified the first tranche of that mega-dump, named Collection #1 by its anonymous creator, a set of cobbled-together breached databases Hunt said represented 773 million unique usernames and passwords. Now other researchers have obtained and analyzed an additional vast database called Collections #2-5, which amounts to 845 gigabytes of stolen data and 25 billion records in all. After accounting for duplicates, analysts at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, found that the total haul represents close to three times the Collection #1 batch.' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/01/31/1452201 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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New Security Flaw Impacts 5G, 4G, and 3G Telephony Protocols
by Peter Reutemann 31 Jan '19

31 Jan '19

'A new vulnerability has been discovered in the upcoming 5G cellular mobile communications protocol. Researchers have described this new flaw as more severe than any of the previous vulnerabilities that affected the 3G and 4G standards. From a report: Further, besides 5G, this new vulnerability also impacts the older 3G and 4G protocols, providing surveillance tech vendors with a new flaw they can abuse to create next-gen IMSI-catchers that work across all modern telephony protocols. This new vulnerability has been detailed in a research paper named "New Privacy Threat on 3G, 4G, and Upcoming5G AKA Protocols," published last year. According to researchers, the vulnerability impacts AKA, which stands for Authentication and Key Agreement, a protocol that provides authentication between a user's phone and the cellular networks. The AKA protocol works by negotiating and establishing keys for encrypting the communications between a phone and the cellular network.' -- source: https://it.slashdot.org/story/19/01/31/1913237 Yeah, don't think so that I'm gonna upgrade from my stone tablets any time soon... Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Criminals Are Tapping Into the Phone Network Backbone to Empty Bank Accounts
by Peter Reutemann 31 Jan '19

31 Jan '19

'Sophisticated hackers have long exploited flaws in SS7, a protocol used by telecom companies to coordinate how they route texts and calls around the world. Those who exploit SS7 can potentially track phones across the other side of the planet, and intercept text messages and phone calls without hacking the phone itself. From a report: This activity was typically only within reach of intelligence agencies or surveillance contractors, but now Motherboard has confirmed that this capability is much more widely available in the hands of financially-driven cybercriminal groups, who are using it to empty bank accounts. So-called SS7 attacks against banks are, although still relatively rare, much more prevalent than previously reported. Motherboard has identified a specific bank -- the UK's Metro Bank -- that fell victim to such an attack. The news highlights the gaping holes in the world's telecommunications infrastructure that the telco industry has known about for years despite ongoing attacks from criminals. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the defensive arm of the UK's signals intelligence agency GCHQ, confirmed that SS7 is being used to intercept codes used for banking. "We are aware of a known telecommunications vulnerability being exploited to target bank accounts by intercepting SMS text messages used as 2-Factor Authentication (2FA)," The NCSC told Motherboard in a statement. "Some of our clients in the banking industry or other financial services; they see more and more SS7- based [requests],â Karsten Nohl, a researcher from Security Research Labs who has worked on SS7 for years, told Motherboard in a phone call. "All of a sudden you have someone's text messages."' -- source: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/19/01/31/1925241 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+ Launches for the Tiny Linux Computers from $25
by Peter Reutemann 30 Jan '19

30 Jan '19

'Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+ follows on the footsteps of the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 (CM3) series announced in January 2017, offering owners of the tiny Linux computers a general-purpose, cost-efficient, and much simpler SBC (Single-board Computer), allowing them to slot it in and out of any device. It comes with 10x the ARM performance, 8x the Flash capacity, and 2x the RAM capacity of CM3. While Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+ uses the same board as CM3, it brings improved thermal design, the Broadcom BCM2837B0 application processor from the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ single-board computer, but running at 1.2GHz instead of 1.4GHz, up to 32GB eMMC Flash memory, improved PCB thermal design to better support high loads without getting hot, and 1GB LPDDR2 SDRAM.' -- source: https://news.softpedia.com/news/raspberry-pi-compute-module-3-plus-launches… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Get started with eDEX-UI, a Tron-influenced terminal program for tablets and desktops
by Peter Reutemann 30 Jan '19

30 Jan '19

'eDEX-UI is a cross-platform terminal program designed for tablets and desktops that was inspired by the user interface in Tron. It has five terminals in a tabbed interface, so it is easy to switch between tasks, as well as useful displays of system information.' -- source: https://opensource.com/article/19/1/productivity-tool-edex-ui Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Linux Mint 19.1: A sneaky popular distro skips upheaval, offers small upgrades
by Peter Reutemann 29 Jan '19

29 Jan '19

'While Ubuntu and Red Hat grabbed most of the Linux headlines last year, Linux Mint, once the darling of the tech press, had a relatively quiet year. Perhaps that's understandable with IBM buying Red Hat and Canonical moving back to the GNOME desktop. For the most part Linux Mint and its developers seemed to keep their heads down, working away while others enjoyed the limelight. Still, the Linux Mint team did churn out version 19, which brought the distro up to the Ubuntu 18.04 base. Mint 18.1 review: Forget about Wayland and get comfy with the command line While the new release may not have garnered mass attention, and probably isn't anyone's top pick for "the cloud," Linux Mint nevertheless remains the distro I see most frequently in the real world. When I watch a Linux tutorial or screen cast on YouTube, odds are I'll see the Linux Mint logo in the toolbar. When I see someone using Linux at the coffee shop, it usually turns out to be Linux Mint. When I ask fellow Linux users which distro they use, the main answers are Ubuntu... and Linux Mint. All of that is anecdotal, but it still points to a simple truth. For a distro that has seen little press lately, Linux Mint manages to remain popular with users. There's a good reason for that popularity: Linux Mint just works. It isn't "changing the desktop computer paradigm," or "innovating" in "groundbreaking" ways. The team behind Mint is just building a desktop operating system that looks and functions a lot like every other desktop operating system you've used, which is to say you'll be immediately comfortable and stop thinking about your desktop and start using it to do actual work. It's worth asking then, why switch from what I have now to Mint? Well, if you're happy with what you have now, stick with whatever it is. But if "it" happens to be Windows 10, well, hope you haven't tried to upgrade yet. Or if what you have now happens to be Ubuntu prior to 18.04 and you're dreading the upgrade to GNOME, suddenly Mint is worth a look. The project recently released version 19.1, which comes in three desktop flavors. There are two homegrown projects, Cinnamon (really Linux Mint's main desktop) and MATE, which started as a kind of Cinnamon light and has since become a very capable desktop in its own right. On top of those, there's also an XFCE version. Previously, there was also a KDE version of Linux Mint, but it was dropped last year because the KDE stack is different enough that all the bits that make Linux Mint, well, Minty, just didn't work with KDE. Diehard Mint and KDE fans can still get KDE working via a PPA, but it's not officially supported by Linux Mint.' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/01/linux-mint-19-1-a-sneaky-popular-di… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Firefox 66 blocks auto-playing sound by default
by Peter Reutemann 29 Jan '19

29 Jan '19

'Few things are more annoying when browsing the internet than media that plays automatically, particularly if it makes noise. Mozilla is hip to this, and beginning in version 66, its Firefox browser will block automatically-playing audio by default. Websites won't be able to play audio without user interaction. On desktop, a notification pops up asking whether you want the website to play media automatically, while on mobile, media will play silently until you interact with the player. The beta version of Firefox 66 for Android is hitting the Play Store today. The APK of the beta isn't available just yet, but you can grab a nightly version of Firefox 66 on APK Mirror. The stable release is expected to be available in March.' -- source: https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/01/29/firefox-66-blocks-auto-playing-sou… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Microsoft Project Manager Says Mozilla Should Get Down From Its 'Philosophical Ivory Tower, ' Cease Firefox Development
by Peter Reutemann 29 Jan '19

29 Jan '19

'A Microsoft program manager has caused a stir on Twitter over the weekend by suggesting that Firefox-maker Mozilla should give up on its own rendering engine and move on with Chromium. "Thought: It's time for @mozilla to get down from their philosophical ivory tower. The web is dominated by Chromium, if they really 'cared' about the web, they would be contributing instead of building a parallel universe that's used by less than five percent?" wrote Kenneth Auchenberg, who builds web developer tools for Microsoft's Visual Studio Code. Auchenberg's post referred to Mozilla's response to Microsoft's announcement in December that it would scrap Edge's EdgeHTML rendering engine for Chromium's. The move will leave Firefox's Gecko engine as the only alternative to Chromium, which is used by Opera and dozens of other browsers. Few people agreed with Auchenberg, including engineers from both Mozilla and Chromium. Long-serving Mozillian Asa Dotzler was not impressed. "Just because your employer gave up on its own people and technology doesn't mean that others should follow," Dotzler replied to Auchenberg. Auchenberg clarified that he didn't want to see Mozilla vanish, but said it should reorganize into a research institution "instead of trying to to justify themselves with the 'protectors of the web' narrative."' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/01/29/0016211 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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Firefox 65 Arrives With Content Blocking Controls, and Support for WebP and AV1
by Peter Reutemann 29 Jan '19

29 Jan '19

'Firefox 65, the latest version of Mozilla's web browser, is now available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android platforms. The release brings simplified Content Blocking controls for Enhanced Tracking Protection, support for WebP image support with the Windows client getting an additional feature: support for AV1 format. From a report: Across all platforms, Firefox can now handle Google's WebP image format. WebP supports both lossy and lossless compression and promises the same image quality as existing formats at smaller file sizes. Firefox 65 for desktop brings redesigned controls for the Content Blocking section to let users choose their desired level of privacy protection. You can access it by either clicking on the small "i" icon in the address bar and clicking on the gear on the right side under Content Blocking or by going to Preferences, Privacy & Security, and then Content Blocking. Next, Firefox now supports AV1, the royalty-free video codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media. AV1 improves compression efficiency by more than 30 percent over the codec VP9, which it is meant to succeed. Lastly, Firefox's new Task Manager page (just navigate to about:performance or find it under "Other" in the main menu) is complete. Introduced in Firefox 64, Task Manager now reports memory usage for tabs and add-ons.' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/01/29/1442237 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann Dept. of Computer Science University of Waikato, NZ +64 (7) 858-5174 http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ http://www.data-mining.co.nz/

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