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INTEREST: Google boots 30 infected applications from Android Market
by billing 05 Jun '11

05 Jun '11

...from: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/06/droiddream-light-a-malware-nigh… DroidDream Light a malware nightmare, booted from Android Market By Ryan Paul | Published 2 days ago A number of malware-encumbered applications were found in the Android Market back in March, but the infestation was brought to a swift end when Google deployed its kill switch. A new variant of the same malware recently resurfaced and was identified by security researchers over the weekend. Google has responded by booting the new round of infected applications out of the Android Market. The malware was discovered by Lookout, a mobile security company. They found just under 30 infected applications across six separate developer accounts. Several of the infected applications were existing third-party programs that the attacker copied and then repackaged with the malware. The malware-bearing programs spanned a diverse range of functions, including a scientific calculator, a solitaire game, and a photo enhancement tool. Malicious developer Magic Photo Studio had the most colorful assortment of infected apps, including a soundboard called Sex Sound and a photo gallery program called Beauty Breasts. The infected applications appear to have been widely downloaded prior to being shut down by Google. Lookout estimates that between 30,000 and 120,000 users have been affected by the attack. We used Google Cache to examine the Android Market pages for several of the malicious apps. The Beauty Breasts program had a 3.5 star rating and been installed between 1,000 and 5,000 times. The new malware is based on the same code that was used back in March, but it is simpler and has some limitations that make it less potentially dangerous. The original March flavor would attempt to root the victim's phone so that it could install additional software without requiring intervention by the user. The new variant still has the capability to download and install additional software, but it doesn't take root access and consequently has to prompt the user before it can install anything. Lookout is calling the variant DroidDream Light. Like the previous version, Droid Dream Light will send information back to a command-and-control server. The malware can apparently do its dirty work even if the user never actually runs the application. It hooks into the platform's event system APIs and will launch itself as a background process when the device's call state changes—like when a call is received. It's worth noting that hooking into the phone's state requires a special permission that is listed when the user installs the application from the Android Market. A savvy user who is paying attention to the permissions would likely realize that phone state monitoring isn't needed for looking at images of breasts and would hopefully think twice before installing the program. This latest round of Android malware makes it seem like the problem isn't going to go away. Although Google responded to the threat very quickly after it was detected, the number of users who downloaded the applications is still troubling. Armed with a remote kill switch and full control over the Android Market, Google can address threats as they arise, but can't really provide a proactive safety net.

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INTEREST: Adobe CEO on FLASH and Apple... and his take on Apple's take on FLASH
by billing 04 Jun '11

04 Jun '11

...from: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/03/adobe-ceo-has-no-beef-with-apple-no-answ… Adobe CEO has no beef with Apple, no answer for poor Flash performance on Android (video) By Amar Toor posted Jun 3rd 2011 6:06AM The Adobe-Apple Flash war used to be one of the juiciest catfights around, but, much like two aging boxers, both sides now appear willing to act like adults put it all behind them. Speaking at yesterday's D9 conference in Palos Verdes, California, Adobe head Shantanu Narayen confirmed that he and Steve Jobs have reached an unofficial armistice, bringing an end to their prolonged war of words. According to the CEO, Apple's Flash issues stemmed from the company's "business model," rather than any legitimate concerns over quality. "It's control over the app store that's at issue here," Narayen said, implying that Flash's wide-ranging platform compatibility may not have jibed with the Cupertino ethos. He went on to remind moderator Walt Mossberg that developers can still use Adobe's AIR software to get their products to the App Store, adding that his company is looking forward to the rise of HTML5 and "actively contributing" to its development. Mossberg, meanwhile, seemed to blindside Narayen when he brought up Flash's poor performance on Android devices. "I have yet to test a single one where Flash tests really well," the columnist claimed. "I'm sorry, but it's true." Narayen sputtered a bit, before pointing to the BlackBerry PlayBook as an example of the progress that Flash has made. When Mossberg reminded him that the PlayBook doesn't run on Android, the CEO not-so-subtly sidestepped the question by emptily declaring that Adobe's mission is simply to provide people with the best tools to create content. Apparently satisfied with this non-answer, Mossberg changed the subject back to Apple, allowing Narayen to wax poetic about their new Pax Romana -- and, perhaps, to breathe a sigh of relief. See the full interview after the break. http://video.allthingsd.com/video/d9-video-adobe-ceo----flash-war-is-over/7…

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FYI: Mac Defender
by Doug Hamilton 02 Jun '11

02 Jun '11

Yesterday, Apple automatically pushed an update to their "File Quarantine" (aka Xprotect) anti-malware daemon, in response to the new variant of the Trojan / Ransomware "OSX.MacDefender". For those who don't know, "File Quarantine" was first released with introduction of Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) in August 2009 but has been included is subsequent updates to Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). If you wish to read further, here are two related Knowledge Base articles. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3662 http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4651 Cheers. ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, ASP Senior Apple Computer Consultant Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 (Ph.) 204-474-7556 (Fax) http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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INTEREST: Lodsys offers protection to iOS developers...
by billing 01 Jun '11

01 Jun '11

....Apple says, "We paid you your money. Go away and leave them [iOS developers] alone." Lodsys moving on to Android developers. ...from: http://www.macworld.com/article/160030/2011/05/apple_lodsys_license.html?ls… Apple to Lodsys: 'App makers are protected by [our] license' Posted on May 23, 2011 2:00 pm by Lex Friedman, Macworld Staff, Macworld.com A little more than a week after iOS developers were threatened with legal action by a company that holds various patents, Apple’s legal department has struck back. On May 13, many iOS developers reported receiving FedEx packages containing a threat that they risked patent-infringement lawsuits if they didn’t pay Lodsys to license a patent covering in-app purchasing and other app-related matters. In a letter sent Monday (read the full text of the letter here) to patent-holder Lodsys and its CEO Mark Small, Apple says its existing license for patents covering in-app purchases applies to all iOS app makers as well. The crux of Apple’s letter, from senior vice president and general counsel Bruce Sewell, is right in its opening paragraph, which reads in part: “Apple is undisputedly licensed to these patents and the Apple App Makers are protected by that license. There is no basis for Lodsys’ infringement allegations against Apple’s App Makers. In addition to stating that Apple would share the letter with developers—which it has—the company also says that it “is fully prepared to defend Apple’s license rights.” Though it runs for three pages, Sewell could have ended his letter there. Lodsys has already publicly stated that Apple licenses its patents; the companies agree on that. Apple’s contention, which runs counter to Lodsys’s previously published view, is that Apple’s license covers iOS developers, too. Under its license, Apple is entitled to offer these licensed products and services to its customers and business partners, who, in turn, have the right to use them. But that’s not Sewell’s only point; his argument is twofold: Apple’s license to the Lodsys patents covers iOS developers, and the alleged patent infringement isn’t really occurring anyway. By way of example, Sewell cites Lodsys’s claims regarding alleged violations of its U.S. Patent No. 7,222,078, which Apple says “covers two-way interaction with the user and elicits user feedback.” Sewell writes: Under your reading of the claim as set out in your letters, the allegedly infringing acts require the use of Apple APIs to provide two-way communication, the transmission of an Apple ID and other services to permit access for the user to the App store, and the use of Apple’s hardware, iOS, and servers. In other words: These developers aren’t infringing Lodsys’s patents, because they’re using Apple software and hardware to provide the functionality that Lodsys alleged needed licensing. Apple’s point is that, since the technology is Apple’s, Apple’s license is sufficient. Sewell makes the same point again regarding another alleged example of infringement: Claim 1 also claims a memory that stores the results of the user interaction and a communication element to carry those results to a central location. Once again, Apple provides, under the infringement theories set out in your letters, the physical memory in which user feedback is stored and, just as importantly, the APIs that allow transmission of that user feedback to and from the App Store, over an Apple server, using Apple hardware and software. Indeed, in the notice letters to App Makers that we have been privy to, Lodsys itself relies on screenshots of the App Store to purportedly meet this claim element. Apple’s argument is thus fairly straightforward. The company licensed its use of the Lodsys patents, and the developers that Lodsys alleges infringe those patents in fact leverage Apple’s licensing, since any behaviors covered by the patents are actually driven by Apple’s technology, and not the developers’. Citing the Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc. 2008 Supreme Court case, Sewell writes that: …because [the discussed] Apple products and services, under the reading articulated in your letters, entirely or substantially embody each of Lodsys’s patents, Lodsys’s threatened claims are barred by the doctrines of patent exhaustion and first sale… Therefore, Apple requests that Lodsys immediately withdraw all notice letters sent to Apple App Makers and cease its false assertions that the App Makers’ use of licensed Apple products and services in any way constitute infringement of any Lodsys patent. Obviously, Apple’s firm letter to Lodsys doesn’t make the issue go away. Lodsys may force Apple’s hand by going forward with threatened litigation against App Store developers. But Apple’s letter at least offers some reassurance to iOS developers that the company takes the issue seriously, and that the company intends to defend its developers against such patent legal wrangling. Lodsys’s response, of course, remains to be seen. Developers react Developer reaction to the news was swift. TLA Systems developer James Thomson, who broke the story when he received a letter from Lodsys, expressed a feeling of great relief. “I am extremely relieved that Apple has stood up for its developers against these patently unfair claims by Lodsys,” Thomson told Macworld. “I always believed they would, but it’s a huge weight off my shoulders to see it written in black and white. The last ten days have been some of the most stressful of my professional career, and I’d just like to say thanks to Apple and all our customers and friends who have been highly supportive of us during this time.” Ken Landau, the President of MobileAge and another recipient of Lodsys’s legal threat, told Macworldthat Apple’s letter is “real good for us developers… I’m really very happy. Apple did the right thing.” “I’ve never seen iOS developers so excited about the walled garden,” Red Sweater Software’s Daniel Jalkut wrote on Twitter. “I should write to Steve Jobs more often,” tweeted Iconfactory developer Craig Hockenberry. Earlier in the day Hockenberry posted an open letter to Steve Jobs on his blog where he referred to companies like Lodsys as “greedy predators.” [Updated several times on 5/23 to add developer reaction and more analysis of the letter. Macworld editorial director Jason Snell contributed to this report.] = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = ...from: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2386065,00.asp May 27, 2011 07:21pm EST 23 Comments Is Lodsys Claiming Android Developers Infringe Its Patents? By Mark Hachman Lodsys, which has targeted iOS developers and threatening them with legal action, has apparently taken aim against Android developers as well. In a post to an Android developer's board, "markusn82" claimed that his organization had received similar letters from Lodsys, claiming that the developer infringed on the Lodsys patents as well. "We recently implemented in-app purchases for our Android application and several weeks later we received a letter from Lodsys, claiming that we infringed on their patents," the developer wrote. Lodsys made headlines recently for contacting iOS developers and threatening legal action for patent infringement. The patent in question covers "methods and systems for gathering information from units of a commodity across a network," which translates into in-app purchases, like upgrades from lite to paid versions. Even though Apple has licenses for Lodsys patents, Lodsys argued that those licenses don't extend to app developers. However, this would be the first reported case of an Android developer being hit with a charge of infringement by Lodsys. "Have any other Android developers out there been sent a letter? Has Google taken any action on this issue yet?" "markusn82" wrote. "Has Google given direction to any developers that have been hit by this? We are obviously a small shop and are not financially capable of defending ourselves over a litigation." This week, Apple stepped in and defended its developers, claiming that its own license indemnified those developers who wrote for the Apple platform. "Apple is undisputedly licensed to these patent and the Apple App Makers are protected by that license," Bruce Sewell, Apple's general counsel, wrote in a letter posted online by MacWorld. "There is no basis for Lodsys' infringement allegations against Apple's App Makers." Lodsys has a "fundamental misapprehension regarding Apple's license and the way Apple's products work," Sewell wrote. He outlined why Apple is within its rights to offer in-app purchases for its developers and ordered Lodsys to "withdraw your outstanding threats to the App Makers and cease and desist from any further threats to Apple's customers and partners." "Because Apple is licensed under Lodsys' patents to offer such technology to its App Makers, the App Makers are entitled to use this technology free from any infringement claims by Lodsys," Sewell added. Lodsys claimed that there was indeed justification, in a series of blog posts. "The economic gains provided by the Lodsys inventions (increase in revenue through additional sales, or decrease in costs to service the customer) are being enjoyed by the business that provides the product or service that interacts with the user," the company wrote. "Since Lodsys patent rights are of value to that overall solution, it is only fair to get paid by the party that is accountable for the entire solution and which captures the value (rather than a technology supplier or a retailer)." Lodsys representatives didn't respond to requests for comment.

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Apple Security Update 2011-003
by Doug Hamilton 01 Jun '11

01 Jun '11

Apple has just released their security update which addresses the "OSX.MacDefender.A". http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4657 Running "Software Update…" will allow you to obtain and install this update. Regards ------------- Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, ASP Senior Apple Computer Consultant Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba 204-474-6196 (Ph.) 204-474-7556 (Fax) http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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INTEREST: What Happens When the Cloud Meets a Bandwidth Cap
by billing 27 May '11

27 May '11

...from: http://gigaom.com/2011/05/04/what-happens-when-the-cloud-meets-a-bandwidth-… What Happens When the Cloud Meets a Bandwidth Cap By Mathew Ingram May. 4, 2011, 4:04pm PT 35 Comments The cloud is a wonderful thing, as you probably know from reading our coverage on the Structure blog and posts from my colleagues Stacey and Derrick — among other things, it allows us all to keep almost unlimited backup copies of our documents, photos, music and other files on a remote server somewhere, and thanks to services such as Amazon’s AWS suite, such backups are pretty cheap as well — pennies a gigabyte. At least, they’re supposed to be. But when the cloud meets an Internet service provider’s bandwidth cap (something that is unfortunately becoming more and more commonplace) it can be a less than happy experience. I know this all too well. And while some of what happened is my fault, it’s probably not that unusual, so I thought it might be helpful to tell people about it. Some readers may recall that I wrote recently about my problems with bandwidth usage, and how I thought I had solved them. In a nutshell, my ISP — a Canadian cable and media conglomerate called Rogers Communications — started warning me that my household was using huge amounts of bandwidth, far more than I had ever used before. One particular day last month, the online bandwidth meter showed that we had consumed 75 gigabytes of data, more than three-quarters of our 95-gigabyte allotment for the month. As I described in my last post, I wracked my brain to try and figure out where this could be coming from. At first, I (and the Rogers technician I spoke to) thought that it was our wireless network, which was unencrypted. So I locked it down with a 64-bit password — but the downloads continued at huge levels, sometimes 20 or 30 gigabytes a day. I interviewed all three of my daughters, aged 13 to 21, and my niece, who is living with us. All denied downloading huge amounts, but one daughter said she had been using a Bit Torrent program for some Japanese TV shows. I checked every computer in the house to make sure there were no programs running in the background or viruses or malware — we have seven computers in all, including four desktops and three laptops, as well miscellaneous wireless devices like iPhones and a streaming media box connected to the TV. The download usage didn’t even budge. I even borrowed a network switch to try and see which ports on the network were using all this data. Then a day or two ago, I got an email from Amazon with the bill for my Amazon AWS service. I have about 25 gigabytes of photos, music and other documents backed up to Amazon’s S3 server cloud, which usually costs me about $3 a month — but this time, the bill said $109. Suddenly, a light bulb went on (one that probably should have gone on before then, I admit): that would explain how we could have been downloading 20 or 30 gigabytes a day without our computers overflowing with data. What if something was backing up all that data multiple times from Amazon’s S3 cloud? I checked JungleDisk, which is the software from Rackspace that I use to manage the S3 instance I rent, but I didn’t have it set to sync or automatically mirror the data. So what could have happened? After fishing around on the Internet, I finally found a support forum posting at Amazon’s AWS site that described exactly what had happened to me — except it was the user’s mother, and she had somehow download more than 800 gigabytes in a month without realizing it. The culprit, apparently, was either Windows indexing the files or an anti-virus program scanning them, or both. Since JungleDisk maps the Amazon cloud folder as a network drive, Windows and some other programs simply treat it as a regular drive and download all the files to scan them — even multiple times. Since the amount of data that Amazon says I consumed in April (a little over 600 gigabytes) is almost exactly the same as the amount of extra bandwidth that my ISP says I used in the month, this seems to be the solution. And luckily for me, Rogers has a maximum bandwidth over-usage charge of $50 per month. If it didn’t have this cap on a cap, I would be liable for almost $1,000 based on the company’s per-gigabyte usage fees. So I have to pay $100 to Rogers for overage charges and $100 to Amazon. A fairly cheap lesson, comparatively speaking, but a lesson nevertheless. And yet another way in which bandwidth caps threaten to turn us all into network administrators and bandwidth cops, whether we like it or not. Wayne Billing Classroom Technology Support Audio Visual and Classroom Technology Support 130 Machray Hall Building 474-6649 474-7625 (fax) Wayne_Billing(a)umanitoba.ca

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INTEREST: Now in an online store near you – mobile malware
by billing 26 May '11

26 May '11

The U of Manitoba is distributing Kaspersky AntiVirus software for university owned machines (both Windows and OS X: more info at: http://umanitoba.ca/computing/ist/security/kaspersky-antivirus.html) Kaspersky Lab is a privately held, world-wide (North and South America; Western Europe; Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa; the Asia-Pacific region; and Japan) anti-malware company with headquarters in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1997, Kaspersky Lab claims over 2,000 employees working on software protecting over 300 million users around the globe. Kaspersky Lab's in-house magazine - entitled Secureview - is written by Kaspersky Lab's analysts, journalists, and industry specialists from many different companies. The magazine is designed to appeal to IT and security specialists, technical managers and anyone with an interest in computer security. (Subscriptions at: http://www.secureviewmag.com/subscriptions) This month's issue of Secureview contains an article entitled "IT Threat Evolution for Q1-2011". That article - at the end of this message - contains an overview of the exploits that were released with the opening of one online application store for mobile devices. = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - (NOTE: ...from: http://developer.apple.com/appstore/guidelines.html Apple's App Store Review Guidelines The app approval process [in Apple's App Stores] is in place to ensure that applications are reliable, perform as expected, and are free of explicit and offensive material. We review every app on the App Store based on a set of technical, content, and design criteria. This review criteria is now available to you in the App Store Review Guidelines. These guidelines are designed to help [developers] prepare iOS and Mac OS X apps for the approval process.) = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - ...from: http://www.securelist.com/en/analysis/204792176/IT_Threat_Evolution_for_Q1_… Now in a store near you – mobile Trojans! We start with malware for the Android OS uploaded to the Android Market by cybercriminals. The malicious applications, over fifty of which have been detected, were infected with Trojans and repacked as legitimate programs. The attackers were after mobile phone data, including IMEI and IMSI numbers. The Trojans also included a module that could install additional malicious components on devices without users being aware. This involved gaining full control of the phone by ‘jailbreaking’ it, a process that circumvents protection to provide full access to the file system. In order to gain root privileges, which provide virtually limitless possibilities for manipulating the system, the malware leveraged Android OS vulnerabilities using popular ‘rage against the cage’ exploits, which were distributed in the same package as the Trojans. It was lucky for users who had Kaspersky Mobile Security 9 installed on their devices that these exploits were used. The Trojans were new and had not been included in antivirus databases, while the exploits bundled with them were successfully detected. Until signatures were created for the Trojans, KMS 9 proactively detected the whole bundle as Exploit.AndroidOS.Lotoor.g and Exploit.AndroidOS.Lotoor.j. Since adding the Trojans to our antivirus databases, we have detected them as Backdoor.AndroidOS.Rooter. It should be noted that they are also called DroidDream in other antivirus vendors’ classifications. This situation gives rise to two questions: Is it difficult for cybercriminals to get an Android Market Developer account? Sadly, it is very easy. All a user has to do to get an account is pay US $25. Clearly, Google wants to attract as many developers to its operating system as possible. However, $25 is not nearly enough of a barrier to entry and cybercriminals can afford to create dozens of such accounts. This could result in an endless loop, with Google shutting down accounts used to distribute malware and cybercriminals creating new ones without any problems. Can more stringent controls be enforced over applications offered on the Android Market? The primary problem is the resources available for this task. Checking all the code in apps available via Android Market, App Store, Samsung Market, plus others, is a difficult task because it is almost impossible to automate. This means that in future we will inevitably face an increase in the amount of malware-infected software in the various app stores. As mentioned above, the malware detected on Android Market exploited vulnerabilities. Note that vulnerabilities affected devices with Android versions earlier than 2.3 ‘Gingerbread’, which was released on 6 December, 2010. According to Google, three months after its release the number of systems running the new version of the OS was only 2%. It is obvious that users are not in any hurry to upgrade their systems. The main reason for this lack of inertia is that device manufacturers make significant modifications to their operating systems before installing them on mobile devices. After this, upgrading the OS may become impossible or wholly dependent upon the manufacturer’s involvement. This means that installing patches then becomes manufacturer-dependant and so they share the responsibility for the security of mobile devices. However, they often have no interest in supporting and updating software on existing devices. Since smartphone models become outdated very quickly, updating software on devices that are in effect obsolete results in additional costs with no obvious way to recoup them. All users can hope for is that device manufacturers will take appropriate measures and make it possible to install updates on their devices. Is it possible to seriously discuss security in circumstances such as these? Importantly, Google can remotely install / remove applications on / from any Android device. This ought to be very helpful when it comes to neutralizing malware on phones which are already infected. However, the incident with Trojans on Android Market has demonstrated several weaknesses in the system. Firstly, once they got administrator privileges, Trojans made themselves at home on the smartphones and could only be removed by an application that had the same administrator privileges. Google had to release a dedicated program that had such privileges in order to remove these Trojans from infected devices. Secondly, as cybercriminals further develop mobile malware, they may implement technologies that allow Trojans to disable this remote administration mechanism, a process similar to disabling the Windows Update functionality on PCs. Thirdly, the current system involves removing Trojans from infected phones, but not the prevention of infections. However, if a Trojan is used by attackers to steal money or important data, its removal will not undo the damage. Overall, the situation with the Android OS is becoming similar to the current situation with Windows: There is a plethora of Android devices with outdated software which includes various unpatched vulnerabilities; In the majority of cases, users ignore security alerts displayed when any application is installed or launched for the first time; As with Windows, the most infected computers are those on which users have administrator privileges, the greatest risk of infection is faced by those Android systems which have been jailbroken; Mobile malware communicates with its owners using a method that is widely employed by Windows malware – via command-and-control centers, which will ultimately lead to the emergence of mobile botnets; Application control systems can be bypassed: applications can be installed on Android devices using means other than Android Market. Since 2007, the number of new antivirus database records for mobile malware has virtually doubled every year. The number of new mobile malware signatures added to antivirus databases Based on our statistics for the first quarter of this year, it can be safely predicted that the number of malicious programs for mobile devices detected in 2011 will be more than double that of 2010. The situation with mobile malware is particularly disturbing because large amounts of important data are already stored on mobile devices and smartphones are likely to be widely adopted as mobile wallets in the near future. In addition, since employees are increasingly using their personal mobile devices for work-related purposes, so-called consumerization, data leaks from individual smartphones are turning into a real headache for their employers.

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INTEREST: Is it easy to break into iOS?
by billing 26 May '11

26 May '11

Well, first of all, it will be very difficult for someone else to break into your iOS device if you always have it with you. Failing that... ....the article at the end of of this message details a vulnerability you might like to weigh if you don't have the SETTINGS > PASSCODE LOCK enabled and the ERASE DATA option of that setting set to ON on your iOS devices. With these settings enabled, your device will be wiped after 10 failed attempts to unlock your passcode leaving only a 1 in 1,000 chance of the device being unlocked via the passcode lock OR ...someone attacking your iOS device also has prolonged access to unencrypted data on your personal computer. Perhaps you've already read "How to create a password-protected (encrypted) disk image in Mac OS X 10.3 or later" - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1578 Finally, don't forget FIND MY IPHONE (http://www.apple.com/mobileme/features/find-my-iphone.html). Enabling this service, in the event of your losing your iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad (or if it's been stolen) will allow you to: - Locate your iPhone or iPad on a map - Display a message or play a sound to help you find it - Set a passcode lock remotely - Protect your privacy with Remote Wipe - wipe your device completely ....and you can set up this service for free: Learn how to get Find My iPhone, Find My iPad, or Find My iPod touch free. . . . ...from: http://www.itworld.com/security/168239/russian-company-cracks-ios-4-hardwar… Russian company cracks iOS 4 hardware encryption How the company makes the technology available only to law enforcement and government officials remains unknown By John E. Dunn, IDG News Service | Security Add a new comment May 25, 2011, 9:46 AM — Having cracked Apple iPhone backups last year, Russian security company ElcomSoft appears to have found a reliable way to beat the layered encryption system used to secure data held on the smartphone itself. Since the advent of iOS 4 in June 2010, Apple has been able to secure data on compatible devices using a hardware encryption system called Data Protection, which stores a user's passcode key on an internal chip using 256-bit AES encryption. Adding to this, each file stored on an iOS device is secured with an individual key computed from the device's Unique ID (UID). Apple products containing this security design include all devices from 2009 onwards, including the iPhone 3GS (which can be upgraded to iOS 4), iPhone 4, iPad, iPad 2 and recent iPod Touch models. ElcomSoft has not explained how it hacked the hardware-stored key system in detail for commercial reasons, but the first point of attack appears to have been the user system passcode itself as all other keys are only vulnerable to attack once the device is in an unlocked state. The company said it had been aided by subtle weaknesses in the security architecture used by Apple, starting with the default passcode length of 4 digits. This yields only 10,000 possible number variations, which the company said most users would likely use to secure their devices without question. The only limitation in breaking this key using a bruteforce attack was the need to run through the possible combinations on the iPhone or iOS device itself, which took between 10 and 40 minutes, far longer than would have been the case using a desktop PC. If the passcode was too long to bruteforce, the company said it was possible to bypass this by hacking what are called "escrow keys," which are created by Apple applications such as iTunes and stored on a user's computer. Given that the company's hacking of Apple devices began last August with the news that it had found a way to beat the encryption on iPhone backup archives stored on PCs, this could be how the company first spotted the weakness in the iPhone Data Protection system. "We are responsible citizens, and we don't want this technology to fall into the wrong hands," said ElcomSoft CEO, Vladimir Katalov. "Therefore, we made a firm decision to limit access to this functionality to law enforcement, forensic and intelligence organizations and select government agencies." The company has updated its Phone Password Breaker software to include the ability to "decrypt iOS 4.x file system images, as well as an optional tools to obtain file system images of the iOS 4.x devices, extract keys required for image decryption, and brute-force passcode," a note on its website said. A license for this can be purchased for £79 (US$128) with the iOS 4-cracking feature enabled only for customers that meet the stated requirements. How ElcomSoft verifies a customer's credentials is unclear. All buyers of the software have access to the feature that cracks Apple iPhone and BlackBerry backup archives. ElcomSoft has gained a reputation in the last three years for cracking encryption systems used in a variety of technologies, including the digital camera image verification systems used by Canon and Nikon, WPA2 wireless security, as well as a range of individual applications.

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FYI: [C-REPS] Mac Defender Malware - uninstall.
by billing 25 May '11

25 May '11

Begin forwarded message: > From: Doug Hamilton <doug_hamilton(a)umanitoba.ca> > Date: May 25, 2011 9:08:55 AM CDT > Subject: [C-REPS] Mac Defender Malware - uninstall. > > Hello Everyone: > > There is a trojan-horse style malware application in the wild directed at Mac OS X users. The authors of this malware are using the typical social-engineering approach of mislead the user and trick them into installing the malicious application via their web browser, because they've detected a virus on the user's system. > > There is Apple knowledge base article on the matter with removal instructions > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4650 > > Write up about Mac Defender by Intego Security > http://blog.intego.com/2011/05/02/intego-security-memo-macdefender-fake-ant… > > > Regards > ------------- > Doug Hamilton, BA, MA, ASP > Senior Apple Computer Consultant > Computers-on-Campus; Univ. of Manitoba > 204-474-6196 (Ph.) > 204-474-7556 (Fax) > http://www.umanitoba.ca/bookstore/

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INTEREST: [MacLearning-l] May 18 Webcast: custom iAPPS to aid student learning
by billing 18 May '11

18 May '11

apologies for the short notice for this but it's just arrived....... Begin forwarded message: > To: MacLearning-l(a)maclearning.org > Subject: [MacLearning-l] May 18 Webcast: Anatomy on the Move > > Dear MacLearning Community Member, > > Please join us on May 18th starting at 10 am Pacific / 1 pm Eastern for the following webcast: > > Anatomy on the Move > Bringing Human Prosections Tutorials Alive > > > > Apps and iPads with 3D technology bring clinical anatomy to the cutting edge. > > Contemporary anatomical education requires various resources found in the clinic, dissection room and radiology department. These so vary in availability that it is difficult for students to access them all in a time-efficient manner for easy learning. So how to integrate portable, handheld packages providing a method of learning anatomy, outside the conventional academic environment? Forty anatomy videos were designed, using the dissection room tutorial approach with prosecutions, using narrative and visual explanations - these were packaged into apple apps with “spotter” tests and MCQs on each 3-6 minutes video. Audio and on-screen text of anatomical terminology is used in conjunction with digital highlighting to emphasise the clinical relevance. Other anatomy apps of a complete radiology textbook on the iPad provide a widely accessible method for teaching integrated clinical “anatomy on the move”. Furthermore using 3D computing we have digitised our prosection collection and although technology cannot replace traditional learning, these innovations provide a unique educational opportunity for learning “on the move”, even in coffee breaks! > > Audience members can participate by submitting their questions during the webcast. > > Join us on Wednesday, May 18th at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern by pointing your browser to: > > URL: http://webcast.training.apple.com/ > Webcast ID: MacHealth > Passcode: 242572 > > > > > Cheers, > > Chris Brewer > Co-Chair, MacLearning.org > > > About MacLearning: > > MacLearning.org is a community that promotes effective pedagogical use of Apple and related third-party technologies. Our mission is to encourage innovative education through the open exchange of information, solutions, and ideas. > > Join us on our new online community at http://MacLearning.org > > _______________________________________________ > About MacLearning > > MacLearning.org is an open community that promotes effective pedagogical use of Apple and related third-party technologies. Our mission is to encourage innovative education through the open exchange of information, solutions, and ideas. > > This is the MacLearning-l mailing list at MacLearning-l(a)maclearning.org > > You can manage your subscription to this list at http://mail.maclearning.org/mailman/listinfo/maclearning-l

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