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Carrier-IQ Tries To Sue TrevE | xda-developers
01 year ago
Following up on the CarrierIQ story that was featured over at XDA the company has turned around and tried to sue the developer who posted the detailed writeup.
A few days ago, it seems that TrevE received a Cease and Desist letter from CIQ after the maelstrom that was caused by his findings which I spoke about in my previous article. Making a long story short, the article described how the CIQ software was installed on a large chunk of devices out in the market and that it was rather difficult to take out/turn off. Moreover, TrevE used the very accurate definition of rootkit for this software. The reason I say “very accurate” is because I have seen lots of comments from people saying that a rootkit by definition must be able to run code, which is not the case. A perfect example of a piece of software that was a rootkit was Sony’s software which came hidden in media like music CDs and movies and automatically installed itself in your computer if you played it. The only way to remove this thing (before Sony released the patch to uninstall it) was by formatting your computer. The software itself did not run any code but it installed itself silently in your computer and run hidden from sight. Again, the actual definition of rootkit can be found here, so if you are unsure of what it does or what it is, check the link. TrevE’s article went on to explain how the app works, what it collects, and most importantly, how to get rid of it.
The web exploded with comments and cross posts about this in a matter of a few days. After a few days, Carrier-IQ finally caught wind of this and decided to send the following letter to TrevE, where basically they are accusing him of using and redistributing copyrighted and confidential materials without authorization (aka piracy) and also they are demanding that he posts a public apology stating that all of his findings were essentially wrong and that he has nothing but good things to say about Carrier-IQ. The letter also goes on to say that he has about 24 hours to comply or else he would be sued by a large sum, which includes monetary damages, court fees, and other legal related costs. In case you are not sure why the short time frame, it is very clear… they wanted to ensure that TrevE did not have time to seek legal counsel. Luckily, TrevE had enough time to seek legal council from the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), which immediately jumped to his aid.
Hats off to the EFF for coming to his aid! Head on over to XDA and show your support!
CarrierIQ | Android Security Test
01 year ago
I found this article on XDA and it then links to the original, that I am sharing with you now. One of the developers over there has dug deep into the code and found this bit of software. A quote from the XDA article:
You may recall from a few articles back that we started talking about something called CIQ or Carrier iQ. This is, essentially, a piece of software that is embedded into most mobile devices, not just Android but Nokia, Blackberry, and likely many more. According to TrevE, the software is installed as a rootkit software in the RAM of devices where it resides. This software basically is completely hidden from view and in it virtually invisible, and worst of all, rather complicated to kill (some devices more so than others and you will see why in a few minutes). This is given root like rights over the device, which means that it can do everything it pleases and you will have nothing to say about it.
Scare stuff. Read the full writeup at the authors blog below.
Steve Jobs, RIP.
01 year ago
Steve Jobs – His name will be placed along side of greats like Henry Ford and Albert Einstein when future generations look back on his passing, October 5, 2011. He helped revolutionized the computer industry, drive innovation, and breathed new life into his company when he returned in 2001.
As it has been said already I will just quote some of the comments:
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/10/05/gates-i-will-miss-steve-immensely/
Bill Gates:
The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.
For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely
Tim Cook:
No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.
Even industry rival Google has placed a link in remembrance of his passing.
Here was a man who rose from nothing and truly put a dent in the universe. RIP Steve Jobs!
Fantasy and Science Fiction Writing Community
0Time for a little bit of self-promotion. This site has been my baby since early 2002. Currently I have been diving into Javascript and jQuery to give the site a much more dynamic feel.
The core is vBulleting and eFiction connected with a custom bridge of my own design. vBadvanced runs the front page as well and the library main page. Extra custom modules allow for total page customization for all members.
British Hackers Take Down Al-Qaeda Websites | PCWorld
0I stumbled on this today and just had to share it. I really do not have much to add so I will quote a section:
This week’s hackers were believed to be government sponsored, which would explain the high-level expertise these white hats showed. The U.K. government allegedly was also behind this month’s cupcake recipe hacks, and it is generally believed that it sponsored those hackers as well, encouraging them to mess with al-Qaeda.
Replacing bomb making instructions with cupcake recipes….priceless.
To the cloud!! Overview of this new buzz word.
01 year ago
Many of my clients have been asking me about Cloud, Cloud Computing, and what it means to them. For most of them it means very little right now but it does hold some very impressive promise. To help out I am writing a very basic and simplified overview to help people who may be confused to get a general grasp on the concept.
The idea of the Cloud is that your data and applications are disconnected from any single piece of hardware you have. A basic form of this is web email where you can check it on your home computer, phone, work computer, library, and just about any place that has the basic connection you need. This can be expanded beyond just the basic email functions to word processing, photo organization, music playing, and much more.
In the Cloud the computer you have is much less important than it is now. It just needs to connect to the Internet and provide the basic function needed to display and understand the data coming from the Cloud. In most cases this is built-in to the web browser you already have.
Why would you want to be in the Cloud? Data redundancy for one as data stored in the cloud is on several servers at the same time so if anything bad happens to one, or even to your personal computer, all your data and applications are safe. It also allows you to be portable and have the same access on any device.
It is a very exciting concept that promises to change much of how we use computers over the next 5-7 years. I know I am looking into it on a near daily basis to keep up to date as it evolves.
Playing with a new theme
0Sorry about the slight mess at the moment, i am testing out a new theme I stumbled on yesterday. As of right now my logo is not up but all site functions are working perfectly.