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from the don't-bother-calling-me-I-can-already-hear-you dept.
As many as 600 million Samsung phones may be vulnerable to attacks that allow hackers to surreptitiously monitor the camera and microphone, read incoming and outgoing text messages, and install malicious apps, a security researcher said.
The vulnerability is in the update mechanism for a Samsung-customized version of SwiftKey, available on the Samsung Galaxy S6, S5, and several other Galaxy models. When downloading updates, the Samsung devices don't encrypt the executable file, making it possible for attackers in a position to modify upstream traffic—such as those on the same Wi-Fi network—to replace the legitimate file with a malicious payload. The exploit was demonstrated Tuesday at the Blackhat security conference in London by Ryan Welton, a researcher with security firm NowSecure. A video of his exploit is here.
Thus will hackers be treated to front row seats to 600 million pockets full of lint.
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Saturday June 20 2015, @02:04AM
You can run Android phones on almost completely open software, through the use of FDroid, custom kernels, and a variety of other sources. Not using a smart phone at all is a bit of an over-reaction; they can be extremely useful.
(Score: 1) by tftp on Saturday June 20 2015, @02:42AM
Not using a smart phone at all is a bit of an over-reaction; they can be extremely useful.
It all depends on one's lifestyle. If you leave home at 8am and return by 10pm, never stopping in any single place for more than 30 minutes, then perhaps you need a mobile computer. If you spend on average 20 minutes per day in a car, and the remaining time in front of a computer at work or at home, then it's not all that important. I belong to the latter group; I have too many computers around me.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday June 20 2015, @07:24AM
I should have been a little more clear I was responding to the post about the XBox. To me, the XBox does only one thing... insist I buy more proprietary software that runs on it, and having to agree to whatever the proprietary software demands or I lose the use of my investment. No thanks.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]