Tag: Mobile

[Updated] More Apple iOS source code leaks (iBoot)

Yet more Apple source code has been leaked, this time around the iBoot elements of IOS. Although from an older build of IOS (9x) it should be close to the current implementation. Initially leaked on Reddit  by a user named apple_internals and subsequently removed, now posted in Github for maximum availability. An good article on Motherboard does some initial analysis and impact analysis. It’s a shame jailbreaking has gone out of Vogue, this will make it a lot simpler to do.

[Update] Apple has released the following statement” Old source code from three years ago appears to have been leaked, but by design the security of our products doesn’t depend on the secrecy of our source code. There are many layers of hardware and software protections built in to our products, and we always encourage customers to update to the newest software releases to benefit from the latest protections.”

A DMCA notice has been sent to Github to take down the source code.

Uber/Waymo: Jacob’s letter released to the public

The letter written by Richard Jacobs to senior management in Uber (leading to his job demotion and eventually leaving Uber) that delayed the current court case between Waymo (Google) and Uber when discovered.  This document has now been (mostly) made public by the court. The complete document can be found on Scripted, some initial analysis can be found on Engadet, CNN and  on Verge.
This gives an uncensored and scary insight of how corporate espionage and hacking seems the be a key part of Ubers business model and operations.

Further Microsoft Patents: Is the Windows Phone back on?

I have mentioned a couple of times that  keeping an eye on patent applications filed by Microsoft can give you a glimpse of things to come. Much like the surface book series was preempted by the key technologies patented, there is now more patent applications for the much debated  Microsoft mobile terminal (sometimes referred to by the internal (?) project name Courier). A good summery in Arsthecnica, showing more and more of the expected device.

Note to Oneplus: Remember to clean up devices after QA

There has been a lot of discussions on the amount of data transmitted by Oneplus devices to the mother ship. A security researcher suing the monikor  Elliot Alderson  decided to dig deeper to find out what data was being sent. As he dug through the OS (OxygenOS) on his phone he discovered an EngineerMode app. This app (assumed to be an internal testing tool for QA) gives access to all aspects of the phone, including rooting. A quick check for Oneplus owners it to enter *#808# SSID, which will bring up the app if present.  A hcak (for now) requires physical access.

The cost of unlimited data plans on customers in the US

Opensignal has just released their “State of Mobile Networks: USA” for August of this year. The volumes created by the unlimited data plans are eating up the networks capacity, with less than ideal impacts in the users with ever depreciating speeds as an outcome.
This will at some stage have to be addressed, an yet another shot across the bow of Net Neutrality – We need a way to shape the traffic to enable a more satisfactory end user experience, and to let people pay for prioritized use. Can this lead to a final universal adaptation of IP6?

Skimming devices now call home

A new generation of mag-stripe skimmers with a fully built in GSM device has been found in US Petrol pumps, as shown in a recent article by Brian Krebs. The captured devices contained a common T-Mobile GSM SIM, allowing for the captured data to be immediately transferred via SMS to the skimmers for real time use and abuse. All of course down the the US slowness in implementing the Chip / PIN security aspects ot EMV.

Finally: battery levels on connected Bluetooth devices in Android

It looks like there will finally be a general introduction in Android of being able to see the battery status of any connected Bluetooth devise. This has been available in custom and manufacturers for a while, and plenty of options in the app store, but up until now this has been the landscape. An article on XDA finds that “we can see that Google will add a new method in the Bluetooth Device class called getBatteryLevel() ” in the proposed new Android Open Source Project (AOSP) release.