Delete those text messages before sell your old smartphone or else

Santa Claus may be bringing you a new iPhone this Christmas, but be careful when you get rid of your old phone: All sorts of confidential information can readily be found on old cellphones purchased from eBay, Craigslist, and more.

“I’m talking about dressing up like a woman for Black Friday [for the] sympathy,” reads one text message pulled off an iPhone bought on Craigslist.

Phone numbers, email account information and potentially embarrassing details are easily found on most devices, said Lee Reiber, director of mobile forensics for AccessData.

“We see lots of sensitive information,” Reiber told FoxNews.com. To find out just how much, AccessData bought and tested five used cellphones exclusively for FoxNews.com: Two HTC Androids, an LG Android, an iPhone 3G and a Sanyo 2300 flip phone. The phones were bought on Craigslist, eBay, and from a cellphone reseller.

Reiber used Mobile Phone Examiner Plus (MPE Plus), a common forensics software tool, to dig up private, confidential information including Social Security numbers and credit card information.

In some cases, data was simply left on the phone for anyone to see. The Sanyo had an active Yahoo! account turned on, and AccessData was able to recover its username and password.

Once hackers get into an email account, they're able to uncover much more information. “That can be the springboard to get into other areas you really don’t want them in,” said Andrew Hoog, chief investigative officer at viaForensics, a digital forensics firm in Chicago.

The iPhone 3G also had its contacts in the phone. AccessData easily uncovered the geographic area each phone came from, as well.

Despite the removal of individual applications, forensic technology allows anyone to view old files still stored in the phone. In one case, this included what the owner was doing and where, thanks to the geo-location feature in the iPhone, Reiber said.

“I actually identified the reservoir in Utah where they took pictures while they were boating,” he told FoxNews.com.

To avoid giving sensitive information to your cellphone’s next owner, people need to take a few simple steps, Hoog said. Sellers need to restore the device back to factory settings -- “They are pretty much all going to have a reset setting somewhere,” he said -- and that includes pulling the activation card from the carrier.

“You shouldn't include your SIM card when you sell your device,” he added, since data is stored there as well as on the device. If the phone has an SD card, sellers should erase all of the data on that as well.

If possible, Reiber advised, run updates on the phone’s operating system to eliminate much of the data stored in the phone’s file system. EBay offers instructions to customers who visit the company's eBay Instant Sale or eBay iPhone page on how to remove data before selling a cellphone.

“Consult your owner's manual on how to back-up your phone's data safely and securely before erasing anything,” the site notes. It includes specific instructions for the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android.

Reiber also advised consumers to follow similar steps when selling digital tablets -- and it’s key to follow similar (but more extensive) steps before selling a computer, of course. He recommended running a program called Darik’s Boot and Nuke (DBAN) to clear the hard drive.

And if you’re a buyer and you find the previous owner’s data still in a phone you buy, he advises to remove it quickly. “You need to go through the steps like it’s yours to get rid of that data,” Reiber told FoxNews.com. If there’s something criminal left on there, for example, it could be dangerous or incriminating for you, he said.

Just remember, keep the cross-dressing comments to yourself -- and when it’s selling time, clear the phone and cards before you drop them in the mail.

Continue Reading

RI reputation at stake in feud with RIM, BRTI says

The Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Body (BRTI) has defended the government’s dealings with BlackBerry producer RIM, saying that it was a necessary show of strength by Indonesia as a nation.

“We are squaring up against foreigners and we need to stand up. Indonesia should be respected as a big country,” BRTI member Heru Sutadi told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

In a meeting with the government on Thursday, to the dismay of Indonesian officials RIM announced that it favored Singapore over Indonesia for the location of its new server.

The government has subsequently threatened to end all BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) services in the country.

According to Heru, it was essential that a RIM server or data center was located in Indonesia in the interest of the country’s safety and security.

“If the server is not here in Indonesia, we cannot trace potential terrorism and corruption cases. We also have no idea what they are doing with data from Indonesian users,” he said.

Indonesia is the Southeast Asia’s top BlackBerry user, boasting 2.63 million users in 2010. That figure is expected to rise to 4 million users by the end of 2011.

Continue Reading

Study Finds How Child Abuse Changes the Brain

Children exposed to family violence show the same pattern of activity in their brains as soldiers exposed to combat, scientists said on Monday.

In a study in the journal Current Biology, researchers used brain scans to explore the impact of physical abuse or domestic violence on children's emotional development and found that exposure to it was linked to increased activity in two brain areas when children were shown pictures of angry faces.

Previous studies that scanned the brains of soldiers exposed to violent combat situations showed the same pattern of heightened activity in these two brain areas—the anterior insula and the amygdala -- which experts say are associated with detecting potential threats.

This suggests that both maltreated children and soldiers may have adapted to become "hyper-aware" of danger in their environment, the researchers said.

"Enhanced reactivity to a...threat cue such as anger may represent an adaptive response for these children in the short term, helping keep them out of danger," said Eamon McCrory of Britain's University College London, who led the study.

But he added that such responses may also be underlying neurobiological risk factor which increases the children's susceptibility to later mental illness like depression.

Depression is already a major cause of mortality, disability, and economic burden worldwide and the World Health Organization predicts that by 2020, it will be the second leading contributor to the global burden of disease across all ages.

Childhood maltreatment is known to be one of the most potent environmental risk factors linked to later mental health problems such as anxiety disorders and depression.

A study published in August found that found that people who suffered maltreatment as children were twice as likely as those who had normal childhoods to develop persistent and recurrent depression, and less likely to respond well or quickly to treatment for their mental illness.

McCrory said still relatively little is known about how such early adversity "gets under the skin and increases a child's later vulnerability, even into adulthood."

In the study, 43 children had their brains scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty of the children who were known to have been exposed to violence at home were compared with 23 who had not experienced family violence.

The average age of the maltreated children was 12 years and they had all been referred to local social services in London.

When the children were in the scanner they were shown pictures of male and female faces showing sad, calm or angry expressions. The researchers found that those who had been exposed to violence showed increased brain activity in the anterior insula and amygdala in response to the angry faces.

"We are only now beginning to understand how child abuse influences functioning of the brain's emotional systems," McCrory said. "This research...provides our first clues as to how regions in the child's brain may adapt to early experiences of abuse."

Continue Reading

Facebook Prepping for Massive Hiring Spree

Facebook plans to nearly double in size in the next year.

The social network announced plans on Friday to dramatically expand its operations, adding a wealth of new engineers to enhance features and write fresh code for the website that links more than 800 million users worldwide.

"We'll be adding thousands of employees in the next year," Facebook COO Cheryl Sandberg announced from the company's New York City offices on Friday. Facebook currently has about 3,000 employees in California, Sandberg said, but just 100 in its Big Apple facility -- mainly marketing staff.

The company plans to expand that Madison Avenue office by opening its first East Coast engineering office. 

And Facebook's recruitment drive is already in full swing, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

"They're accepting applications now if any of you need a job," Bloomberg told a group of reporters hastily assembled for the last-minute announcement. 

Sandberg refused to announce exactly how many employees the company would hire for the new department, however, stating only that the company would be hiring "as many qualified candidates" as possible.

The news was nevertheless pleasing not just to Bloomberg but also to New York senator Chuck Schumer, who joined Sandberg to unveil the new engineering offices.

"New York is pleased to call Facebook a friend," Schumer joked, adding that there was "so much to like about Facebook -- get it?"

The news underscores a growing high-tech trend in New York City, Bloomberg said, noting that high-tech jobs in the city have grown by 30 percent in the past year -- even outstripping tech Meccas like Silicon Valley and Boston on some metrics, he said.

"The smartest thing tech and social media companies can do is move to New York," Bloomberg said.

As proof, Bloomberg noted that the city is becoming the birthplace for more and more Internet startups, ticking off several well-known dotcoms that got their big break in the Big Apple.

"We're ... home to an increasing number of home-grown success stories, including Etsy and Hunch and Kickstarter, TheLadders, Foursquare, Gilt Groupe and Meetup," Bloomberg said 

Facebook's Friday announcement should encourage other visionaries to start in the city as well, he said.

"We want the next Facebook to start here in New York."

Continue Reading

World's most expensive white wine sold for £75,000

A 200 year-old bottle of Château d’Yquem has been bought by a collector for £75,000, setting a new world record for the most expensive bottle of white wine ever sold.

The bottle of 1811 Chateau d'Yquem was sold to French private collector Christian Vanneque at the Ritz in London amid tight security.

Mr Vanneque will only get to taste his expensive purchase in 2017, when he plans to drink it to celebrate what will be his 50-year career as a sommelier.

He will open it at the famous Paris restaurant La Tour d'Argent and share it with his wife, the vendor and the restaurant owner.

The diminutive wine connoisseur said he was in awe of his expensive purchase: "It is like getting acquainted with a lady who is 200 years old and I am quite shy. It is next to me and I just touched it earlier and it is quite humbling," he said.

"I knew I had Napoleon's height and now I have something from his reign and it is a bit humbling," he joked.

The majority of white wines are not meant to age. Most of them expire in the bottle after just a few years. The bottle of Chateau dYquem is an exception because it's a sweet wine. The high levels of sugar, combined with the grape's natural acidity have served as a preservative. There are only a few wines in the world with these qualities. Experts say the flavour is developed each year it ages.

The most expensive bottle of wine ever sold at auction was set last year with the £192,000 sale of a 1947 French Cheval-Blanc, a red wine sold by Christie's in Geneva.

Mr Vanneque plans to display the 1811 Chateau d'Yquem in his restaurant in Bali, Indonesia, when it launches in September 2011.

Continue Reading

Product Review: HP TouchPad Custom Fit Case

Product Review: HP TouchPad Custom Fit Case: HP TouchPad Custom Fit Case by HP 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews ( 196 customer reviews ) List Price: $29.99 Price: $20.73 ...

Continue Reading

7 Ways to Avoid Holiday Travel Stress

The hustle and bustle of the holiday season is upon us. And travel by air, which is never easy any time of the year, is especially hard during Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

Travelers can expect fewer flight options, crowded seating and higher fares.  Nationwide people are paying an average of 6 percent more for a round-trip airline ticket this Thanksgiving compared to a year ago, according to reports. And adding to the woes is bad weather: storms the Pacific Northwest, the threat of floods in the South, rain in the Northeast  --even the possibility of snow in parts of New England. 

But the high prices and threat of bad weather is not keeping people at home. AAA says some 42.5 million Americans will be on the move, traveling at least 50 miles during the Thanksgiving weekend.  This is a 4 percent increase from last year.

Fox News Traveler spoke with family travel expert Eileen Ogintz from Takingthekids.com and Priceline.com travel expert Brian Ek about how to avoid the some of the headaches of getting from point A to point B during this busy time. 

1. Plan for Padding: Plan to get to the airport at least three hours early – even for domestic flights. Check in and security lines could be especially long and you may experience unusual traffic on the way to the airport. There are countless reasons why you should plan on getting to the gate extra early. 

2. Cover Up: Some airlines charge $7 for a blanket or pillow. Especially in the winter, flights can be especially cold with the air conditioning running. Even if you’re heading somewhere like Hawaii, bring a coat to keep you warm on the flight to avoid paying for a blanket you won't need after you arrive at your destination. 

3. Hold Off On the Wrapping: Don’t wrap presents - unless they’re in a gift bag. TSA might need to open them early. 

4. Weigh Your Bags: Especially if you’re trying to squish presents into your suitcase, make sure your bag isn’t over 50 pounds. It may be much cheaper to mail presents or clothes ahead of time than to pay an overweight baggage fee which could be $49 to $100 per bag - each way. 

5. Pack Extra for the Kids: Don’t assume there will be food on the plane or you’ll have time to pick up some in the terminal before. Pack lunches for younger travelers – in case there isn’t food available or time to grab some. Also, bring extra diapers, clothes, snacks and formula for babies and kids who may get stuck on an airplane longer than you anticipated. 

6. Be Prepared for Delays: Check regularly to see if your flight is delayed before you get to the airport. You may show up to check in - only to find out you were rebooked hours earlier on a different itinerary. 

7. Bring a Sense of Humor: Everything from weather delays to crowded parking lots to long security lines will make traveling around the holidays difficult. If you have kids with you - they will sense your anxiety and might be difficult. The holidays are supposed to be a really fun experience. Don’t spoil it.

Continue Reading

Hackers 'hit' US water treatment systems

Hackers are alleged to have destroyed a pump used to pipe water to thousands of homes in a US city in Illinois.

Hackers with access to the utility's network are thought to have broken the pump by turning it on and off quickly.

The FBI and Department for Homeland Security (DHS) are investigating the incident as details emerge of what could be a separate second attack.

Experts said the news revealed a growing interest in critical infrastructure by cyber criminals.

Information about the 8 November incident came to light via the blog of Joe Weiss who advises utilities on how to protect hardware against attack.

Mr Weiss quoted from a short report by the Illinois Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center which said hackers obtained access using stolen login names and passwords. These were taken from a company which writes control software for industrial systems.

The net address through which the attack was carried out was traced to Russia, according to Mr Weiss. The report said "glitches" in the remote access system for the pump had been noticed for months before the burn out, said Mr Weiss.

Peter Boogaard, A spokesman for the DHS, said it was gathering facts about the incident.

"At this time there is no credible corroborated data that indicates a risk to critical infrastructure entities or a threat to public safety," he said.

Industrial action

The comments by the DHS prompted a hacker using the handle "pr0f" to claim he had access to the control systems for a second US water utility.

He posted a document to the Pastebin website which purportedly contained links to screenshots of the internal control systems for a waste water treatment plant in South Houston.

The hacker's claims about their ability to penetrate the control systems have yet to be confirmed or denied by South Houston's Water and Sewer Department.

In an interview with the Threat Post website, Pr0f said the hack of the South Houston network barely deserved the name because only a three-character password had been used to protect the system.

The attacks are the latest in a series in which different hackers and groups have targeted so called Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. These specialised computer systems are used to control equipment used to filter water, mix chemicals, distribute power and route trains and trams.

One of the best known SCADA attacks involved the Stuxnet worm which caused problems for Iran.

There were reports that the malware crippled centrifuges used in the nation's uranium enrichment program. Iran denied the claims saying that it had caught the worm before it reached its intended target.

Earlier this year, security researchers who investigated ways to attack SCADA systems were persuaded to cancel a public talk about their findings because of the "serious physical, financial impact these issues could have on a worldwide basis".

Lani Kass, a former advisor to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff on security issues, said America had to start doing more work to understand attacks on critical infrastructure.

"The going in hypothesis is always that it's just an incident or coincidence," she said. "And if every incident is seen in isolation, it's hard - if not impossible - to discern a pattern or connect the dots."

"Failure to connect the dots led us to be surprised on 9/11," she said.

Continue Reading

25 Worst Internet Passwords

If  “password” is your password, chances are you’ve been the victim of a hack attack.

“Password” is the least successful, according to SplashData’s annual list of worst Internet passwords.

The list, notes Mashable.com, is somewhat predictable. Sequences of adjacent numbers or letters on the keyboard, such as “qwerty” and “123456,” and popular names, such as “ashley” and “michael,” all are common choices. Other common choices, such as “monkey” and “shadow,” are harder to explain.

As some websites have begun to require passwords to include both numbers and letters, it makes sense varied choices, such as “abc123″ and “trustno1,” have become popular choices.

SplashData created the rankings based on millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers. Here is the complete list:

• 1. password
• 2. 123456
• 3.12345678
• 4. qwerty
• 5. abc123
• 6. monkey
• 7. 1234567
• 8. letmein
• 9. trustno1
• 10. dragon
• 11. baseball
• 12. 111111
• 13. iloveyou
• 14. master
• 15. sunshine
• 16. ashley
• 17. bailey
• 18. passw0rd
• 19. shadow
• 20. 123123
• 21. 654321
• 22. superman
• 23. qazwsx
• 24. michael
• 25. football
• 
  

SplashData CEO Morgan Slain urges businesses and consumers using any password on the list to change them immediately.

“Hackers can easily break into many accounts just by repeatedly trying common passwords,” Slain says. “Even though people are encouraged to select secure, strong passwords, many people continue to choose weak, easy-to-guess ones, placing themselves at risk from fraud and identity theft.”

Continue Reading

Android malware explodes, jumps five-fold since July

Malware targeting Google's Android mobile operating system exploded in the last several months, its volume quintupling since July, Juniper Networks said today.

The rash of infected apps aimed at Android owners shows no sign of abating, said Dan Hoffman, Juniper's chief mobile security analyst and a member of the company's global threat center.

"We're seeing a mix of the traditional hacking community [working] on malware very similar to organized efforts on the PC side, as well as people who are just a little smart, the '15-year-old kid crowd,' who are able to hide some malicious content in an app," said Hoffman in an interview today.

According to Juniper's research, the number of Android malware samples -- each defining a different piece of attack code, or a variant of one discovered earlier -- increased by 472% since July 2011. The bulk of that growth occurred in September and October.

"We've seen an exponential growth in Android malware over the last several months," Juniper said in a blog post that accompanied Juniper's recently-published mobile threat report.

The prime threat remains purposefully-malicious Android apps that are crafted by criminals, often pirated versions of legitimate applications, then planted in either Google's official Android Market or in one of the scores of alternate download sites, which are especially popular in Asia -- China in particular.

"That is very clearly the threat now," said Hoffman, who added that the hackers' strategy would likely continue indefinitely.

That's because Google doesn't control what apps can be installed on an Android mobile device, as Apple does with code-signing technologies for iOS apps, and so makes third-party app download centers possible. Nor does Google vet apps submitted to the Android Market.

Other security researchers have noted the same when they have found malicious apps in the Android Market or in unsanctioned e-stores.

At least three different waves of malware -- in March, June and finally July --infiltrated the Android Market this year. The malicious apps were removed by Google only after they had been downloaded by an unknown number of users.

Far more attack apps have appeared in Chinese app stores that distribute Android software.

Android malware volume has almost quintupled since July. (Graphic: Juniper Networks)

Juniper speculated that the hackers now crafting Android malware are those who used to specialize in Symbian and Windows Mobile attack code. But as those operating systems' share plummeted -- Web metrics company Net Applications put their shares during October at 3.5% and 0.07%, respectively, down from 8% and 0.2% a year ago -- the criminals have abandoned those platforms and jumped on Android.

"Together, the Symbian and Microsoft Windows Mobile platforms are the oldest and most researched mobile platforms, and devices running those mobile operating systems have been the targets of the most prolific and effective malware known to affect mobile devices," said Juniper.

While Google's practice of not policing the Android Market, and its inability to restrict all apps to its own distribution channel, has been pegged as the primary reason for the OS's vulnerability, Hoffman argued that the policy also gave users the means to protect themselves.

"There may be a better vetting process on iOS, but a really critical point is that Android users have the benefit of a security marketplace," said Hoffman, referring to the large number of anti-malware programs available for Google-powered smartphones and tablets.

"In iOS, consumers and even enterprise don't have a choice," Hoffman said. "There's no benefit of competition because users are completely reliant on Apple for security."

Hoffman has a point: When Lookout Security, a leader in Android-based antivirus software, recently introduced a version for iOS it was unable to provide any malware scanning capabilities in the app.

Not surprisingly for someone who works for a security firm, Hoffman also argued that it wasn't up to the OS provider to guarantee a secure device; users have responsibilities, too.

"No matter what policies an app store may have, the real way is to protect a device is to protect it with security software," Hoffman said. "You have to protect your mobile devices just like you protect your PCs."

Continue Reading

Pentagon tests long-range hypersonic weapon

The US has test-fired a new weapon which can travel at five times the speed of sound, the Pentagon says.

The missile was launched from Hawaii and reached its target on a Pacific atoll 2,300 miles (3,700km) away in less than half an hour.

The Advanced Hypersonic Weapon is part of a programme to build new high-speed long-range missiles.

Its aim is to allow the US military to strike targets anywhere in the world within an hour.

A statement from the Pentagon said the weapon had been launched using a three-stage booster system, which had successfully sent it into the upper atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.

It reached hypersonic speeds before hitting its target on Kwajalein atoll, part of the Marshall Islands.

New munitions

The term hypersonic is defined as exceeding Mach 5 - five times the speed of sound, or 3,700 mph (6,000km/h).

"The objective of the test is to collect data on hypersonic boost-glide technologies and test range performance for long-range atmospheric flight," said the Pentagon statement.

The US defence department gave no details of the top speed achieved by the weapon.

However, defence analysts Global Security.org say the aim of the programme is to be able to strike a target 3,700 miles (6,000km) away in 35 minutes, with an accuracy of 10m.

They say the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon is one of a number of alternatives the Pentagon is considering to allow a conventional weapon to strike "fleeting targets around the globe faster than today's munitions".

Earlier this year a congressional report said the programme was part of a project to develop a "prompt global strike" system that can deliver long-range weapons anywhere in the world while avoiding flying over third-party nations.

Continue Reading