Gigarefurb Refurbished Laptops News

Security experts from the Newcastle University, UK, revealed that the motion sensors built into modern smartphones can make PIN locks virtually useless, as malicious hackers could guess them in up to five tries, at most.

Avoid Using PINs, If Possible

Four- and even six-digit PINs are already trivial to brute-force with GPU-powered password cracking tools. This is why both Apple and Google have limited how many times you can input a PIN to unlock your phone in a given amount of time before you can try again.

The weakness of PINs–and the protection mechanism that Apple has employed in iOS because of it–was also at the core of FBI’s fight against Apple in the San Bernardino case. The law enforcement agency wanted to force Apple to remove those protections so it could easily brute-force the PIN protecting that iPhone’s encrypted storage.

However, according to researchers, the attack they discovered could mean that even that protection mechanism may not be enough anymore. Using the new technique, a malicious actor could guess anyone’s PIN 70% of the time with a single try, or 100% of the time in up to five tries.

If Apple or Google tried to reduce the number of attempts below five, using a PIN may become too cumbersome for smartphone owners, especially if they tend to forget it often. At that point, the companies may have to simply remove the PIN option from their device authentication options and leave only the more secure options in place.

How The Sensor-Based PIN Attack Works

Modern smartphones have plenty of sensors in them such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, barometers, rotation and proximity sensors, and so on. These sensors can be used in gaming as well as fitness applications, so they are quite useful to have in a device that everyone carries with them. However, as the Newcastle University researchers learned, they can also pose security problems unless proper protections are used to prevent abuse.

One of the problems the researchers identified is that only a small number of sensors, such as the GPS and camera sensors, require user permission. The rest can be activated without any action from the user.

This may be a design choice on Google and Apple’s part, because according to the Newcastle researchers, most smartphone users are only aware of the risks that may come from GPS tracking or the camera being remotely activated.

The PIN identification attack works because every touch action on a smartphone, including clicking, scrolling, holding, and tapping, creates a unique orientation and motion trace. An attacker who can gain remote access to that sort of information from the device could also create a profile for the PIN that a user enters on the device.

Alerting OS Vendors

The team of researchers from the Newcastle University alerted Google and Apple about these issues, but it doesn’t look like there will be a quick fix for this, because, as always, there’s a trade-off between security and usability. Requiring permission for every touch on the device is obviously impractical, but perhaps the two companies can find some other ways to further secure your actions from potential attackers.

Dr Maryam Mehrnezhad, who led the research on this issue, had a few tips you can follow if you decide to stick to a PIN on your smartphone:

• Make sure you change PINs and passwords regularly so malicious websites can’t start to recognise a pattern.
• Close background apps when you are not using them and uninstall apps you no longer need
• Keep your phone operating system and apps up to date
• Only install applications from approved app stores
• Audit the permissions that apps have on your phone
• Scrutinise the permission requested by apps before you install them and choose alternatives with more sensible permissions if needed

If all of those suggestions seem like more trouble than they’re worth, you’re probably right. It may be best to stick to using stronger alternatives than PINs such as passwords, or fingerprint authentication, and forget about using PINs for anything.

Go to Source

In January, Apple filed a lawsuit alleging that Qualcomm abused the popularity of its products and patents during its dealings with phone makers. Now, Qualcomm has filed a countersuit. The company said it’s seeking damages from Apple for “reneging on its promises in several agreements” and wants the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California to “enjoin Apple from further interference” regarding its deals with the iPhone and iPad’s manufacturers.

Apple filed lawsuits against Qualcomm in California and Beijing after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused the supplier of anti-competitive practices. The complaints stem from the popularity of Qualcomm’s baseband processors, which allow mobile devices to manage connections to wireless networks and make up 65% of the LTE baseband market, according to a February 2016 estimate from ABI Research.

Qualcomm said in January that Apple’s complaints were “baseless” and that the company “intentionally mischaracterized our agreements and negotiations, as well as the enormity and value of the technology we have invented, contributed and shared with all mobile device makers through our licensing program.” It also said Apple was “actively encouraging regulatory attacks on Qualcomm’s business” with regulators around the world.

The company also said the FTC “lacked basic information about the industry and was instead relying on inaccurate information and presumptions” for its allegations. Apple CEO Tim Cook, for his part, said in a January 31 earnings call that the company sued Qualcomm as a “last resort” because it “didn’t see another way forward” with the supplier. Apple may have started the lawsuits, but it wants you to think Qualcomm started the conflict.

Qualcomm alleged in its filing with the U.S. District Court that Apple has actually been more aggressive than it appears. Here’s the company’s summary of its accusations that Apple:

• Breached agreements and mischaracterized agreements and negotiations with Qualcomm;
• Interfered with Qualcomm’s long-standing agreements with Qualcomm licensees that manufacture iPhones and iPads for Apple;
• Encouraged regulatory attacks on Qualcomm’s business in various jurisdictions around the world by misrepresenting facts and making false statements;
• Chose not to utilize the full performance of Qualcomm’s modem chips in its iPhone 7, misrepresented the performance disparity between iPhones using Qualcomm modems and those using competitor-supplied modems; and
• Threatened Qualcomm in an attempt to prevent it from making any public comparisons about the superior performance of the Qualcomm-powered iPhones.

Qualcomm executive vice president and senior counsel Dan Rosenberg said in a statement that the company plans “to vigorously defend our business model, and pursue our right to protect and receive fair value for our technological contributions to the industry.” He also said that Apple has used its “enormous market power to coerce unfair and unreasonable license terms from Qualcomm” during their previous financial dealings.

There is no David in this story–just two Goliaths alleging that the other one threw the first punch.

Go to Source

Microsoft has officially released the second major update to Windows 10, the Creators Update. Much like the Anniversary Update that came before it, the Creators Update brings many improvements, from better high-DPI scaling to new privacy settings that have to be set before you can use the update.

The name implies that Microsoft also wanted this update to appeal to creative users, so how does the Creators Update actually do to help you make things?

“Creators”

Well, Microsoft seems to have a pretty narrow definition of “creator.” The most notable additions to the Creators Update are the Paint 3D modelling tool and Beam live-streaming service. Both are now built into Windows 10, which should make it easier for you to dabble with 3D modelling or game streaming if other apps never appealed to you, but the Creators Update otherwise appears devoid of meaningful updates for creators–even those interested in the Windows Mixed Reality initiative.

Windows 10 did already feature some creative tools, Paint and Audio Recorder, but that was the extent of the built-in options. That pales in comparison to what Apple offers macOS users. iMovie handles video editing; GarageBand lets you record and edit music, podcasts, and other audio; Pages, Numbers, and Keynote stand in for Word, Excel, and Powerpoint; and QuickTime Player enables screen recordings, among other things.

Microsoft and Apple have different business models, of course, but that’s still quite the discrepancy between what you can create with the built-in tools in Windows 10 and macOS. (This is not to mention Windows 10’s problems with scaling and font rendering, both of which can make even the simple act of writing something less comfortable than on macOS.) The idea is that Apple customers get free software in exchange for overpaying for hardware.

Which is funny, because Microsoft announced just yesterday that developers have added support for the Surface Dial, a $100 peripheral meant to complement the $3,000+ Surface Studio, to their apps. This will make it easier for you to draw things or remix music–provided you fork over the money for the necessary hardware. Sound familiar? It should; the only difference here is that you also have to pay for the software to go with it.

It didn’t have to be this way. Microsoft previously offered Windows Movie Maker as a sort of iMovie alternative. The app wasn’t the most capable video editor on the block, sure, but you could use it for home videos and other simple flicks all the same. A support page used to say that a new version of Windows Movie Maker was headed to Windows 10, but that text has been removed, which suggests it was delayed or canceled.

Microsoft also seemed to be working on its answer to GarageBand with Groove Music Maker. This could’ve been huge–GarageBand doesn’t have a counterpart built right into Windows 10, and if Groove Music Maker was similarly versatile, it could’ve appealed to musicians, podcasters, narrators, and many other creators who use sound as their medium. There are free audio recording and software products available for Windows 10, of course, but the only one built into the operating system is Audio Recorder, and it pales in comparison to its macOS competitor. But  even though it appeared in a teaser video, Groove Music Maker was never even officially announced.

The Mixed Reality Bump?

XR enthusiasts might also be disappointed by the Creators Update. Microsoft demoed a Windows Capture 3D tool–which would have made it easy to capture 3D images and edit them in Paint 3D–in October 2016. That tool is nowhere to be found in the Creators Update. Windows Mixed Reality is also limited to developers; XR headsets aren’t yet available to the public, and Microsoft bundles Windows Mixed Reality development tools with the Windows 10 SDK used to create apps for the desktop operating system. Devs will likely welcome Windows Mixed Reality’s slow but steady rollout, but the tools aren’t any closer to reaching consumers with the Creators Update than they were before.

Windows Movie Maker and Groove Music Maker alone would’ve gone a long way towards helping the Creators Update live up to its name. That isn’t to say that the update is pointless; we’ve appreciated many of the changes it brings to Windows 10. It’s just weird that Microsoft called it the Creators Update when Game Mode, a picture-in-picture feature, and other improvements make it better for content consumption than creation.

The iterative nature of Windows 10 means Microsoft could introduce those apps–or other creative tools–pretty much whenever it pleases. But at least for today, unless you’re dying for a built-in 3D modelling app or alternative to existing live-streaming platforms, you might as well leave the “creators” out of it and just consider it a capital letter Windows 10 Update.

How To Get It

Microsoft is rolling out the Creators Update in stages. The update is expected to take several months to reach all compatible devices. If you want to guarantee access to the features and improvements debuting today, you’ll have to download the Windows 10 Update Assistant from Microsoft’s website. Otherwise, you can wait for the company to send you a notification asking you to look over your privacy settings and install the Creators Update.

Go to Source

Ubisoft announced the end of support for its Uplay PC client for Windows Vista. The company decided that, with Microsoft officially pulling the plug on Vista, it was no longer feasible continue to update the Uplay PC client for the (now) legacy operating system. Although Vista users will still be able to access their games, they will no longer be able to receive updates for the Uplay PC client once support ends. The Ubisoft support FAQ states:

QUESTION:

With Microsoft ending Windows Vista support, what does that mean for the Uplay PC Client?

ANSWER:

With official support for Windows Vista soon to end, we have decided to end our support of this now legacy operating system. This will allow us to take advantage of newer technologies moving forward and ensure the highest possible security for our users.

If you are one of the few still using Window Vista, we strongly urge you upgrade to a newer, more secure version of Windows at your earliest convenience.

How many people will this affect? Because Ubisoft doesn’t make Uplay user stats available, we took a quick peek at the latest Steam Hardware & Software Survey to see how many Windows Vista users are left. Not surprisingly, gamers using the aging OS account for only 0.10% of Steam’s overall user base.

The takeaway from all of this: This is what happens when you refuse to upgrade to a current operating system. Using an outdated, non-supported OS not only makes you a threat to yourself, but you are a security risk to your friends and family as well.  

Also, if you are not going to move out of your mom’s basement, you should at least help with the chores every now and then. We’re looking at you, 0.10% Vista users.     

Go to Source