hack

10 'hack' stories April 2014 - October 2015

Hacked Android Marshmallow build available for Nexus 7 (2012), here’s how to install it

Stephen Hall Oct 16 2015 - 7:45 am PT

There are several Nexus devices that just don’t support Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and that fact has left some owners of ancient technology very unhappy. But this is Android, of course, and there’s nothing keeping developers from tinkering with Google’s open source OS. Specifically, owners of the 2012 Nexus 7 should rejoice in this case: It’s definitely at your own risk, but you can now install an early and hacky unofficial build of Google’s latest version of Android on your phone. Here’s how to do it…
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No Samsung Pay customer data compromised by LoopPay hack, says Samsung

Ben Lovejoy Oct 8 2015 - 4:37 am PT

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samsung-pay-1280x713

Samsung has said that a hack at LoopPay reported in the New York Times did not compromise any of its customer data. LoopPay’s technology forms part of the company’s electronic wallet offering, Samsung Pay.

Samsung Pay was not impacted and at no point was any personal payment information at risk. This was an isolated incident that targeted the LoopPay office network, which is a physically separate network from Samsung Pay. The LoopPay incident was resolved and had nothing to do with Samsung Pay …

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Stagefright makes a comeback, and more than 1 billion phones are vulnerable

Stephen Hall Oct 1 2015 - 12:54 pm PT

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The number of vulnerabilities found in Android’s Stagefright just grew, and this time devices from as far back as Android 1.0 are vulnerable to attack. This first vulnerability, affecting almost every Android device, is in “libutils” — and that’s just one of the vulnerabilities recently discovered by Zimperium. Another vulnerability was found in libstagefright that makes Android devices running software versions later than 5.0 vulnerable as well…
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LG G Watch R hack enables WiFi for devices running Android Wear 5.1.1

Stephen Hall Jun 2 2015 - 9:03 am PT

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LG-Watch-R2

It’s widely speculated that LG is working to bring WiFi support to the LG G Watch R in some future release of Android Wear, but in the most recent official release, 5.1.1, the smartwatch is notably left out. Being left out of a feature isn’t an unsolvable problem for the XDA Developers community, though, as it appears one developer has put together a hack for enabling WiFi on the round smartwatch from LG…
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New Snowden files: Intelligence agencies planned to hack Android phones by compromising app stores

Ben Lovejoy May 21 2015 - 6:57 am PT

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app-store

A multinational government group known as the Five Eyes intelligence alliance – the spy group comprising Canada, the U.S., Britain, Australia and New Zealand – planned to hack Android phones by compromising both Google and Samsung app stores. The plan was revealed in newly-released Snowden files dating back to 2012, reports CBC News.

Five Eyes specifically sought ways to find and hijack data links to servers used by Google and Samsung’s mobile app stores [trying] to find ways to implant spyware on smartphones by intercepting the transmissions sent when downloading or updating apps.

The alliance planned to begin by analyzing traffic to the stores to identify the Internet usage habits of targets (such as which apps they used), but the ultimate goal was to plant spyware that would enable them to extract data from targeted smartphones, or even to take control of them …
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PSA: Samsung’s Galaxy S6 has been rooted by Chainfire

Stephen Hall Mar 16 2015 - 2:45 pm PT

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s6:edge

Chainfire has announced this afternoon that the first two models of the Samsung Galaxy S6 have been added to the CF-Auto-Root repository. Specifically, you’ll find that CF-Auto-Root for both the SM-G920T and SM-G925T are now available, otherwise known as the T-Mobile Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. CF-Auto-Roots for other devices in the S6 family are surely imminent…

As per Chainfire’s Google+ post:

Either way, the first CF-Auto-Root’s for the S6 family are up: SM-G920T and SM-G925T – the T-Mobile US S6 and S6 Edge.

Only very minor modifications were necessary [to the existing CFAR script]. The S6 CFAR has been tested on a real device, and root was achieved. Further information? I have none, I wasn’t there in person.

All completely expected, but perhaps nice to know regardless.

Before actually rooting though, consider that KNOX will likely be tripped, and there’s a good chance untripped KNOX will be required for phone based payments.

If you want to download the CF-Auto-Root, be sure to head over to the repository: http://autoroot.chainfire.eu/. It’s probably not going to be useful for many yet, because the Galaxy S6 hasn’t even shipped for most. And in the case that you don’t have any need for a root at all, you’re probably in the majority.

Security flaw places Android, iOS & Mac users at risk from hacking on some major websites

Ben Lovejoy Mar 4 2015 - 4:26 am PT

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freak

Cryptographers have discovered that a security flaw dating back to the ’90s is placing Android, iOS and Mac users at risk from hacking attacks when visiting some major websites, including American Express, Airtel, Bloomberg, Business Insider, Groupon, Marriott and many more.

The FREAK exploit allows an attacker to force a website to use lower-grade encryption for HTTPS connections, which can be cracked within a few hours when using a small botnet of just 75 computers. Once cracked, attackers would be able to hack the website as well as steal personal data from those visiting the site …
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Developer hacks Android Wear to show iPhone notifications (Video)

Stephen Hall Feb 22 2015 - 9:04 am PT

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Android Wear and iOS (direct connection) - YouTube 2015-02-22 11-02-59

Android Wear is great, but if you’re an iOS user, it looks like the Apple Watch is going to be your only option for a while. Google has yet to make any of Android Wear’s functionality compatible with Apple’s operating system, and it doesn’t look like they plan to do so any time soon. But that’s not stopping one developer, Mohammad Abu-Garbeyyeh, from hacking Android Wear to at least support notifications from iOS devices.

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Want that Harman Kardon sound on your HTC One? Here’s how to get it (video)

Mark Hearn May 8 2014 - 1:47 pm PT

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Sprint recently announced that it would carry a special edition of the HTC One M8 that would feature sound enhancing software from Harman Kardon. While we’re happy for the carrier and its legions of customers, we couldn’t help but feel sorry for M8 owners outside of Sprint’s service. If you happen to be a part of this group, turn that frown upside down! We’ve got some good news for you today! This crafty individuals over at The Unlockr how found a workaround that brings Harman Kardon’s Clari-fi tech to just about any version of HTC’s new flagship phone.

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MagicPlay brings native Apple AirPlay support to Play Music on rooted devices

Jonathan Kizer Apr 22 2014 - 6:35 pm PT

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MagicPlay—another app from the doubleTwist developers—brings support for Apple’s AirPlay to any Android device running Android 4.1, allowing content to be streamed to an Apple TV connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the phone. If you aren’t rooted, a separate app will enable you to stream your music and videos to an Apple TV or compatible set of speakers from doubleTwist, but you won’t be able to use these features within the Play Music app itself.

If your device is rooted, however, MagicPlay now adds an option to stream your content via AirPlay from the Play Music app. This feature, added in the 1.1 update that was released today, was announced by doubleTwist in a blog post today. MagicPlay now takes advantage of an API normally reserved for the Chromecast:
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