Black Hat hackers demo Square card skimmer, feed it stolen credit card numbers

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/05/square-found-to-be-ripe-for-fraud-turned-into-card-skimmer/

Here's some more fun out of Vegas, this time involving Jack Dorsey's Square and a little thing we like to call credit card fraud. Researchers from Aperture Labs (seriously) held two demonstrations at the Black Hat Conference. The first used a script, written by Adam Laurie, to convert stolen credit card data into a series of audio tones that were then fed to the Square app via the headphone jack on a phone -- removing the need to have a physical card. A second avenue of fraud, also using code authored by Laurie, turned the Square dongle into a skimmer. It intercepted incoming data, which is unencrypted, and spit out human readable numbers that could easily be used to clone a card. New hardware that encrypts information pulled from the magnetic strip is in the pipeline but, until then, it seems everyone's favorite smartphone-based payment service has some troublesome holes to fill.

Black Hat hackers demo Square card skimmer, feed it stolen credit card numbers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo IdeaPad K1 review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/04/lenovo-ideapad-k1-review/

Let's do a roll call, shall we? Who doesn't have a Honeycomb tablet to shill in the states? Acer, ASUS, Motorola, Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba all have something to their names, with Dell possibly bringing its China-only Dell Streak 10 Pro here too. Until now, Lenovo was one glaring exception. The company already had a head start selling the LePad tablet in China, but it was only last month that it announced not one, but two Honeycomb slates for the US market: the IdeaPad K1 for mainstream consumers, and the ThinkPad Tablet for business users (and a fair share of geeks, too). Now, we could easily roll our eyes at how saturated the market for Android tablets is becoming, but Lenovo isn't just any old OEM. The brand has won such an avid following that we bet the company could have essentially slapped its name on a plain-Jane black slab and waited for loyal fans to line up.

In fact, though, you're in for a bit more than name recognition. The K1 goes after mainstream consumers with a winsome design, sure, but also a software package designed to make Honeycomb easier to use, and to help ensure that flummoxed, low-tech users don't have to spend too much time downloading apps out of the box. What's more, it ships with Android 3.1 and has a two-cell battery that promises up to ten hours of battery life. Oh, and the 32GB model rings in $499, undercutting the 32GB iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 by $100. But is that enough for it to stand out? Let's see.

Gallery: Lenovo IdeaPad K1 review

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Lenovo IdeaPad K1 review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Time Inc. aims to please advertisers and your eyes, making all mags tablet-friendly by year's end

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/04/time-inc-aims-to-please-advertisers-and-your-eyes-making-all-m/

Do you love reading Time magazine on your tablet, but wish you had the same luxury with all of its related offerings? Oh boy, do we have fantastic news for you. As it stands, select Time Inc. publications are supported on the iPad, Android Marketplace, TouchPad, and Next Issue Media's store, but now the company has announced plans to make all 21 of its mags available on tablets by the year's end. Furthermore, support for the Nook Color will be added by the end of August with digital versions of Time, Sports Illustrated, People, and Fortune. Current subscribers to the print editions won't be left out either when it all rolls out, as they'll be able to opt-in for free upgrades with digital access. The decision is apparently tied to increasing "digital reach" for advertisers, but hey, ad-support isn't totally lame. Right? Full PR just past the break.

Continue reading Time Inc. aims to please advertisers and your eyes, making all mags tablet-friendly by year's end

Time Inc. aims to please advertisers and your eyes, making all mags tablet-friendly by year's end originally appeared on Engadget on T! hu, 04 A ug 2011 12:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SnapX lets your Macs share a single Cinema Display

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/04/snapx-lets-your-macs-share-a-single-cinema-display/

Got a pair of Macs laying around, but don't want to shell out for two Apple Cinema Displays? We don't blame you, those things are expensive. A little company called Kanex has a solution for you though, the SnapX. SnapX is, at it's heart, simply a port switcher that lets you connect two DisplayPort-equipped Macs to a single Cinema Display. But, the glossy $70 adapter does have a few neat features, like USB pass through for firing up the iSight camera and a clip for securing it to the base of the monitor. The SnapX is available for pre-order now and starts shipping to Apple devotees in September. One more pic and some PR await after the break.

Continue reading SnapX lets your Macs share a single Cinema Display

SnapX lets your Macs share a single Cinema Display originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hackers break into Subaru Outback via text message

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/04/hackers-break-into-subaru-outback-via-text-message/

We've already seen SCADA systems controlled by Google Search, and now the Black Hat Technical Security Conference is offering up yet another slice of cringe-inducing hacker pie. A pair of pros from iSec Partners security firm was able to unlock and start the engine of a Subaru Outback using an Android phone and a process they call war texting. By setting up their own GSM network, they were able to snatch up password authentication messages being sent from server to car, allowing them the option to ride off in a brand new crossover. Apparently, your car isn't the only thing in danger of a war-texting takeover, however, as the team says there are a slew of devices and systems, accessible over telephone networks, that are vulnerable to similar attacks, including A-GPS tracking devices, 3G security cameras, SCADA sensors -- and thus the power grid and water supply -- home automation, and urban traffic control systems. Somehow this group of otherwise innocent looking New York texters appears a whole lot more sinister now.

Hackers break into Subaru Outback via text message originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 17:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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