tech.nocr.at » nas

Android Trojan: Geinimi

Frank — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:01:00 +0000

With more and more people using Android based phones it’s not a surprise that we are starting to see more and more viruses for these devices. The greater the market share the more appealing an OS is to malware and virus writers.

The newest nasty on the block is called Geininmi. Geininimi latches onto Android applications that use portals outside of Google’s Marketplace. It expands the range of said applications permissions and sends the info it collection to parts unknown. Security firm Lookout speculates that it may be trying to build a botnet and with the insane amount of Android phones out there it’s bound to be one massive botnet.

Pay close attention to the permissions that are requested by any application you install. If an app asks for permission to your contact list and it has nothing to do with your contacts you probably shouldn’t install it. As we all know, 90% of people who get infected don’t use common sense to protect themselves. Don’t become one of these victims.

We’ll keep you posted on additions to this story.

Android Trojan: Geinimi originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Turn Any NAS Drive Into A Time Machine Drive

Frank — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:20:08 +0000

Time Machine is a great built-in feature in OS X. When Apple first announced that they would be offering the ability to backup and restore your files and system with the ease of use that we have come to know and love from Apple I was ecstatic. Then I found out that you had to have a physical drive connected to your machine to utilize it, or you’d have to purchase an expensive Apple made NAS product (Time Capsule) to use it without a physical drive connected to the machine.

Many hacks have been released that allow you to use any NAS drive as a Time Machine drive. All you really need to do is some shell code and create a sparse image, but now someone has taken all of the dirty work away from you and released a simple AppleScript that will get you up and running with any headache’s.

[Link to Time Machine NAS AppleScript]

Turn Any NAS Drive Into A Time Machine Drive originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Is Your Cell Phone Safe From Hackers?

Frank — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 05:52:10 +0000

Looks like we are being told to be afraid of hackers again, this time they are going after our cellphones.

Security experts at Georgia Tech are telling us that hackers could soon turn their attention toward creating botnets out of our cellphones. With more and more smartphones making their way into consumers hands and with every generation of phone becoming more powerful it’s a serious possibility.

These botnets could be used to send spam or other malicious attacks. A user could go out searching for ringtones for their phone only to download something with a nasty payload that could take your phone and turn it into a zombie. Now before people start panicking, this is all speculative at this point, but quite possible. Remember that most cell companies have yet to plug the hole in the bluetooth stack that leaves your phone vulnerable to a snarfing attack.

It’s a scary though to have millions of infected phones that are almost always on and just waiting for a command. I wonder what a DDOS attack vie edge or 3g would do.

Is Your Cell Phone Safe From Hackers? originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY: USB Switched Power Strip

Frank — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:26:23 +0000

Instructable user toymotorhead cobbled together this USB controller power strip to ensure that his devices turned off automatically when he shut down his computer as well as turn them on once he turned his computer on. All-in-all he spent about $30 on the contraption.

The unit consists of a solid state relay, some fuses, and some transient voltage surge suppressing diodes. The unit is also isolated from the motherboard to protect his computer from any unwanted nasty power spikes. The unit current just switches the power supply off and by by measuring the current of the usb connection and doesn’t use any fancy software to control the unit.

It’s a fairly easy project to build, but remember, your working with some high voltage here so make sure to take all precautions necessary so you don’t fry yourself.

[Link to building a USB switched power strip]

DIY: USB Switched Power Strip originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Tiny BBQ Made Out Of An Altoids Tin

Frank — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:52:16 +0000

For those of you who know me you know that I am just fascinated by building things inside of an altoids tin, but this tiny BBQ dubbed the eBq takes the cake. This tiny little BBQ that you can use to cook up your breakfast sausage features:

Built in Striker
Removable Grill
Utensil Holder
Equipment Holder

Just remember to let it cool off before you put it back into your pocket or else you will feel a nasty burn in your pants.

Tiny BBQ Made Out Of An Altoids Tin originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

EeePC Keyboard Backlight for $15

Frank — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 03:00:11 +0000

I’m a huge fan of my EeePC. So much so that I am actually writing this post on my 4G right now. The one thing that drives me bananas with the unit is the lack of a keyboard light, and when you are in a dark room trying to type, well you can just imagine.

Popular Science has a great article on adding a keyboard backlight to a EeePC for under $15

As we showed you in our May 2008 issue, Asus’s Eee PC has quickly become a favorite of hardware hackers around the web. Here, we offer the first installment of our Eee PC School series. Check back in the coming weeks for more tiny ultraportable tweaking.â€”Eds.
What good is that portable PC if you canâ€™t type anywhere and anytime? With its ultra-compact keyboard, even touch typing pros will be hard-pressed to avoid frequent mistakes on when the lights go out. To say itâ€™s a frustrating exercise in futility to locate the miniature F3 key in the dark is an understatement. Oops, you just lost WiFi contact by accidentally hitting F2.
Clearly, a keyboard backlight like those found in higher-end laptops is the answer to your nocturnal Eee PC typing woes. And for less than $15, such a backlight can be installed with minimal fuss.

EeePC Keyboard Backlight for $15 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

$10 Super Duper WiFi Antenna

Frank — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 02:55:10 +0000

There are sometimes that a single bar of WiFi service isnâ€™t going to cut it. You can see the access points near you, but the signal is just too weak to get you any access. Before you go out and spend $100â€™s for pringle can like antennas give this $10 alternative a spin.

Items needed: some 35-mm foam (like the kind desktop and laptop PCs usually come with), some solid-core copper wire, a small brass plate, and multiple BNC connectors. Then follow the directions in the video and youâ€™ll have a super powerful directional antenna that should get you better gain that that external antenna your card came with.

Remember, this works as a directional antenna so you need to have it pointed in the right direction to get a strong signal. Just sweep it around slowly until you can lock down a super signal then surf away!

$10 Super Duper WiFi Antenna originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

14 Year Old Hacker Derails Train

Frank — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:33:45 +0000

I’m sure the media is going to put a nasty spin on this story about how all hackers are bad.

A 14 year old boy has been arrested after hacking into a Polish train system and using it like a giant train set which caused 12 people injuries. Initially it looked like he was being malicious, but I think it’s just the media trying to skirt the real problem; the kid was obviously bored and needed some form of stimulation. I’m sure the media is going to put a nasty spin on this story about how all hackers are bad.

“He had converted the television control into a device capable of controlling all the junctions on the line and wrote in the pages of a school exercise book where the best junctions were to move trams around and what signals to change.

“He treated it like any other schoolboy might a giant train set, but it was lucky nobody was killed. Four trams were derailed, and others had to make emergency stops that left passengers hurt. He clearly did not think about the consequences of his actions.”

Not that I am condoning this type of behaviour, but as we all know, curiosity sometimes gets the best of us. If anyone can gain that sort of access to public transport (with a modified TV remote control!) things are very wrong. What if it had been a terrorist? Iâ€™m sure it would be â€œdeadâ€ not â€œinjuredâ€ in the headlines.

Link to Full Story

14 Year Old Hacker Derails Train originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Google Enabled TVs

Frank — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:14:27 +0000

Some more interesting evidence why Google will soon become the new world order. Google and Panasonic’s parent company Matsushita have just signed a deal that will see the company launch flat panel TV sets that allow users to access various Google services like YouTube and Picasa right from their TV.

This isn’t the first time a company has tries to get into your living room, but it’s the first time that Google has stepped into this market space, and we all know how everything the Google touches seems to turn to gold. Having access to YouTube directly from your TV without the need of any additional hardware might just be what is need to finally deliver mass internet content directly into the living room. This might just make something like YouTube a major TV-esque network.

Google Enabled TVs originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Windows home server pricing leaked

Frank — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Amazon.com today listed two HP MediaSmart Windows Home Server systems on their site.

The two models being offered are, the HP EX470 and EX475, both have a 64-bit 1.8GHz AMD Sempron and have 4 slide-out drive bays that use standard SATA drives; the EX745 come preloaded with two 500GB drives already installed. Systems will run about $596 and $745 respectively. Both systems will come preinstalled with the Windows Home Sever operating system.

Network analysts have always believe that the home networking market is too complex for many consumers, the hope here is that these products will take some of the difficulty out of setting up a home network.

If making home networking easy is the goal here then why would they install a Microsoft based product? Why not install something simple that work and is free like FreeNAS?

Windows home server pricing leaked originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.