Tag Archive for: Button

No Button iPhone, New Spyware Hack and More – 24/7 Wall St.

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The iPhone’s physical on/off button could be headed for the ash heap of history. At least, that’s the latest rumor as the expected announcement of new products from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) gets closer. No one’s sure how much closer because Apple hasn’t specified a date yet.

According to CNET, the iPhone 13 (that’s the one everyone expects to be announced next month) could be buttonless. No on/off or volume controls to push. Instead, Apple could use something called capacitive sensing input devices, “‘invisible backlit holes’ that appear when touched and disappear when not in use.”

Apple filed a patent application for just such technology in December of last year. That seems a bit quick to get a product using the technology to market, but, as Apple points out in its patent filing, the touch screen of the iPhone has used this capacitive sensing since the first iPhone was produced. The filing also describes how the technology would work on a laptop and even a watch.

The next iPhone (or the one after that) could ditch the Lightning connector as well and put all Apple’s chips behind a phone that is charged wirelessly and has no ports (holes) at all.

Internet watchdog group Citizen Lab has uncovered evidence of another attack on activists’ iPhones by the Pegasus spyware developed by Israel’s NSO group. Citizen Lab examined nine Bahraini activists’ iPhones and found evidence that the phones had been hacked using a “zero-click” attack. Such an attack does not require any user interaction to infect the device with spyware.

According to TechCrunch, “the hacks also circumvent a new software security feature built into all versions of iOS 14, dubbed BlastDoor, which is supposed to prevent these kinds of device hacks by filtering malicious data sent over iMessage.” Citizen Lab told TechCrunch that the Toronto-based group had notified Apple of the attack.

In response to a query from TechCrunch, Apple “would not explicitly say if it had found and fixed the vulnerability that NSO is exploiting.” Apple re-issued a boilerplate statement:

Attacks like the ones described are highly sophisticated, cost millions of dollars to develop, often have a short…

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The White House isn’t kidding when it tells companies to button up against ransomware

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Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Subscribe to Federal Drive’s daily audio interviews on Apple Podcasts or PodcastOne.

Alarmed by ransomware, the White House has been telling the private sector to get serious about cybersecurity. Just this month, a letter to corporate executives and business leaders, urged companies to do what amounts to basic cybersecurity. It told companies they have a key and distinct responsibility. For what it all could mean, Federal Drive with Tom Temin talked to partner and information security group practice leader at the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, Michael Borgia.

Tom Temin: Mr. Borgia, good to have you one.

Michael Borgia: Thank you for having me. I appreciate the opportunity.

Tom Temin: First of all, this letter from the White House, specifically from Anne Neuberger, the deputy assistant to the president, and the deputy national security advisor for cyber, who did go to exactly?

Michael Borgia: Well, it is addressed to the private sector. So, it’s got a broad audience. And I think it looks like the intention was to really get the word out broadly to companies all over the private sector, and let them know what the White House thinks they should be doing and perhaps set some kind of baseline around cyber hygiene. As you said, I would think of this as pretty basic hygiene, people who have been in the industry for a while I think nothing in here is going to be shocking or surprising to them.

Tom Temin: Right. It said you should have two-factor authentication, you should have backups that are stored offline, and all these other good things in place, again, basic stuff, but coming from the White House, that’s kind of open-letter, telling people you have a distinct and key responsibility almost implies like there could be some sort of regulatory push here, not just for federal contractors, but for industry in general, coming. It has that ‘Dear Colleague,’ tone.

Michael Borgia: Exactly. It’s funny. On the one hand, you think, well, what does this mean that this doesn’t really do anything? On the other hand, here we are talking about it. And there has been quite a bit of discussion around this. It’s generated a lot…

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Safety devices disguised as jewelry get you help with the click of a button

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Safety and fashion usually are not used together in the same sentence.

However, companies have transformed bulky panic alert buttons into fashionable devices that could save your life.

In just the last few years, companies like Flare, Ripple and Nimb have come out with modern-day panic buttons. They’re designed to be discrete, fashionable and most importantly effective in alerting someone for help.

Most of these companies were inspired by scary encounters the founders experienced.

“It happened by complete accident,” said invisaWear co-founder and CEO Rajia Abdelaziz. “I never meant to start a company.”

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In just the last few years, companies like Flare, Ripple and Nimb have come out with modern-day panic buttons.
In just the last few years, companies like Flare, Ripple and Nimb have come out with modern-day panic buttons. (Flare/Ripple/Nimb)

Abdelaziz said she came up with the idea after a man tried following her to her car when she was in college.

“What I couldn’t get out of my mind how, unfortunately, millions of women can’t say the same,” Abdelaziz said.

According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), someone in the United States is sexually assaulted every 73 seconds.

Wearable safety devices are meant to lower those numbers, and top security companies are now getting involved.

In December, ADT launched a partnership with invisaWear.

“We’ve seen, you know, all the way through domestic violence situations, we’ve seen medical emergencies,” explained ADT Mobile Security & Strategic Projects Vice President Leah Page.

ADT Mobile Security & Strategic Projects Vice President Leah Page speaks with News4Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson and News4Jax consumer investigative reporter Lauren Verno.
ADT Mobile Security & Strategic Projects Vice President Leah Page speaks with News4Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson and News4Jax consumer investigative reporter Lauren Verno. (WJXT)

Here’s how it all works.

You buy the device, which can come as a necklace, bracelet or even a hair tie.

In an emergency, you click the button twice and an alert will go out to up to five people of your choosing with your location.

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The items range in price from $149 to $249.

However, if you opt into ADT’s subscription for $19.99 a month, that alert will go straight to ADT’s monitoring system.

News4Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson and I sat down to test out the product. ADT representative John McGinnis answered the call as if it was…

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