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10 Helpful Tools You Can Unlock Using Google Search, Google Assistant, or the Google App on Your Phone « Smartphones :: Gadget Hacks

December 30, 2022/in Mobile Security

Google has a few hidden tools you might not have discovered yet, and they work in Google Search, in the Google app, and with Google Assistant — on both iPhone and Android phones.

We all know smartphones do much more than make phone calls. They serve as cameras, GPS navigators, music players, portable televisions, web browsers, and even flashlights, making other gadgets that serve those singular purposes nearly obsolete.

But your phone can replace other tools, such as dice, guitar tuners, and bubble levels, with assistance from Google. And you don’t need to install an app to access them unless you want to use the Google or Google Assistant app and don’t already have one of them (many Android phones come with at least one preinstalled).

Google Search Tools

These tools below are accessible on your iPhone or Android phone by performing a Google search in your browser at google.com or by searching in the free Google app for iOS or Android. Some of them can even be called up with Google Assistant.

When searching for these tools, you can tap the button with the downward-pointing chevron to find the other available tools. You’ll see a tab for games and toys, but we’re currently focusing on the tools. All but one of these tools are also accessible via desktop browsers.

10 Helpful Tools You Can Unlock Using Google Search, Google Assistant, or the Google App on Your Phone

1. Flip a Coin

Search “flip a coin” to access Google’s coin. The virtual coin will spin and flip before landing on a side. Tap the “FLIP AGAIN” button to repeat.

2. Roll a Die or Set of Dice

Search Google for “roll a die” or “roll dice” to roll one six-sided die. You can also specify multiple dice and other types of dice.

There are dice with 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 20 sides. For example, “roll 3 d12” gives you a trio of 12-sided dice, while “roll 5 d20” gives you five 20-sided dice. Google will display the rolled dice and the resulting total number.

With the on-screen interface, you can tap the “Roll” button to roll the dice again. Tap the dice in the white space to clear them. In the toolbar below the white space, tap the die options to roll an additional die onto the white area. You can also tap the +/- button to add a modifier to the roll total.

3. Spinner

If you’d prefer to spin a wheel for your random number generator, Google has…

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Crooks can hack your Honda’s key fob signal to unlock or steal your car

July 15, 2022/in Computer Security

When a manufacturer releases a defective product, it can volunteer to recall it. If the risk is significant enough, the government will step in and enforce it. Either way, the consumer may not know about the recall until later.

Regarding cars, problems with the mechanical parts, safety issues or software upgrades are the usual culprits. We compiled a list of the latest recalls affecting thousands of Fords, Nissans, Hyundais and Hondas. Tap or click here to see if your car is on the list and what you need to do about it.

No matter the fault, the line between cybercrime and the real world is becoming blurrier by the day. A technological trick is exposing Honda vehicles to criminals. The worst part is that the scheme is almost as old as some of the affected models, but luckily there is something you can do about it.

Here’s the backstory

When you park your car and walk away, how sure are you that the familiar beep from the vehicle indicates that it’s locked? You might hear the right sounds, but you’ll never know unless you go back to check.

In a research paper detailing how the Rolling-PWN attack works, the authors from Star-V Lab explain that the vulnerability has been known for some time. The research team tested 10 Honda vehicles ranging from 2012 to 2022 models, and guess what? All the tested vehicles failed.

Activating the key fob sends an electronic code to lock the car. The same code must be transmitted from the fob to unlock it. Each time you press the button, the rolling code system ensures that it increases the synchronizing counter. But criminals figured out a way to send the codes in a consecutive sequence, resynchronizing the counter.

“This weakness allows anyone to permanently open the car door or even start the car engine from a long distance,” researchers explained.

Honda’s letting it go

This isn’t the first time that the problem has come to light. Two years ago, computer scientist Blake Berry and researcher Ayyappan Rajesh ran similar tests with the same results.

The pair tested 2016-2020 Honda Civic (LX, EX, EX-L, Touring, Si, Type R) models, while the Star-V Lab team…

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BlackCat/ALPHV ransomware asks $5 million to unlock Austrian state

May 27, 2022/in Computer Security

BlackCat ransomware gang asks $5 million to unlock Austrian state

Austrian federal state Carinthia has been hit by the BlackCat ransomware gang, also known as ALPHV, who demanded a $5 million to unlock the encrypted computer systems.

The attack occurred on Tuesday and has caused severe operational disruption of government services, as thousands of workstations have allegedly been locked by the threat actor.

Carinthia’s website and email service are currently offline and the administration is unable to issue new passports or traffic fines.

Additionally, the cyberattack also disrupted COVID-19 tests processing and contact tracing done through the region’s administrative offices.

The hackers offered to provide a working decryption tool for $5 million. A spokesperson of the state, Gerd Kurath, told Euractiv that the attacker’s demands will not be met, though.

The press representative further said that there is currently no evidence that BlackCat actually managed to steal any data from the state’s systems and that the plan is to restore the machines from available backups.

Kurath said that of the 3,000 systems affected, the first ones are expected to become available again today.

At the time of writing, BlackCat’s data leak site, where the hackers publish files stolen from victims that did not pay a ransom, does not show any data from Carinthia. This may indicate a recent attack or that negotiations with the victim have not completed.

**Latest victims announced in the ALPHV site**

ALPHV/BlackCat

The ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware gang emerged in November 2021 as one of the more sophisticated ransomware operations. They are a rebrand of the DarkSide/BlackMatter gang responsible for the Colonial Pipeline attack last year.

At the start of 2022, BlackCat affiliates attacked high-profile entities and brands like the Moncler fashion group and the Swissport airline cargo handling services provider.

By the end of the first quarter of the running year, the FBI published a notice warning that BlackCat had breached at least 60 entities worldwide, assuming the status it was anticipated to attain as one of the most active and dangerous ransomware projects out there.

The attack on Carinthia and the large ransom demands show that the threat actor focuses on…

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New Bluetooth hack can unlock your Tesla—and all kinds of other devices

May 25, 2022/in Computer Security

When you use your phone to unlock a Tesla, the device and the car use Bluetooth signals to measure their proximity to each other. Move close to the car with the phone in hand, and the door automatically unlocks. Move away, and it locks. This proximity authentication works on the assumption that the key stored on the phone can only be transmitted when the locked device is within Bluetooth range.

Now, a researcher has devised a hack that allows him to unlock millions of Teslas—and countless other devices—even when the authenticating phone or key fob is hundreds of yards or miles away. The hack, which exploits weaknesses in the Bluetooth Low Energy standard adhered to by thousands of device makers, can be used to unlock doors, open and operate vehicles, and gain unauthorized access to a host of laptops and other security-sensitive devices.

When convenience comes back to bite us

“Hacking into a car from hundreds of miles away tangibly demonstrates how our connected world opens us up to threats from the other side of the country—and sometimes even the other side of the world,” Sultan Qasim Khan, a principal security consultant and researcher at security firm NCC Group, told Ars. “This research circumvents typical countermeasures against remote adversarial vehicle unlocking and changes the way we need to think about the security of Bluetooth Low Energy communications.”

This class of hack is known as a relay attack, a close cousin of the person-in-the-middle attack. In its simplest form, a relay attack requires two attackers. In the case of the locked Tesla, the first attacker, which we’ll call Attacker 1, is in close proximity to the car while it’s out of range of the authenticating phone. Attacker 2, meanwhile, is in close proximity to the legitimate phone used to unlock the vehicle. Attacker 1 and Attacker 2 have an open Internet connection that allows them to exchange data.

Attacker 1 uses her own Bluetooth-enabled device to impersonate the authenticating phone and sends the Tesla a signal, prompting the Tesla to reply with an…

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Tag Archive for: unlock

Here’s the backstory

Honda’s letting it go

ALPHV/BlackCat

When convenience comes back to bite us