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Tag: leaks

  • BlackBerry 10 Smartphone Images Leaked Ahead Of RIM Event

    RIM is banking everything on the launch of BlackBerry 10. This is the device that will get them back in the game. The first BlackBerry 10 smartphone might be revealed next week, but a recent leak may have given us our first look at the device.

    Italian BlackBerry fan site, BlackBerryItalia, recently got a hold of some images they claim to be of the new BlackBerry L-series handset. It will most likely be the first handset to feature BlackBerry 10 early next year. Let’s take a look, shall we?

    BlackBerry 10 Leaks

    Upon first inspection, the supposed “Savior of RIM” is not all that impressive. It’s a smartphone… and that’s it. The design doesn’t seem far too removed from what we’ve become used to in the Android and iOS dominated market. It’s not a bad thing, but a little differentiation couldn’t hurt either.

    The true test, like with all smartphones, will come when we finally get a good luck at the operating system. Software sells hardware and RIM has to convince people that BlackBerry 10 is good for enterprise and entertainment.

    We’ll find out next week if RIM can recapture their old mojo at the BlackBerry Jam Americas event in San Jose. This is do or die time at the company and any screw up could be costly. Apple is raking in the dough with the iPhone 5 and Samsung is leading the Android pack. Microsoft is also showing off impressive hardware and software with the Nokia Lumia 920.

    Unfortunately, Microsoft and RIM are both in same boat here. They failed to establish themselves at the beginning of the smartphone race and are paying dearly for it. Both are offering competent alternatives to Android and iOS, but it may be too late. Relevancy fades quickly in the smartphone market, and RIM needs to prove they have what it takes to stay in the game.

    At least Microsoft and RIM signed a patent deal today. Even if BlackBerry 10 flops, Microsoft will get some licensing fees out of it.

    [h/t: CrackBerry]

  • iPhone 5 Looks Longer, Thinner in Alleged Boot Video

    A new video has emerged claiming to show the first ever booting up of the new iPhone 5 – and it looks legit (in that the device resembles other leaks and rumored specs).

    After the Apple logo loads, here’s the message displayed by the “iPhone 5”:

    This device is not registered as part of the iPhone Developer Program. If you are a member of the program, please register your device in the @@url@@

    So, here’s the story: A “tipster” came to Chinese tech site Vgooo.com with an iPhone 5 prototype that he “accidentally” discovered while visiting his friend at a Foxconn factory in Jincheng. “Accidentally discovered” or “stole,” it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that the phone in the video looks exactly like what many of the leaks have already shown us: it’s taller, with a larger screen, a bit thinner, a smaller dock connector.

    And the headphone jack is on the bottom (why, Apple, why?).

    Of course, it’s possible that this could be faked, especially the boot message. Plus, that home button looks really weird. But Mashable is saying that the specifics of the iPhone 5 in the video match up completely with a working model they’ve seen independently. Check it out for yourself:

    You’re looking at the iPhone 5. Or, someone manufactured this out of thin air. Or, Apple is playing an elaborate hoax by leaking various parts and “prototypes.” Either way, we’ll know soon enough. The iPhone 5 event is scheduled for September 12th, and the new device should ship on September 21st. Today, one analyst said that Apple could possibly sell 10 million units in the first week.

    [MIC Gadget via Gizmodo]

  • Wii U Leak Shows November 11 Launch Date and $250 Starting Price

    Details about Nintendo’s Wii U and its games have been abundant, but Nintendo has stayed tight-lipped on confirmation of when the console will be released and how much it will cost. As always, though, it’s hard to keep these sorts of secrets with millions of smartphone cameras floating around.

    Yesterday, a user named h0undd0gg on the GameFAQs forum for the Wii U posted a link to the YouTube video found below. Though the image is blurry, kicking the video up to 720p reveals that it is actually the Video Products Distributors (VPD) search results for Wii U, including a release date and pricing tiers. Here is a larger, static version of the image. VPD is a wholesale U.S. DVD and video game distributor for companies such as Amazon.

    If the leak is real, the Nintendo Wii will be released on November 11 in the U.S. and pricing will start at $249. Interestingly, two other price tiers appear: $299 and $349. Also, it’s likely that Europeans will still have to wait until December to get their hands on a Wii U.

    The two higher-priced Wii U systems are listed as “Wii U System W/.” Details on what extras will come with these versions aren’t shown, but it’s easy to speculate. The higher prices may indicate larger hard drives or an extra Wii U GamePad controller. A bundled game isn’t out of the question either, though Nintendo will most likely bundle NintendoLand with all versions of the Wii U.

    Whatever the case is, gamers will find out all the details at Nintendo’s announcement event on September 13.

    (Via BGR)

  • Vatican Butler Ordered to Stand Trial

    Pope Benedict XVI’s former butler has been ordered by the Vatican to stand trial over a whistle-blowing scandal that has been simmering since May. Paolo Gabriele was arrested on May 25 after leaking many confidential Vatican letters addressed to the Pope. The letters alleged widespread corruption within the Vatican.

    This week, according to a Reuters report, a Vatican judge sent Gabriele to trial for the leaks. The judge, Piero Antonio Bonnet, also sent Claudio Sciarpelletti, a Vatican IT worker, to trial for helping Gabriele hold some of the leaked documents in secret. Bonnet stated that Vatican investigators are still busy hunting down other individuals involved in the leaks.

    The so-called “Vatileaks” scandal began when an italian journalist named Gianluigi Nuzzi published a book that exposes corruption within the Vatican. Nuzzi cited an unnamed whistle-blower as the source of his information. The book describes collusion between the Vatican and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government to avoid the Catholic church having to pay property tax to the EU, as well as efforts to influence the Italian media.

    Gabriele confessed to stealing documents from the Vatican after his arrest in May. According to Reuters, Gabriele could face up to six years in prison if he is convicted. However, The Guardian cites a Vatican spokesperson as saying that the Pope might pardon Gabriele if he is convicted. That spokesperson also said the Vatican might still prosecute Nuzzi for publishing the book that began the scandal.

    (Photo by Andreas Tille)

  • WikiLeaks Back Up After Nine Days Of Sustained DDoS Attack

    WikiLeaks was in a bad place for a while. They were under a sustained DDoS attack that had lasted for nine days. It seems that the worst of it is now over as WikiLeaks is back up after making some improvements.

    On the official WikiLeaks Twitter account, the group announced that they were back up thanks to increased capacity installations:

    After getting back up, WikiLeaks decided to taunt their attackers into launching another DDoS attack at them:

    As we mentioned, WikiLeaks went down after they began publishing Stratfor emails on TrapWire. It’s a massive surveillance system that aims to stop terrorist attacks before they happen. It achieves this through monitoring surveillance footage from around the world that analyzes behavior patterns and license plates. For more on what WikiLeaks dubs “The Spyfiles,” check out their press release.

    What about AntiLeaks, the group claiming responsibility for the attacks? The group’s Twitter account has been quiet for the past 12 hours. Their next targets appear to be the Ecuadorian state television livestream. It remains to be seen if they will attack WikiLeaks again in the future. We’ll keep an eye out to see how the war between WikiLeaks and AntiLeaks plays out.

  • Ambitious RIM BlackBerry Product Roadmap Leaked

    Research in Motion (RIM) recently delayed the release of the BlackBerry 10, surprising no one considering the number of employees it had to lay off in the spring. Today, though, it looks as if RIM still has a plan to turn its business around and make a mobile market comeback miracle.

    BlackBerryOS has obtained what they claim is a picture of RIM’s product roadmap for its BlackBerry products. The image shows that RIM will be releasing its PlayBook 4G device on schedule this fall, followed by two different BlackBerry smartphones in the first quarter of 2013. One phone, codenamed London, will only have a touchscreen, but the other, codenamed Nevada, will have the classic BlackBerry physical keyboard. A product codenamed Nashville is scheduled for release in the middle of 2013, followed by a tablet codenamed the Blackforest, which BlackBerryOS claims is rumored to be a 10-inch BlackBerry tablet. A product codenamed Naples brings up the rear of RIM’s plan going into the fourth quarter fo 2013.

    BlackBerryOS reports that the London and Nevada smartphones will launch in Europe 3 to 4 weeks before North America (which, due to the messy wireless infrastructure of the U.S., is becoming standard for smartphones other than the iPhone). They claim that Europe has been more receptive to BlackBerry, and that an early European launch will give RIM time to build hype for worldwide sales.

    All of these product launches are, of course, predicated on the assumption that RIM will still be around in the first quarter of 2013. In fact, with all of the layoffs at the company, it is hard to believe there is anyone left to finish development on the BlackBerry 10. RIM announced even more job cuts during the presentation of its first-quarter financial results. That financial report also revealed a net loss of $518 million over the quarter, and a 33% drop in revenue.

    Take all of the delays, layoffs, and dismal financial reports together, and it is not at all clear that RIM in its current state will survive the year. Even if it does survive, it will be hard pressed to get back into the smartphone market, where it has been hemorrhaging market share for years. Though this leaked roadmap shows that RIM still has confidence in its products, that confidence might be misplaced, where pragmatism should be preparing the company for an acquisition.

    (Picture courtesy BlackBerryOS.com)

  • Xbox 720 Document Leaked Online, Features New Kinect And Kinect Glasses

    There’s been rumors aplenty in regards to Microsoft’s new home console, codenamed “Durango.” Thanks to leak from NeoGAF, we now know everything. The leaked document came out in 2010 and details Microsoft’s plans for the Xbox 720.

    The main details that you need to know from the document is that the Xbox 720 features a new Kinect, blu-ray player, backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 and a price point of only $299. There’s more to this story, however, from the information contained within the leaked document. Some of it is extremely surprising while some of it just makes plain sense.

    So, the first question is obviously, “How powerful is the Xbox 720?” Microsoft is playing around with the idea of six to eight x86 or ARM processors with each one clocked at 2GHz. The power would be more than enough to power the next generation of games while keeping costs low. The system will also feature 4GB of RAM which is a major upgrade from the 512MB of RAM in the Xbox 360. It will also reportedly use a single GPU clocked at 1 GHz. The components will only cost $225 and will be 8x more powerful than the Xbox 360.

    As for the other interesting things contained within the document. How about Project Fortazela? While the Xbox 720 will be out in 2013, Microsoft will launch its main assault on the living room and everywhere you go with a pair of Kinect Glasses in 2014. The document says that it will allow “seamless integration of the digital world with the physical world.” Using Xbox Live, the glasses will provide “real time information on people, places and objects.”

    Microsoft’s recently announced SmartGlass works into this as well. The document says that Microsoft is going for a three screen approach in 2014 with the television, tablets/phones and Kinect Glasses providing a consolidated Xbox 720 experience across all devices. The TV experience will be all about Xbox TV apps that work similarly to how Google TV and Apple TV work now. It will just feature a decidedly Metro design. SmartGlass will be expanded to provide “premium experiences on existing and inexpensive hardware.”

    What about the new Kinect? It’s called Kinect V2 and features better accuracy alongside stereo imaging instead of mono. The biggest improvement over the last Kinect, however, is that the new one features its own on-board processor. The original Kinect device featured its own processor but was later cut to lower costs. The current Kinect piggybacks on one of the three processors in the Xbox 360. Another improvement has the new Kinect being able to track up to four players at once instead of the current two.

    What we have here is a new console that might actually be somewhat revolutionary. The games console has to adapt to survive and that is what Microsoft is planning to do here. They want to make it more than just a games conosle and turn it into an integral part of the living room. While that is the intention of any games console, Microsoft seems to have a pretty good grasp on it here.

    It’s bears mentioning that this document is from 2010. Things change and this could be a proof of concept. We just don’t know. For now, let’s put this safely into the rumor box, but I really want this one to be true.

    Check out the entire document below to see what Microsoft has in store for the Xbox 720:

    XBox 720-9-24 Checkpoint Draft 1

  • LinkedIn Summarizes Its Password Leak Response

    It has been almost a week since over 6.4 million LinkedIn passwords were leaked to a hash-cracking website, and though it turned out that both eHarmony and Last.fm were also a part of the leak, the discussion has remained centered around LinkedIn. Vicente Silveira, director at LinkedIn, has been the company’s spokesperson throughout the week, posting situation updates to the official LinkedIn Blog, but the company hadn’t released an official statement until today. The statement provides a summary of LinkedIn’s actions following the leak, and emphasizes the company’s commitment to its member’s privacy and security.

    LinkedIn states that the company has been working “around the clock” since learning of the leak one week ago. It first began to investigate whether the reported passwords were, in fact, from their members. After confirming the situation, LinkedIn disabled the accounts of members whose passwords had already been decoded and published. By the end of June 7, all member accounts associated with the leak, decoded or not, had been disabled. An email was sent to these members relating how to reactivate their accounts. The company emphasizes that the login emails for member accounts were not leaked along with the passwords.

    Though it is not clear how the hashed passwords were obtained in the first place, LinkedIn does use the word “stolen” to refer to them. Ganesh Krishnan, Yahoo’s former chief information security officer (CISC), has for over one year served as LinkedIn’s security czar, a position that serves the same function as a CISC. His team has completed a planned security upgrade that increases password security by salting LinkedIn’s hashed passwords. The company stated that it is implementing further security upgrades, but for security purposes did not disclose what those are.

    From the LinkedIn statement:

    We are profoundly sorry for this incident. Member security is vitally important to us, and transparency is a priority as well. We will provide further updates as warranted by any new developments.

    This appears to be LinkedIn’s definitive statement on the password leak. The company will, most likely, begin to move into a business-as-usual routine in the following days, while continuing to investigate the password leak. Already, the company’s blogs are functioning as normal: yesterday it posted tips for navigating office gossip to the official LinkedIn Blog.

  • LulzSec Releases 10,000 Twitter Accounts Complete With Passwords

    LulzSec announced their return just last week and they’re already causing a bit of a stir. The group used a security loophole in a third party Twitter application to gain access to about 10,000 Twitter accounts.

    LulzSec, now going under the name of LulzSec Reborn, announced on Saturday that they had leaked the accounts of people use the TweetGif application. It seems to be a relatively unknown application that allows users to easily Tweet out gifs.

    As you can see, LulzSec seems to have attacked this particular application just for the “lulz.” They claim it to be nothing serious and they probably don’t even intend to use this information for anything. That being said, you should change your password now if you have ever used TweetGif.

    So what did LulzSec manage to take from TweetGif? According to PC Magazine, the TweetGif data table contained usernames, passwords, real names, locations, bios, avatars, the token the application uses to pull Twitter data, and the last Tweet to come from that account. It’s a ridiculous amount of information that a third-party application is privy to. Twitter has always seemed to be pro-privacy, but handing over this much information to a questionable third-party app seems to be pretty hypocritical.

    Thankfully, this attack is nowhere near the scale of the recent password leaks that have affected LinkedIn, eHarmony and Last.fm that saw millions of passwords leaked online. The security loophole has been fixed, but you should change your password for those sites as well just to be safe. Fortunately, somebody has created a site that allows you to see if your password for LinkedIn was leaked. As for eHarmony and Last.fm, better safe than sorry.

  • Motorola DROID RAZR HD Pictures Leaked

    Now that Google owns Motorola, we can expect the next line of Android phones to be some of the best on the market. The latest leak seems to confirm those expectations in terms of aesthetics.

    Droid Life scored some images of Motorola’s new DROID RAZR HD. Unfortunately, the only images that we get to see are the backplate and the side of the phone. Even then, the images that we do have show us that this phone is going to have some serious chops.

    First things first, the backplate is now full kevlar. The camera is positioned at the top middle with the flash on on side and the speaker on the other. The backplate also confirms that this phone will be coming to Verizon and will be on their 4G LTE network.

    Motorola DROID RAZR HD Pictures Leaked

    Unfortunately, the images do not show us the screen. Droid Life’s sources claim that the screen is “amazing” though. Considering that Motorola has consistently put out some of the most aesthetically pleasing Android phones, I have little doubt in their claim. The screen will also apparently take up much more space on the front of the phone by moving the navigation buttons onto the screen itself.

    As for the specs, sources suggest that it will have a 13MP camera and a Qualcomm 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 CPU. It also has a micro-HDMI and USB port on the side of the phone. The specs are decent, but it’s somewhat disappointing that the latest DROID RAZR doesn’t have at least a quad-core processor. Of course, that’s most likely due to the fact that the band that 4G LTE runs on in the U.S. forces us to use inferior processors.

    So when will you be able to get your hands on this magical device? Sources peg the DROID RAZR HD as having a release later this summer. It would possibly allow Google and Motorola to take some steam out of the rumored iPhone 5 announcement that will be coming today.

    We’ll keep you up to date on any further developments. It will be interesting to see the form that Motorola phones take now that Google owns them. I expect them to fully take advantage of the latest and greatest features coming to Android before any other manufacturer, but we’ll have to wait and see.

  • LinkedIn Defends Its Password Leak Response

    Over 6.4 million LinkedIn member passwords were leaked to a hash-cracking forum last week, causing LinkedIn members to worry about the site’s security. As the week went on, the scope of the leak grew to encompass both eHarmony and Last.fm. Though LinkedIn Director Vicente Silveira has already outlined LinkedIn’s response to the leak, he took to the LinkedIn Blog again over the weekend to further clarify and explain how the company reacted to the incident. LinkedIn has understandably been receiving some very pointed questions from members, and Silveira uses his latest post to answer them. From the blog post:

    First, it’s important to know that compromised passwords were not published with corresponding email logins. At the time they were initially published, the vast majority of those passwords remained hashed, i.e. encoded, but unfortunately a subset of the passwords was decoded. Again, we are not aware of any member information being published at any time in connection with the list of stolen passwords. The only information published was the passwords themselves.

    Silveira announced that LinkedIn is now working closely with the FBI to catch those responsible for the password therft. He reiterated a point he made in a blog post on Friday, saying that the company has received no reports of any accounts being breached.

    When LinkedIn learned of the leaked passwords, it first sought to confirm that the passwords were actually from its members. Once it had, it immediately began to disable the accounts of those members whose passwords had already been cracked. After that, all member accounts that were part of the leak were disabled. Only after all of that was done were the emails sent out to users explaining how to reset their passwords.

    Silveira stated that an initiative has been underway at LinkedIn to implement greater password security by salting its database of hashed passwords. Evidently, this process had already completed by the time news broke of the leaked passwords. Silveira announced that LinkedIn will be releasing “additional enhancements” in the future.

  • Last.fm Responds to Password Leak

    Earlier today it was reported that Last.fm has become the third website whose passwords were among those leaked online earlier this week. At that time, the website was simply recommending that users change their password. Now, Last.fm has announced the full details of how the website is responding to the leak. In a post on the Last.fm blog, Vice President for Product Matthew Hawn announced that the company will be increasing password security and is contacting its members to recommend that they change their passwords. From the post:

    We immediately implemented a number of key security changes around user data and we chose to be cautious and alert Last.fm users. We recommend that users change their password on Last.fm and on any other sites that use a similar password. All the updated passwords since yesterday afternoon have been secured with a more rigorous method for user data storage.

    In addition to emailing members, Last.fm will be sending out alerts via social media and through the Last.fm website. Hawn stated that the site would be “redoubling” its efforts to secure user data.

    The entire story began when a large hash of passwords was posted on a hash-cracking website earlier this week. It was quickly discovered that more than 6.4 million LinkedIn passwords may have been compromised. Later it was discovered that eHarmony passwords were also included in the leak. Both companies took action to lock down accounts affected by the leak and emailed instructions to members detailing how to reset their passwords. Last.fm is the latest website to be caught up in the password leak.

    Considering the events of this week and the slowly growing number of websites affected, I’m thinking this weekend just might be the perfect time to kick back, enjoy a frosty beverage, and change my password for every online service that I use.

  • Last.fm Passwords Leaked Online Too

    [UPDATE] Last.fm has responded in more detail and is now notifying its members of the situation. Read the story here.

    [ORIGINAL STORY]
    Yet another site has had its passwords compromised in the wake of the LinkedIn password leak. Last.fm has announced that it has begun investigating the leak of passwords from its website. LinkedIn was the first site to discover that more than 6.4 million of its passwords had been leaked onto a hash-cracking site this week. eHarmony has subsequently discovered that some of its member’s passwords were also included in the leaked hash. Both of those companies have responded by locking down compromised user accounts and emailing their members with instructions on how to reset the password for their account.

    The announcement that LinkedIn was a part of the password leak came through a message on its website that explains the situation. From the announcement:

    We are currently investigating the leak of some Last.fm user passwords. This follows recent password leaks on other sites, as well as information posted online. As a precautionary measure, we’re asking all our users to change their passwords immediately.

    Oddly, Last.fm is not taking the same precaution as LinkedIn and eHarmony of disabling user accounts associated with known cracked passwords. Instead, the site is asking all of their members to log in and change their password. It is unknown whether the company has sent a mass email to its members detailing the situation, or whether they are relying on their website message.

    The rest of the Last.fm message was part of what is becoming a standard template for these types of announcements. The company emphasized that it would never send an email to members with a link for a password update, suggested some simple password security tips for individual users, and apologized for any inconvenience the ordeal may cause its members. Last.fm also emphasized that it takes user privacy “very seriously.”

  • LinkedIn Password Leak Caused No Unauthorized Access

    LinkedIn is trying hard to stay transparent in light of the LinkedIn password leak this week, in which more than 6.4 million passwords from the site were leaked to a online hash-cracking forum. The social network for professional networking responded to the leak within hours, locking down accounts associated with the leaked passwords and sending out emails to the affected members explaining how to reactivate their accounts.

    Today, Vicente Silveira, director at LinkedIn and point man for the company’s announcements regarding the leak, has posted another update about the situation over on the LinkedIn blog. The post aggregates all of the information LinkedIn has on the issue, the steps it has taken in response, and more individual password security tips. In addition, Silveira revealed that LinkedIn does not believe any member accounts have been accessed by unauthorized parties. From the blog post:

    To the best of our knowledge, no email logins associated with the passwords have been published, nor have we received any verified reports of unauthorized access to any member’s account as a result of this event.

    Another new piece of information Silveira revealed is that, though LinkedIn disabled the accounts associated with the leaked passwords that had already been cracked, it will now begin disabling other accounts they believe may have been compromised by the leak. Those members will also receive an email instructing them on how to reset their passwords. As a reminder, those emails will not contain links of any sort, and users should ignore unsolicited email requests to change their password or verify their email.

  • LinkedIn Passwords: Find Out if Yours Was Leaked

    The LinkedIn password leak debacle yesterday made LinkedIn members question the site’s security measures as well as their own password security measures. LinkedIn responded to the issue within hours, disabling the leaked passwords and sending emails explaining the situation to those members affected by the ordeal.

    Though the situation is resolved for the moment, many are still curious as to whether their password was among the over 6.4 million passwords that were leaked to a hash cracking website this week. Though any members affected should have already received an email from LinkedIn, those who want to be extra-sure can check out a site called LeakedIn. The site hashes your password using the same method that the leaked hash used, and then searches for it in the leaked hash dump.

    LeakedIn was created by web designer Chris Shflett and some colleagues, partly to give LinkedIn users some peace of mind, and partly to further chastise LinkedIn for the leak. Sheflett introduced the site in a post on his blog:

    The app hashes your password using JavaScript, so your password never leaves your computer. You can verify this by viewing source, but if you prefer, you can also just provide your hash. We’ll let you know if your password is one of the 6.5 million that were leaked as well as if it has already been cracked.

    Keep in mind that there is no way to know whether the leaked hash was the full range of passwords that were (presumably) stolen from LinkedIn. The safest bet for every LinkedIn member at this point is to change their password, and the password for every service they were using that same password for.

  • LinkedIn Password Leak Confirmed and Remedied

    This morning it was reported that over 6.4 million LinkedIn passwords had been leaked onto the internet and were in the process of being decrypted by hackers. Now, LinkedIn has finally been able to confirm that the leaked hash did indeed contain LinkedIn passwords. Vicente Silveira, director at LinkedIn, made the announcement and outlined LinkedIn’s remedy for the situation in a post over at the LinkedIn Blog. From the post:

    We want to provide you with an update on this morning’s reports of stolen passwords. We can confirm that some of the passwords that were compromised correspond to LinkedIn accounts.

    Silveira stated that LinkedIn members whose passwords have been compromised have had their password invalidated and will not be able to access their accounts until they reset their password. Those members will receive two emails from LinkedIn. The first will outline the steps members must take to reset their passwords, but will not contain any links. This is in keeping with Silveira’s password advice posted earlier today that stated members should never change their password from an email link. The second email will be from LinkedIn customer service, and will explain the situation to members who are unaware of the password leak.

    “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our members,” said Silveira. “We take the security of our members very seriously.”

    This was a fairly quick and decisive response from LinkedIn. The most important piece of advice for users at this point is to change their password for any service that is using the same password they had been using for LinkedIn. Of course, questions still remain about how the passwords were obtained from LinkedIn in the first place.

  • LinkedIn Provides Password Protection Tips

    The news broke early this morning that millions of LinkedIn passwords may have been leaked online. Hackers are currently working to decrypt a hash of over 6.4 million passwords and have, at last count, succeeded in getting upwards of 250,000 of them. Many of the passwords already decrypted were undoubtedly passwords that were not strong to begin with.

    Though LinkedIn has not yet been able to confirm that its security has been breached, it has stated that an investigation is ongoing. In light of this news, the company has decided now might be a good time to refresh its users on the finer points of creating and protecting a good password. Vicente Silveria, director at LinkedIn, has provided some password security tips in a post over at the LinkedIn Blog. From the post:

    While our investigation continues, we thought it would be a good idea to remind our members that one of the best ways to protect your privacy and security online is to craft a strong password, to change it frequently (at least once a quarter or every few months) and to not use the same password on multiple sites. Use this as an opportunity to review all of your account settings on LinkedIn and on other sites too. Remember, no matter what website you’re on, it’s important for you to make sure that you protect your account security and privacy.

    The post also contains specific, common tips for password security such as signing out of accounts on public computers, never changing a password through an email link, and changing passwords every three months. When creating a password, Silveria suggests that users make it longer than 10 characters and fill it with random capitol letters, punctuation, or symbols. He warns against choosing a password out of a dictionary or using the same password for multiple websites.

    You can follow the ongoing developments in the LinkedIn password hacking story here. If the company does admit to a security breach, it will have many questions to answer about its server security measures.

  • LinkedIn Passwords Leaked Online

    LinkedIn Passwords Leaked Online

    [UPDATE 2]
    LinkedIn has confirmed the security breach and invalidated the affected passwords. Users can reset their password to regain access to their accounts. Read the full story.

    [UPDATE]
    LinkedIn has tweeted an update on the situation from their end. They state that they have not been able to confirm a security breach. This could mean that LinkedIn simply hasn’t found any evidence yet, or it could mean that the hackers on the forum were mistaken that the hashes were LinkedIn passwords. More updates will follow.

    LinkedIn
    @LinkedIn     Our team continues to investigate, but at this time, we’re still unable to confirm that any security breach has occurred. Stay tuned here.
    9 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    [ORIGINAL ARTICLE]
    A hacker has leaked a massive 118 Mb hash file that contains the passwords of more than 6.4 million LinkedIn users. The file was posted to a Russian forum and fellow hackers have begun to decrypt the hash.

    The file was first leaked yesterday afternoon, and the first report of passwords being cracked came two hours later. The latest update on the forum, which is currently offline, brings the total number passwords that have been compromised to over 200,000. Weaker passwords are likely the ones that have already been compromised.

    LinkedIn has acknowledged the password theft in a tweet from its official Twitter account:

    LinkedIn
    @LinkedIn     Our team is currently looking into reports of stolen passwords. Stay tuned for more.
    49 minutes ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    Though 6 million is only a fraction of LinkedIn’s more than 150 million members, it is still disconcerting that the leak has occurred. To LinkedIn’s credit, though, the passwords were hashed, meaning the company was taking reasonable precautions with regards to password security. Server security, on the other hand, is another matter. There is still the question of how the hash file was obtained in the first place.

    We will continue to provide more information on the situation as it develops. There is no way to tell whether your password has been compromised short of searching through the passwords already leaked, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt users to change their password for LinkedIn, and for any other services using the same password.

  • Anonymous Leaks Bureau Of Justice Database

    Aside from a few international operations and participating in the NATO protests currently happening in Chicago, Anonymous has been pretty quiet. That all changed today as Anonymous has leaked the database for the Bureau of Justice.

    The 1.7 GB file contains what Anonymous calls “shiny things such as internal emails and the entire database dump.” They claimed that the Bureau of Justice took down their Web site as a sign of acknowledging the hack.

    In classic Anonymous fashion, they have released another video that details the entire attack. The reason behind the attack is thus:

    We do not stand for any government or parties, we stand for freedom of people, freedom of speech and freedom of information. We are releasing data to spread information, to allow the people to be heard and to know the corruption in their government. We are releasing it to end the corruption that exists, and truly make those who are being oppressed free. The price we pay very often is our own freedom. The price governments pay is the exposure of their corruption and the truth being revealed, for the truth will set us free in the end. So once more we call on you. Hackers, activists, and freedom fighters; join us in our struggle against these corporate hypocrites.

    I will say that Anonymous has gotten much better at creating videos. It was only a few weeks ago that they would just post their message and be on their way. Now they’re making videos full of special effects with star lions and Anonymous imagery.

    Oh, and before you ask, the database leak is real and is hosted on The Pirate Bay. We won’t link to it, but it’s easy enough to find. It remains to be seen if there’s actually anything incriminating in it since the Bureau of Justice is just an arm of the Department of Justice that collects stats on crime.

    It’s also worth noting that this leak seems to be part of a new movement called #MondayMailMayhem or #MMM for short. The verdict is out on whether or not it’s related to #FuckFBIFriday.

  • Samsung’s S-Voice Leaked Onto the Web

    Samsung’s S-Voice Leaked Onto the Web

    When the new version of Flipboard was leaked from a preview version of the upcomming Samsung Galaxy S III, the members of the XDA Developers forums were excited, but wondered why Samsung’s exclusive S-Voice software hadn’t been leaked as well. This weekend, the hackers at the XDA Developers forums came through again, leaking S-Voice

    S-Voice is Samsung’s new answer to Apple’s Siri. It was supposed to debut, the same as the new Flipbook, as an exclusive on the company’s highly anticipated Galaxy S III smartphone in less than one month. User Ascarface23, on the XDA Developers forum for Samsung Galaxy S II themes and apps, has posted the .apk for S-Voice, meaning any Android user running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich should potentially be able to use it. Since the software was developed to specifically run on Samsung’s new flagship smartphone only, some users are having difficulty installing it. Throughout the same thread, though, a solution for many different installation issues is found.

    Once users get it installed, though, they might have another hurdle to contend with. Many users who are trying out S-Voice are getting network connection error messages from the program. The fix for this particular issue is to use a root explorer to change the product signature of the phone to mimic the Samsung Galaxy S III. It seems Samsung either doesn’t want their new software to be used yet, or they haven’t implemented the infrastructure for the feature completely. Seeing as the Galaxy S III got over 9 million pre-orders, Samsung will need quite a few servers if it hopes to make a good impression with this product.

    (via XDA Developer’s forums)

  • Updated Wii U Controller Design Leaked Via Twitter

    Can you believe that E3 is only a few weeks away? The most magical time of the year for gamers is almost upon us and I couldn’t be more excited. One area of the excitement comes from the mystery that is the Wii U. Nintendo has stayed tight-lipped so there’s not much to go off of and there have not been many leaks either. One leak this weekend, however, proved to be most fascinating.

    GamesRadar was perusing the Twitterverse when they found the account of Traveler’s Tales Q&A Tester @MATTYBOOSH. The now defunct Twitter account posted a picture of what appears to be the new Wii U controller. How do we know it’s new? Just look at it: the controller has analog sticks instead of the circle pads that were on last year’s model. That’s a change for the better as the circle pad on the 3DS is great for handhelds, but wouldn’t feel right with a core console game that required analog sticks for twitch-based shooter titles.

    There are some other minor changes from the original controller as well. You’ll notice that the start and select buttons have moved from the bottom of the controller to the side. This makes the Wii U controller look more like a DS. This could be fitting into Nintendo’s strategy of making the Wii U a giant DS with the TV being the top screen and the controller being the bottom screen. You’ll also notice that the controller now has the Wii U logo on it. Unfortunately, that makes it look like that’s going to be the final name. Many gamers, myself included, were hoping that Nintendo would name the console something else to remove itself from its Wii identity, but I guess that’s not going to happen.

    Outside of changes, there are some additions as well in the form of little white unmarked square buttons. Nobody has any idea what they do, but one is beneath the d-pad while the other is on the bottom right next to the Power button. The squares are different sizes too which only adds to the mystery of their function. My best bet is that the button near the Power button is for syncing the controller with the Wii U console. As for the big square button underneath the d-pad, your guess is as good as mine.

    As mentioned previously, this image was leaked via Twitter. Nintendo, Traveler’s Tales or both didn’t quite like having an updated Wii U controller leaked to the world. To that end, the image has been deleted from Twitter, while the Q&A tester’s account has also been removed. That’s a bit drastic, but I guess he shouldn’t have been tweeting out secrets. I just hope that Traveler’s Tales didn’t have the poor guy fired.

    Now that E3 is closer than ever, we should start to see more leaks. E3 is like the gamers’ Christmas and we’re always trying to sneak a peak at the presents. We’ll keep you updated on all the news leading up to this year’s big event.

    [Lead image: GamesRadar]