Category: smartphones

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Smartphones and Civilians in Wartime

Posted on By infossl
laws, Security technology, sensors, smartphones, Uncategorized, war

Interesting article about civilians using smartphones to assist their militaries in wartime, and how that blurs the important legal distinction between combatants and non-combatants: The principle of distinction between the two roles is a critical cornerstone of international humanitarian law­—the law of armed conflict, codified by decades of customs and laws such as the Geneva … Read More “Smartphones and Civilians in Wartime” »

Using Pupil Reflection in Smartphone Camera Selfies

Posted on By infossl
academic papers, identification, Security technology, smartphones, Uncategorized

Researchers are using the reflection of the smartphone in the pupils of faces taken as selfies to infer information about how the phone is being used: For now, the research is focusing on six different ways a user can hold a device like a smartphone: with both hands, just the left, or just the right … Read More “Using Pupil Reflection in Smartphone Camera Selfies” »

Security Risks of Relying on a Single Smartphone

Posted on By infossl
cell phones, Security technology, SIM cards, smartphones, Uncategorized, whatsapp

Isracard used a single cell phone to communicate with credit card clients, and receive documents via WhatsApp. An employee stole the phone. He reformatted the SIM, which was oddly the best possible outcome, given the circumstances. Using the data to steal money would have been much worse. Here’s a link to an archived version. Powered … Read More “Security Risks of Relying on a Single Smartphone” »

Paragon: Yet Another Cyberweapons Arms Manufacturer

Posted on By infossl
cyberweapons, encryption, patching, privacy, Security technology, smartphones, spyware, surveillance, Uncategorized, zero-day

Forbes has the story: Paragon’s product will also likely get spyware critics and surveillance experts alike rubbernecking: It claims to give police the power to remotely break into encrypted instant messaging communications, whether that’s WhatsApp, Signal, Facebook Messenger or Gmail, the industry sources said. One other spyware industry executive said it also promises to get … Read More “Paragon: Yet Another Cyberweapons Arms Manufacturer” »

Security Vulnerabilities in Cellebrite

Posted on By infossl
intelligence, police, Security technology, signal, smartphones, Uncategorized, vulnerabilities

Moxie Marlinspike has an intriguing blog post about Cellebrite, a tool used by police and others to break into smartphones. Moxie got his hands on one of the devices, which seems to be a pair of Windows software packages and a whole lot of connecting cables. According to Moxie, the software is riddled with vulnerabilities. … Read More “Security Vulnerabilities in Cellebrite” »

Determining Key Shape from Sound

Posted on By infossl
academic papers, keys, locks, physical security, Security technology, smartphones, Uncategorized

It’s not yet very accurate or practical, but under ideal conditions it is possible to figure out the shape of a house key by listening to it being used. Listen to Your Key: Towards Acoustics-based Physical Key Inference Abstract: Physical locks are one of the most prevalent mechanisms for securing objects such as doors. While … Read More “Determining Key Shape from Sound” »

The NSA on the Risks of Exposing Location Data

Posted on By infossl
cybersecurity, geolocation, military, nsa, riskassessment, risks, Security technology, smartphones, tracking

The NSA has issued an advisory on the risks of location data. Mitigations reduce, but do not eliminate, location tracking risks in mobile devices. Most users rely on features disabled by such mitigations, making such safeguards impractical. Users should be aware of these risks and take action based on their specific situation and risk tolerance. … Read More “The NSA on the Risks of Exposing Location Data” »

Hacking Voice Assistants with Ultrasonic Waves

Posted on By infossl
academicpapers, android, apple, google, hacking, iphone, Security technology, sidechannelattacks, smartphones, video

I previously wrote about hacking voice assistants with lasers. Turns you can do much the same thing with ultrasonic waves: Voice assistants — the demo targeted Siri, Google Assistant, and Bixby — are designed to respond when they detect the owner’s voice after noticing a trigger phrase such as ‘Ok, Google’. Ultimately, commands are just … Read More “Hacking Voice Assistants with Ultrasonic Waves” »