US Senator Ted Kennedy lost his fight against brain cancer on Tuesday night, giving pause to Democrats and Republicans who have rallied to remember the Senator’s career. And, with his passing, the Net Neutrality movement loses one of its biggest supporters.
The illustrious Senator Kennedy accomplished much in his political career. His politics reach far beyond just Net Neutrality. But, as far as the fight to protect equal and uncensored access to the Internet is concerned, Sen. Ted Kennedy was a beacon. Early in the Net Neutrality debate, Sen. Kennedy took to YouTube to make the case for “neutrality.”
“It is our duty” to protect “the innovative, democratic spirit that has always characterized the internet,” said Kennedy. He pledged to try to ensure that every American has “unfettered access” to the Internet and access to highspeed connections. That same argument applies to the mobile phone, which is fast blurring the lines between the mobile web and the “real” web.
With Congress still working to hash out US healthcare reform, Net Neutrality has taken a bit of a political backseat. But, that doesn’t make it any less important than it was when the Senator came to support Net Neutrality in 2006. Free access to the web is becoming an increasing concern, and we should all keep Kennedy’s words in mind:
There are some out there that might disagree with London’s push to clean up the seedier side of metropolitan life, but wireless carriers in the UK are apparently on board with new program to block phone numbers known to be tied to prostitution rings. The Times Online is reporting that the Metropolitan Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, British Telecom will meet with the CEOs of Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), Orange, O2 (NYSE: TEF), 3, Virgin and T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) this coming October. The topic of discussion: How to block prostitutes’ phone numbers before the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
At stake here is the welfare of women brought into the UK to work as prostitutes. With the 2012 Olympic Games coming to London, tourists will be flocking to the foggy city. Research from the 2004 Olympic Games showed that the number of women trafficked into Athens doubled prior to the 2004 Games. And, London wants to prevent a similar surge in sex trafficking.
London’s underbelly is home to criminal gangs (prostitution rings, really) that trick women into coming to the UK to work high-paying jobs, only to find that they’re now indebted to pay back travel and immigration costs by working as sex workers. The gangs set up phone numbers and distribute flyers to market their “business.” By blocking access to these prostitution rings, London hopes to fight the abuse of women by taking away a key part of pimps’ business model.
A noble effort indeed. The rest of the world would do well to follow London’s example.
RIM is obviously best known for making BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM), but they’ve actually had a Smart Card reader available for government and high-security enterprise customers since 2005. The latest model, announced today, hosts a slimmer profile and a few new features. What does it do, exactly? Well, it plays nice with BlackBerry, for one (go figure). By pairing up via Bluetooth, the smartphone and an enabled PC can be locked when the Smart Card reader is out of range, ensuring that only the designated user has access. The reader can also provide security keys through a small LED screen on the back for encrypting e-mails sent via BlackBerry. Proximity detection combined with usual password precautions creates a two-factor authentication process that high-security companies, namely in the public sector, demand. BlackBerry Enterprise Server administrators, as usual, will have full control over Smart Card functions and security access.
The new model supports PIV , CAC, Safenet 330, and ISO 7816-compliant smart cards, although the reader alone can also be deployed without needing cards. This is all good stuff for tight-lipped enterprise, so for those interested, the new readers should be available in September. It’s interesting to note that the cardless feature will only be available for BlackBerrys with operating system 5.0, which is a device we have yet to see (officially) on the market. Maybe we’ll be seeing a new BlackBerry with a fresh OS next month…? 5.0 is a big one, so I find it hard to believe that they would release the software on its own – especially with the likes of the Onyx and Storm 2 looming. For more info on the new BlackBerry Smart Card Reader, check out RIM’s site.
China might soon overtake the US as the world’s leading superpower, but that doesn’t necessarily mean China’s Communist ways are going to evolve. In fact, China’s backwards policies are being enforced more vigorously than ever. Forget internet censorship. Forget about all those journalists jailed for speaking on China’s human rights issues. Chinese authorities are now monitoring SMS text messages for any erotic or sexually explicit content. Anyone caught having “textual relations” will find themselves spending some time in a Chinese jail.
In China’s Henan province, one offending text message is grounds for spending five days in jail. Chinese citizens who send three or more sexy text messages will be detained for a maximum of 10 days in jail and pay a fine of 500 yuan ($73). According to The Straits Times, the Chinese Communist Party’s Henan branch actually held 480 meetings in the past month in order to deal with the erotic SMS “problem.”
As far as we know, this isn’t a joke. It should be, but it’s not. China monitors all communications within its borders, so it’s no surprise that the Chinese government can track your SMS text messages. After all, the Chinese iPhone had to be custom-made without WiFi to fall within Chinese communications regulations.
If you’re in China, you probably aren’t even allowed to read this, but if you are, you’d be smart to refrain from “textual relations.”
Palm Pre users, take note, your shiny new smartphone is spying on you… kinda. Palm (NSDQ: PALM) is collecting all kinds of user behavior data from their US fleet of Palm Pre smartphones. How’s that, you ask? Well, there’s apparently a bit of code hidden within the Pre’s WebOS that instructs the handset to send Palm information on the smartphone’s location, app usage, app crashes and a list of apps installed. And, it happens on the daily! Your Palm Pre might not be spying on you outright, but sending location data back to the mothership is grounds for alarm.
While we’re not all that upset at Palm for keeping track of which WebOS apps we have installed, which apps we actually like to use or app crash-reports, having our location data tracked by Palm is a bit unnerving. Using location data for LBS (location based services) apps like Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps is one thing, but it seems that Palm is going one step further by keeping tabs on Palm Pre users’ location-data.
In fact, Palm’s Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions allow them to gather such data for various uses. The information is used to help the customer service process, to provide services to the user and for other purposes that the user has previously consented to. If you’re using the Palm Pre right now, you’ve already agreed to these policies.
If you’re not comfortable with Palm’s tracking practices, you might want to consider disabling any and all location services on your Palm Pre. At the very least disabling GPS on your Palm Pre might be a good idea. But, that means you’ll be sacrificing location services like Google Maps.
Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has fired another salvo against the iPhone jailbreaking scene with their claim that jailbroken iPhones could be used to attack and disable cell-towers, as well as helping drug dealers avoid getting pinched by the “fuzz.” In the ongoing battle between Apple and iPhone hackers, Apple would have us believe that iPhone hackers could levy “potentially catastrophic” cyber-attacks against wireless networks.
At issue is whether or not consumers have the right to jailbreak their iPhones, or any other mobile phone for that matter. The “jailbreak” refers to a process that frees a cellphone’s file-system, allowing the user to install third-party software that would otherwise be impossible. In the case of the iPhone, the jailbreak essentially hacks the security measures Apple has put in place to protect the iPhone’s operating system. Under the current version of The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998, “no person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title.” As it stands, the iPhone jailbreak violates the law of the land.
But, there’s hope yet for consumers. The Copyright Office takes requests every three years for exceptions to the DMCA, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation has put in a petition to allow consumers to jailbreak their handsets as they see fit. After all, once the consumer buys the device, it should be theirs to do with as they please.
Apple’s latest filing claims that the jailbreak gives hackers access to the iPhone’s baseband processor (BBP) code, which controls how the iPhone connects to cellular networks. With a little clever hacking, cyber-terrorists could send commands to a cell-tower that could leave it completely useless. Apple claims that allowing the jailbreak exemption to be approved is tantamount to giving hackers the keys that open the doors to cell-tower controls.
And, as if to hammer home the idea that jailbreaking is no good, Apple mentions that the jailbreak also allows an iPhone hacker to alter the handset’s identification number. That would allow the iPhone to make calls anonymously – which “would be desirable to drug dealers.”
Feel like sticking it to the “man” and jailbreaking your iPhone? Check out our iPhone 3GS jailbreak and unlock guide! (works with iPhone and iPhone 3G as well)
Security researchers have stumbled across an iPhone SMS bug that could be used by nefarious pranksters to “quickly take over every iPhone in the world.” If that sounds somewhat doomsday-ish, that’s because it kind of is. The iPhone SMS text message bug was discovered by Charlie Miller and his similarly-named research colleague Collin Mulliner. The iPhone bug, says Miller, exploits flaw in the way the iPhone OS processes SMS text messages. Using the exploit, hackers could send a succession of SMS text messages to an iPhone, allowing them to gain complete control of the handset. Hackers can then commandeer the iPhone to send similar text message strings to other iPhones, spreading like wildfire.
“SMS is an incredible attack vector for mobile phones,” says Miller. “All I need is your phone number. I don’t need you to click a link or anything.”
Miller and Milliner plan to reveal the SMS text message security vulnerability on Thursday at the Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas. The duo say they’ve alerted Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) to the security hole, but the iPhone-maker has yet to release a patch to the iPhone SMS bug. Once announced to the world, the iPhone bug could potentially allow iPhones around the world to be hijacked in a very short time.
If you work for a larger business or corporation, chances are your internet use, email, and maybe even your text messaging is monitored. Rules, regulations and ‘compliance monitoring’ seem to be the theme of the day, especially in secure industries. In fact, some regulations demand that electronic messages are archived and monitored at all times. To that end, I’ve been notified of a new software app for mobile devices called ‘TextGuard’.
Without getting into too much detail, here’s what the app can do:
TextGuard secures, manages and coordinates mobile communication and devices, providing archiving capabilities on a secured server remotely accessible by a Compliance Officer or authorized user. The software allows enterprises to monitor and log the SMS and Pin-To-Pin communications in and out of a corporation’s mobile device fleet. Search options include keywords, content, sender, and more, and can be customized for each corporation’s needs. TextGuard offers administrators the option of monitoring an employee’s communications, which prevents loss of corporate data when a mobile device is lost or stolen, or an employee is terminated.
At the moment, TextGuard supports BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) and Win-Mo devices, with a new release coming next month to support the iPhone and Symbian platforms. Keep reading for a full press release after the jump, or head on over to textguard.com for more info.
SpinVox, one of the big names in white label voicemail transcription services for carriers, could be in trouble as it has come to light that at least some voicemails are transcribed thanks to human ears in the Phillipines and South Africa. The company claims that some non-live listening is required to build the automated algorithms that handle other transcriptions, but they refuse to state exactly how many operations are handled by human versus machines. One call centre employee claims that the entire service is run by people listening in on live calls. The legal implications for such an operation are sizeable, as SpinVox is based in the UK and must abide by European Union data protection laws. Privacy issues, however, will do more harm to SpinVox’s image that call down the legal thunder.
In a statement, the ICO [Information Commissioner's Office] explained there was nothing to prevent Spinvox from using people rather than machines to translate messages. However, it said that “it may be helpful if the company is clearer about the likelihood that people will be used to translate messages”. “This is particularly important if customers are using the service for transmitting sensitive or secure information,” it added.
Listening to how an employee described the calls made it sound like an interesting day at the office, privacy qualms aside…
“We heard the message from the very beginning to the very end. Love messages, secret messages, messages with sexual content, even people threatening to kill each other.”
Visa Europe has started to run trials of their new mobile service. At the moment, Visa is testing the system on UK staffers to hopefully work out any kinks. The service gives Visa cardholders instant notification via their mobile device when any of their Visa debit, credit or prepaid cards are put to use. Handy if you lose a card, or just want to keep track of your spending.
Senior Vice President of Innovation and New Product Development at Visa Europe, Sandra Alzetta commented:
“With Visa’s mobile alert service, we want to offer cardholders the reassurance of knowing, in real-time, exactly where and when their card is being used. If something looks suspicious, this will give them the power to put a stop to any fraud taking place on their cards.”
When the system is finalized, users will be able to receive alerts via SMS or email… or receive alerts via an installed app. I suppose we’ll be hearing about a new Visa app in the App Store, App World, and the Android Market and more before long! Hopefully such apps would make it easy to connect with your various Visa card accounts, while providing iron-clad security to protect from others accessing your critical info.
US Senator Ted Kennedy lost his fight against brain cancer on Tuesday night, giving pause to Democrats and Republicans who have rallied to remember the Senator’s career. And, with his passing, the Net Neutrality movement loses one of its biggest supporters.
China might soon overtake the US as the world’s leading superpower, but that doesn’t necessarily mean China’s Communist ways are going to evolve. In fact, China’s backwards policies are being enforced more vigorously than ever. Forget 
Palm Pre users, take note, your shiny new smartphone is spying on you… kinda. Palm (
Apple (
Security researchers have stumbled across an iPhone SMS bug that could be used by nefarious pranksters to “quickly take over every iPhone in the world.” If that sounds somewhat doomsday-ish, that’s because it kind of is. The iPhone SMS text message bug was discovered by Charlie Miller and his similarly-named research colleague Collin Mulliner. The iPhone bug, says Miller, exploits flaw in the way the iPhone OS processes SMS text messages. Using the exploit, hackers could send a succession of SMS text messages to an iPhone, allowing them to gain complete control of the handset. Hackers can then commandeer the iPhone to send similar text message strings to other iPhones, spreading like wildfire.
If you work for a larger business or corporation, chances are your internet use, email, and maybe even your text messaging is monitored. Rules, regulations and ‘compliance monitoring’ seem to be the theme of the day, especially in secure industries. In fact, some regulations demand that electronic messages are archived and monitored at all times. To that end, I’ve been notified of a new software app for mobile devices called ‘TextGuard’.
Visa Europe has started to run trials of their new mobile service. At the moment, Visa is testing the system on UK staffers to hopefully work out any kinks. The service gives Visa cardholders instant notification via their mobile device when any of their Visa debit, credit or prepaid cards are put to use. Handy if you lose a card, or just want to keep track of your spending.
