Random Ramblings About This or That
A while back we had a post showing how to add a strong passcode to your iPhone. Thanks to the recent release of iPhone OS 4 this feature is now built in!
To enable this feature go to Settings -> General -> Passcode Lock, toggle Simple Passcode to off, and enter your preferred alphanumeric passcode.
Philosecurity.org has posted a real copy of an American citizen’s DHS Travel Record retrieved from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s Automated Targeting System (ATS). This was obtained through a FOIA/Privacy Act request and sent in by an anonymous reader. The document reveals that the DHS is storing the reader’s:
[Article on Philosecurity.org] [PDF of the original document]
Jaroslaw Lupinski has built a device that will generate magnetic signals to spoof a magnetic stripe reader – you know, the things that open doors and allow you to pay for your groceries. Instructables has a write-up on a similar device using an iPod but Jaroslaw’s device will allow you to change the data on the fly. Combine this with Stripe Snoop and you’ve got quite a powerful combination…
[Link]
Whether you’re posting an item for sale on Craigslist or trying to avoid stalkers while dating online, sometimes you need a telephone number that you can use for a temporary time period and then throw away. Enter inumbr. You choose a telephone number from a list of major cities and have that number forward to another telephone number or to voicemail. After a pre-set period of time, the number disconnects and (allegedly) is never reused.
[Link]
By Amy Gardner
June 07, 2009
Reporting from Washington — This part happens all the time: A construction crew putting up an office building in the heart of congested Tysons Corner in McLean, Va., hit a fiber-optic cable no one knew was there.
This part doesn’t: Within moments, three black SUVs drove up, half a dozen men in suits jumped out, and one said, “You just hit our line.”
Keyloggers aren’t only used by identity thieves, jealous spouses and hackers in the Far East. CNET reported in July 2007 that the DEA persuaded a federal judge to authorize them to sneak into an Escondido, California office to copy computer hard drives and install a software keystroke logger. [Read the full story]
The iKeePass team submitted the iKeePass app to the Apple App Store for review back in December of 2008. Apparently Apple wants them to make some changes before the app will be released. Once it becomes available, you should be able to import your existing database and carry all of your passwords on your iPhone. We’re anxiously awaiting this one!
[LINK]
New York University grad student Adam Harvey has come up with a rather clever invention to thwart unwanted photography. His “anti-paparazzi device,” which is built into a small clutch purse, uses a photo cell that picks up a photographer’s flash and responds by firing flashing LED lights back at paparazzi – ruining their photos and ensuring that no facial features can be seen.
The device is meant to be used at night or in low light situations. “It works up to iso 800 at f/4, but if you’re shooting something that requires more light than that then this thing can be overpowered,” says Harvey. The device works up to a 1/125 shutter speed. “If someone’s taking a low-light shot with a long shutter-speed then it’s much more effective.”
[LINK]
On May 24th 2009, Lifelock’s services were ruled to be illegal by a federal court. The judge stated that Lifelock has been breaking California law for years by placing fraud alerts on its customer’s credit profiles.
Lifelock’s CEO Todd Davis appeared on The Today Show back in May of 2008 stating that the claims that his identity has been repeatedly stolen were false. Todd Davis advertises his own social security number, 457-55-5462, as evidence of his firm’s prowess at protecting against identity theft – but reports have been emerging that his identity has, in fact been stolen. Matt Lauer even produced a list of some 87 people who had applied for driver’s licenses using Davis’ identity.
Considering that former co-founder Robert J. Maynard was something of a thief himself, is any of this really surprising?
[Wired Article] [Phoenix New Times] [Wired Article on Robert Maynard] [Wikipedia]
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