---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <5C34BB94-47F9-4E24-A13B-6E232D3BEA4F@roscom.com> Date: 11 Aug 2019 09:29:10 -0400 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: These Legit-Looking iPhone Lightning Cables Will Hijack Your Computer These Legit-Looking iPhone Lightning Cables Will Hijack Your Computer I plugged the Apple lightning cable into my iPod and connected it to my Mac, just as I normally would. My iPod started charging, iTunes detected the device, and my iPod produced the pop-up asking if I wanted to trust this computer. All expected behaviour. But this cable was hiding a secret. A short while later, a hacker remotely opened a terminal on my Mac's screen, letting them run commands on my computer as they saw fit. This is because this wasn't a regular cable. Instead, it had been modified to include an implant; extra components placed inside the cable letting the hacker remotely connect to the computer. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/evj4qw/these-iphone-lightning-cables-will-hack-your-computer ------------------------------ Message-ID: <EE94ED34-EB73-4941-9A8C-4FCA4227C076@roscom.com> Date: 10 Aug 2019 18:03:18 -0400 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: We asked, you answered: you're holding onto your phone forever We asked, you answered: you're holding onto your phone forever Bt Jefferson Graham We asked consumers and they couldn't have been clearer. They will never, ever pay $1,000 for a smartphone. They'll hold onto their phones until the dial tone truly goes dead. But of course, they do buy the new ones. Apple is on track to sell over 200 million iPhones this year. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2019/08/10/verizon-t-mobile-at-t-all-agree-monthly-payments-vs-1-000-prices/1955946001/ ------------------------------ Message-ID: <EF4B7308-AEF6-47C4-A1BE-CE1E707157D0@roscom.com> Date: 11 Aug 2019 09:38:36 -0400 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: New Map Reveals That At Least 231 Cities Have Partnered With Ring An interactive map, researched and compiled as a personal project by an incoming college senior, gives the most comprehensive view of Ring's partnerships with law enforcement to date. By Caroline Haskins At least 231 police departments around the country have partnered with Amazon's home security company Ring, according to the most comprehen- sive map of the company's partnerships to date. The map was created by Shreyas Gandlur, an incoming senior electrical engineering student at the University of Illinois. Each node is annotated with a link to a blog or social media post announcing a Ring partnership in a particular city. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qvg4vx/new-map-reveals-that-at-least-231-cities-have-partnered-with-ring ------------------------------ Message-ID: <barmar-4011A7.10393312082019@reader443.eternal-september.org> Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2019 11:13:04 -0400 From: Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> Subject: Re: Brief: Separating the Fact from Fiction > In article <87820AC5-FA21-4ACD-B31E-B8D864268A7C@roscom.com>, > "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> wrote: > > Brief: Separating the Fact from Fiction > > Attorney General Barr is Wrong About Encryption > > By: Andi Wilson Thompson > > [snip] > Attorney General William Barr's recent remarks on encryption at the > International Conference on Cyber Security were full of misleading > statements and misguided reasoning. > > 1 Strong digital encryption is the bedrock infrastructure that > allows everyday people, businesses, and our government to trust > technology for critical needs. Barr's demand that tech companies > give law enforcement special access to encrypted devices would > seriously violate that trust, compromising the security of > potentially billions of people by creating a vulnerability that > criminals and terrorists could easily exploit. Is there anything new here? The two sides have been making essentially the same arguments for decades (remember the "Clipper Chip"?). The decentralized nature of TCP/IP and the Internet means that in open societies like ours, you can't force the bad guys to use the technology that provides backdoors. To borrow a maxim, "if it's a crime to use strong encryption, only criminals will use strong encryption." -- Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Wed, 14 Aug 2019