By Andrew Liszewski

If you live in a busy urban area and spend your time engulfed in crowds of people on the street, or bumping into the masses on the subway, it’s probably not a terrible idea to be a little extra cautious with your wallet. You never know when your pockets might get picked. But there’s cautious, and then there’s downright paranoid, which I think can be said of anyone who drops $825 on this biometrically protected wallet from Dunhill.

The wallet can only be opened by swiping your fingerprint, so while would-be thieves might be able to get their hands on it, they won’t be able to open it. And attempts to crack it open will be mostly thwarted by its sleek carbon fiber outer shell. I mean it’s not completely indestructible, but it should be frustrating enough to deter most people. The Biometric Wallet can even let you know if it’s been taken or forgotten thanks to a Bluetooth link to your phone which sounds an alarm if the two are more than 5 meters apart. On the inside you’ll find a real leather finish with a stainless steel money clip, but I’d expect nothing less when they’re asking almost $1,000 for it.

[ Dunhill Biometric Wallet ] VIA [ Uncrate ]

A researcher at North Carolina State University is warning of an Android 2.3 security vulnerability that gives attackers access to your personal information, further proof that Gingerbread isn’t all sugar and spice (to be fair, that SMS issue has since been remedied). According to Xuxian Jiang, the bug allows malicious websites to access and upload the contents of a user’s microSD card, including voicemails, photos, and online banking information to a remote server. The flaw apparently resembles a similar bug in previous version of Android, thought to have been addressed with Gingerbread. However, as Jiang points out, that fix is easily bypassed. Apart from removing the microSD card, disabling JavaScript, or switching to a third-party browser, Android 2.3 users have little recourse in squashing the bug. The folks at eWeek reported that Google is working on a solution to the problem, but there’s no word on when we can expect to see an update.

Android 2.3 security bug shows microSD access vulnerability originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 10:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM has told the Indian government that there is no way that it can supply covert access to encrypted emails sent using BlackBerry smartphones, in the process risking finding its service in the country cut off over security concerns. The denial is the latest in a back & forth battle between the Canadian company and the Indian security forces, over concerns that BlackBerry phones will be used by terrorists and dissidents to communicate, and RIM’s persistent claims that a monitoring system would be technologically infeasible.

“There is no possibility of us providing any kind of a solution,” RIM vice president Robert Crow insists, “there is no solution, there are no keys to be handed.” Instead, Crow suggests, individual Indian companies would have to hand over their own encryption keys to the government. Still, there are hopes that India’s security forces will be content with the BlackBerry messenger access RIM has already granted.

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Sigh. We don’t know whether to congratulate the enterprising spirit of this venture or to bemoan the sad state of a world where a 60-something-year old lady feels compelled to turn into an iPhone smuggler. Either way, Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport has given us a pretty good reason for the use of full body scanners, which revealed the woman in question was strapped with 44 iPhone 4s all around her body. Dressed in traditional Georgian attire, the lady had some struggles walking around, which raised suspicion and got the officials to run her through the machines. Guess this gives us a whole new definition to the phrase “stocking stuffer,” eh?

[Original image credit: buystoreshelving.com]

Woman tries, fails to smuggle 44 iPhones into Israel originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 06:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mozilla’s Global Privacy and Public Policy Leader, Alex Fowler, has detailed the upcoming Do Not Track functionality headed to Firefox. As Mozilla envisages it, the system “allows users to set a browser preference that will broadcast their desire to opt-out of third party, advertising-based tracking by transmitting a Do Not Track HTTP header with every click or page view in Firefox.”

Mozilla believes this is a more inclusive and comprehensive route than maintaining blacklists or cookies, though it does recognize that it relies on sites to fall into line and respect the “Don Not Track” user preference. The approach differs from Microsoft’s strategy for IE9, which will rely on “anti-tracking lists” onto which users can put approved and unapproved sites.

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CALIFORNIA, USA (AVING) — Researchers from Imperva’s Hacker Intelligence Initiative (HII) have found dozens of .mil, .gov and .edu web sites which have been hacked and are up for sale due to SQL injection vulnerabilities. The list includes websites government sites including Defence and State sites in the USA and Europe. Access to these sites is being sold at $55-$499 each; Noa Bar Yosef, Senior Security Strategist at Imperva provides an in-depth analysis below:

- The list includes (with original hacker’s typos)

The ‘traffic’ probably stands for the number of records within the Database tables. The ‘goods’ in this case are probably the needed information for the ‘Level of Control.’ For ‘full site admin’ – probably the credentials and the URL o…

Next time somebody asks you if they can recharge their smartphone from your laptop’s USB port, you might be opening yourself up to a potential malware attack. Professor and student team Angelos Stavrou and Zhaohui Wang from George Mason University have figured out a system whereby a compromised Android smartphone mounts as a standard HID (human input device) when plugged into a Windows, OS X or Linux computer, potentially giving keyboard and mouse access to malware or even a remote hacker.

Because the new device installation happens automatically – and with little in the way of notifications or ways to prevent it from taking place – users might not spot that the phone is loading as more than just a mass-storage device. Although the proof of concept was done with a modified Android kernel, it could just as easily be modified to run on iOS devices like the iPhone 4.

“Say your computer at home is compromised and you compromise your Android phone by connecting them. Then, whenever you connect the smartphone to another laptop or computing device I can take over that computer also, and then compromise other computers off that Android. It’s a viral type of compromise using the USB cable” Angelos Stavrou

Device contamination could come from a downloaded app or browser exploit, or it could be spread by plugging a clean device into an infected computer; Stavrou says it will also work with direct USB connections between smartphones. Meanwhile antivirus software wouldn’t necessarily spot the malware in action, because it would appear to be normal keyboard/mouse activity. The duo presented their research this week at the Black Hat DC conference.

[via Android Community]

So we were contacted by no less than GelaSkins themselves to see if we’d like to take a look at their brand new MacBook Air protective skins. What did we say? Of COURSE we’d like to take a peek. So they did indeed let us take a peek, and since I just happen to have had a brand new MacBook Air 11″ right here to go with my ancient iPod Touch 2nd gen, I decided to grab a skin for both. For the iPod Touch 2nd gen I decided to go with a massively complex London illustration by my favorite group of pixel illustrators in the world: eboy! Then for the MacBook Air 11-inch, I decided to take the DIY route and have them print my own design.

The design I decided upon for the MacBook Air 11″ was a photo of the army-issue backpack in which I carry all of my accessories and books to and fro. In this way it would not only be protected from scratches, but from nefarious intentioned characters as well. Why? Because if it were printed well enough, it would be totally camouflaged!

Unboxing

When we received the package in which the skins were mailed, we did not instantly know the contents. This is important as these skins are highly sought-after as they work on many different products, even if they aren’t sized correctly. Of course GelaSkins does suggest you use them on the products they intended them for, but weird stuff happens!

Once we we’d opened the first envelope, the excellence was instantly known. High quality plastic sleeves surround two sheets each -one of them an informational sheet, the other containing the skin. These sleeves opened just like you would a comic book sleeve. Newbs- be careful. You don’t want to wreck your comics by having them stick to the sticky part. Once you’ve got the sheets out, you can see the majestically colorful brightness of whatever printers GelaSkins is working with.

Top notch, all the way.

MacBook Air 11″

The first of two skins we unwrapped was the MacBook Air 11″. Although the top of this computer is relatively small, especially when compared to the rest of the comparable computers on the market, it seems gigantic when you peek the sticky side up from the GelaSkins backer. This protective skin is almost rubbery on the printed side, slightly less sticky than a vinyl sticker you’d put on your car on the sticky side. It’s almost like it’s between a window cling and a bumper sticker, if you know what I mean. I was able to place the skin on the computer PRECISELY after a few tries, but if you’re not a master craftsman, (taught in the fine arts of bookmaking by the Minneapolis masters,) you might want to consider working with two people – one to hold part of the sticker up, the other to place it down. The sticky side is a level of sticky that’s able to be stuck more than once, but the amount of times you can peel it up is finite (though we didn’t need more than 3 or 4 tries to get it perfect.)

The printing on this skin is marvelous. You’ll hear me say the same thing about the iPod Touch skin because it’s a design by people who know how detailed the printers can be here, but I had no idea, and thustly submitted a high-res photograph to test the capability of the GelaSkins colors and sharpness. Completely top notch. I’ve never seen something printed so perfectly on a non-paper surface. I don’t know how they’ve done it, but they’ve done it extremely well. When placed next to the backpack from whens the photograph came, supposing it’s in the same light, they look basically identical. A little bit different in size, obviously, but identical nonetheless.

This laptop goes with me basically everywhere since it is an ultraportable and I do like to bring it along. Therefor it is witness to some medium punishment. I do have an Incase sleeve that I put it in for travel between locations, but once I’m at a place like a coffee shop or a library or on a plane, some damage is bound to happen. While I have had this skin on for over a week now, bringing this laptop with me everywhere, I cannot see a scratch and the skin has not begun to peel off in any spot whatsoever.

iPod Touch (2nd Gen)

It doesn’t matter especially that this iPod Touch is a 2nd Gen rather than the newest model since the same factors in deciding if the protective skin is good go into play. Is it easy to apply? Extremely. Obviously much moreso than the laptop. Does the skin protect the back of my device? Of course it does – not a scratch in the week I’ve had it. Does the skin peel at all? Not even a little bit. Needless to say (have a peek for yourself) the printing is basically perfect. The pixel illustration group eboy have clearly positioned their illustration here (and on a bunch more skins) to work perfectly with the size of the skin, and they’ve done an excellent job. I’m more exciting to show off the skin than I am to show off the new apps I’ve purchased.

Wrap-Up

I’ve written much more than I really should have even had to – all I should have said was that these skins do exactly what they say they do, protect the surface they’re covering, and that they’re printed magnificently. You’re dealing with an absolutely professional group here (just look at the artists and designers involved for proof) and they’re making a really rocking product.

Head over to http://www.gelaskins.com/ and grab a bunch!

RIM has denied any looming deadline from the Indian government to cede access to secure BlackBerry messaging services, stating that reports a monitoring system must be in place by January 31 2011 lest BlackBerry users face their service being frozen are false. According to a statement quoted by the WSJ, RIM claims its “dealings with the government of India remain positive” and that “any suggestion that it is facing a Jan. 31 deadline in India is incorrect and contradicts prior clarifying comments from the government itself.”

Reports late last week had suggested that RIM was in negotiations for a further 18-24 months in which to develop a system to the Indian government’s liking, along with assurances that the messaging service would not be blocked in the meantime. However, RIM maintains that such a system is technologically infeasible, and that no deadline has been set.

By Andrew Liszewski

We’ve written about Bluetooth-based personal alarm systems designed to stop you from leaving your smartphone behind, but the Ty system is designed to work the other way. The thin, poker-chip sized discs attach to your personal accessories like briefcases, laptops, jackets and even family members, while a downloadable app on your smartphone will let you know when you’ve become separated from them.

They have a decent range of about 50 feet, though in the Ty app you can specify different ranges for up to 7 different discs at once. So for example you may always prefer to keep your wallet no farther than an arm’s length away, but you don’t want the alarm going off when you’ve gone to the bathroom at a restaurant and left your coat on the back of your chair. The app is also GPS location aware allowing you to setup safe zones, so no alarms will sound when you’re at home or at the office and things get separated. The discs will be available in March of this year for ~$70 each, with accessories like clips selling for between $5 to $30. The only downside, it won’t work with the iPhone because third-party apps apparently can’t constantly run in the background as needed for this to work.

[ Ty Personal Loss Prevention Device ]