Invasion of Privacy by Siri and Cortana brought out in open
“Everything
you’ve ever said to Siri/Cortana has been recorded…and I get to listen
to it” says an employee of Walk N’Talk Technologies
A Redditor, FallenMyst
today stated the obvious on a Reddit thread, people other than the
users can easily hear what the user says to Siri and Cortana and in all
probability may use it to harm the user in long run.
FallenMyst stated in the thread
that he had just joined a tech firm, Walk N’Talk Technologies where he
got to listen into the sound bytes, match it with what is said in an
audio click and then give the feedback about the quality to his bosses.
I
started a new job today with Walk N’Talk Technologies. I get to listen
to sound bites and rate how the text matches up with what is said in an
audio clip and give feedback on what should be improved.
So far so
good for FallenMyst because he thought that the sound bytes being given
to him for benchmarking may be random. However he noticed a pattern in
the voice samples and realised that they were sound samples of users
giving voice commands to their smartphones using either Apple’s Siri or
Microsoft’s Cortana.
Hearing the personal communications from
users which is not supposed to heard by anyone other than the user and
Siri/Cortana put FallenMyst in a moral dilemma.
“Soon,
I realized that I was hearing peoples commands given to their mobile
devices. Guys, I’m telling you, if you’ve said it to your phone, it’s
been recorded…and there’s a damn good chance a 3rd party is going to
hear it, FallenMyst states on the thread.
It seems
that whatever that a users says to Siri/Cortana is being recorded and
saved in the clouds and is available for listening to an unwanted third
party.
Though it may be innocent stuff like “Siri, do you like
me?” but in the end, a unwanted person is hearing a personal
communication meant to be for Siri/Cortana’s ears only.
“I
heard everything from kiddos asking innocent things like “Siri, do you
like me?” to some guy asking Galaxy to lick his bxxxxxe. I wish I was
kidding,” FallenMyst states.
Further, if such
information is indeed being store by Apple and/or Microsoft, did they
obtain users explicit permission to store it. Can Apple/Microsoft
guarantee that such personal communications are not used by it/breached
by hackers and used against the user. Sometimes, innocent stuff can
land you in a soup.
The
post has already received a thousand upvotes on Reddit since it was
posted an hour ago. Many redditors have given their views and comments
on the post. Some of the top comments are given below :
[–]mjrbac0n 1 point 55 minutes ago “It’s helps pay for the device, like commercials.” Once the sound waves leave your mouth, you don’t own them anymore anyway.
A new Android Malware has been discovered by AVG which can be “spying” on the user even when the phone is in “Switch off mode”
Mobile Malware Research Team AVG have discovered a new bug which is of great concern to all the Android smartphone users.
Usually
when user shuts down or puts off the Android phone a dialog box opens
asking for 3 options: Power Off, Airplane Mode or Mute. Usually user
would select the Power Off option and then the Android phone would shut
off. Mobile security AVG team
discovered that this Malware captures the “root permission” level of
the Power Off process. Once this is done the malware will inject the
virus so that the entire Power Off process is locked.
With
the malware taking over the Power Off process, whenever the victim
clicks the Power Off button an artificial dialog pops up and then the
entire fake shutdown process takes place which would resemble as if
actually the phone is shutting down. However in reality the phone is
still active and working.
The Malware can then use the phone to
click photos, even make some outgoing calls and anything that it wants
to do using the phone. As of now the security team has acknowledged this
virus as an “unknown Android Malware” (no name suggested yet) and all
the Android users have been warned against this virus. Also the only
remedy which can be applied as a safety measure would be to remove
battery from the Android phone to ensure 100% switch off of these
phones.
Security service providers should come up with a suitable
anti-malware for this menace as removing the battery every time to shut
down the Android smartphone would not be feasible, if some is infected
with the malware.
The tech landscape is dominated by the smartphone and the tablet.
These in turn are lorded-over by two competing operating systems
familiar to us all, namely Apple's iOS and Google's Android, which can
never be deposed, not even by Microsoft's millions. Right?
Not so.
While Apple and Google slug it out with periodic updates to try and
outdo each other, and in doing so hopefully tempt us tech buyers to swap
from one major operating system to another, there are other
smartphone-centric platforms out there vying for to be dominant in the
longer term.
For example Windows Phone,
has faltered due to its muddled tablet and desktop variants and lack of
app support, and hasn't had much of an impact so far, though Microsoft
hopes to change its fortunes with Windows 10 Mobile.
And then there are a the smaller and virtually unknown mobile platforms such as Jolla's Sailfish that are now starting to get some attention, with probably the most well-known being Ubuntu.
Several
operating systems are fighting for the title of up-and-coming 'third
ecosystem', and Ubuntu Phone has emerged as a new challenger.
The network configuration screenCanonical, the company behind Ubuntu, was at MWC 2015 showing off two new Ubuntu-powered smartphones, the BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition and Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition.
This gave me a chance to play around with the latest version of Ubuntu
Phone to find out what has changed since we last tried it out.
Scopes
One
of the biggest challenges facing new mobile operating systems is the
lack of apps. People with an iPhone or Android device are often
reluctant to move to a new OS if it doesn't have their favourite apps
and games. Just ask Microsoft.
Canonical is all too aware of this
problem and has decided to face it head on. Cristian Parrino, Vice
President of Mobile and Online Services at Canonical, told me that while
most mobile operating systems attempt to build an audience first and
then persuade app developers to port their apps to the platform thanks
to the size of the audience, with Ubuntu Phone Canonical is flipping
this process; building up the app ecosystem first in a bid to convince
people to move over.
It
makes sense, though how do you get people to create apps if there's no
audience? Canonical has a few tricks up its sleeve, with Scopes being
the key.
Scopes, which as Parrino, claims, is "a game changer",
allows people to make Scopes at a fraction of the cost – in both the
financial and time sense – that it takes to create an app.
Each
Scope aggregates services and content, giving users a different way to
open apps and read news stories, and the simplicity of creating Scopes
means that developers shouldn't have to devote much time to creating
good looking and useful Scopes rather than bespoke apps.
I tried
out the NearBy Scope, which uses your location to aggregate local
services, and I was able to view reviews of local restaurants and check
the weather forecast at the same time. This was a powerful demonstration
of the potential of Scopes, as in conventional mobile operating systems
like iOS and Android I would have needed to open a series of separate
apps to get the same information.
I also tried the BBC News Scope,
which acted like a fancy RSS feeder that supplied headlines of the
latest news, while clicking these took me through to the BBC website.
My
time trying out Scopes showed that there is potential here and its
clear that businesses and websites can quickly create their very own
Scope. However it also feels like you need an active data connection to
make the most out of Scopes, which might not please everybody.
Ubuntu
Phone also supports native apps written in either HTML5 or Qt Quick,
which brings me to the final string in Ubuntu Phone's app bow: user
created apps. As expected from a Linux distribution, Ubuntu has a loyal
following of developers who are happy to create an app if one doesn't
exist, and Canonical hopes this community will plug the gaps. With
services such as Spotify opening up its API to developers it means that
although there isn't an official app, there is an Ubuntu Phone app for
playing songs from Spotify.
So has this strategy worked? We've
been told by Parrino that we can expect some big name apps appearing on
the new mobile operating system. When asked what sort of apps and Scopes
we can expect in Ubuntu Phone, he replied "Several. Facebook, Twitter,
eBay, Time Out, Yelp, as well as community developed apps working on
Spotify, Dropbox APIs. Lots. Just about every digital platform, in some
cases the top brand, others from valid alternatives".
However
there was one major app that won't be appearing on Ubuntu Phone just yet
- WhatsApp. The incredibly popular social app won't be part of the
almost 1,000 apps from big names around the world that are coming to
Ubuntu Phone.
Apps
Although making phone calls and sending
text messages is handled in a similar fashion to iOS and Android
devices, there is currently no default app for emails preinstalled on
Ubuntu Phone. Canonical suggests using Dekko, a pared down and rather
simplistic email client that does the job at least.
The
Gmail web app was also installed, but as this was a web app, it simply
took you to the Gmail inbox website, which didn't display properly. The
default web browser is Canoncial's own creation, though it's based on
the Chromium engine, delivering an experience similar to Google's Chrome
web browser.
Another of the platform's own apps is Gallery, an
effort to create a timeline-organised history of your life through
photos. Yes, it's a bit like Facebook, though don't get us started on
that particular social media app for smartphones (grrr … adverts).
Gallery draws in images from wherever you choose, and orders them by
date.
Gallery has plenty of sharing options integratedUnless
you delve a lot deeper, it's all about content to the exclusion of
little-used control; pictures are shown as thumbnails, and by 'event'
(time taken), are scroll-able left and right, and can be made
full-screen, but unless you then touch the bottom of the screen you'll
never need to see controls to share, enhance or crop it.
The
native camera app will be pretty familiar to anyone who has used
Google's stock Android camera app. It includes a range of standard
features such as GPS connectivity to tag your photos with your location
information, flash settings, a timer and quality settings.
There's
nothing particularly flashy here, but it does the job in a
straightforward way, and you can set where the camera focuses by tapping
on the screen of the device.
Canonical is envisioning a future
where any app that can run on the desktop version of Ubunutu can run on
Ubuntu Phone, with this convergence planned to happen in the next 12
months. Hopefully when we revisit Ubuntu Phone later on, we should see
more native apps becoming available.
A typical header, here in Events
Edge control
From
the beginning everything in Ubuntu Phone was designed around the edges
of the smartphone screen, and its first act was to impress us with the
way it relies on gestures and drags rather than taps on apps.
A
quick swipe from the left brings up a list of shortcuts to your
favourite apps and Scopes, and is a similar layout to the Unity menu bar
in the desktop version of Ubuntu. Quickly swiping your finger up from
the bottom edge brings up a list of all open Scopes, while a slow,
deliberate drag of the finger from the right-hand side brings up a 3D
carousel list of apps and Scopes that you can flick through. A quicker
swipe from the right flicks back and forth between your last open app.
With
the screen locked notifications can be displayed, which is a nice touch
and allows you to quickly open up whatever app the notification belongs
to.
Ubuntu
Phone speeds-up the process of changing the options on your phone by
making barely used utility settings, such as Network, Date, Message sand
Sound and sound parameters, speedily accessible merely by dragging a
finger down from the top edge of the phone.
A rapidly changing
carousel of settings appears, and when you get to the one you need, you
simply drag that finger down to select it and blow it up to full-screen.
It gets rid of taps, yes, but it makes things quicker and much cleaner.
The 'across, down, select option' idea isn't new, and feels much like
how, say, Microsoft Word works on a desktop computer, though on Ubuntu
Phone the experience is both compressed and - unless you want to see it -
completely hidden from your everyday use of your smartphone. Gone are
lists, menus, pages full of options, and other admin annoyances - and
even soft-key buttons.
The
interface worked well, though there are still plenty of bugs that
caused apps and web pages to display incorrectly. I'd have liked to have
taken some new screenshots of Ubuntu Phone, but during the time I used
Ubuntu Phone there was a bug that means any screenshots taken had the on
screen volume control icons plastered across them, so don't expect a
flawless user experience just yet.
Home page
Home screens
that hold all your smartphone's apps are mainstays on iOS and Android,
but with Ubuntu Phone's focus on Scopes over apps, there currently isn't
a dedicated Home page. In an earlier version of Ubuntu Phone that we
tried a few years ago there was, but this has been dropped in favour of a
series of Scope screens that you can flick through, with the Today
scope that lists the weather, calendar and recent calls acting as the
default Scope.
The Home screen is simple and cleanCanoncial's
commitment to Scopes is admirable, with Parrino going as far as to tell
me that they are fundamental to the Ubuntu Phone experience, which
means Ubuntu Phone could live or die by how popular Scopes become.
The
current lack of a homescreen can prove to be a bit disorientating at
first, especially when you're in an app or a menu and want to return to
your apps. Pressing the Ubuntu icon on the left-hand screen simply
brings you back to your last open Scope. If you want a quick overview,
you need to instead swipe up to view the list.
A typical footer, here in Gallery
Early verdict
Will
Ubuntu Phone make an impact? For anyone who has become frustrated with
both major operating systems, the streamlined and more intelligently
designed, intuitive interface of Ubuntu Phone shows more attention to
detail than either iOS or Android, though whether it's revolutionary
enough to succeed is debatable.
Ubuntu has enough recognition
among Linux users to at least guarantee a niche audience who will be
forgiving of the bugs and lack of official apps. However Canoncial has
been vocal about its ambitions to bring Ubuntu Phone to the mainstream
and tempt people who haven't heard of Linux to ditch Android or iOS. In
its current state, Ubuntu Phone has a major struggle on its hands, as it
still doesn't have the apps to convince people to migrate.
The
software is also buggy, and although this will no doubt be fixed
eventually, at the moment I wouldn't recommend Ubuntu Phone for people
who just want an easy life. It does have plenty of potential though, and
Canoncial is aiming to bring Ubuntu Phone to retail in around 12
months, so there is plenty of time to iron out some of its problems.
Although you can't buy Ubuntu Phone devices in stores until next year, you can buy the BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition and Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition
smartphones online if you can't wait to try out Ubuntu Phone. You can
also download the operating system onto older Nexus devices, though I'd
be cautious of installing it onto your main smartphone for now.
The
biggest question is how will people take to Scopes? As Ubuntu Phone is
so focused around the idea, if it fails to catch on it could spell the
end of Canoncial's hopes to transcend the desktop.
I like the
ambition behind them, and aggregating various services into one easy to
digest screen is pretty handy. It's also a good way of getting big names
on Ubuntu Phone without having to convince them to spend time writing
an app.
But will an abundance of Scopes make up for a lack of apps? At the moment, I'm not too convinced.
Unknown hackers knock out New York City governments email system
For
whole of last week and uptil Monday, unknown hackers had knocked of New
York City government’s emailing system. The attack was pretty ferocious
according to a City Hall source who said that the “universal” denial of
service attack had now been contained but there was still “ongoing
malicious activity” as recently as Monday.
Almost all government
agencies in New York City were unable to send or receive messages for
the past week due to this attack. Some agencies such as the Department
of Transportation set up temporary Gmail accounts to send and receive
emails. Sources said that inbound and outbound emails were affected
while intra-agency emails were not affected by the attack
Speaking
about the DDoS attack, Jackie Albano, a spokeswoman for the city’s
Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, said that
the attack which started last Tuesday, had been resolved last week. He
also added that the efforts taken to mitigate the attack may have
slowed the email servers resulting in slowed emails.
DDoS or Hack?
It
is not known whether New York City government websites were under DDoS
attack or were hacked because Albano added that no sensitive information
or data was compromised during the attack. He however said that this
was a “big attack” but downplayed its impact on New York City government
services.
“It is a big deal but….it’s like a lot of
mosquitoes buzzing around you,” said Albano. “The nature of the attack
is only designed to interfere with service, not to steal or access any
private information. It’s designed to slow down email. On the scale of
cyber incidences it’s kind of low.”
Albano said that MSISAC,
New York Police Department and FBI were all investigating the incident
and it is still not clear who initiated the attack of why.
Janet Vertesi's attempts to use large amounts of gift cards on Amazon,
run by Jeff Bezos
When searching for an adjective to describe our comprehensively surveilled networked world – the one bookmarked by the NSA at one end and by Google, Facebook, Yahoo and co at the other – "Orwellian" is the word that people generally reach for.
But "Kafkaesque" seems more appropriate. The term is conventionally defined
as "having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality", but
Frederick Karl, Franz Kafka's most assiduous biographer, regarded that
as missing the point. "What's Kafkaesque," he once told the New York Times,
"is when you enter a surreal world in which all your control patterns,
all your plans, the whole way in which you have configured your own
behaviour, begins to fall to pieces, when you find yourself against a
force that does not lend itself to the way you perceive the world."
A vivid description of this was provided recently by Janet Vertesi,
a sociologist at Princeton University. She gave a talk at a conference
describing her experience of trying to keep her pregnancy secret from
marketers. Her report is particularly pertinent because pregnant women
are regarded by online advertisers as one of the most valuable entities
on the net. You and I are worth, on average, only 10 cents each. But a
pregnant woman is valued at $1.50 because she is about to embark on a
series of purchasing decisions stretching well into her child's
lifetime.
Professor Vertesi's story is about big data, but from the bottom up.
It's a gripping personal account of what it takes to avoid being
collected, tracked and entered into databases.
First – and most obviously – she determined that there would be
absolutely no mention of her new state on social media. She phoned or
wrote individually to friends and family members to give them the good
news, and asked them not to mention it on Facebook. But an uncle in
Australia sent her a congratulatory message via Facebook. "I then did,"
she said, "what any rational person would do. I deleted the thread of
all our conversations and unfriended him." He replied plaintively: "But I
didn't put it on your wall", apparently unaware that chats and other
messages aren't private in the sense that he assumed.
In
preparing for the birth of her child, Vertesi was nothing if not
thorough. Instead of using a web-browser in the normal way – ie leaving a
trail of cookies and other digital tracks, she used the online service Tor
to visit babycenter.com anonymously. She shopped offline whenever she
could and paid in cash. On the occasions when she had to use Amazon, she set up a new Amazon account
linked to an email address on a personal server, had all packages
delivered to a local locker and made sure only to pay with Amazon gift
cards that had been purchased with cash.
The really significant moment came when she came to buy a big-ticket
item – an expensive stroller (aka pushchair) that was the urbanite's
equivalent of an SUV. Her husband tried to buy $500 of Amazon gift
vouchers with cash, only to discover that this triggered a warning:
retailers have to report people buying large numbers of gift vouchers
with cash because, well, you know, they're obviously money launderers.
At this point, some sobering thoughts begin to surface. The first is Melvin Kranzberg's observation
that "technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral". Our
technologies have values built into them, which is why Vertesi in her
talk cites someone's observation that "the iPod is a tool to make us
moral" (because it encourages people to buy music rather than download
it illicitly) and philosophers argue about whether surveillance encourages moral – ie socially approved – behaviour (think speed cameras).
Even more sobering, though, are the implications of Professor
Vertesi's decision to use Tor as a way of ensuring the anonymity of her
web-browsing activities. She had a perfectly reasonable reason for doing
this – to ensure that, as a mother-to-be, she was not tracked and
targeted by online marketers.
But we know from the Snowden disclosures and other sources that Tor users are automatically regarded with suspicion by the NSA et al
on the grounds that people who do not wish to leave a digital trail are
obviously up to no good. The same goes for people who encrypt their
emails.
This is why the industry response to protests about tracking is so
inadequate. The market will fix the problem, the companies say, because
if people don't like being tracked then they can opt not to be. But the
Vertesi experiment shows that if you take measures to avoid being
tracked, then you increase the probability that you will be. Which is
truly Kafkaesque.
Android the most Popular operating systems for mobile will be soon
running the Virtual Reality Applications as Google decides to Take On
Facebook in Virtual Reality
A news report published on WSJ,
suggests that Google has tasked a team of engineers of developing a
version of Android operating system to power its virtual reality
applications.
People familiar with the project said, Google has
“tens of engineers” and other staffs working on the project. The project
will be freely distributed like Google did with Android and will be
available for smartphones, tablets, and wearables running on Android
operating system.
Google
refused to comment on the reports or anything about how the Android
Virtual Reality headset will look like. While very less is known about
Google’s plan on this project it is believed that the move comes
following Facebook Inc.’s $2 billion purchase of Oculus VR.
The latest Android VR project of Google is in addition to the Google backed Magic Leap augmented reality project, and a separate VR project Google is already working on.
It seems like Google has big plans afoot to meet the recent floods of Virtual Reality hardware in the market.
