Gizmodo: cracks

Some Core i7 iMacs Showing Up Dead

Dan Nosowitz — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:42:29 EST

There's some grumbling going on in forums and other blogs about Core i7 iMacs showing up DOA much more often than you'd expect from a brand-new computer.

The two types of issues we're seeing most are cracks in the screen and a completely dead computer on delivery. What's most plausible is that the packaging just wasn't designed to handle the size and weight of the giant 27-inch iMac as it gets tossed around the cab of a FedEx truck. Apple has so far been extremely responsive and effective in making repairs and exchanges, but it's still a discomfiting sign—if you're about to buy a new iMac, you might want to wait and see if Apple announces a fix for whatever's going on before you take the plunge. [Apple Forums via Engadget]

Safari Cracked in Seconds at Pwn2Own Hacking Competition

matt buchanan — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:40:00 EDT

At the annual Pwn2Own competition, where hackers compete to crack software as fast as possible so you don't sleep at night, browsers were on the first day's menu. And Safari went down in seconds.

Security researcher Charlie Miller hacked Safari in just 10 seconds, then used a remote-execution exploit to take over the up-to-date MacBook and make it do his dirty bidding. Firefox and Internet Explorer 8 (which you can download at noon today) fell within a few hours to Nils, a master's student who busted all three browsers wide open. They each won $5000. Day 2 will offer more $5000 prizes for discovering new bugs in Firefox, Chrome and Safari.

Mobile phone OS's will also be part of the event, with $10,000 for cracking any of the five majors: iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian and Android. Care to take bets on which one will go down first? [Pocket Lint]

Dogpile on Apple: New Lawsuit Adds Hairline Cracks to List of iPhone 3G Problems

Dan Nosowitz — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 20:45:00 EST

New Yorker Avi Koschitzki has tossed his own lawsuit in with the rising pile, accusing Apple and AT&T of the usual crimes (lousy 3G reception and speed, lackluster software updates) as well as a newbie: hairline cracks in the iPhone 3G's casing. We've reported on it before, but this is the first time it's showing up in a suit.

Koschitzki alleges that many of the hairline cracks are visible on unopened, unused iPhones, and that Apple willingly and knowingly sold iPhones with the unsightly lines. I'd think cosmetic damage before use would be grounds for a return, and I can't say I approve of the proliferation of this kind of lawsuit, but if Apple is sending out cracked iPhones, they've gotta step up and be more careful. [AppleInsider]

Xbox 360 Firmware Hackers Release New Version, Bypasses Ban Checks

Jason Chen — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:30:28 EDT

The latest shots in the Microsoft vs. Xbox 360 console hacker war have been fired, and this time it's Microsoft who took one in the chest. After banning a bunch of Xbox 360s with modded firmware DVD drives earlier this month, the company's ban checks have just been defeated by a new version of the DVD firmware.

Not a lot of details are listed in the release info, but the new version claims to defeat "all current and some future Xbox Live detection attempts", which means you'd be safe running this until the next dashboard update from Microsoft. – Jason Chen

Info Page [Xbins via Xbox Scene via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Vista Hacked Again, This Time Even More Effectively

Charlie White — Fri, 18 May 2007 12:45:46 EDT

This is not the first time we've mentioned a Windows Vista crack, and it won't be the last, but now a hacker group known as NoPE somehow managed to create a cracked Windows Vista DVD that works immediately, out of the box, with no serial number or activation keys required. Just like some of those corporate versions of Windows XP that worked for years, the hacked Vista product appears to be already activated and it even automatically updates itself with the latest patches.

The cat and mouse game continues, where Microsoft will counter this, and then the hackers will respond, and so on, and so on. Of course, activation schemes, digital rights management and security measures only affect the honest people, inconveniencing them and sometimes even stopping them in their tracks, while the h4ck3rz rise to the challenge every time with their formidable sk1llz. Sigh. – Charlie White

NoPE release new Vista crack and is best to date [Newlaunches]

Microsoft Vista Hacked, Brute Force Keygen Opens Pandora's Box

Charlie White — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 09:52:57 EST

Finding the secret keys to the kingdom has become an international sport, and now we're hearing that the mighty product activation for Microsoft Windows Vista has already been compromised. Using a brute force technique of checking 20,000 possibilities an hour, it might take a few days to find a valid product key, but it works. The cumbersome technique is in the realm of the propellerheads so far, but the crack could soon be turned into an easily-used key generator that would open to sluice gates to widespread piracy.

Perhaps all this software cracking wouldn't be so tempting if Vista didn't cost about the same as a cheap PC. If it does turn out that Microsoft Windows Vista is so easily stolen, it might not be profitable to create such behemoth operating systems any more. Ubuntu, anyone? – Charlie White

Vista Brute Force Keygen [Keznews, via SlashGear]

HD DVD and Blu-Ray Cracked (Again)

Mark Wilson — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 12:45:27 EST

The Doom 9 forum has posted yet another way one can break the AACS (encryption) on the new DVD formats. This time, software enthusiasts exploited WinDVD 8 to find its "sub device key" that allows for movie playback. Does this mean anything more to Bittorrent? Not really. This is just another way that's been to do what could already be done.

It's almost not even fun anymore...like we've all teamed up against some wheelchair-bound child in a high-fiving contest. – Mark Wilson

Doom 9 Forum [via slashdot]

HD DVD and Blu-ray Now Completely Hacked, Cracked, Sacked

Charlie White — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:15:24 EST

The guys at the Doom 9 forum are marking February 11, 2007 as the day when digital rights management was defeated on Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. It turns out that cracking the high definition disc formats was much easier than was originally thought. The processing key that can unravel the DRM on all HD DVD and Blu-ray discs has been found by a clever encryption fighter named arnezami.

It gets better:

The first-reported cracks for HD DVD and Blu-ray discs were not completely effective, because each individual title had secret codes that were needed to unravel the rest of the encryption on that disc. But now this newly-found processing key is apparently the holy grail that unlocks the DRM on all HD DVD and Blu-ray discs released so far. The guy found it by simply watching his computer memory, where the secret code—which we won't publish here for fear of doing jail time—simply appeared. Incredible. Let the free downloads begin! – Charlie White

Processing Key, Media Key and Volume ID found!!! [Doom9 Forum]

Blu-ray Now Cracked, and That Makes Two

Charlie White — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 13:00:00 EST

Movie studios, start your attorneys, because muslix64, the guy who cracked HD DVD with his BackupHDDVD utility has done it again. His next Pandora's box is called BackupBluray. It's not perfect yet, because the first iteration can only ~~crack~~ backup Blu-ray discs whose CPS unit key is known, but sources say full decryption will be added soon.

Of course, all of this unraveling of Blu-ray and HD DVD's bulletproof security is for backup purposes only. Certainly those who have bought these discs should be allowed to store away a backup for safekeeping, you know, in case the disc gets scratched? But we thought these encryption schemes were impossible to crack. Perhaps "impossible" is a relative term. – Charlie White

BackupBluray rip utility released [WesleyTech]

Blu-ray Discs Cracked With Help From PS3?

Gizloco — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 08:49:59 EST

Guys in basements cracked the HD DVD code a few days weeks and now there are preliminary reports suggesting that Blu-ray discs have also been cracked. When I say "preliminary" I really mean it because the only proof that we have is one lonely post on an HDTV blog. Allegedly, three or more people have claimed to find the title/volume keys on Blu-ray discs by using a PS3. Linux, modding and voodoo are involved, apparently. If this turns out to be accurate, it would mean that neither HD DVD nor Blu-ray are as secure as their handlers wanted Hollywood to believe. When pirates are determined to buy their own nation, how do you fight that? Somewhere, an MPAA official is crying (and drawing up lawsuits). – Nicholas Deleon

This just in: Possible Blu-ray title/volume key exploit found on PS3 [HDTV Blogger via PS3Scene]

TiVo To Go DRM Cracked

Charlie White — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 12:51:43 EST

The digital rights management (DRM) that locks up the TiVo To Go video you might want to transfer between your TiVo and PC has been cracked. Now you won't even need to use the TiVo Desktop software if you want to play back something you've recorded on your TiVo on a PC. Plus, you can do all that file transferrage on a Mac and Linux now. Neat.

So far, it's a crude command line interface, but expect it to spread far and wide with an easy to use graphical user interface before too long. Unfortunately, for those of us who've been waiting for this TiVo To Go functionality for our Series 3 HD TiVos, this could have a chilling effect. Well, maybe that will be cracked for us, too. – Charlie White

Ti Vo To Go [Tivo Wiki, via Zatz Not Funny]

Skype Cracked?

Charlie White — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 14:33:16 EDT

A team of Chinese engineers say they have unraveled the protocol for Skype, and vow to release their own third-party Skype client before the end of August. VoIP guru Charlie Paglee says he talked with one of the members of the team which reverse-engineered the Skype protocol, and actually received a Skype call from that person who was able to prove that he was using the reverse engineered software by sending Paglee the IP address of his PC, information that's always encrypted during a conventional Skype call.

Meanwhile, Skype dismissed the claim, insisting this development would have no effect on Skype's cryptographic security or integrity. However, the engineers who claim to have cracked the code say that they can also block Skype voice traffic. This would be a welcome feature in China, which has already ruled Skype software illegal. Since Skype software currently hijacks its users' computers to propagate its voice calls, the capability of blocking that voice traffic could do some serious damage to the Skype business model. This could make it possible to send and receive Skype calls without having any calls going through your computer, resulting in lots of holes in the network. – Charlie White

Skype Protocol Has Been Cracked [VoIPWiki (Charlie Paglee's Blog), via /.]

DCEmu's 60-Day PSP Homebrew Contest:Start Your LUA

johnb — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 16:15:34 EST

DCEmu is sponsoring another PSP homebrew coding contest and offering a Previous contests have brought as amazing homebrew wares including a new PSP shell, cool puzzle games, Missle Command, and a Quake 2 port.

Coding for the PSP is actually comparatively easy now that all of the latest firmware has been cracked to bits. Get codin'.

PSP News 60 Day Coding Competition Starts Now [DCemu]

Holiday Office Party Tip: Don't Break The Copy Machine With Your Ass

Noah R — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 13:30:42 EST

Ho, ho, it's lock-step corporate fun and binge drinking time again. Gizmodo wants you to enjoy your company's annual excuse to watch your colleagues make asses of themselves responsibly. Our advice this year? Don't sit on the copy machine. At least if you are in the UK, where 32 percent of Canon technicians say they have been called to fix glass plates during the Christmas period for non-work-related cracks.

Geoff Bush from the north of England said one case he'd attended, where a young lady had cracked the glass mid-scan, also jammed the scanner so that it wasn't until the machine was fixed and her colleagues all sober that copies of her backside starting pouring from the machine.

Thank you CNET for that apocryphal tale, and giving us a reason to think about ass the day after Thanksgiving. Special commendation for the lurid headline—"Confessions of a photocopier repairman")—too bad the article has just two examples in it.

Confessions of a photocopier repairman

Survey Says: Everything is Hackable

coinop — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 15:45:41 EDT

There is still no technology that cannot be hacked. Save inscribing your pin number on the inside of a diamond. If you can read, write to it, or broadcast it, chances are someone will find a way to snoop. A recently released paper, wonkily entitled Analysis of the Texas Instruments DST RFID, documents all of the loopholes in the buzzed-about radio frequency identification technology. The website includes examples of hacking devices utilizing RFID, such as Exxon Mobile s SpeedPass payment system and wireless starter keys for cars. There are even some devices for sniffing data from Digital Signature Transponder (DST) Tags in people s nearby pockets. With a hack for everything, even biometric security might not save us from potential threats.

RFID Crackers Hotwire Cars, Steal Gas, Sniff Phones [BoingBoing]

Everything You Need for an Evening of MacIntel

johnb — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 11:08:12 EDT

Candles, a bottle of red, some massage oils, and an OSX Intel torrent. It might not be like the first time, but it won't be the last, baby. Come on over here and sit next to me on the bearskin rug. We'll listen to a little Barry White, install a crack, and make our Vaio a Powerbook. In just a few minutes we'll be browsing with Safari and Desktop widgeting our way to undreamed-of heights of pleasure. What's that? No, OS X will never come between us, Windows Vista. Don't worry. Just lay back. Let me patch iTunes.

Can it be? Download your own copy of MacOSX for x86, and all the other info you could need [Uneasysilence]