It seems like a new, dangerous Android exploit is uncovered every month or two. The latest headliners are NightMonkey and Chronos from the list of CIA hacks reported by Wikileaks, which have been billed as gaping security holes in the world's biggest mobile operating system.
An app from the development team at ts-apps has the potential to make your Android device smarter than it's ever been. At first glance, you'd think it's just an ordinary home screen folder—but depending on what you're doing at a given time, the folder can show a completely different set of apps.
Now that Google Assistant is coming to all devices running Android Marshmallow or higher, roughly one out of every three Android users will no longer be able to access the old Google Now interface. The Assistant, which was previously exclusive to Pixel devices, takes over your home button long-press gesture and completely replaces all of the old Google voice search functionality.
When you want to see something far away with a little more clarity or you're having a hard time reading small letters right in front of you, you can point your iPhone's camera at the subject and "pinch" to zoom for a better look. But there's actually something built into iOS for the exact purpose of magnifying objects, and it goes above and beyond the normal camera features.
When Google issues an Android update, the changes are usually all over the place—fixing issues, adding functionality, playing catch-up with the latest thing Apple added to iOS. It's how the smartphone wars have evolved, where the two competing operating systems continually match and one-up each other.
When it comes to Android automation apps, Tasker has never had much competition. But considering how difficult it can be for a novice user to get the hang of things, and factoring in Tasker's drab and complicated interface, there's definitely room for another developer to step in with a Tasker alternative.
When it comes to security, Android generally takes an all-or-nothing approach—once someone has your PIN, they're free to do just about anything, up to and including wiping your device. This is why you have to be extra careful to ensure that neither strangers nor friends are looking over your shoulder while you're entering your PIN.
This is the second installment of the short series on how to remove user passwords in Windows. Once again this has only been tested on Windows 7. If I can find some time between two jobs and school I'll test all the ways on Windows 10 and Windows 8/8.1.
Welcome back, my greenhorn hackers! A few years back, Microsoft implicitly recognized the superiority of the Linux terminal over the GUI-based operating system by developing PowerShell. Since Windows 7, every Windows operating system has had PowerShell installed by default, and they even made PowerShell capable of running Linux commands on Windows!
There's no doubt you've heard the old saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." The phrase was penned in an obituary to a dwarf actor in 1915 by an anarchist named Elbert Hubbard, who lost his life five months later aboard the RMS Lusitania when it was torpedoed by a German submarine.
Welcome back, my budding hackers! Metasploit, one of my favorite hacking/pentesting tools, has so many capabilities that even after my many tutorials on it, I have only scratched the surface of it capabilities. For instance, it can be used with Nexpose for vulnerability scanning, with Nmap for port scanning, and with its numerous auxiliary modules, nearly unlimited other hacking related capabilities.
As many of you know, I have been running a couple of series here on Null Byte about digital forensics called Digital Forensics for the Aspiring Hacker and Digital Forensics Using Kali. Although many readers have seemed to enjoy these series, just as many seem to be pondering, "Why should I study digital forensics?"
For many people, the two main advantages of buying a Nexus device are prompt updates and the ability to root without much hassle. But in a cruel twist of fate, these two features are almost mutually exclusive, since OTA updates will refuse to run on rooted devices.
Welcome to a tutorial on XOR encryption. We'll be looking at what XOR is and how we can use it to encrypt or decrypt data.
Fewer and fewer Android phones are being released with SD card slots, so it's always a struggle to make sure you have enough free storage space for your photos, videos, and music. Things like app data and cache slowly build up as you use your device, which means your available storage number gradually decreases over time.
If you're running iOS 10 or lower, there is no built-in way to make a screen recording on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch directly from the device, but that doesn't mean there isn't a way to record your screen at all.
Welcome back, my greenhorn hackers! The Holy Grail of any hacker is to develop a zero-day exploit—an exploit that has never been seen by antivirus (AV) and other software developers, as well as intrusion detection system (IDS) developers. In that way, you can exploit systems with your newly discovered vulnerability with impunity!
The native dictionaries in iOS, which have been around since 2011, let you define words on your iPhone on the fly in Safari, News, Notes, and other apps. But if you read or write in more than just English, you won't be able to see accurate definitions unless you add those other languages to your list of dictionaries manually.
Welcome back, reader! In this tutorial, we will be covering our first program! So let's get to it. We all know the unspoken tradition of the first program when learning a language and of course, here we will respect and complete it. Fire up your favorite text editor (be it vim, emacs, gedit, it's all the same to me, no h8) and try to keep up.
Welcome back, my neophyte hackers! Digital forensics is one of the fields often overlooked by aspiring hackers. In a rush to exploit every and any system they can, they often ignore learning digital forensics—the field that may lead to them being traced.
Nothing signals the end of fall and the start of winter like hot, seasonal drinks. And while pumpkin spice lattes may be the flavor of the day, and eggnog the Christmas favorite, one seasonal drink stands apart in my eyes: mulled cider.
Welcome back, my tenderfoot hackers! As most of you know, I am strong advocate for using Linux as a hacking platform. In fact, I would say that without knowing Linux, you will never become a professional hacker/pentester.
Welcome back! In the last iteration of how to train your python, we covered error detection and handling. Today we'll be diverging from this and discussing functions. More specifically, we'll be creating our own functions. First we'll need to understand exactly what a function is, then we'll get on to making our own! So, let's get started!
In python, or any scripting language for that matter, there are certain things that you will carry with you throughout your entire scripting career. Some of the most basic things that you will keep with you are output, variables, and their value types. We'll start by going over output, then cover variables and their types. So, let's get started!
Instead of wasting time asking where your friends and family are at a given moment, then having them waste time by describing their location, there are several Android apps you can use that will automate this whole process. To top it off, it doesn't have to be about invading privacy or spying on someone, since most of these apps are offer two-way location sharing, or at least let you share locations only when you feel comfortable with it.
One of the first orders of business after purchasing a new smartphone is to load up your shiny new toy with phone numbers, email addresses, and general contact information for all the important people in your life.
Many of you have heard of "ricing" cauliflower. If you haven't, you're missing out making this one-note vegetable into a variety of main and side dishes. The ricing process is so simple, fast, and easy that even the most novice cook can swing this. One you complete this prep step, you will have an ingredient so versatile that you can easily fool your kids into eating their veggies without them ever knowing it.
Why did I write this when they're tons of scanning tools available.
When the Galaxy S6 hype-train was building momentum ahead of the phone's release, many reports had Samsung cutting back on its much-maligned TouchWiz skin. In the end, these reports were either highly exaggerated or entirely fabricated, because while not as egregious as previous devices, Samsung's signature bloated UI and duplicate apps are definitely present on the Galaxy S6.
We recently showed you 8 menu bar apps that ever Mac power user should have, covering apps that allow you to control iTunes, eject drives, organize screenshots, and more—all from that tiny strip at the top of your screen.
Few things in life are as exciting and magical as fire. And setting things on fire while cooking? Well, now you're speaking my language. I'm not talking about grilling, though I do love some outdoor cooking. No, I'm talking about the most badass trick in any cook's arsenal: the flambé.
Whether it's the start, middle, or end of summer, it's prime-time grilling season. If you find yourself without a grill, however, it may seem as if half your summer plans of swimming by the pool while stuffing hot dogs in your face could be ruined.
When it comes to antivirus software, you don't want some fly-by-night developer having access to the sensitive data that these apps can scan. Luckily, most of the longest-tenured antivirus companies from the realm of desktop computers offer complete security suites for Android these days.
When it comes to smartphones, the biggest complaint voiced by most users is battery life. Sure, it's unrealistic to expect your Android device to run for weeks without a recharge, but many folks struggle to even make it through the day without having to top off their battery.
Catching up with Windows 8, Apple has finally included a way in Mac OS X to use two apps side by side in full screen view. In the 10.11 El Capitan update, it's called Split View, and it works fairly well for the most part. It's not quite as intuitive as it should be, but easy enough once you get the hang of it.
Welcome back, my rookie hackers! In my ongoing attempts to familiarize aspiring hackers with Linux (nearly all hacking is done with Linux, and here's why every hacker should know and use it), I want to address a rather obscure, but powerful process. There is one super process that is called inetd or xinetd or rlinetd. I know, I know... that's confusing, but bear with me.
Deep down at the core of Android lies the system kernel, which serves as a bridge between software and hardware. Custom kernels can be installed in place of the stock offering, and these are generally optimized for better performance or increased battery efficiency.
Kitchen tools are a personal thing. One hard lesson for me to learn is that just because something is popular doesn't mean that it's right for me. Take the slow cooker, for instance. Many rave about it, but I never cottoned to the thing. However, the more research I do, the more I think the pressure cooker might be a game changer for my cooking style.
A landmark bill finally went into action this week that will allow American cellular customers to unlock their smartphones for free. The process of unlocking may vary between mobile service providers, but you can rest assured that you are now entitled, by law, to carrier-unlock your smartphone.
Welcome back, my novice hackers! This is the third installment of my Python scripting series. If you haven't read the previous two articles, take some time now to go back and read Part 1 and Part 2 before you proceed here.