BotHack » News

ICICI Mobile Banking application security analysis

aswinanand — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:59:35 +0000

Here’s a cool analysis of the ICICI mobile banking application. It’s a long post, but a good read.

SATA RAID Controller that can support upto 12,000 GB of space

AnDyG — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 07:19:01 +0000

People with a penchant for storing huge quantities of information on their computers go for hard drives with capacities of more that 200 GB. With the price of hard drives crashing now a days, people tend to stack up thress to four drives in thier desktops. Invariably, if you are using a SATA drive compatible motherboard, you end up having to buy RAID controllers (beside the four that are provided by the motherboad, my Asus A8N-E has 4 SATA ports) which can supports a certain amount of drives with the ability to store large quantities of data.

A company called HighPoint Technologies has come put with a SATA II RAID controller that can support 16 hard drives or believe it or not, 12,000 GB of space.

Picture Courtesy- Tweak Town

Tweaktown has a review of the controller here. Enjoy.

Indian inventor makes car that can also be used as a boat

AnDyG — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:36:55 +0000

An inventor in the Indian state of Kerala has come out with a car that can travel on land and on water, much like the Aquada, a car that costs around $150,000. 26 year old Vinod, a gizmo nut and a mechanic by profession modified a Maruti 800 (India’s best selling car) and fitted the rear of the car with a Yamaha boat motor. Vinod went through numerous financial difficulties before he could complete his dream project. He plans to start production of the car and sell it for Rs 850,000 (approximately $20,000).

Picture and information via CNN-IBN.

Windows Animated Cursor Vulnerability

Ganesh APP — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:48:45 +0000

Once again, there is a flaw in the way something from Microsoft was written. There is a new exploit that allows arbitrary code to be executed on the client side using an animated cursor vulnerability. Here’s an excerpt from the site…

A vulnerability has been reported in Microsoft Windows, which can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a user’s system.

The vulnerability is caused due to an unspecified error in the handling of animated cursors and can e.g. be exploited by tricking a user into visiting a malicious website using Internet Explorer or opening a malicious e-mail message.

Successful exploitation allows execution of arbitrary code.

So be careful where you go for awhile.

Quick Info: Affects IE users on windows xp, 2000, and vista.

Helpful Link: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/luawinxp.mspx
http://secunia.com/advisories/24659/

Blogging code of conduct

AnDyG — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 17:01:23 +0000

Following the events where Kathy Sierra, a popular geek blogger had to cancel conference visits because of the death threats that were issued to her, things have come to a head. Chris Locke a.k.a Rageboy, the person behind the forum where the threats supposedly originated and Kathy Sierra issued a joint statement on CNN last week . Following this, Tim O’Rielly, the publishing tyoccn and the man who coined Web 2.0 has drafted a bloggers code of conduct. Check it out here.

PodWorks.in 2007 – India’s biggest podcasting event

AnDyG — Mon, 21 May 2007 04:27:56 +0000

The Knowledge Foundation, a motely group of technology enthusiasts and avid bloggers, the same bunch of folks who brought you Blogcamp, Barcamp, Proto.in and other related events have teamed up to bring you India’s first podcasting event called Podworks.in.

This event, to be held next month on the 9th and the 10th at Tidel Park, Madras will feature topics on podcasting and is expected to attract podcasters, media folks and like minded people.

Some snippets from the main page of the site-

PodWorks.in is a 2-day workshop styled unconference dedicated to the sharing of knowledge around new / social media (audio and video podcasting, blogging, more. It’s a successor to the extremely successful BlogCamp.in that was held in September 9 & 10.

You do NOT need to be a podcaster to attend a PodWorks. If you’re interested in podcasting, if you’re a listener, a blogger, a musician, an internet enthusiast, or just someone curious about podcasting and new media, then please join us — and bring a friend or colleague.

Click here to know more about the event.

To register for the event, go here.

For updated information on the event, visit the blog here.

Momo Chennai this Sunday

appkumar — Sat, 05 May 2007 07:23:19 +0000

Mobile Monday Chennai edition is scheduled to happen on the 6th of May (tomorrow), which incidentally is a Sunday at IIT Madras. This sure does make the event a bit humorous since Mobile Monday on a Sunday turns out to be the expansion of MMS (The phenomenon which made mobile camera phones popular in India).

The first edition is sounds interesting with the theme “Mobile Web Apps”. I am sure this 3 hour meet with other mobile-space buffs might just turn out to not only be educational but also spark some new ideas for development in the mobile web app space.

Date : On May 6th.

Timings : 10am – 1pm

Location and Address of the venue:

TeNeT – ADI Seminar Hall

CSD Block, III Floor

Indian Institute of Technology – Madras

Since this is just a 3 hour meet with a bunch of mobile techies, the registrations are limited so go register yourself quickly. For those who can’t make it, the BotHack team will try to do some justice in throwing light about the event.

Momo Chennai

List of Indian Blogs

appkumar — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 16:14:32 +0000

Woah! I had a good mind to put that ‘A’ in the title, for this was one of the many lists that were floating around the net. But I soon remembered the big fight going over the web on the existence of A-List bloggers. When choosing the title of this post requires second thought, you know this is matter that has been bloated out of proportion by bloggers all over.

A-list or a list, it is all the same to me. But what makes this list of Indian blogs at Gyaan Sutra interesting is that even though it is based on Alexa traffic report, it has a good variety of blogs, ranging from technology to photography to personal.

I for instance am not a compulsive blogger. I have never heard of three-fourths of that list and most certainly not read more than 90 percent of it. So it was a good list for me, to catch up with what was happening in the Indian blogosphere and honestly I am surprised I haven’t heard of so many great blogs.

I certainly am not the kind of guy who would go about yelling in support of a desi software or a desi orkut or a desi list. When Yaari.com mailed me to pitch their orkut-like service with the only selling point “A social networking site exclusively for Indian youth”, I was pissed. Now, what kind of idiot would list that as a selling point. Even in orkut/facebook if I wanted only Indian youth in my list, I could have it. Why should I care if an Aussie or a Greek also availing the services of Yaari? I genereally hated the idea of a desi version.

But since there were a few blogs that, as an Indian, makes more sense (like India Uncut), this list is an exception.

List of Indian blogs

PS: Bot-Hack is also listed at 20 in the list. So people in India know about BotHack. How else would Sudhanshu Raheja of Gyaan Sutra search for the Alexa traffic report of BotHack? This calls for a drink!

The end of JPEG?

AnDyG — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 13:00:33 +0000

If reports are to be believed, global software behemoth Microsoft is to submit a new photo format to a standards organisation that could signal the end of the much loved JPEG format. The format that has been proposed by Microsoft. The format that has been propsed by Microsoft is called HD Photo, previously called Windows Media Photo and offers high quality images with better compression.

The JPEG format has been around for almost 15 years now. Modifications have been made to the format to keep it updated with the changing times.

Linked In

AnDyG — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:37:10 +0000

Digg your favorite wordpress posts.

Gears of War sweeps awards at the Game Developers Choice awards.

No patches this month, says Microsoft.

Search engine to rival Google and Yahoo(what?) in the pipeline, says Jimbo Wales of Wikipedia.

Microsft takes potshots at Google over intellectual property.

Ugly ethnic video wars among the Greeks and the Turks prompts the Turkish government to ban YouTube.

Linked In

AnDyG — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 10:02:21 +0000

BBC signs deal with YouTube to host content. Continue reading…

Apple and Cisco agree to share ‘iPhone’ name. Continue reading…

Install Windows Vista using a high speed USB drive

AnDyG — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 13:22:04 +0000

Kurt Shintaku has an article on how you can install Windows Vista from a USB drive. Yes, Microsoft’s new operating system can be installed using a pen drive. Continue reading…

Via Gizmodo.

Image courtesy Microsoft Windows Vista press releases.

All quiet on the iPhone front – Apple and Cisco to smoke peace pipe

AnDyG — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 13:03:53 +0000

Apple and Cisco may decide to bury the hatchet over alleged copyright violations ending what could have been a very expensive and hard fought legal battle. Cisco filed a suit against the Ipod maker alleging that Apple copied “Iphone,” the name of Cisco’s trademark product line for their new phone that was launched at CES with much fanfare earlier this year.

Cisco has decided to give Apple time to respond to the lawsuit so that the two behemoths can reach a conclusion on trademark and sharing rights.

Via Gulf News and Gizmodo . Picture courtesy – Gulf News

Apple to launch Mac OS X 10.5 this month

AnDyG — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 12:44:40 +0000

Mac lovers rejoice. Apple, makers of the iconic Ipod and the Mac operting systems have launched is going to lauch the new OS Leopard (OS X 10.5), iLife 2007 and iWork 2007 along with updated Mac Pros. Apple Recon, a blog dedicated to news on Apple, reported to read more on the news based on information from an anonymous source.

Click here to read more on that.

The shipping date for OS X 10.5 has been confirmed for 3/24/2007.

Apple had planned a special event to launch the iPod Hifi and Intel powered Mac Minis around the same time last year.

BotHack readers, can you give inputs as to whether this is true? Apple launched a build for Leopard (9A343) back in January 2007.

Drug cartels in Mexico use the internet to taunt rivals

AnDyG — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 09:08:04 +0000

The drug war in Mexico has taken a new twist with gangs reportedly using the internet to taunt rival cartels. Police in the country are monitoring popular video sharing site Youtube for clips that are posted by gang members. Most of these clips are very gruesome in nature. The authenticity of these clips has not been verified.

Youtube spokepersons have said that the site has a strict policy against posting violent videos. Users can flag down such clips and are they removed from the site.

Mexico’s border with the US is a lucrative market for drug cartels who smuggle huge quantities of drugs into the country, a leading market for illegal narcotics.

A reported 300 people lost their lives in drug related violence in Tijuana last year. President Felipe Calederon has vowed to crush drug cartels in Mexico after he took over the presidency last year.

Via – BBC.

WikiCamp India 2007 – Calling all Wikipedia fans

AnDyG — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 15:04:07 +0000

The folks behind Blogcamp, Barcamp and Proto.in are ganged together to bring you India’s first un-conference on Wikis, Wikicamp 2007. All of us love Wikipedia, for the wealth of information it provides, from the movies to the mundane. Would you like to catch Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia in the flesh? Then come to Wikicamp that is going to organised at Tidel Park, Chennai on the 25th of January 2007. Go to the wikicamp page for more details.

Hackers anticipate launch of Windows Vista in 2007

AnDyG — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 13:13:04 +0000

Cyber criminals of the world have already started testing the new version of Microsoft’s much touted Vista operating system and are trying to find critical flaws so that they can uleash malicious software and bugs into the coumputers of unsuspecting users. According to the BBC , the launch of the Vista will be a major event for computer security in 2007.

Read the entire article here.

Related reading: Minimum system requirements for Windows Vista.

Record firms to sue allofmp3.com

AnDyG — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 13:10:50 +0000

Music record labels have decided to sue the hugely popular mp3 download site allofmp3.com. According to reports, majore names such as Arista Records, Warner Brothers, Capitol and UMG Recordings have decided to se the Russia based site. The labels accuse of selling mp3s witout permission, a charge that has been denied by Mediaservices, the firm that owns allofmp3.com and alltunes.com.

Read the entire article here.

CNET Senior Editor and technology geek James Kim is no more

AnDyG — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 06:38:33 +0000

James Kim, CNET.com’s Senior Editor is no more. James disappeared along with his family when he was on vacation in Oregon. His family was rescued two days ago but James was still missing. James’s body was found by search and rescue workers yesterday.

Source

”Josephine County Undersheriff Brian Anderson said James Kim had walked up to eight miles in “tremendously rugged terrain,” dressed only in tennis sneakers, pants, shirt and a medium-weight parka.He walked a circuitous route up the road he had driven in on in the middle of the night but apparently abandoned that strategy and began climbing downhill. His body was found a little more than a mile from the parked car.”

Source

James was a product reviewer at CNET and had built a fan following over the years based on the information he dished out about mp3 players and other products.

See James’s CNET profile here.

CNET.com has a page dedicated to James here.

Rest in peace James.

Sony’s Blu-Ray disc player now available

AnDyG — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 09:50:46 +0000

Sony has launched a disc player that runs on the much touted Blu-Ray technology.

Picture source – Best Buy Blu-Ray page

What is Blue-ray?

Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), is the name of a next-generation optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of the world’s leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers (including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson).

Source : Blu-Ray website

A blu-ray disc can hold upto 25GB of informaion including movies, images and so on.

The player was launched on December 1 and is available at all major retails stores in the United States. Best Buy is selling the player for $999.

For more information about Blu-ray, the technology and related information, go to the Blu-Ray website.