The General Technology Thread

[bwframe]

Google releases Chrome extension that alerts users of breached passwords

 

[jkaetz]

I can't imagine having anything incriminating on my phone.

Searching phones is a fishing expedition. They are a treasure trove of information about you, your actions, and the people you interact with. If you're being asked to unlock it, they likely already have charges against you on something else.

Somebody needs to write an app where you can store a different fingerprint, say from your left thumb or ring finger, and using it sets the wrong passcode counter to 1. Type in the wrong code, brick the phone. Oops, I was nervous

To expand on this, one finger grants access to a dummy profile while another gives access to the actual you.

 

[jamil]

Searching phones is a fishing expedition. They are a treasure trove of information about you, your actions, and the people you interact with. If you're being asked to unlock it, they likely already have charges against you on something else.
To expand on this, one finger grants access to a dummy profile while another gives access to the actual you.

I'd make the dummy profile open with the middle finger.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

To expand on this, one finger grants access to a dummy profile while another gives access to the actual you.

Used to have a similar setup with an encrypted file container. One password went to one directory, the real password went to the real files.

 

[jkaetz]

Used to have a similar setup with an encrypted file container. One password went to one directory, the real password went to the real files.

This may or may not have been where the idea came from.

 

[BugI02]

If you really want to keep them out of your ****, brick is better than limited access, 'gooks in the wire' and all

 

[ArcadiaGP]

On the topic of dummy codes... wife accidentally used the dummy code to turn off our security system.

No clue how. No clue why.

Cops showed up. She had to do some explaining and convincing that she was who she said she was.

 

[jkaetz]

If you really want to keep them out of your ****, brick is better than limited access, 'gooks in the wire' and all

Know your enemy I suppose. Break/Brick a phone in front of the authorities and you'll likely be in trouble. Show them something seemingly legitimate but benign and you might skate.

On the topic of dummy codes... wife accidentally used the dummy code to turn off our security system.

No clue how. No clue why.

Cops showed up. She had to do some explaining and convincing that she was who she said she was.

This sounds like a fun conversation.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Trump is reportedly expected to ban Chinese telecommunication equipment from US networks

Interesting, if true.

 

[T.Lex]

"Interesting"? My thought was more like, "Inconceivable."

 

[ArcadiaGP]

"Interesting"? My thought was more like, "Inconceivable."

It would be a mostly empty gesture. Phones can spoof all sorts of things, there would be workarounds, day one.

 

[KLB]

"Interesting"? My thought was more like, "Inconceivable."

Why? This isn't about banning their phones, it is about the network that carries the traffic. Do you doubt that there is a security concern about having all of our wireless traffic traversing equipment produced in China?

 

[KLB]

It would be a mostly empty gesture. Phones can spoof all sorts of things, there would be workarounds, day one.

Again, not about phones

As infrastructure for the next generation of ultra-high speed internet, known as 5G, is being developed, U.S. officials want "to move the needle" on security, a source close to the administration told Politico.

 

[actaeon277]

The problem is.. what equipment ISN'T produced in China?
Is there ANY?

 

[jkaetz]

The problem is.. what equipment ISN'T produced in China?
Is there ANY?

"it depends"

Does produced mean that all the components are produced somewhere else by companies not owned by China?

Or does it mean products have some components produced in China but the product is assembled and QA tested by a company that isn't owned by China?

In the first case it is easy to see how the devices could be modified to suit Chinese interests. The second opens the door but makes it much harder and a larger political issue if discovered.

 

[actaeon277]

"it depends"

Does produced mean that all the components are produced somewhere else by companies not owned by China?

Or does it mean products have some components produced in China but the product is assembled and QA tested by a company that isn't owned by China?

In the first case it is easy to see how the devices could be modified to suit Chinese interests. The second opens the door but makes it much harder and a larger political issue if discovered.

Resistors and Capacitors would be okay.
But if you suspect communications equipment, then any chips produced would also be suspect.
Most American chip producers will produce limited runs. Like for prototyping, or certain limited runs of special equipment.
Who mass produces chips?

 

[KLB]

Resistors and Capacitors would be okay.
But if you suspect communications equipment, then any chips produced would also be suspect.
Most American chip producers will produce limited runs. Like for prototyping, or certain limited runs of special equipment.
Who mass produces chips?

Korea, Taiwan, Viet Nam

There is a big difference between producing the chips, and producing a piece of network gear where you also write all the code that runs it.

 

[jkaetz]

Resistors and Capacitors would be okay.
But if you suspect communications equipment, then any chips produced would also be suspect.
Most American chip producers will produce limited runs. Like for prototyping, or certain limited runs of special equipment.
Who mass produces chips?

I imagine successfully modifying a chip during the manufacturing process to do something useful and not cause obvious problems or being caught by QA to be quite difficult. I think you'd have better luck with a complete module that contained a bunch of components and likely some low level code. If chips could be modified easily I doubt foxconn would have 12 fabs located in China. Of course I wouldn't be completely surprised either.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Russia is considering whether to disconnect from the global internet briefly as part of a test of its cyber-defenses

 

[T.Lex]

I imagine successfully modifying a chip during the manufacturing process to do something useful and not cause obvious problems or being caught by QA to be quite difficult. I think you'd have better luck with a complete module that contained a bunch of components and likely some low level code. If chips could be modified easily I doubt foxconn would have 12 fabs located in China. Of course I wouldn't be completely surprised either.

Sorry, lost track of this thread.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/04/chi...denies-the-bloomberg-businessweek-report.html

Data center equipment run by Amazon Web Services and Apple may have been subject to surveillance from the Chinese government via a tiny microchip inserted during the equipment manufacturing process, according to a Bloomberg BusinessWeek report on Thursday. The claims in the report have been strongly disputed by the technology giants.

I have read other accounts that suggest even software backdoors have been discovered.