Tag Archive for: screen

Partial Screen Sharing To Better Security For Data, New Tweaks In First Developer Preview Here

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Android 15 Features: Google has announced the Android 15 Developer Preview for developers across the globe. The company also highlighted a range of features that are a part of the preview build. The significant changes revolve around privacy and safety and a few minor tweaks. Google will likely introduce more features in the forthcoming builds. Here is a report for a detailed context about the features in the recent build.

Latest Privacy Sandbox: The new Android incorporates the latest Privacy Sandbox for improved privacy and personalised ad experience in apps. The update brings “Android AD Services up to extension level 10.”

Also Read: Android 15 Developer Preview Is Here: Eligible Devices To What’s New, Things You Need To Know

Tweaks In Health Connect: The platform to collect health and fitness data will be tweaked to introduce support for data types across nutrition, fitness and more.

Enhanced File Safety: Via the new APIs, the files can be secured using cryptographic signatures to avoid tampering and improve security. It will also offer protection from malware and unauthorised file access that may compromise a smartphone.

Android 15 Developer Preview can be installed on select Pixel smartphones. (Image:Google)

Partial Screen Sharing: With the new option, users can record just the app window and not the complete screen. Plus, developers can also customise the experience for their apps. However, user consent shall be required before using the feature.

Improved Camera Controls: Targeted to creators, the company also highlighted that developers can control the brightness of the preview and adjust the flash intensity for photography.

Efficient Performance: The Android Dynamic Performance Framework, which allows apps (and games) to interact with the power and thermals of Android gadgets, will get new capabilities. The new power-efficiency mode will suggest apps “prefer power saving over performance” in the long run and in other scenarios. Plus, it can adjust the CPU and GPU workloads. The new ADPF can also interpret the thermal throttling status of a device.

Also Read: Android 15: Your Wish To Check Battery Health On Your Pixel Smartphone May Be Fulfilled Next Year;…

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Jaw-Dropping New Hack Turns Your Phone Screen Into Covert Spy Camera

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In a new study published in Science Advances, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have revealed how hackers can turn your smartphone into a spying device akin to the TV screens featured in Orwell’s 1984.

The paper, Imaging privacy threats from an ambient light sensor, reveals how seemingly harmless ambient light sensors, used in most smartphones to auto-adjust screen brightness, are capable of covertly capturing user interactions thanks to a newly developed computational imaging algorithm.

How Smartphone Screens, Not Cameras, Can Spy On Users

I have written plenty of articles covering how seemingly innocuous items can be used to spy on users and create a security threat that one might not ordinarily imagine. Forget the more obvious targets for such stories as smart speakers, and think more about light bulbs and vacuum cleaners, both of which have been subject to research regarding covert surveillance techniques.

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More than a hint of 1984 shines through the research by Yang Liu, Gregory W. Wornell, William T. Freeman and Fredo Durand. Instead of Big Brother keeping tabs on citizens through enormous TV screens everywhere, the researchers talk of how hackers could covertly capture user gestures through the small screens we carry everywhere: smartphones.

More precisely, the researchers focus on the ambient light sensors that enable our smartphones to adjust screen brightness to match our environment. Apps can use ambient light sensors without the need to ask permission from the user. The lack of permission control is not exactly surprising, given that such sensors have not been considered a privacy or security risk. Until now.

MORE FROM FORBESGmail 2024 Hack Attack Advice: Turn It Off And On Again, Google SaysBy Davey Winder

Novel Smartphone Security Risk Revealed By MIT Researchers

“The ambient light sensor needs to be always on for functionality and is…

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How to stay protected against screen hacking

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Anybody who connects to the internet is at risk of cyberattacks, hacking and scams that want to rip you off. Everybody knows it’s an inherent risk, but it’s not always easy to spot a hacking attempt. Millions of routers are at risk of hacking thanks to this bug.

Most people are familiar with phishing scams, where criminals urge you to click on a malicious link to steal your details. There are also government agency impersonators who make it their goal to steal your money. 

But there is another form of hacking that few know. It’s called screen hacking. Read on to see how this hack works and what you can do about it. 

Here’s the backstory

Hackers have found a new way to infiltrate your device. It’s called screen hacking and uses tech know-how to take advantage of touchscreen technology. The display’s touch capabilities initiate everything you do on your device, from opening and navigating apps to typing text messages.

Screen hacking lets criminals see everything you do on your device and, sometimes, initiate certain actions. 

Through electromagnetic interference (EMI), hackers can manipulate the electrical signals on your device. It seems like it’s from a sci-fi movie, but the displays on modern mobile phones use electrical signals to detect finger movements, making this a reality.

What you can do about it

It’s easy to think that you’ll never be the victim of a hacking attempt, but all it takes is an unsecured device and an internet connection. If a criminal steals your personal information, it’s easy for them to commit identity fraud and launch other attacks. All that hackers need is to get close to your display.

“People might place their smartphone face-down on the table in places like a cafe, library, meeting room, or conference lobbies. An attacker may embed the attacking equipment under the table and launch attacks remotely,” researchers from the Technical University of Darmstadt wrote in a study.

Is there anything that you can do about it? Well, there are a few options. 

  • Ensure that you…

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Kingston’s New Encrypted SSD Unlocks Via Touch Screen

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Kingston’s latest encrypted external SSD is designed to be as friendly for consumers to use as it is devilish for hackers to try and crack.  The new Kingston IronKey Vault Privacy 80 External SSD VP80ES unlocks like a smartphone, with its intuitive touchscreen, and then enables simple drag-and-drop file transfers. Meanwhile, hackers face a FIPS 197 certified OS-independent device which safeguards against Brute Force attacks and BadUSB with digitally-signed firmware and XTS-AES 256-bit encryption.

Many storage devices you can buy nowadays come with some kind of encryption tools bundled, or if not you can use BitLocker (might be an extra to pay for depending on your version of Windows). However, some of the software is OS specific, or it will require you complete a number of preparatory tasks some users will be tempted to put off until ‘later’. Kingston reckons its IronKey Vault Privacy 80 External SSD VP80ES addresses all these weaknesses, and is a friction free alternative to secure data storage needs for any platform.

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