In a Stumble for Apple, a FaceTime Bug Lets iPhone Users Eavesdrop

A critical flaw allows eavesdropping on other FaceTime users, very easily. Apple has disabled one of its communication software features while waiting to deploy a patch. For three months, it has been possible for others to activate the microphone and camera of your iPhone remotely. The major bug in the FaceTime app was revealed on Monday, January 28th.

As reported by the US site 9to5Mac, the software flaw results from the group call function set up by Apple in October with the update iOS 12.1 to call up to 32 people simultaneously. It allows anyone to spy on a contact whose iPhone is running iOS 12.1 or later, even if they decline their call.

The major security flaw allowing eavesdropping affects the latest version of iOS. This bug has just been detected. It appeared with one of the new tools introduced on iOS 12, the group video call on FaceTime.

With this FaceTime bug, users can remotely listen to conversations on other iPhones even before their call is accepted. Even more disturbing, this critical flaw is easily exploitable and has been reproduced by many users on social networks, and Apple has already recognized the problem.

Unfortunately, since Facetime is not yet an App on the App Store, it will probably have to wait until an update of iOS. While waiting to deploy a patch, Apple has decided to suspend group calls on FaceTime. This will naturally limit the exploitation of this flaw.

This is not the first time that Apple has recognized a significant security breach in one of its systems. In November 2017, MacOS High Sierra allowed you to log in to a protected session as an administrator without a password. A fix was deployed the next day.

How does the fault work? 

A video posted on Twitter shows how the FaceTime bug works. An iPhone user initiates a FaceTime call and then inputs own number into the field dedicated to adding other participants to the conversation. The recipient’s microphone then starts, without even answering the call.

Internet users also noticed that it was possible to activate the front camera if the recipient pressed the power button or volume of his iPhone, a manipulation that usually ignores the call. These two bugs have also been observed on Macs.

When you call someone from FaceTime, and before they answer, you can drag the screen up to add another person to the conversation. This third person can be your own phone number.

That’s when a group video conference starts with the audio turned on. The first called number can then be listened to without having to accept the conversation. The transmitted sound is bi-directional, the added person can therefore also listen to the exchange.

How to disable FaceTime on your iPhone or iPad? 

Even though Apple has disabled Group Facetime from their server it is recommended that you manually disable it. You can easily disable FaceTime on your iPhone or iPad. Open the Settings and locate Facetime. Slide the toggle from green to grey to switch off Facetime.

Apple has said in a comment to Buzzfeed that they are aware of the bug and will issue a patch later in the week to fix it.

Google Makes Learning Fun and Easier through: 13 Google for Education Tools

Sometimes learning can be tough and boring. There are times when you wish you could just lay back and rest. This may not be because you are lazy but are due to learn something that you find a little bit difficult. In such cases learning needs to be made simpler and not only that but also focused and fun. Google plans on doing just that through their Google for Education tools. Google plans on bringing the learning initiative to Chromebooks with easy student access and to make learning easier.

Learning through Devices a Part of Google for education tools: 

Google plans on launching a number of devices in 2019 with a view to providing learning. There will be more than 25+ devices or so that Google plans on releasing in the year 2019. There will be a choice from the Asus Chromebook Tablet CT100 to convertibles like the Acer Chromebook Spin 512. The Acer Chromebook Spin will have a 3:2 inch screen ratio for a larger display, so that viewing is made easier on it. There will also be other devices such as the Lenovo 300e Chromebook and clamshell devices such as the Dell Chromebook 3400.

Chromebooks are not the only devices that Google has lined up as part of its Google for education tools initiative. Google also has something for educators too. After all learning is not the only criteria but teaching is just as important if students have to learn well. Educators will have the Google Pixel Slate and the Pixelbook as options to teach with.

Customize your settings and Save your Work with these Google for Education Tools: 

Google allows you the option of customizing your settings with multilayered security settings, individual profiles, automatic updates and data protection. The thing that is great with this tool is that you can now access all these settings no matter what you device you’re using. You just log into your account and presto! All your settings are the same as you set them as on the device you logged in previously.

Google has also added in this option for all types of learners be it those with visual impairments, auditory problems and more.

Be Internet Legends with Google for education tools initiative:

Google has now started an online safety program in partnership with experts up at Parent Zone. Primary school teachers can now order the Be Internet Legends curriculum pack all for free. There are also new languages added to the pack including Arabic, Italian, Belgian, Polish, and will be soon coming in Turkish as well.

Plan with Google for Education Tools: 

As part of Google for Education Tools initiative, Google makes planning for teaching a course easier with its new Classwork page. Not only that, but Classroom has a new look and feel to it, promising to make work easier.

Jamboard an Interesting Google for Education Tool: 

You can create, edit and view Jams- a collaborative whiteboard space right on your Chromebook or from a Chrome browser or alternatively from the jamsboard app as well. Jamsboard allows you to modify frames and switch between drawing to keyboard shortcuts while jamming. You’ll even be able to add images shortly. Interested users can also head on to Jamsboard for a free course on Student agency and engagement.

Bringing Augmented and Virtual Reality to the Education Front: 

As part of the Google for education tools initiative, students can now create VR tours using Tour Creator on the Chromebook. They can then view their creations through a guided app using the Expeditions Android app. Google is also translating its most popular tour guides into Arabic, Hindi, German, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, French and Spanish.

Locked mode and Gradebook as Google for education tools: 

While on locked mode on the Chromebook students will not be able to browse away from their quiz unless they submit their answers.

The Gradebook on the Chromebook allows teachers to check answers and compute average for the class as well as calculate grades by weighted average or total points. Making a teacher’s life much more easier and faster.

Learning Coding as a part of Google for education tools initiative: 

Google recently introduced First + Scratch 3.0 which is the latest version of coding to be taught to kids. This version is complete with lesson plans,new videos and digital materials. The lesson plans will also be easily shared via Google Docs. To learn more about the latest version you can check out Google’s First Starter Guide.

Be Job Ready with these new Skills: 

Google for education tools now includes teaching new skills like critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, communication and digital skills. These skills are based on the UK Essential Digital Skills Framework and the Computing National Curriculum in England. All this will be available on the new English and Digital Skills website in the UK.

Hands on with Google for Education Tools: 

This new tool allows you to save your experiments across all your devices through your G Suite Education account. Google has also released new training modules and lessons on the Google for Education Teacher Center as well as Scholastic. If you’re more the hands on type then you can check out the new Science kit from Arduino for middle school or the new science journal app with Go Direct line of classroom sensors.

Learn about Travel using these Google for Education Tools:

Google earth also features in as a Google for education tool. You can now bring the whole world to your classroom with no download necessary. Students can learn about streets, learn about the weather, volcanoes and about sea temperature. Google makes learning interactive by showing layers and areas, distances and 3D views of things. This makes learning a lot more easier and understandable.

These Google for Education Tools are all set to make learning easier and more understandable for students. Their interactive content and ease of learning makes these tools a must have for anyone wanting a brighter future.

Tips to Convert Videos to the Best Format

Do you want to convert your video to the ‘best’ format for a particular device or platform? On the surface that may sound easy, but how do you identify the best format – and what should you look for?
While there are several ways that you could find the best format and convert your videos to it, these tips should help make it a lot easier:

• Make sure the format has hardware support
  
  For a video to be played, the format needs to be supported so that the device or platform it is viewed on is able to decode it. However that decoding can take place either using software or hardware.
  
  The problem with software decoding is that it requires a lot of processing power – especially for high quality videos. That is why as a rule the ‘best’ format should always have hardware support.
  
  
• Factor in the compression
  
  Part of the video format (i.e. the video codec) will dictate the type of compression that is used to encode and store the video. Newer formats normally have more efficient types of compression, meaning that they can compress the same quality of video to a smaller file size than older formats.
  
  As you can imagine this is an important factor because the ‘best’ format should compress the video to the smallest file size possible while maintaining its quality. However it is complicated by the fact that it takes time before devices have hardware support for newer formats built-in.
  
  
• Try working backwards based on how the video will be used
  
  Instead of trying to identify the best format based on its hardware support and compression, you could work backwards based on how the video will be used. For distribution formats such as MP4 with H.264 are the best option, and the same goes for online videos.
  
  In general MP4 with H.264 is a ‘safe’ format for most devices, but you could check if HEVC is supported seeing as it has better compression rates.

See how these tips can help you to convert your video to the best format? Once you’ve identified what it is, all you need to do is use a video converter to switch your video to that format. For example you could use Movavi Video Converter to convert QuickTime to MP4, AVI to FLV, MPG to MKV, and so on.

Regardless of how you approach it, following these tips should help you to end up with a format that has the best possible compression while still supported by the hardware of the device it will be played on. That is as good as it gets, and should allow you to enjoy high quality videos without taxing your processor (or storage) too much.

Android Version of Chrome could be leaking your information

Android is the most used software system around the world with over 2 billion users worldwide. The immensely popular, Android comes with a number of pre downloaded apps that users can get their hands on after switching on their phones. But now as news of a flaw in the software causes many users to start losing faith in Android, here’s all we know of the problem so far….

The problem has to do with the Android version of Chrome which is the most used browser on Android. Security experts associated with the problem have said that they have found a shock issue relating to the Android version of Chrome.

More on the issue associated with the Android Version of Chrome: 

Experts up at the Nightwatch cybersecurity have said that there is a shock issue with the Android version of Chrome. This issue could potentially lead to the popular browser leaking a phone’s information. Information such as the firmware model of the phone, security patch level and hardware model are all susceptible to the leak.

The Android version Chrome is not the only Google app that comes with such problems. Security experts have also commented on WebView and other Chrome Tabs on Android that too discloses the phones private information.

Any other Android apps running on Chrome to render web content will also be susceptible to the flaw.

What this Flaw on the Android Version of Chrome means for you? 

With the Android version of Chrome be susceptible to leaks, it means that no Android device is really safe. But what all this translates for you is that the information so obtained through the flaw can be used to track users and also fingerprint devices.

Besides this users phones vulnerabilities can also be determined and then used to get further information form the phone. This is not even the main part of the issue here. Experts say that the flaw pertaining to the Android version of Chrome was discovered back in 2015.

What Google did About it? 

As experts submitted the initial report pertaining to the bug back in 2015, Google gave a partial fix only in October 2018 for version 70. The fix is supposed to hide the firmware information and retain the hardware model identifier.

All versions of the app seem to be affected and users are encouraged to update to the latest version.
As for WebView users, this fix is not applicable and app developers should manually override the user agent configuration in their respective apps.

 

Fake apps on the Google Play Store: 

Recently fake apps were discovered on the Google Play Store. These apps have reportedly been downloaded tens and thousands of times. These apps were found on the Google Play Store and hid themselves as PDF readers, scanners and converters.

The apps themselves seem to be genuine but don’t offer the functionality that they were intended for. These apps are meant to increase the download count for other related apps and also to improve their ratings.

Essential Guide to Google Pixel 3

The Google Pixel 3 has a lot to offer but are you using it to its full potential? Maybe not? Then here are a few tips and tricks that are sure to improve your Pixel 3 experience. Not only that, you will be able to get more done in a short amount of time with these new tricks.

But before looking at what the Pixel 3 really has in store for you, you need to first ensure that your phone is trick- ready. By that I mean that you need to enable developer mode to get the most out of these tricks. You can do this by going to settings and then scrolling right to the bottom of the screen and tapping “about phone”. From there, go on to tap rapidly the “build number” to enable developer mode.

Accessing Notification Shade on the Pixel 3: 

This may not be a new feature on the Pixel 3 but has to be definitely enabled for you to quick access all your notifications from any screen.

You can enable this feature by going into the settings app and enabling it. Once done you’ll have to swipe down twice, while on any screen, to access all your notifications.

Get rid of the Notch on Pixel 3: 

There are ways to get rid of the notch which can be an eye sore for some. The notch on the Pixel is not really worth it as it does not do much and has no tech packed into it. But point to note, no matter what method you adopt you won’t be able to get the display portion on either side of the notch to work.

Besides going into settings and disabling the notch you can even download the Nacho Notch app from the app store to disable it.

Quick Launch Camera: 

You can get to the camera app by simply double clicking the sleep/wake button, when your Pixel 3 is awake or locked. This also allows you save space on your home screen by not needing to have the camera app there. Again you can enable this feature from the settings app by going into system and then gestures.

Another one in the Camera App: 

This feature allows you to switch between front facing and rear cameras by a simple gesture. To enable it all you have to do is go to System in the settings app and then to gestures and enable “Flip camera”.

Getting Daily Wallpapers on the Pixel 3: 

You can get daily wallpapers on Google Pixel 3. Android offers a lot of options when it comes to wallpapers, even more than what Apple do. You can get wall papers from third party launchers too. It is also possible to get wallpapers on the Google launcher as well, but with maybe a few more steps.

Enabling Dark Mode on Google Pixel 3: 

It took the people up at Google a while to get the new Dark mode to our phones, but in the end they came through. So now, in order to protect your eyes from the whiteness of the menu, especially during night, you can enable dark mode by again going into settings.