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The Morning After: SIM-swap cell phone hacking horror stories

Richard Lawler
Senior News Editor
·3 min read
0

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Welcome to your weekend. If you don't know what SIM swapping is and whether or not it could be used to attack your email or bank account, then we know which article you should read next. Beyond that, we'll recap some highlights from the last week, and further consider the impact of Jony Ive leaving Apple.

Ready for a horror story?How a trivial cell phone hack is ruining lives

Violet Blue explains how SIM-swap attacks have been used to steal online accounts and even as much as $100,000 from a victim's bank account. In these attacks, someone uses pieces of personal information to convince your cell service provider to transfer (port) your number and associated phone account to a device in the attacker's possession.

If you use accounts that verify identity with a text message, then you could be vulnerable to them too. One man who lost $25k, his Gmail and his Twitter got his phone number back only to see T-Mobile give it over to a hacker again.

Now what?Reactions to Jony Ive's departure from Apple

Now that we've had some time to think about the news that Apple's design chief Jony Ive -- the man behind iconic products like the iPod, iPhone and more -- is leaving, what does it mean? Nicole Lee considers Ive's legacy and how he helped make the company what it is today, noting that "Ive was inextricably tied to Jobs' and Apple's comeback, and therefore to the company's meteoric rise to where it is today."

Meanwhile, Daniel Cooper focuses on Apple's shift from hardware to services. For the devices we'll see in the future, he wonders if Ive's successors "loosen up on some of his more famous hangups" in favor of bigger batteries or a more functional keyboard.

Hands-on with iOS 13's tablet-focused version.iPadOS makes Apple's tablets feel like a priority again

After using the tablet edition of iOS 13 for a few days, Chris Velazco says he's "already impressed with the changes Apple has made... Apple addressed many of the criticisms that prevented the iPad Pro from being the do-it-all computer it aspires to be. As for everyone else, they'll benefit from subtle performance improvements and some extra polish."

Microsoft's attempts to win at mobile were unremarkable.Bill Gates says his 'greatest mistake' was not beating Android

The founder of Microsoft recently admitted in an interview at venture-capital firm Village Global that his biggest mistake was not making what Android came to be. Gates admitted that the company struggled to adjust to mobile, as both the iPhone and Google's Android swept up customers in the smartphone revolution. If you don't remember Windows Mobile, well, let's just say you're not missing out on much.

It also packs better Bluetooth and USB connectivity.The new Raspberry Pi 4 is ready for 4K video

The newly released Raspberry Pi 4 Model B combines familiar tiny computer-on-a-board design with some major boosts to performance, particularly for media. With a more potent 1.5GHz quad-core Broadcom processor with H.265 decoding, two micro-HDMI ports and up to 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, the Pi 4 can output 4K video at 60 fps. It could well be your next, slightly more future-proofed DIY media hub.

Someone has to push the envelope.Valve Index review: Next-level VR

Priced at $1,000, Devindra Hardawar notes that the Valve Index is "not even vaguely affordable" compared to other VR options. Still, this "aspirational" piece of gear impresses, with a comfortable headset, slick finger-tracking controllers and excellent image quality. Take a look and see why the Index "has almost everything we want in a next-generation PC VR headset."

But wait, there's more...

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