PhoneNumber
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T-Mobile website bug let hackers steal data with a phone number
Up until last week, a T-Mobile website had a serious security hole that let hackers access user's email addresses, accounts and a phone's IMSI network code, according to a report from Motherboard. Attackers only needed your phone number to obtain the information, which could be used in social engineering attacks to commandeer your line, or worse.
Valve is trying to end account smurfing in 'Dota 2'
Valve is changing the way Dota 2 is played, at least on a meta level. Beginning May 4th, players will be required to register a unique phone number to their accounts in order to queue up for ranked matches. That's one account per phone number, ostensibly placing a hard limit on the number of ranked accounts that any one player can have. Before you get any fresh ideas, Valve says online services that provide virtual phone numbers won't work in this new system. Nice try.
Twitter is ready to replace your apps' web passwords with phone numbers
Ready to ditch old-fashioned passwords on the web? Twitter is, too. It just released a developer kit that lets mobile apps' companion websites use Digits phone number logins. While you still have to create an account on your phone to get things started, you'll have the option of using your number to sign in on the web from then on. About the only additional hassle is having to enter a confirmation code (sent to your handset) the first time you use the new method. It's going to take a while before developers add Digits to their sites and let you use it in the real world, but the framework is in place.
Bing puts contact info and directions atop searches for easy access
Google has been keen on serving up addresses, phone numbers and directions at the top of its search results to make things much easier. And now, Bing is doing the same. Microsoft's search engine will display all of those important contact details, as well as an easy link to navigation info, ahead of the usual list of findings. This means that next time you hunt for the nearest Ruth's Chris, the stuff you're really after will show up first. Need to sort directions? Typing "distance to" ahead of the address will provide just that alongside travel time and turn-by-turn steps. You can do the same for a restaurant or bar's hours, too.
O2 data breach potentially shares your cellphone number with the world (Updated)
There's an alarming rumor circulating that suggests that UK network O2 forwards your phone number to any website visited on a smartphone. Lewis Peckover built a site that displays the header data sent to sites you visit, finding a network-specific field called "x-up-calling-line-id" which displayed his number. Angry users who tested the site have flooded the company's official Twitter, which is currently responding with: "Security is our top most priority, we're investigating this at the moment & will come back with more info as soon as we can." The Next Web confirmed that Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone numbers are unaffected by the issue, but GiffGaff and Tesco Mobile (both MVNOs that operate on the same network) do. TNW's sources say it's most likely an internal testing setup, while Mr. Peckover suggests it's because the network transparently proxies HTTP traffic, using the number as a UID. Update: We received confirmation from O2, who said that it was "investigating with internal teams and it's our top priority." Slashgear and Think Broadband were unable to replicate the problem, but in our tests (pictured) it was sharing our data with the site. Update 2: Consumer magazine Which? contacted UK privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office which offered the following: "Keeping people's personal information secure is a fundamental principle that sits at the heart of the Data Protection Act and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. When people visit a website via their mobile phone they would not expect their number to be made available to that website. We will now speak to O2 to remind them of their data breach notification obligations, and to better understand what has happened, before we decide how to proceed." We'll let you draw your own conclusions from that one, but it's not shaping up to be a good day for the company (or its users). Update 3: Our tests have stopped working now, as it looks like the network is hurriedly trying to close the hole, but we've had no official word that it's over just yet. Update 4: O2 has issued a full statement and Q&A which we've embedded after the jump. Long story short, it's fixed the issue -- caused by accidental routine maintenance. 3G / WAP users will have shared your number with any site you visited since January 10th. The network has promised it will co-operate fully with the ICO and has reported itself to Ofcom.
ENUM: it's the new telephone number, but it's going nowhere fast
We've heard (ever-so-briefly) about ENUM before, which is generally described as an IETF-sanctioned standard for converting traditional phone numbers into IP addresses. But for the most part, even techies would say that they aren't exactly up to speed on what the protocol offers and / or promises. ArsTechnica has spent a good while underneath the mire, and it has arisen with an in-depth article that spells out how the standard can neatly collate a variety of contact options (email address, mobile number, home line, Facebook account, ICQ name, etc.) into a single address that's recognizable by the internet that we so dearly love. In fact, user ENUM even has the capability to rank contact options by priority, so you could hit someone up via the mobile first and their Twitter account second should they not answer. The issue, however, is that the '"ENUM standard (RFC 3761) demands that ENUM is a public service and that the control of the telephone number lies in the hands of the end-user," and it doesn't take an economist to understand why ISPs and carriers wouldn't be fond of this. Indeed, just nine nations have an ENUM registry in production, and the future isn't looking too bright for the rest of us. Don't fret, though -- chances are Google will have this whole "multiple contact" thing ironed out before the next decade rolls around.
Mac 101: Two things I love about Address Book
More Mac 101, tips and tricks for novice Mac users. It's so easy to take Address Book for granted, and yet that simple utility has two absolutely killer features: big phone numbers and simple envelope printing. These features do exactly what their descriptions suggest: display phone numbers in Very, Large, Type -- and print envelopes, complete with your personal return address. To zoom a phone number, control-click or right-click the number you want to see and choose Large Type from the contextual pop-up. Address Book zooms that number way out, allowing you to see it while dialing, even if you're not standing right next to the computer. I find that it's a lot easier just to show the number to my husband than try to read it out to him. Your spousal success rate may vary. To print a properly formatted envelope, just insert a standard envelope into your printer. Make sure the address side (and not the flap side) faces the toner cartridge. For me, that is flap side down. My printer, which is pretty darn standard, has an envelope feeding clamp in the single sheet feed. I pop open the single sheet access, adjust the clamp inward to match the envelop size and feed in the envelop flap side down. In Address Book all I need to do is select a contact and print it. (File > Print). Make sure you've chosen Envelopes from the Style (it's my default), and that Print my address is selected so the return address is properly added to the envelope. If you're using an envelope that's not a standard business layout, choose the proper layout. Address Book supports most common envelope styles used in North America, Japan, and "International." Address Book can also print out mailing labels, lists, and a pocket address book. See the Style pop-up for details. For the free contact manager that comes with the OS, it's got moxie.
Online mobile number directory shuts down in a flash
Intelius, a firm that appears to make a business out of trolling for private information and providing it to whomever has the appropriate coin, has shut down its online directory of mobile phone numbers -- a directory that contained some 90 million entries -- allegedly "in response to consumer feedback" after boatloads of people responded in anger to the service's very existence. The biggest problem for folks was that the directory wasn't opt-in, it was opt-out -- and opting out required jumping through ridiculous hoops like faxing (yes, faxing) your driver's license to the company. For its part, an Intelius spokesperson says that the company is simply "ahead of [its] time." If by "ahead of its time" they mean that in the future any nutjob with a few bucks will be able to look up your private cell number by name, then we're just fine with staying in the present, thankyouverymuch.
World's most evil phone number is also most expensive
We understand the value in having an easy-to-remember phone number. We also understand the perceived value, for some, in having a number containing "666." But for 10 million riyals? That's what Qatar's national carrier Qtel netted for the number 666 6666 in a charity auction Monday, which works out to about $2.7 million by our rough calculation. Seems an awful lot to pay for the privilege of making a dark pact with the demons that rule the cellular underworld. There's enough black magic involved keeping our smartphones running smoothly as it is -- we don't need the added stress of fire, brimstone, and sacrificial lambs. Call us superstitious, we won't be making any prank calls to this guy (or girl, or beast). But if you do -- Qatar's country code is 974 -- let us know you're safe, m'kay? [Via The Register]
Fill in your Address Book with GoogleFill
In an eerie example of just how much information Google can access and what users can do with it, GoogleFill is a handy plug-in that can fill an Address Book contact's address by using a Google reverse search on their phone number. The latest 1.1 version update brings UniBin goodness along with a smarter lookup process.GoogleFill is donationware and available from Longhound.com.
