firewalls
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Exploit uses firewalls to hijack smartphones, turns friends into foes
Normally, firewalls at cellular carriers are your best friends, screening out malware before it ever touches your phone. University of Michigan computer science researchers have found that those first lines of defense could be your enemy through a new exploit. As long as a small piece of malware sits on a device, that handset can infer TCP data packet sequence numbers coming from the firewall and hijack a phone's internet traffic with phishing sites, fake messages or other rogue code. The trick works on at least 48 carriers that use firewalls from Check Point, Cisco, Juniper and other networking heavy hitters -- AT&T being one of those providers. Carriers can turn the sequences off, although there are consequences to that as well. The only surefire solution is to either run antivirus apps if you're on a mobile OS like Android or else to run a platform that doesn't allow running unsigned apps at all, like iOS or Windows Phone. Whether or not the exploit is a serious threat is still far from certain, but we'll get a better sense of the risk on May 22nd, when Z. Morley Mao and Zhiyun Qian step up to the podium at an IEEE security symposium and deliver their findings.
Helping FaceTime coexist with your firewall
Got the FaceTime blues? It could be your router's firewall settings. Apple has posted a support document noting that some routers using firewalls, security software or other restrictive settings will require a settings change. Specifically: To use FaceTime on a restricted Wi-Fi network, port forwarding must be enabled for ports 53, 80, 443, 4080, 5223, and 16393-16472 (UDP). Most routers will "just work," but if you're having issues it is worth a check. In my experiences my home Belkin router didn't need any tweaking and each time I've used FaceTime from a public WiFi Hotspot it also worked swimmingly. If you're not sure it's all working and need a test, don't forget you can call Apple and talk to a real person via FaceTime at 1-888-FACETIME. [via Thinkmac.net]
MMO security irresponsibly bad, experts claim
MMO players have more to fear than simply kobolds and virtual super villains. According to several security engineers interviewed by TechNewsWorld, gamers face greater risks than many of them realize, as lax security measures on the part of publishers expose players to identity theft, malware, and potential hack attacks. And as persistent online worlds continue to grow in size, they only become more lucrative targets for online ne'er-do-wells. They attribute much of the risk to the fact that so much of the actual game software lies on users' home computers, and is not adequately shielded by firewalls and other protective measures.Unfortunately, the solutions posed by the so-called experts betray an obvious lack of experience with MMOs and the people who play them. They cite enterprise networks as an example of having the kind of network security that gamers need to ensure that they're protected from intrusive attacks... So they suggest that people play games from work to alleviate the risk. While I'm enthusiastic about such a prospect personally, I highly doubt that most employers are too keen on the idea of their employees logging in while on the clock and using up company bandwidth to grind for Sporeggar rep. They also suggest purchasing expensive security products, but that's not something I'd imagine most people haven't considered and disregarded already.A more prudent suggestion, though not one explicitly cited in the article, is to instead be extremely mindful of what kind of mods you download for your favorite games, and from where you download them. If you don't give hackers an open door to your system, than there's probably not too big a cause for concern, unless you're unlucky enough to have bought pre-hacked products.
Utgarde Keep video
Blizzard strictly forbade any video or pictures of live gameplay during BlizzCon, so for fear of not being able to cover the whole thing for you guys, I stayed away from breaking that rule. But apparently Gameriot was not so rule-abiding, and they grabbed some shaky footage of the first dungeon we'll see in Northrend, Utgarde Keep.They played the same parts I did on my walkthrough, including the gigantic furnace walls, new Vrykul race, a few "proto-drakes," and the first boss, the Warlock who summons some big Vrykul skellys throughout the fight. There's not a lot new to hear about if you've been reading everything so far, but if you weren't able to make it to BlizzCon, it'll be your first chance to see everything from Northrend's first 5man on video.[ via Curse ]
