A new exploit has been discovered that allows unauthorized access to a user’s Google Wallet account with a simple hack that can be performed by anyone in a matter of minutes. A security firm recently exposed a Google Wallet vulnerability that allowed hackers to bypass PIN protection, but the vulnerability is only present on rooted Galaxy Nexus handsets. This new exploit, however, does not require a handset to be rooted, which leaves all Google Wallet users exposed. Read on for more. (more…)

Zappos on Sunday confirmed that hackers breached the company’s servers and accessed personal data belonging to many of its customers. The Amazon-owned shoe retailer known for top-notch service and surprising customers with express shipping at no extra cost confirmed that personal data from 24 million accounts was accessed during a recent security breach. The hackers gained access to range of sensitive data including user names, encrypted passwords, customer names, email addresses, phone numbers and the ...

Amazon’s Silk Web browser has received mixed reviews from the media and from consumers. In our review of the Amazon Kindle Fire, we noted that loading Web pages in the cloud-assisted browser on the tablet seemed to stall at first but once content finally began downloading, it indeed seemed to move very quickly. Other reviews found Silk to be much slower than other comparable browsers, however. Curious Android device owners who aren’t among the millions who purchased the Kindle Fire ahead of the ho...

Research In Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet became the first BlackBerry device to be rooted this past November, granting users access to the device’s file system and allowing a level of customization that BlackBerry users have not had in the past. As RIM enters into the cat and mouse game Apple knows all too well, PlayBook owners willing to root their devices now have access to the Android Market as well as the apps contained within. CrackBerry has published a complete how-to guide that detai...

Amazon’s popular Kindle Fire tablet now has access to an unofficial Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update. Members of the xda-developers forum recently managed to get a “pre-alpha” version of Android 4.0 running on Amazon’s new slate. The installation is based on the popular CyanogenMod 9 and while the ROM is working well in this early stage, there are still a number of bugs that need to be ironed out. It should also be clarified that this custom Ice Cream Sandwich ROM will remove all...

We were able to successfully get Google Wallet running on the HSPA+ version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus without too much trouble, but the big news over the past few weeks was that Verizon would be blocking the app from its version of the hotly anticipated handset. Well, if you don’t mind rooting your phone and following a relatively simple guide, there’s now a way to get Google Wallet functioning just fine on Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus. It’s going to most likely violate Google Wallet’...

The Carrier IQ scandal has shifted attention from malicious mobile threats to carrier-sourced spyware over the past month, but a new report suggests the threat of more serious mobile malware continues to intensify. More than $1 million was stolen from Android smartphones alone in 2011 according to Lookout Mobile Security, which pulled data from more than a million apps and 15 million handsets around the world to compile its 2012 Mobile Threat Predictions report. The likelihood of an Android user encounterin...

Research In Motion, for the first time ever, suffered an exploit in which root access was gained on one of their devices, the PlayBook. While RIM initially downplayed the significance of the jailbreak, the exploit tool created by a few hackers was recently released to the public and it indeed gave users root access to the BlackBerry PlayBook, bypassing RIM’s security measures. After the jailbreak was released, RIM made an OTA update available that fixed the jailbreak. RIM’s fix has already been j...

A group of iOS hackers have managed to successfully port Apple’s virtual assistant software Siri to the iPhone 4 and fourth-generation iPod touch, and the software needed to perform the port is now available to the public. Tech blog InTech-BB posted the necessary links on Sunday along with a how-to guide, and a number of users have reported successfully installing Siri on their devices using the tools and steps provided within the guide. Several users note problems with their cameras after installing ...

During a recent speech to delivered at the City University in London, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said that most smartphones can be hacked remotely with ease. “Who here has an iPhone? Who here has a BlackBerry? Who here uses Gmail? Well, you’re all screwed,” Assange said during his talk, which followed the release of 287 documents related to mass surveillance. Assange explained to the crowd that more than 150 private organizations in 25 countries can easily track phones and intercept me...

A group of security researchers recently demonstrated on video that they have successfully gained root access to the QNX-based operating system found on Research In Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The PlayBook jailbreak and related “mack truck” security hole these hackers identified could have some serious implications for future BlackBerry devices, but RIM says users should not get ahead of themselves. “Research In Motion (RIM) is aware of a claim made on Twitter by security rese...

There has been word for the past few days that Research In Motion’s PlayBook has been jailbroken. What this means is that, for the first time ever in RIM’s history, root access has been gained into a BlackBerry operating system. Why is this a big deal? Well, of RIM’s few remaining strengths, one of them was security, both in terms of encrypting and securing the messages you send over the RIM network, and device security. It’s why BlackBerry products became so popular with enterprises a...

Many of us wondered why Google’s new flagship Galaxy Nexus doesn’t support Google Wallet, an NFC-based payment service that the company introduced a few months back. Since Google Wallet is only available in the United States at the moment, it makes sense that it isn’t supported on the HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus. Google Wallet also will not be supported on Verizon Wireless’ version of the smartphone, however, which is set to launch early next month. While Verizon wouldn’t comment specific...

Are pornographic images invading your Facebook news feed? We have yet to see it here at BGR, but ZDNET recently reported that “gory, violent pictures” and “hardcore pornography” are spreading across the social network. Facebook says it is getting to the bottom of the problem, but hasn’t yet revealed a solution or how the fiasco started. “Protecting the people who use Facebook from spam and malicious content is a top priority for us and we are always working to improve o...