T-Mobile to shutter Mobile Money prepaid debit card program on July 27

T-Mobile is set to kill Mobile Money, the prepaid debit card program that the Un-carrier launched in early 2014. According to Fierce Wireless, T-Mobile has begun alerting Mobile Money users that the service will shut down on July 27. Additionally, users won;t be able to add money to their accounts or use the mobile app after June 27.

If you’re unfamiliar with Mobile Money, it was a quasi-banking effort introduced in January 2014 that very much stood out from T-Mobile’s traditional carrier operations. Users could sign up and receive a T-Mobile-branded prepaid Visa card that worked much like others of its ilk. The mobile twist was that users could access their accounts through a dedicated app to easily make deposits and manage their money.

LG V10 on T-Mobile should get its Marshmallow update next week

LG V10 owners on T-Mobile should get ready, because Marshmallow should be coming your way soon. According to the Un-carrier’s Senior Product Manager Des Smith, Marshmallow should arrive on the phone beginning next week.

Guess who should start seeing #Android #Marshmallow next week! #LGV10 #tmobile pic.twitter.com/jRR7cuUjzU

— Des (@askdes) April 8, 2016

A more specific timeframe for the update has yet to be announced. We’ll be sure to let you know when it hits. T-Mobile will be the second major U.S. carrier to bring Marshmallow to the V10, as the Verizon version got its update late last month.

LG V10

• Read our full review
• LG V10, a second opinion
• LG V10 specs
• All the latest LG V10 news
• Join the discussion in our forums
• LG V10 vs. the LG G4

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The best free Android games

Here’s our roundup of the very best free Android games available in the Google Play Store right now.

You’ve got some time to kill and only your trusty Android phone to keep you company? Take a gander at some of the most exciting, engaging, and absolutely free games that you can download from the Google Play Store. We’ve got a healthy mix including shooters, city-builders, puzzle games, racing, and lots more.

If you’re itching for something new and you’re able to stomach a few in-app purchase prompts, read on!

Asphalt 8

Asphalt 8: Airborne is easily one of the top racing games on mobile right now. It skips all pretensions of realism and provides an over-the-top, high-octane experience with all the fixings. Players can work their way through the career mode, unlock new rides, upgrade the ones they have, or take the competition online in multiplayer. The usual race modes are there, plus a new Infected one where players have to tag other racers before succumbing to an explosive virus.

The incredibly polished graphics and outstanding soundtrack make Asphalt 8 an adrenaline trip you won’t soon forget.

DOWNLOAD: Asphalt 8: Airborne (Free, IAPs)

Threes!

Threes! is a thoughtful and lighthearted puzzle game. By sliding a board of numbered cards in four directions, players aim to get adjacent and identically-numbered cards to stack on top of one another. Every turn introduces a new tile on the board, which means you’ve got to keep stacking to make room. When the board fills up, you’re given a score based on the value of the cards left, which in turn gets posted to the Google Play Games leaderboards.

Threes! is elegant, fun, and challenging, and you should definitely pick it up if you haven’t tried it yet.

DOWNLOAD: Threes! (Free, ads)

Hearthstone

Hearthstone is a free turn-based card game that follows a familiar formula: players summon creature cards and cast spell cards based on the fantasy Warcraft universe in an effort to defeat online opponents. Every one of the nine heroes has their own unique special ability as well as a sizable batch of collectible and craftable cards. Casual online games, ranked matches, wacky weekly Tavern Brawls, and grueling Arena games appeal to varying levels of commitment.

Hearthstone is without a doubt the best free card game to come to Android to date.

DOWNLOAD: Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (Free, IAPs)

Crossy Road

All you have to do in Crossy Road is get the chicken to cross the road so he can get to the other side. The catch is that there is no other side, and you’re just dodging speeding trains, traffic, torrential waters, and hungry eagles for as long as possible before meeting an inevitable and grisly demise. Single taps move you forward, and swipes move left or right. Old school gamers will sense plenty of familiarity with Frogger. Over time, you earn adorable new characters to hop along as.

Between the adorable graphics and dead-simple controls, Crossy Road is incredibly addictive.

DOWNLOAD: Crossy Road (Free, IAPs, ads)

Spaceteam

Spaceteam is a truly unique local multiplayer game. Once paired, players are presented with ridiculously-labeled spaceship consoles. All manner of sliders, knobs, switches, and buttons show up on each screen. Each player then has a message flashing telling them which control needs to be tweaked in order to save their ship from being swallowed by an exploding star. The thing is, that control could be on anybody’s device, so everybody ends up barking ludicrous orders at one another with straight-faced urgency.

Spaceteam is one of the most fun, free multiplayer games you can play.

DOWNLOAD: Spaceteam (Free, IAPs, ads)

Smash Hit

Smash Hit is a minimalist target practice game where players tap the screen to toss a marble and shatter glass obstacles. If you bump into something, you lose marbles. Lose all your marbles, and it’s game over. Every section is littered with powerups and fresh batches of marbles to keep you going. If you manage to keep hitting the marble refill crystals without missing, you can fire off two, three, or five marbles at once.

Though it’s a simple on-rails shooter, Smash Hit’s polished physics make for a massively accessible and compelling experience.

DOWNLOAD: Smash Hit (Free, pro upgrade)

Modern Combat 5

Modern Combat 5 offers some of the greatest shooting action you’ll find on Android. Dive into an action-packed single-player campaign, and once you’re comfortable with the myriad of classes, weapons, and attachments, dive into a variety of multiplayer modes. Challenges invite players to really test their skill in short, specialized scenarios. For those that are really serious, Modern Combat 5 supports hardware controllers for the real FPS experience.

Modern Combat 5 is perfect for hardcore gamers.

DOWNLOAD: Modern Combat 5: Blackout (Free, IAPs)

Seabeard

In an ocean of samey city-builders, Seabeard introduces a rich economy, colorful style, and lots of variety. Players are tasked with putting the small island nation of Accordia back together, piece by piece. Doing so involves making peace with estranged tribes, gathering resources, and completing minigames. Over time, you can develop specializations in combat, exploration, crafting, and lots more. Anybody that has put time into classics such as Animal Crossing will instantly feel at home.

Seabeard manages to mesh a kid-friendly, relaxed atmosphere with engaging economic and action mechanics.

DOWNLOAD: Seabeard (Free, IAPs)

Ingress

Ingress continues to be a unique beast in the world of location-based gaming. Players pick one of two factions to battle over real-world points of interest. By attacking nodes attached to nearby spots, players can claim them for their own, gather resources from them, build defenses, and link them to other nodes to establish territorial control. You’re likely to establish dominance in spots along your regular daily commute, but it can also act as an impetus to travel and spread your influence new places.

The real magic of Ingress is that it’s the kind of game that’s only possible on a phone.

DOWNLOAD: Ingress (Free, IAPs)

Vainglory

Vainglory is a highly competitive 3 vs. 3 lane defense game (a genre also known as MOBAs). Players go head-to-head online in order to push through waves of enemy minions, powerful heroes, and defensive turrets to destroy their base. Maintaining control of secondary mines will ensure you stay ahead of your opponent’s equipment. You’ll also need to be well aware of your hero’s abilities, and be mindful of when to fall back and when to press the assault.

Dota 2 or League of Legends fans will want to jump right into Vainglory.

DOWNLOAD: Vainglory (Free, IAPs)

Your favorite free Android games?

Nobody made us the Fun Police, though. Shout out in the comments with your favorite free Android games, as we’re constantly on the lookout for the next great timewaster.

Huawei P9 camera explored: A lot to Leica?

At the Huawei P9 phone launch in London’s Battersea on Wednesday 6 April the Chinese company made a lot of noise about its new camera features. And for good reason: it’s the only company to brandish Leica co-engineering and a unique dual camera arrangement (other makers have dual cameras, but not with one as a black-and-white-only monochrome sensor).

Sure, there was a Scarlett Johansson selfie as part of the promo, while Henry Cavill took to the stage to talk about something or other – whose autocue couldn’t keeping up with his Superman speeds – but despite Huawei throwing its Hollywood stars up in the air the P9 is, first and foremost, aimed at the everyday user.

READ: Huawei P9 phone preview

So is its camera any good? Why would you want two cameras anyway? Does having one as black and white only make practical sense? We explore the ins and outs – plus the highs and lows – of the Huawei P9 camera experience.

Huawei P9 camera explored: What’s the Leica link all about?

Leica is the ultimate high-end camera maker, based in Germany. It’s renowned for producing among the best optics in the world, while its cameras are typically hand-made (and usually cost an absolute fortune). Leica has a cult-like following and many classic images have been taken by photographers using its cameras.

The pairing with Huawei is about the new-world Leica; a company branching out, reaching the masses as the world of digital imaging evolves. And pairing its optical know-how with a phone maker certainly makes sense – as does spreading its name to a new, younger (and probably less affluent) audience.

Huawei P9 camera explored: Why two cameras?

The first obvious question: why the heck are there two cameras? They’re here for a number of main reasons.

One, the two lenses (which are identical 27mm f/2.2 equivalent optics) can be used to perceive depth by offsetting one overlapping image to the other, which is useful for not only long-distance focus purposes, but also delivering relevant data for post-shooting depth adjustment via software – more on that later.

Two, each of those lenses has its own sensor: one is full colour, the other is monochrome (black and white only). And here’s the Leica connection again: no other mainstream camera maker produces a monochrome sensor (a larger one featured in the Leica M Monochrom), which, thanks to an absence of an RGB colour array – used to calculate colour using a 4×4 red, green and blue grid per pixel – therefore has “pixels” three times larger than a colour sensor of equivalent size, translating as greater possible quality.

Huawei P9 camera explored: Does mono make sense?

So here’s a thing, who is ever going to shoot in black and white anyway? It’s not 1955 any more, right? Why not just shoot colour and convert it with a filter after?

That’s a valid point in many regards. However with the monochrome sensor there’s potential for images with less image noise because, as we say, those “pixels” are that much larger.

Pocket-lint

Huawei P9 camera sample – monochrome sensor in action

A monochrome sensor also has the potential for more dynamic range (ignoring that once data is lost to clipped highlights its irretrievable, colour conversions have more room available in the upper-end) and absolute tonal range, because it’s not basing values on surrounding data, but absolutely on what is being seen.

But back to the big question: will it ever be used? Will we swipe across to the right on the P9’s screen, select monochrome, then snap an image? It’s going to be a personal taste thing. Once you have a monochrome-captured image you can’t suddenly make it colour again. Are today’s smartphone users really that savvy with B&W photography that this is a feature they’ll not be able to live without? We doubt it.

Huawei P9 camera explored: Casual or manual use?

Which brings us to the usability of the P9’s camera arrangement. First up, the positioning of the cameras so very close to the top edge of the phone means, when in landscape orientation, fingers are perilously close to the lenses. Unless, that is, you use the physical volume buttons to snap an image, which helps keep your hand out of the way – but if you’re right-handed this feels somewhat backwards (lefties will be all over it).

Pocket-lint

Software-wise, Huawei was making it loud and clear that the “co-engineered with Leica” label means great things for software. Funnily enough, though, Leica isn’t renowned for having the best or most usable menu systems; if anything it’s renowned for having the most finicky ones.

And this shows in use with the P9’s cameras: you need to swipe right to bring up a full-screen display of shooting options, selecting between Photo or Monochrome here. But it would make more sense to use an LG G5-like solution here and have an on-screen software button to switch between those two critical options (in the G5 it toggles between normal and super-wide cameras).

READ: LG G5 review

In addition, not all modes are available from this screen. To access “Pro” (i.e. manual controls) mode you’ll need to swipe up/down on the shooting screen. To take advantage of the pseudo aperture control – which isn’t based on a real, mechanical aperture, but applied using software – you’ll have to be in the colour camera and not using said Pro mode.

Pocket-lint

Huawei P9 camera explored: Software aperture controls rarely work

Which brings us to the whole aperture situation. It’s become a real battle ground in phone cameras these days, with an f/1.7 in the Samsung S7, f/1.8 in the LG G5, f/2.2 in the iPhone 6S all vying for top spot. The smaller that number is the wider the opening and, therefore, the more light that can reach the sensor – which is useful for low-light shooting and, in certain focus situations, blurring the background. All useful things for creativity.

So Huawei’s f/2.2 isn’t class-leading, but it’s pretty good – if it’s good enough for Apple, right? What’s not so good, however, is the option to apply a pseudo aperture effect – which can be done in the standard mode either pre- or post-shooting. It’s something HTC has offered in the past with its M8/M9 handsets and something that, well, has never really worked that well.

Same goes here: Huawei, Leica, whoever, the software solution simply doesn’t match-up to a real aperture solution. There are too many glitches. Sure, using two lenses on the P9 to obtain depth information is better than a single lens solution by far, but if the software messes up then the image just looks wrong.

And with an f/0.95 post-shooting option available – that’s based on the famed Leica Noctilux 50mm f/0.95 lens – many shots will quickly become a dog’s dinner, especially if there’s a lot going on in the frame. You can see it in action in real-time pre-shooting, which is kind of fun, but after taking a shot you might notice a whole section that’s blurred when it shouldn’t be, for example.

Pocket-lint

Huawei P9 camera sample – pseudo f/0.95 aperture example breaking the subject edges in image

We’ve even had whole subject edges considerably distorted at “f/0.95”, fake bokeh really blown out of proportion in white/highlight areas and, well, it’s just best avoided. You won’t find this aperture control in the Pro mode, because pros won’t likely stand for it.

Sometimes though, just sometimes, it does work a treat. Have something close-up to the lens with nothing else close to the focal plane and it’s easier for the two cameras to differentiate depth and blur accordingly. We shot in a bicycle shot and this worked well.

Stick to f/2.2, though, without fiddling around, and you’ll be happy with what you shoot in the first instance.

Huawei P9 camera explored: Focus speed

We’ve mentioned the two lenses operating to assist focus, but that’s not all Huawei is calling on in the P9. For closer shooting there’s a laser-assisted focus, much like that of the LG G5.

As we concluded in our LG G5 vs Samsung Galaxy S7 vs iPhone 6S camera head-to-head, however, because it’s laser doesn’t always mean it’s the very fastest – the Samsung is typically quicker.

READ: Best smartphone camera – iPhone 6S Plus, Samsung Galaxy S7 or LG G5?

But accuracy, on the other hand, that’s where it’s a winner. Click anywhere on the screen and focus is swift enough and accurate; the focus area is larger than the G5’s, though, which makes it more generalised.

We also like the click-and-drag ability to offset the auto-exposure away from the focus point – a feature we’ve seen in plenty of Android phones, but that works well.

All in all, whichever focus option the Huawei P9 opts for, critically it’s up to scratch against it’s main competitors now. Hats off for that.

Pocket-lint

Huawei P9 camera sample – pseudo f/16 aperture

Huawei P9 camera explored: Wrap-up

Typically with Huawei cameras – and it’s a trait of many Chinese brands – there’s a big song and dance about so-called Beauty modes. At the launch event this wasn’t the focus, but such modes – which blurs the face of blemishes, enlarges the eyes and so forth – do still exist in the Modes panel. As do other modes: from video, to slow-mo, time-lapse, HDR (high dynamic range), panorama, night shot and more.

That such modes have been pushed to the back leaves a greater focus on the camera interface itself. We like that it’s easy to switch between manual and point-and-shoot, we like that the speed and quality is up there with the other flagships on the market, we like usability quirks like a horizontal level and grid overlay, and we like the ability to shoot raw files in addition to JPEGs.

But does having two cameras really make it better than one? You’re paying for that monochrome sensor in there, the one that you’ll probably never use, and the defocusing for pseudo wide-aperture effect is just as broken (while simultaneously being full of potential) as it was in HTC’s iteration.

What people really want is a single, fast camera that can take great images, easily. Huawei has that here, but the distraction of the second lens and sensor does begin to partially detract from the goodness that’s within too.

Facebook is making product endorsements more obvious

Ads have been a staple in your Facebook News Feed for quite sometime. Today, the social network announced changes to its branded content policy that will make it more obvious when a celebrity or other publisher posts about third-party goods and services. There’s a new tagging feature that must be used by anyone posting something tied to a marketer. The tag will alert the company being referenced so that they can view analytics, share and boost the post. What’s more, the original post from the publisher or “influencer” will get a “with” tag just like you see when you tag friends in updates. Adding “with” will help users identify brand posts, but the content still won’t be obvious if you’re only giving the News Feed a passing glance.

Facebook says that based on feedback, it’s also banning “overly promotional” content like “persistent watermarks” and pre-roll ads in any sponsored videos. It also won’t allow products, brands or sponsors to be used in profile pictures or cover photos. However, things like product placement and logos are allowed. The changes to the branded content policy are rolling out today, and Facebook says that the features will soon extend to its live video push as well.

DJI app helps you find fellow drone lovers

There’s a social network for everything. Dog owners, foodies, gamers — you name it, there’s an app that will connect you with like-minded people. So of course, it was inevitable that one would eventually be made for drone owners too. DJI has taken the plunge with DJI+Discover, a major update to its DJI Store app on iOS and Android. It allows anyone to create a profile and connect with fellow drone enthusiasts, whether that’s simply to hang out, get tuition or ask which model you should be buying next.

It’s also geared towards professionals that want to sell their piloting and photography skills to commercial clients. When you launch the app, you’ll see a map of the surrounding area and pin drops representing other users. There are three toggles along the top — All, Social and Professional — which let you specify which sort of drone owner you’re looking for. As a neat bonus, there are also markers which indicate exceptional flying spots and user-submitted drone photos. Elsewhere in the app you’ll find a shortcut to DJI’s online store, an “Experience” section for finding brick-and-mortar stores and physical events, and a link to the company’s forum.

The app is available in the US, the UK, Germany, Spain and Australia. If you’re mad about drones or just want someone to be there the first time you fly a Phantom 4, it’s worth considering. Just be careful — you’ll be meeting strangers with some awfully expensive (and desirable) gear in tow.

Via: DJI (Press Release)

Source: DJI+Discover (iOS), (Android)

Step inside a mind filled with beauty and fear in ‘Figment’

Figment is a colorful, whimsical puzzle game that combines childlike fantasies with mature themes including death, disease and trauma. It shouldn’t work. These ideas should be oil and water, existing around each other but never fully melding into a cohesive experience. But Figment defies logic — even in an early build, the game is magical and deep at the same time. It’s like an episode of Adventure Time mixed with the adorable puzzler Machinarium but in a musical, hand-painted world.

The game takes place inside someone’s head, in a subconscious filled with lush grass platforms, fluffy clouds, red-roofed huts… and fear. In Figment, fear takes the form of creepy creatures that have infiltrated this mind and are hell-bent on destroying its beauty. The fear of disease, for example, is a cackling, coughing beast with lanky limbs, a thin tail, at least one long row of pointy teeth and a red plague mask. His name is The Plague, after all. He taunts the protagonist — a Teletubby-like creature with a cute red nose and tiny antlers — in rhymes as he throws gas bombs across the grass.

Figment is part puzzler and part action game, due to hit PC, Mac, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in early 2017. Players explore the land masses of different worlds, solving spatial riddles and battling fear minions with a wooden sword. You’re able to quickly roll out of the way of incoming attacks, strike back and collect important tools scattered around the environments. The game heavily incorporates music, too — many of its puzzles are related to instruments or sounds, and the landscape is packed with stylized flutes, tubas, trumpets, accordions and more. It looks like the kind of game Dr. Seuss would have made.

While frolicking around the quirky world that The Plague has invaded, you fight off his beasties and put together contraptions that will help your adorable warrior advance to the next trouble spot, the next infestation of fear. This is where the puzzle aspect comes in: As in games like Machinarium, the riddles revolve around observation and creative thinking. If you can’t turn on one of the windmills, maybe it’s because you need the wheel part that was back by the lighthouse. There’s a huge gap between this island and the next — perhaps you can figure out a way to knock the giant flute out of the tree and use it as a bridge. Some of the puzzles are obvious, but Figment sets itself up for complex head-scratchers as the game progresses.

The creators at the Dutch studio Bedtime Digital Games call Figment “dreampunk,” and it’s an aesthetic they have plenty of experience with. Their debut game, Back to Bed, is an eccentric dreamscape that they created as students back in 2013. It’s an M.C. Escher-inspired puzzle platformer, and it thrust Bedtime into the spotlight after becoming an IGF 2013 Student Showcase Finalist and collecting a few other awards.

Figment represents the natural evolution of Bedtime’s design philosophy. The team, led by Klaus Pedersen and Jonas Byrresen, know how to craft dense puzzles in beautiful, moody worlds. They aren’t afraid to get a little morbid — one of the areas in Figment is pockmarked with giant molars, in reference to the common dream where your teeth suddenly fall out, supposedly signaling stress about aging and death. Still, the world remains beautiful to look at, play in and listen to, making Figment ideal for anyone, at any age, with any fear.

Watch SpaceX launch a Dragon supply ship for the ISS today

SpaceX will send another Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station today at 4:43PM EDT from its base in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The weather is looking good so far and you’ll be able to watch the launch live on the SpaceX webcast.

This trip includes a Dragon resupply capsule carrying NASA’s Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, a living space that essentially inflates once it’s installed on the ISS. BEAM is the type of tech that NASA could use on a trip to Mars, since it’s small in transport, durable and easy to set up.

“BEAM is one of the first steps to test expandable structures as a viable alternative to traditional space habitats,” NASA writes.

Today, SpaceX will try once again to land its Falcon 9 rocket on top of a small rectangle in the ocean. While the SpaceX crew has brought a rocket back to Earth, it’s yet to successfully touch down on the ocean landing strip, despite multiple attempts. These sea landings are a crucial part of SpaceX’s plan to re-use its rockets and save money on each blast-off. By the end of the year, the company plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket every other week, Ars Technica reports, so ration your popcorn accordingly.

Update: Success! It landed!

The 1st stage of the Falcon 9 just landed on our Of Course I Still Love You droneship. Dragon in good orbit pic.twitter.com/SYyUCDZE3k

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 8, 2016

The future of music tailors itself to your pulse

If you’re like most people, then you probably have an uptempo playlist and a downtempo playlist stashed somewhere. But what if you didn’t need to? That’s the idea that Jonathan “j.viewz” Dagan is exploring with the interactive music video for his song Almost Forgot. Rather than a static YouTube clip, the iOS app scans your heartbeat and matches the songs tempo to suit. That way, if you’re in a sedate mood, the track plays as a slow ballad, and if you’re at the gym, it’ll be more like a dance hit.

The phone can monitor your pulse using the old camera-lens-as-an-optical-heart-rate-monitor trick that’s been knocking around these last few years. Android users shouldn’t feel left out, since they can visit the Almost Forgot website if they’re rocking Lollipop or Marshmallow. As Dagan says himself, he wanted to “let the listener create their own version of the song with their heartbeat.” Who knows, maybe this sort of curation will become commonplace as wearable devices get more prevalent and music playback gets smarter. We can imagine a whole new generation of artists blaming the poor reception of their next album entirely on the fact that none of us were pumping our heart hard enough to listen to it properly.

Via: Mashable

Source: App Store, Almost Forgot

The Panama Papers, a breach we can all get behind

Now here’s a breach and leak everyone can get behind (unless you’re a billionaire despot, that is). Selected excerpts from the Panama Papers dropped on Sunday, an unprecedented snatch-and-grab of offshore tax haven records released to a handful of global news organizations.

In them, the tax-avoiding dealings of the super-rich were exposed in a gigantic haul of data said to total around 11.5m files (2.6 terabytes). It was taken from shell-company specialist Mossack Fonseca by an anonymous source, who shared the Panamanian law firm’s trove with German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

In turn, SZ shared the records with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The trove of emails, photos, PDFs and database excerpts was then winnowed down into digestible stories by a pool of around 400 journalists. All told, the project was a year in the making. Süddeutsche Zeitung said, “The source wanted neither financial compensation nor anything else in return, apart from a few security measures.”

Believe it or not, those named in the papers haven’t necessarily broken any laws. That’s because exploiting loopholes in tax law, while ethically and morally dubious, is perfectly legal. Fonseca is adamant that the company hasn’t done anything wrong (and won’t be changing its ways).

Allergies include peanuts, ethics, security

Even still, a little Googling returns plenty of spilled digital ink on the firm’s rep as a place for secrecy and the slipperiness of its ethically compromised professionals. It’s exactly where you’d go if you were doing something wrong and wanted the trail to your dubious offshore tax havens to look squeaky-clean — if it could be found at all.

Mossack Fonseca helps firms and leaders of countries that are subject to sanctions. According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, “Mossack Fonsecas’ [sic] clients include criminals and members of various Mafia groups. The documents also expose bribery scandals and corrupt heads of state and government.”

The Sydney Morning Herald reports, “The files show how Mossack Fonseca thwarted Australian regulators and police inquiries, continued to act for individuals accused of fraud and embezzlement, and lobbied actively to prevent Australia from signing agreements that would allow the exchange of tax information with Samoa, a key tax avoidance jurisdiction.”

In the days since the publication of the Panama Papers, the prime minister of Iceland, Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, a vocal opponent of offshore tax havens, was exposed as owning such a firm with his wife. He resigned within days of publication, and opposition parties have pushed for the entire government to stand down.

FIFA ethics committee member Juan Pedro Damiani also resigned after the papers connected him to a former FIFA official arrested by the Justice Department on corruption charges last December. The Swiss police swiftly raided the offices of UEFA (the beleaguered governing body of European football) to investigate the offshore dealings of FIFA’s new president, Gianni Infantino.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron is also in the hot seat, having stalled inquiries for three days until he admitted yesterday to having owned shares in his father’s UK-tax-avoiding offshore trust. Vladimir Putin is implicated through associates, spawning conspiracy theories that this whole thing is an attack on the Russian president.

The despotic leaders of Sudan and Azerbaijan, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko are specifically named in the papers. China’s government is on damage control after the family members of eight Communist party elites were shown to have dealings with offshore companies. Meanwhile, Chinese officials have ordered reporting on the Panama Papers to be censored.

Sina Weibo is censoring search results for “Panama” pic.twitter.com/KuXHqBGP5N

— William Farris (@wafarris) April 4, 2016

​

It’s clear that no one named in the files was ready for what happened when they were exposed this week, and Mossack Fonseca was completely ambushed.

Mossack Fonseca and its clients were so blinded by privilege that they believed they were still at the top of the food chain and still enjoyed the luxurious protections provided by predigital information secrecy.

And they were wrong.

Oops, they did it again

You see, this was the second time that Mossack Fonseca has been popped — that we know of. Over a year ago, a data thief grabbed a much smaller set of Mossack Fonseca’s older internal records and sold it to German authorities for nearly 1 million Euros. Other countries including the United States, the UK and Iceland reportedly nabbed some for themselves, too.

Hackers have a strong homing instinct for bad security practices, and this story has drawn a flock of researchers. They’ve concluded that “negligent” doesn’t even begin to cover it. Everything is out of date, and the laundry list of ways one could obtain credentials is so long that you have to wonder who hasn’t rummaged through its files.

I’m not sure Mossack Fonseca docs being all over the internet is a shock, if their WP install is anything to go by. https://t.co/IsxmJPji4s

— Fenrir (@semibogan) April 4, 2016

The WordPress install on Mossack Fonseca’s website is months behind in updates (this scan shows two vulnerabilities). On April 1st, the company sent an email to its clients saying it had suffered “an unauthorized breach of our email server,” which isn’t surprising, considering that the law firm’s Outlook Web Access hasn’t been updated since 2009.

Its Client Information Portal (a “secure online account” in “a safe environment”) had its last update in 2013. Wired UK notes the portal is vulnerable to the DROWN attack, “a security exploit that targets servers supporting the obsolete, insecure SSL v2 protocol” and that “the version of Drupal used by the portal has at least 25 vulnerabilities, including a high-risk SQL injection vulnerability that allows anyone to remotely execute arbitrary commands.”

Mossack Fonseca’s security measures: Not good. #PanamaPapers https://t.co/AlvKUFlGTo (v/ @iblametom) pic.twitter.com/Hhv1hvI7Pi

— Rob Price (@robaeprice) April 5, 2016

There’s more, but you get the idea.

Someone hacks a law firm resulting in the ‘Panama Papers’. Imagine how and how long it took to download 2.6TB of data. And, no one noticed!?

— Jeremiah Grossman (@jeremiahg) April 6, 2016

It’s not a tumor

Because of the size of the data dump — records dating from the firm’s inception in 1977 to last December — common sense points to an inside job. But Ramón Fonseca, co-founder of Mossack Fonseca, denies that’s the case. He characterizes the firm as a victim, telling Reuters, “We rule out an inside job. This is not a leak. This is a hack.”

And what about those accusations of working with money launderers and dictators? Fonseca told Reuters, “The only crime that has been proven is the hack. No one is talking about that. That is the story.”

As if hiding money for ruthless murdering dictators and crooked politicians is a reasonable way to make a living, the firm told both The Guardian and Süddeutsche Zeitung:

It appears that you have had unauthorized access to proprietary documents and information taken from our company and have presented and interpreted them out of context. We trust that you are fully aware that using information/documentation unlawfully obtained is a crime, and we will not hesitate to pursue all available criminal and civil remedies.

Because, obviously, Mossack Fonseca is a victim that believes in justice.

[Image: Christopher Furlong/AFP/Getty Images (David Cameron)]