Fitbit Charge 2 vs Charge HR vs Charge: What’s the rumoured difference?

Fitbit offers several devices in the activity tracking market, from the plain and simple Flex to its GPS sportswatch, known to friends as Surge.

Rumour has it the company will be adding another couple of devices to its line-up before the end of the year however, with talk of a Flex successor as well as a Charge HR successor.

We’ve compared the rumoured Charge 2 to the Charge and Charge HR to see how the devices differ, based on the speculation.

Fitbit Charge 2 vs Charge HR vs Charge: Design

The Fitbit Charge and Charge HR both measure 21mm wide and they both come with a small OLED display and a textured, elastomer band. There is a small button on the left-hand side of the display, they both come in several colour options and they are both water resistant up to 1ATM but neither are swim proof.

The non-removeable strap is fastened with a stainless steel clasp on the Charge HR and two pins on the Charge. The Charge HR also features Fitbit’s PurePulse Heart Rate monitor on its underside, while the Charge doesn’t.

The Charge 2 is rumoured to offer a similar strap and clasp to the Charge HR, most likely made from the same flexible elastomer material but it looks like it might be slightly slimmer in width. It has been claimed the strap on the Charge 2 would be also interchangeable, which we assume means it will feature the same mechanism as the Fitbit Alta.

Based on the leaks, the display will be much larger on the Charge 2, taking over the majority of the top of the device. There is also a larger button on the left of the display and what appears to be a stainless steel body underneath, again like the Alta.

As the display on the leaked image presents a heart rate reading, we’d expect to see the PurePulse Heart Rate Monitor on the underside of the Charge 2 like the Charge HR, and we’d also expect to see a variety of colour options. There has been no mention of proper waterproofing for the Charge 2 in the leaks so we are assuming it will stick with 1ATM resistance.

Fitbit Charge 2 vs Charge HR vs Charge: Features

Both the Charge and Charge HR track steps, distance, calories burned, floors climbed, active minutes, hourly activity and stationary time. They also both allow the user to see daily stats and the time on the small display, along with incoming call notifications.

The Charge and Charge HR are capable of sleep monitoring and they both feature silent alarms. Additionally, they both have SmartTrack on board, which automatically recognises when you exercise and records it in the app.

The Charge HR differs slightly from the Charge in that it has the PurePulse Heart Rate monitor on board, as we mentioned. This gives users an automatic and continuous heart rate reading from their wrist.

The Charge 2 is claimed to be coming with all-day activity and sleep monitoring so we’re expecting all the same features as the Charge and Charge HR. It is also claimed to offer Multi-Sport tracking, which is a feature that was introduced on the Blaze earlier this year and allows users to track one of seven activities from walking to yoga. The PurePulse Heart Rate monitor is also listed in the leaks, as we’ve said, suggesting the new device will be more of a successor to the Charge HR than the Charge.

The leaks also claim the Charge 2 will deliver smartphone notifications. We are assuming that means it will offer the same as the Alta, which if the case, would mean calendar alerts, text messages and call notifications but no third party notifications.

Fitbit Charge 2 vs Charge HR vs Charge: Conclusion

Based on the Fitbit Charge 2 leaks, it looks like it will offer a similar design to the Fitbit Alta but on a larger scale.

What will the Charge 2 bring over its predecessors? Well, assuming the rumours are true, it will add smartphone notifications and Multi-Sport tracking over the Charge HR and Charge HR, as well as a bigger display, interchangeable straps and a more premium, streamlined design.

It also looks like the Charge 2 will offer heart rate monitoring, which although the Charge HR offers this, the Charge doesn’t and neither does the Alta. Ultimately, the rumours and leaks suggest the Charge 2 will be a bigger version of the Fitbit Alta, with the addition of Multi-Sport, heart rate monitoring and elevation tracking.

This is all speculation for now though as Fitbit has confirmed nothing. We’re expecting the Charge 2 and Flex 2 to be announced around IFA and we will be updating this feature as and when. For more information, head to our Fitbit Charge 2 and Flex 2 rumour round up.

Super-resilient ceramic could be the key to future spacecraft

Vehicles like the Space Shuttle have used ceramic tiles to thwart heat during reentry, but it has its limits. It can only get so hot, which can force you to use different materials — and you can forget about using near an engine. Russia’s Tomsk State University wants to change that. It’s developing a ceramic whose multiple layers (based on hafnium carbide, zirconium diboride and zirconium oxide) can survive temperatures over 5,400F (3,000C). Even the best metal alloys can’t usually handle more than 3,600F (2,000C), the university says.

That kind of durability would be most crucial on the outside of spacecraft, offering better protection across the board. However, it could also be vital inside engines — designers could push the limits of jets and rockets, putting out that much more power without the risk of a breakdown. The material should help shield temperature sensors, too. Researchers want to stress-test the ceramic before they declare it ready (including a long-duration 4,000F test with Roscosmos), but it already has a promising future.

Via: UPI

Source: Tomsk State University

Netgear Orbi promises to rid your home of WiFi dead zones

One of the most frustrating first world problems today is not being able to connect to your home WiFi network in spots that are farther away from your router. Netgear believes it can get rid of that problem with its latest product: a WiFi system called Orbi. The $400 basic kit comprises of a router and a satellite that the company says will cover up to 4,000 square feet together. Orbi’s standout feature, said Netgear, is its tri-band mesh system that dedicates one channel to extending the internet from the router to the satellite while keeping the other two free for your other devices’ connections.

The Orbi system is also designed to be easy to set up. Not only has Netgear created an uncomplicated, browser-based installation program that you can access through your phone and your computer, but it has also made it simpler to figure out where to place the extender.

First of all, the router that you plug into your gateway has a sky blue top, while the satellite is white on top. After you plug in the router and are bringing the satellite around your house to find a good spot for it, a halo at the top glows magenta, amber or blue. Respectively, the colors indicate if you are out of range, if the signal is in range but weak and if you are within a good distance from the router. So it’s basically a visual game of hotter or colder.

In other WiFi products, extenders and routers connect to each other over the same channel as your laptops, smartphones and other devices, said Netgear. This contributes to the overall slowing down of your connection speed. As you add more extenders, having the dedicated 5GHz channel for the satellite and router and the remaining two (5GHz and 2.4 GHz) open for your other gadgets prevents the speeds from dropping as you spread the signal throughout more parts of your abode. To keep things simple, Netgear unified the network ID for both bands so you won’t have to pick between the two.

Of course, your internet speed will still depend on your use and the number of devices trying to get on the same network, but Netgear’s new system does sound promising. We’d have to see Orbi in action to know if this setup helps.

Orbi supports 802.11 ac WiFi up to 3 Gbps, and both the router and satellite come with four Gigabit ethernet ports and a USB 2.0 jack on the rear. You’ll also get parental controls that let you blacklist or whitelist specific websites as well as set time permissions, along with a slew of more advanced features that you’ll also get with Netgear’s high-performance Nighthawk router.

The Orbi still has to contend with the likes of Eero and Luma when it comes to range extension in the home, and Google’s OnHub is a similarly user-friendly and pretty device. But Netgear is a well-known and established brand in the US, so the Orbi could very well outdo the competition in performance when it comes out in September.

The Pongbot makes beer pong actually challenging

If you ever went to a party in college, chances are you’ve played beer pong. You throw a ball into a cup filled with beer, and a successful shot means your opponent has to take a drink. It’s a way to make drinking a bit more social and competitive. It’s also not something you do past a certain age — maybe because of the frat house association, but also because it’s not that hard. It’s not supposed to be, given that the point is to get drunk. The Pongbot, a $40 device hitting Kickstarter today, shakes things up by making those beer-filled tumblers a moving target. You might not get drunk as fast, but you’ll definitely feel the high of increased competition.

The Pongbot isn’t the first time someone’s had the idea to put beer pong in motion. In fact, this year’s it’s been pretty trendy to stick a bunch of drink cups on top of a Roomba and make a game out of it. But creators Alan Dorfman and Jayson Esterow aren’t just following a trend — they’ve been working on the Pongbot for two years. Their solution is a lot simpler than a Roomba, too, not to mention a hell of a lot cheaper.

The Pongbot is a simple remote-controlled cart with a nook for the cup (you can add additional rings if you like). The bot can be set to wander on its own around a table, or it can be controlled via a remote. It doesn’t have an app, but unless your phone is waterproof that’s probably a good thing: Beer pong can get messy and you wouldn’t want your expensive handset destroyed by crappy brew.

Another bit of drunk-proofing is the edge detection: Even if you deliberately try to steer the Pongbot off the edge of the table, it won’t go. Or at least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. I managed to get it to tumble off a glass conference table, spilling beer all over a chair. It turns out that leaving one side of the Pongbot empty can throw the device off-balance, but hopefully in real-world use you’ll be putting new beers in as quickly as you take them out. If there is an accident, though, the Pongbot is water-resistant and can be easily cleaned.

Out of the box, the Pongbot is fairly unremarkable, with very few features outside the cup holder and power switch. However, once you pop some cups into it becomes immediately obvious what’s going on. The red Solo cup is iconic in its own right, and placing a bunch of them together automatically brings beer pong to mind. While testing the bot in a conference room at the Engadget office, a crowd of people came over to check it out, each citing their own fond memories of the game at their various alma maters.

I never played beer pong in college, because I am a boring person who never went to frat parties. But I do enjoy games, and I like to be challenged. And playing beer pong with the Pongbot was a bit of a challenge. It reminded me of a carnival game, though instead of winning a crappy stuffed animal I get to be drunk instead. If I wasn’t so terrible at it, that is. The Pongbot doesn’t follow a set pattern, so it’s really about just watching where it’s going and adjusting your aim toward that. If you were bad at throwing pingpong balls before, this definitely isn’t going to help. I tossed a few balls at the cart, watching them bounce off the edges of the cups while the Pongbot mocked me with its constant little wiggles across the table.

What’s nice is that it opens up the game of beer pong to more rules variations. One obvious mode is to have your opponents control the Pongbot during your turns, but ultimately there’s no “correct” way to play with it as it doesn’t come with any directions and that’s by design.

If beer pong is yet another task you’re willing to cede to our robot overlords, you can snag a Pongbot on Kickstarter starting today for the tidy sum of $40.

Close-by exoplanet may have an oxygen-rich atmosphere

At last, scientists might have spotted a rocky exoplanet with an oxygen-heavy atmosphwere… only it’s not the alternate Earth you might be hoping for. Astronomers have determined that GJ 1132b (aka Gliese 1132b), a relatively close 39 light years away, stands a real chance of having oxygen-rich skies. However, it’s also scorching hot at 450F (232C). With that kind of heat, any water vapor would have a greenhouse effect — the atmosphere would cook the surface (turning it into a magma ocean) and eliminate any hope of life.

That’s not to say the discovery is a bust. GJ 1132b could help make sense of Venus, which may have started out as a watery planet but faced a runaway greenhouse gas effect that deprived it of oxygen and turned it hostile. If there’s any oxygen left, you may be looking at a proto-Venus that hasn’t quite finished its transition. And even if that’s not the case, the model used here could explain other exoplanets.

Via: Sci-News

Source: NASA, ArXiv.org

Apple Acquires Personal Health Data Recording Platform ‘Gliimpse’

Apple has acquired personal health and wellness startup Gliimpse, continuing its push into the health and fitness landscape that it began focusing on with the launch of the Apple Watch.

The company made the acquisition earlier in the year, according to Fast Company, but Apple has now confirmed the purchase with its usual response: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”

Gliimpse is a personal health platform that collects various fitness-related pieces of data for its users “to collect, personalize, and share a picture of their health data” at different stages of their personal journey. The company was funded by entrepreneur Anil Sethi and was founded in 2013, following Sethi’s inspiration to create an easy way to track health data as he watched his sister battle breast cancer.

Gliimpse™ began with a simple idea – everyone should be able to manage their health records, and share them securely with those they trust. Currently in stealth, Gliimpse is healthcare’s platform for building patient-centric apps. By unlocking hospital silos, we aggregate fragmented data into Medicare mandated patient summaries. Gliimpse is your personal health history, in the palm of your hands.

As seen on the company’s website, Gliimpse also lets users make daily journal entries to chronicle their emotional state of mind, track lab results, record levels of pain to inform a physician, and other privacy features that ensure each user’s data stays secure. These features mark Gliimpse as a more healthcare-focused experience for users with serious ailments like diabetes and cancer, in contrast to more casual health upkeep apps, like Apple Health.

The new acquisition is a continuation of Apple’s efforts to bolster its presence in the digital health field. Earlier in the month, the company re-hired Flipboard co-founder Evan Doll for a secretive position in its health initiative, and it’s even been rumored that Apple is working on a new piece of hardware with a health-tracking focus — which might also be another Apple Watch — for release in 2017.

Apple’s focus on health and wellness (which will also expand to mindfulness with its Breathe Apple Watch app this fall) was summarized by CEO Tim Cook when he appeared on “Mad Money” earlier in the year. Specifically, when host Jim Cramer asked whether it was “within the realm of our lifetime” that a device paired with Apple’s HealthKit framework might be able to monitor diabetes, blood pressure, and detect cancer, Tim Cook said “Oh, I absolutely do.”

Tags: HealthKit, fastcompany.com, health and fitness
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Samsung reportedly planning to sell refurbished phones

Make once, sell twice.

Samsung is reportedly launching a program where the company sells refurbished high-end phones in the Galaxy S and Note lineups. Citing an individual with “direct knowledge of the matter,” Reuters is saying that the program will go into effect as early as next year. The program will see Samsung refurbishing handsets returned as part of its yearly upgrade program in the U.S. and South Korea, and selling them in emerging markets.

The Galaxy S7, S7 edge, and the Note 7 are excellent phones, but with retail prices often north of $800, they’re not a justifiable expense for many consumers.

According to Reuters, Samsung is looking to “maximize its cost efficiency and keep operating margins above 10 percent.” By refurbishing returned phones and selling them for a lower cost, Samsung can maintain cost-competitiveness in China, where the vendor is seeing increased pressure from the likes of OPPO and Huawei. However, with the Indian government rejecting Apple’s bid to sell refurbished iPhones in the country, it is unlikely Samsung will fare any better in the country.

The move also has potential to boost Samsung’s revenue in the mid-tier segment, but it will undoubtedly affect sales of the Galaxy A series in emerging markets. The Galaxy A series sits one tier below the Galaxy S lineup, offering metal and glass designs with watered-down specs. This year’s Galaxy A7 comes with a 5.5-inch AMOLED screen, octa-core Exynos 7580 SoC, 3GB of RAM, 16GB storage, microSD slot, 13MP camera, 5MP front shooter, and a 3300mAh battery.

If Samsung were to offer a refurbished Galaxy S7 for the same price, then there’s no tangible reason to opt for a Galaxy A7 2016 over this year’s flagship. That said, it has managed to sell handsets like the Galaxy J2 in droves, so if there’s one vendor that can effectively market underwhelming phones, it is Samsung.

How to fix Galaxy Note 7 battery life problems

Use these tips to make the most of the battery inside your Note 7.

Even though the Galaxy Note 7’s battery is 500 mAh bigger than last year, and with regular use the full 3500 mAh cell should make it through a day, for some people that’s just not enough. Whether it’s a daily or irregular occurrence, there are likely to be times when you need to get just a little more out of your Note 7’s battery, and thankfully there are several ways to do that, with varying amounts of trade off in terms of experience.

Whether you just want to get a bit more from your Note 7’s battery or make sure you can always go a full day no matter what, we have the tips and tricks you need to extend its battery life. Read on.

Be on the lookout for battery-hungry apps

It would be great if every app out there was written to have minimal impact on your phone and think of battery life as a high priority, but that just isn’t the case. If you have a lot of apps installed and are finding your Note 7’s battery draining a bit too fast for your liking, taking a look in the phone’s application settings is a good place to start the diagnosis.

Head into the phone’s Settings, tap Device maintenance, Battery and then Battery usage. You’ll see a collection of the top apps and services that have used up battery over the course of the day (this is best done near the end of a full charge), so you can see if anything is out of line. Social media, chat and streaming apps may be using a lot of battery if you’re actively on them, so keep that in mind before killing of things you see as being “high” usage. If you notice a lesser-used app draining battery, consider uninstalling or disabling it from the application settings.

Check out app sleep settings

Even if you identify and remove power-hungry apps from your phone, there are plenty of other apps you want to keep around but are still unnecessarily running in the background. The best way to handle this is in the Galaxy Note 7’s “App power saving” settings, which can be found inside Device maintenance, then Battery area of your phone’s settings.

By default, the Note 7 will “sleep” apps that you don’t use for three days — after they’re put to sleep, they won’t actively run in the background until you explicitly open them again, which restarts the three-day counter. In the Battery section of the settings, tap the menu button and then Advanced settings to turn this feature on or off, and if left on to set the sleep counter from three to seven days.

Back to the main Battery settings view, you’ll see a list of apps under “App power monitor” with the amount of power they use per hour. Now you shouldn’t bother with the big “Save power” button, as you’re likely causing more trouble than you’re fixing by shutting down apps you’re actually using. But below that button, at the bottom of the app list, you’ll see a “Sleeping apps” button — tap it to reveal all of the apps you haven’t used in three (or up to seven, if you set it) days.

If you’d prefer to never sleep a specific app, like for instance maybe a travel app you use occasionally but want to always access, tap the Unmonitored apps button at the very bottom of the screen and tap Edit at the top of the screen. You’ll then be able to view all of your apps and select ones that you explicitly want to run as much as the app sees fit.

Uninstall or disable unused bloatware

If you bought your Note 7 from a carrier, chances are it’s going to have a handful of extra apps — call ’em “bloatware” if you wish — that you don’t really care to have. These apps will often run and use up battery, and even if each one isn’t using much it could add up to a meaningful impact on performance and battery life.

Instead of ignoring these pre-installed apps or hiding them in the launcher, go through and uninstall the ones you don’t want and disable the rest that can’t be uninstalled. Head into Settings, Applications and then tap the apps you don’t want — you’ll see a big Disable or Uninstall button to tap.

Configure and use Power saving modes

Samsung has long offered a Power saving mode and Ultra Power saving mode on its phones, but with the Note 7 has opened up these modes to be configurable to offer you the trade off between usability and power savings that you desire. Head into your Settings, Device management and tap on Battery to get started. You’ll see three options under Power saving mode: Off, Mid and Max, with estimations of how long your battery will last under the latter two.

The most-likely Power saving mode you’ll use is Mid, and that’s the one you can configure to your liking. Tap it, and you’ll get an information screen showing what will happen to save battery — tap Customize to edit the parameters. Here, you’ll see sliders to manage your maximum screen brightness and screen resolution, as well as two toggles to limit device performance and prevent background network usage. Tap Apply at the top to turn the Power saving mode on with those settings — they’ll be saved for the next time you turn it on. To turn Power saving mode off, tap Turn off in the notification area, or tap the Power saving mode quick settings toggle in the notification shade.

Turn off Always On Display

Always On Display may or may not have been enabled by default on your Note 7 depending on where you bought it, but either way you can’t deny how cool it looks to have information available on the screen even when it’s “off.” Depending on which Always On Display mode you choose and how often you receive notifications, you may notice that it has a notable impact on battery life — sometimes as much as 5-10% over the course of the day. That’s a lot of battery, and for that reason you may consider turning it off.

If you want to keep Always On Display enabled but just limit its battery use, there are a couple tweaks you can make. The first is setting it to a tight schedule for when it can run. In the Always On Display settings you can choose when it turns on and off — you may limit it to only run during your hectic mornings, or in the midday when it’s spending time on your desk and you aren’t actively using the phone. The next battery-saving measure is turning off notifications — the Note 7’s Always On Display actually lets you tap and interact with notifications, and that means having them available to be touched uses more battery. In the Layouts section of the settings, toggle off Show notifications.

Turn off unused radios like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

This isn’t specific to the Note 7, but it’s something to keep in mind for battery savings regardless. If you don’t plan on using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth for a longer period (like half a day), just turn them off. With the Note 7’s notification shade quick settings, it’s easy to just tap and turn them off, then flip ’em back on when you need. Now of course there’s no reason to bother turning them off if you’re just going to be toggling them back on throughout the day — convenience is clearly important — but if you’re going to go a long stretch without, take a second to turn them off.

If you do want to keep Wi-Fi on, you can at least turn off a few advanced features that will take up a little extra juice. In your Wi-Fi settings, tap Advanced and turn off Network notification, as well as any other hotspot auto-join settings your carrier may have added.

Make a few changes to your Display settings

The Note 7 has a fantastic display, and while it’s actually very efficient it will still take up a good portion of your battery throughout the day. If you dive into your phone’s display settings you’ll find a few different tweaks you can make that won’t have a big impact on your experience but will save a few percentage points on your battery.

• Screen brightness: Consider lowering your screen brightness just a tad. You can still keep automatic brightness checked for proper visibility in a variety of conditions, but moving the slider down a bit will drop the brightness in many situations. You can also use the notification shade slider.
• Screen timeout: The lower the better. Your screen isn’t using power when it’s off!
• Smart stay: This feature keeps the screen on when you’re actively looking at it, which may help you cope with turning down your overall screen timeout setting.

Turn off automatic updates from Google Play and Galaxy Apps

If there’s one thing we’ve learned by now, it’s that apps running when you’re not expecting them to is annoying and uses battery. This also goes for the stores that download the apps, which in this case is the tandem of Google Play and Galaxy Apps.

When it comes to Google Play, head into the app’s settings, tap Auto-update apps and set to Do not auto-update apps for the most battery savings. If you’d prefer to get those updates automatically but want to find a healthy middle ground, select Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only, which will also save you on mobile data costs. You can also turn on app update notifications, so you’ll at least be notified of new versions for you to download at your convenience (and charger).

In Galaxy Apps, tap the Menu button in the top-right corner, then Settings to reveal the auto-update settings. Here, Samsung makes a distinction between auto-updating its own apps and auto-updating other apps you’ve installed through the store. When it comes to Samsung’s own apps, your best option is setting Via Wi-Fi only. For other apps, you have the option to select Turn off.

Take advantage of Fast Charge when you do have to power up

No matter what you’re doing to extend your Note 7’s battery, you’ll always have to charge the phone at some point. When you do finally hit the charger, consider using the power brick that came with the phone. With this “Adaptive Fast Charging” charger, your Note 7 will charge at the fastest possible rate, meaning you can get the phone back off the cable in less time.

If you want to have a secondary charger, look for chargers that are certified for Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 to get a similar experience when you don’t have the in-box charger available. If you prefer to go wireless, be sure to get a Qi charger that supports Samsung’s Fast Wireless Charging — Samsung makes a few different models, and some third parties have released compatible versions.

Last resort: Consider a battery case

If the combination of these battery-saving tips just aren’t quite enough some days, and being on a charger at home, work or in the car isn’t a good choice for you, the last resort is a battery case. While we’ve come a long way in terms of battery case design, there’s no way to get around the fact that it’s going to add considerable bulk — thankfully Samsung has a good offering that tries its hardest to give you the smallest trade off.

Just like the version for the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, the Note 7 Wireless Charging Battery Pack charges up the phone wirelessly with a 3100 mAh capacity. That means it won’t give you a complete charge and it charges a little slower than other cases, but the big difference is a smaller overall size and the complete lack of any “chin” on the top or bottom of the phone.

The battery case is always going to add some bulk, but if you need something that you can easily pop on your Note 7 and extend its battery while still using it to its fullest, this is the way to go.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7

• Samsung Galaxy Note 7 review
• The latest Galaxy Note 7 news!
• Here are all four Note 7 colors
• Complete Galaxy Note 7 specs
• Join the Note 7 discussion in the forums!

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Gene-modified soil bacteria promise eco-friendly computing

You normally need non-renewable elements or minerals to create nanowires. However, the US Navy’s Office of Naval Research may have a better solution: the life living in the dirt under your feet. Its sponsored researchers have crafted nanowires from genetically modified Geobacter, a bacteria you find in soil just about everywhere on Earth. The team altered the bacteria so that it would replace amino acids with tryptophan, which is a much better electrical conductor (2,000 times) at the nanoscopic scale. String enough of those bacteria together and you suddenly have wiring that’s virtually invisible to the human eye. They wires are tougher and smaller, too, so they stand a better chance of surviving inside electronics.

If and when scientists refine the technology, it could help shrink computing power beyond its current limits. It would also help produce extremely sensitive bomb and pollution detectors, or help produce alternative fuels like butanol. And importantly, you could produce these nanowires using natural resources like plant waste and solar energy. You could produce computing devices that are eco-friendly right down to the materials in their processors.

Via: Defense One

Source: ONR

Privacy Advocates Cite NSA Hack as Vindication of Apple’s Fight With FBI

Privacy advocates have claimed the breach of hacking tools and exploits apparently stolen from the National Security Agency has vindicated Apple’s stance in its dispute with the FBI earlier this year.

Last week, reports emerged that hackers had allegedly stolen a cache of the NSA’s top espionage tools and offered to sell them to the highest bidder.

The malware was linked to the “Equation Group”, a secretive team of cyber spies widely believed to be associated with the NSA and its state partners. The hacking collective that stole the malware posted two sets of files, including a free sample of the stolen data, which dates back to 2013, and a second encrypted file whose decryption key went up for sale in a bitcoin auction. Many saw the auction as a stunt.

But the the attack code posted by the hackers appeared to be real, according to former NSA personnel who worked in the agency’s hacking division, known as Tailored Access Operations (TAO).

“Without a doubt, they’re the keys to the kingdom,” said one former TAO employee, who spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal operations. “The stuff you’re talking about would undermine the security of a lot of major government and corporate networks both here and abroad.”

“It’s a big deal,” said Dave Aitel, an ex-NSA research scientist and CEO of penetration testing firm Immunity. “We’d be panicking.” Whistle-blowing website Wikileaks tweeted that it also had the data and would release it “in due course”.

News of the leak has been closely followed by technology companies, many of whom pushed back against the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee’s attempts to force them to provide “technical assistance” to government investigators seeking locked data.

The failed attempt to enact legislation came after Apple publicly clashed with the FBI over the government agency’s insistence that it create a “back door” to its iPhone software.

Apple: If we’re forced to build a tool to hack iPhones, someone will steal it.
FBI: Nonsense.
Russia: We just published NSA’s hacking tools

— Christopher Soghoian (@csoghoian) August 17, 2016

The FBI claimed the software was needed to break into the iPhone owned by Syed Farook, one of the shooters in the December attack in San Bernardino, California. Apple refused to comply with the request, claiming that the code would lead to weaker smartphone encryption and inevitably get into the wrong hands.

Now, after a top-secret archive of some of the NSA’s own exploits having been leaked online, privacy advocates are suggesting Apple’s stance has been vindicated.

“The component of the government that is supposed to be absolutely best at keeping secrets didn’t manage to keep this secret effectively,” said Nate Cardozo, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation who spoke to Business Insider.

The NSA’s stance on vulnerabilities seems to be based on the premise that secrets will never get out. That no one will ever discover the same bug, that no one will ever use the same bug, that there will never be a leak. We know for a fact, that at least in this case, that’s not true.

Ex-NSA scientist Aitel believes the most likely scenario is that an insider walked out of a secure area with this data on a USB key, which could have been sold or stolen. “No one puts their exploits on a [command-and-control] server,” Aitel said. “That’s not a thing.”

Another possibility suggested by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is that the malware toolkit was stolen from a “staging server” or segregated network outside the walls of the NSA, where it was used for conducting attacks. Snowden has also pointed to Russia as the chief suspect behind the leak.

News of the hack has also raised new questions about the legalities of government hacking, since many of the “zero day” exploits included in the leak have never been disclosed to the companies whose hardware is affected.

A policy framework called the Vulnerabilities Equities Process outlines how and when the state should disclose a vulnerability to an affected company if the larger security risk is greater than the reward it could yield. The FBI has informed Apple of security flaws in older versions of iOS and OS X in the past under the VEP framework.

However, Cardozo argues that the rules are “completely broken” because the VEP guidance is a non-binding policy created by the Obama administration, rather than an executive order or law. “We need rules, and right now there aren’t any,” Cardozo said. “Or at least none that work.”

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