Unprotected T-Mobile API Let Anyone Get Customer Data With Just a Phone Number

A security vulnerability in T-Mobile’s website let anyone gain access to the personal details of any T-Mobile customer using just a phone number, reports ZDNet.

An internal T-Mobile employee tool, promotool.t-mobile.com, had a hidden API that provided T-Mobile customer data when a customer’s cell phone number was added to the end of the web address. Data that was available included full name, address, billing account number, and for some customers, tax identification numbers.

Account data, such as service status and billing status was also included, but it does not appear that credit card numbers, passwords, or other sensitive information was compromised. ZDNet says that there were “references to account PINs used by customers as a security question” which could be used to hijack T-Mobile accounts.

The API was used by T-Mobile staff to look up customer data, but it was accessible to the public and not protected by a password. T-Mobile rectified the issue in early April after it was disclosed by security researcher Ryan Stevenson, who ultimately earned $1,000.

In a statement provided to ZDNet, T-Mobile says that it does not appear customer data was accessed using the API, but research suggests the API had been exposed since at least October 2017.

A T-Mobile spokesperson said: “The bug bounty program exists so that researchers can alert us to vulnerabilities, which is what happened here, and we support this type of responsible and coordinated disclosure.” “The bug was patched as soon as possible and we have no evidence that any customer information was accessed,” the spokesperson added.

This is not the first unprotected API issue that T-Mobile has faced. Last year, a similar bug also exposed customer data to hackers.

T-Mobile has more than 74 million customers, and had this most recent bug been exploited, a simple script could have provided hackers with access to data on millions of people.

Tag: T-Mobile
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Amazon’s Alexa Recorded a Woman’s Private Conversation and Sent it to a Contact

A woman in Portland recently had an alarming experience with her Alexa-enabled devices after a private conversation was recorded and sent to a random contact, according to a news report from Seattle’s Kiro7 news.

The woman, Danielle, and her family had Amazon devices situated in each room for home control, and two weeks ago, one of those devices apparently recorded a conversation about hardwood floors and sent it to a person on their contact list. There are no details on how the recording was delivered to the contact.

But Danielle said two weeks ago their love for Alexa changed with an alarming phone call. “The person on the other line said, ‘unplug your Alexa devices right now,’” she said. “‘You’re being hacked.’”

That person was one of her husband’s employees, calling from Seattle.

“We unplugged all of them and he proceeded to tell us that he had received audio files of recordings from inside our house,” she said. “At first, my husband was, like, ‘no you didn’t!’ And the (recipient of the message) said ‘You sat there talking about hardwood floors.’ And we said, ‘oh gosh, you really did hear us.’”

Danielle confirmed that the recordings received by the contact were indeed conversations picked up by her Alexa device, and in no way was she informed that Alexa was sending the recording to a contact. She contacted Amazon and was told that the “device just guessed what we were saying.” Amazon apologized and told her it would fix the issue.

Alexa has an option to send a message to a contact name using a voice recording, but Alexa is supposed to vocally confirm such requests and does not appear to have done so in this instance.

In a statement to the Kiro7, Amazon said that it “takes privacy very seriously” and that the event was an “extremely rare occurrence” that it is taking steps to prevent in the future.

This is not the first strange Alexa behavior that Amazon has had to deal with. Back in March, Alexa made headlines after multiple customers with Alexa-enabled devices reported hearing creepy, unsolicited laughter.

Tags: Amazon, Amazon Echo, Alexa
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Samsung 2018 QLED TVs update adds FreeSync, but limits resolution

Samsung has released a free firmware update for a number of its 2018 QLED TVs (it’s different from OLED) that enables the FreeSync adaptive frame synchronization technology. The option has been added to the TVs’ game mode menu, meaning that Xbox One S and X owners can take advantage of its ability to eliminate screen tearing during times where the system struggles to meet the maximum refresh rate of the display.

Frame synchronization is something that PC gamers have contended with for years, with V-Sync being the classic option for preventing the tearing that often occurs when the frames per second your graphics card is able to pump out doesn’t match the refresh rate of your display. G-Sync and FreeSync are more modern alternatives with far less of a performance overhead and as support grows on consoles and TVs, more gamers than ever can reap the benefits.

Although Samsung does sell FreeSync TVs, they are not something its entire range typically supports. As of firmware update 1103 though, it appears that more of its lineup than ever can now make use of it. According to Rtings, Samsung’s QLED Q6FN, Q7FN, Q8FN, Q9FN, and NU8000 all now support FreeSync technology. If you have your AMD graphics-equipped PC or an Xbox One S or X hooked up to one of those TVs, you should now be able to enjoy FreeSync.

To make use of the new FreeSync mode, you’ll need to head into the TV’s settings menu, followed by General, External Device Manager, Game Mode Settings and ultimately, select “FreeSync.” Set it to “On.” Options include “Ultimate,” which has a range of 48-120Hz, while “Basic,” supports 90-120Hz.

Samsung does warn that the mode isn’t necessarily perfect and there may be some noticeable discrepancies with brightness during FreeSync operation due to frequency variation. It also highlights that at this time, the only resolution supported for FreeSync is 1080P.

While that is a disappointment considering many of the newly FreeSync supporting TVs are natively set to 4K resolution, this does add another notable feature to the QLED displays. As PCPer points out, it makes Samsung one of the only companies selling FreeSync TVs with support for high-end HDR, too.

The justice Department is now cracking down on cryptocurrency scams

The Justice Department is now working with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to launch a criminal investigation to determine if cryptocurrency traders are manipulating prices using illegal practices. The news arrives by way of four unnamed people close to the federal probe who state that the private investigation is now underway and in its early stages. 

According to the sources, federal prosecutors are determining if traders are using a tactic called spoofing, which is the act of flooding the market with fake orders to increase demand and drive prices upward, and then canceling those orders. Another tactic is wash trading where a cheater trades with himself/herself to artificially inflate market demand, driving up prices. 

The lure of cryptocurrency is that it’s not tied to any bank or government. At the same time, digital coins are not regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), thus traders are essentially on their own, unprotected against a Wild West-like market. There is no real guarantee that cryptocurrency exchanges are actively pursuing cheaters, and there are no means of recovering lost monies stemming from fake cryptocurrency startups. 

A good example of the current cryptocurrency woes is the initial coin offering (ICO). Companies promising to launch a new cryptocurrency platform will offer “valuable” tokens in exchange for early investments — something akin to Kickstarter where projects enlist financial backers that receive a product in the end. In this case, cryptocurrency startups are disappearing with the cash instead of launching their digital coin platforms. 

By March, these ICO-related scams reached to the point that the SEC opened investigations to crack down on companies, lawyers, and advisory firms promoting these ICOs. The government agency believes all virtual currencies should be listed as securities — a tradable financial asset that gains worth over time — and registered with regulators. There are securities laws in place to protect investors against fraud. 

Despite the growing interest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, the market is considered volatile. For instance, a single Bitcoin was worth $6,897 on November 6, 2017, skyrocketed to $17,549 just over a month later, then dropped back down to $7,964 at the beginning of February. Since then, the value of a Bitcoin has experienced rises and drops resembling mountain peaks. 

The current Bitcoin slump reportedly stems from nations such as Japan and the Philippines now regulating cryptocurrency. China is banning cryptocurrency exchanges altogether. Even more, Microsoft and Google are banning cryptocurrency-related advertisements from their ad networks due to the unregulated, volatile nature of digital currency and the related scams. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) doesn’t regulate the actual trading of digital coins (aka spot markets), but instead deals with futures, which are legal agreements to purchase or sell an item at a set price on a set date in the future. The agency also deals with options, which are contracts providing buyers the right to buy or sell an asset for a specific price on a specified date. 

Still, the CFTC is capable of imposing sanctions if it discovers fraud in spot markets. 

Editors’ Recommendations

• Indian central bank looks to block Bitcoin, while creating its own cryptocurrency
• Digital currency prices fall after SEC warns about exchange dangers
• Coinbase may register with SEC as brokerage firm
• Companies, lawyers probed for selling cryptocurrency initial coin offerings
• Microsoft Bing joins Google, Facebook in banning cryptocurrency advertisements

Best Screen Protectors for LG G7

Keep your LG G7 display scratch-free with a quality screen protector!

The LG G7 is the brand new flagship from LG and it’s shaping up to be a great phone.

Following with the latest trends, LG has created a phone with scant bezels along the edge of the screen with just a bit of a notch at the top. with no physical buttons to contend with on the front, this has made things pretty easy for screen protector manufacturers.

Why should you get a tempered glass screen protector? Because it’s way better for your $7 screen protector to take a hit rather than your $1000 smartphone screen. They also go great with a case.

Best cases for LG G7

• Mr Shield Tempered Glass screen protector (3-pack)
• Supershieldz Tempered Glass screen protector (2-pack)
• amFilm Tempered Glass screen protector (2-pack)
• OtterBox Alpha Glass screen protector

Mr Shield Tempered Glass screen protector (3-pack)

We’ll start with a great value pack for anyone who may appreciate having a couple backups just in case your first one bites the dust.

These screen protectors are made from HD Clear Ballistic Glass that’s been laser cut to precisely fit the display of the LG G7. With just a little cutout around the notch at the top, there are very few weak points on these screen protectors compared to others you may have tried.

This kit includes all the stuff you’ll need for a clean install and is just $7 on Amazon.

See at Amazon

Supershieldz Tempered Glass screen protector (2-pack)

Another great option comes from Supershieldz. This two-pack of screen protectors will keep your LG G7 display protected and looking great thanks to the oleophobic and hydrophobic coatings.

Again, these screen protectors feature just a slight cutout around the notch at the top and should hold up really well with daily use. The edges are rounded so they’ll feel nice and smooth on your fingers, and everything is backed up by Supershieldz No-Hassle Lifetime Replacement Warranty.

Get this two-pack of screen protectors for just $8 on Amazon.

See at Amazon

amFilm Tempered Glass screen protector (2-pack)

If you have a hard time lining things up when installing a screen protector, you may appreciate the amFilm tempered glass screen protectors.

amFilm includes a black outline around the edge of its protectors which give you guides for matching up with the LG G7 display, and installation is as easy as cleaning the screen and pressing the protector onto the screen.

This kit includes complete installation materials including dust-removal stickers, cleaning wipes, and a microfiber cloth all for just $8.

See at Amazon

OtterBox Alpha Glass screen protector

In our roundup of the best cases for the LG G7 we mentioned that OtterBox had its own screen protector that’s designed to fit perfectly with their cases.

We’ll include it here because if you’re interested in also getting an OtterBox case for your LG G7 you can get the Alpha Glass screen protector and save 20%.

OtterBox accessories are expensive but they’re worth it thanks to the great quality and customer service. This screen protector is available for $40.

See at OtterBox

Do you use screen protectors?

Some people swear by them, while others think they’re a waste. What’s your opinion on screen protectors?

LG G7

• LG G7 hands-on preview: All about that bass
• LG G7 Specifications: Everything you need to know
• Join the LG G7 forums

Best Verizon Wireless Deals of May 2018

No matter what T-Mobile says, you can actually find some pretty great deals on Verizon.

Verizon Wireless has some of the largest coverage for customers in the United States, and although T-Mobile likes to continually poke fun at the carrier for having high monthly rates, there are actually some really solid deals to be found if you know where to look.

You can typically find quite a few deals being run by Verizon at any given time, but if you only want to look at the best of the best and don’t have time to sift through the garbage, that’s where we come in.

These are best deals on Verizon Wireless right now.

Get 50% off the Pixel 2, two months of YouTube TV, and a free Home Mini + Chromecast

The Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL are two of the finest Android phones you can buy, and right now Verizon’s offering one of the best deals for them that we’ve seen yet.

As long as you trade in an eligible device, you can get up to 50% off the cost of a Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL. You’ll also get two free months of YouTube TV, as well as a free Google Home Mini and Chromecast.

This deal goes live on April 5, and you’ll need to pay for the Pixel 2/2 XL on a monthly installment plan.

See at Verizon

Score 50% off top Android phones w/ trade-in

If the Pixel 2 isn’t for you, Verizon’s still got you covered.

Although you won’t be able to get the free Home Mini, Chromecast, and two months of YouTube TV, you can still take 50% off the Galaxy S9/S9+, Note 8, LG V30, and Moto Z2 Force

In order to take advantage of this, all you need to do is buy one of the above phones on a monthly installment plan and trade in a select device, such as the original Google Pixel, LG G6, Galaxy S7 Edge, and more.

See at Verizon

Get a free $50 gift card when you buy a Fitbit Ionic

The Fitbit Ionic is one of the better smartwatches currently on the market, and Verizon’s offering a pretty slick deal that makes its $299 asking price more manageable. After buying the watch, you’ll receive a promo code that’ll get you a free $50 prepaid Mastercard gift card.

Alternatively, if the Ionic isn’t your style, spending $200 or more on any other accessories will let you take advantage of this same deal.

See at Verizon

Buy the Moto Z2 Play for only $10/month

Motorola’s Moto Z2 Play isn’t the best Android phone ever made, but it is a reliable, mid-range handset that comes with a lot of possibilities thanks to its accompanying Moto Mod system.

Verizon usually sells the phone for $17/month with 24 monthly payments, but right now you can pick it up for just $10/month. There’s no trade-in required to get this deal, but you will need to add a new line of service.

See at Verizon

Updated May 2018: Added new deals for May!

Carriers

• Which unlimited plan should you buy?
• Verizon’s Unlimited plans: Everything you need to know
• Everything you need to know about the T-Mobile ONE unlimited plan
• Everything you need to know about the AT&T Unlimited plan
• Everything you need to know about Sprint’s Unlimited Freedom plan
• Join the Discussion

Smarten up your hygiene with this $55 Oral-B Pro 5000 Bluetooth toothbrush

Amazon has the Oral-B Pro 5000 SmartSeries Power Rechargeable Bluetooth Electric Toothbrush on sale for $54.94 when you clip the $15 coupon and enter code 15OB5000 at checkout. This normally sells for $90 and has received rave reviews from over 2,500 customers.

Why does your toothbrush need Bluetooth, you ask? Using the Oral-B app, it can provide real-time feedback to your smartphone about your brushing habits, making sure that you get the best results possible with your daily dental hygiene. The toothbrush gets your teeth way cleaner than a traditional manual toothbrush would, and it gets your gums nice and healthy, too. There are even pressure sensor lights that let you know if you’re brushing too hard, which is a common mistake. The five cleaning modes include Daily Clean, Gum Care, Sensitive, Whitening, and Deep Clean. This also includes a travel case.

Replacement heads are on sale right now as well.

See at Amazon

How to upload videos to YouTube on Android

Uploading videos on YouTube is easier than ever.

YouTube is the biggest video platform on the planet, delivering everything from music videos to birthday parties to breaking news around the world and updates on anything and everything you could ever want to know. Uploading your own videos to YouTube is an easy process, and you can do it right from your Android phone.

• How to upload a video
• Upload options
• How to adjust the length of a video upload
• How to add music to an upload
• How to add a filter to your upload

How to upload a video to YouTube

Launch the YouTube app from your home screen or the app drawer.
Tap on the camera icon in the top bar of the app.

You need to give YouTube access to your phone’s photos, camera and microphone so that it can see videos you’ve previously taken and take new videos directly in the app. Tap Allow access.

Tap Allow to let YouTube access the videos on your phone.
Tap Allow to let YouTube access the camera to record videos.

Tap Allow to let YouTube access the microphone to record audio on your videos.

Tap the video in the camera roll below the Record and Go Live options. You can tap Record if you want to film your YouTube video inside the YouTube app.
Once your video is chosen, you’ll be taken to the Details page. Tap your video preview to watch it.
Give your video a Title.

Tap the Send arrow to begin your upload.

You’ll be taken to your Videos page, where you can watch your video upload and process through the progress bar that covers the video’s thumbnail. If you want to stop an upload:

Tap the three-dot menu button to the right of the video’s title.
Tap Delete upload.

Tap Yes to confirm you want to delete the upload.

Upload options

The only things you need to upload a YouTube video are a video clip and a title, but there are a few more settings and options you can use when uploading a video on YouTube’s Android app that you should know about.

• Description: This is the text that will be visible on your video’s page beneath the playback window. You can use the description to give notes about the video and its content, to give links to websites or social media, or other information.

• Accounts: If you have multiple YouTube accounts on your device, you can tap your Account Name to open the Accounts list and change which account the video is uploaded to.

  

• Privacy Settings: This controls the visibility of the video to search and other users. By default YouTube video uploads are Public, visible and searchable to everyone. Unlisted videos are only visible to people through a link; they don’t appear in search results on YouTube or Google. Private videos are only visible to you.

• Location: You can mark the location of your video so that the video is searchable by location and proximity. You can type in a street address, city, state, or country.

  

There are more advanced settings, such as picking a category for you video or age restrictions, but you’ll have to hop over to YouTube’s website to change those after your initial mobile upload.

How to adjust the length of your video

While it’s easy to record a video for uploading to YouTube, you might want to adjust where the video starts or stops. YouTube makes this easy for you, allowing you to drag and drop where each video begins and ends on the Add Details page:

• Drag the white dots on the timeline to drag and drop to the length you want your video to be.
• Press and hold the white dots to zoom in for more precise clipping.

• Drag the highlighted box to move your selected length up and down a video track.

  

Once you have the video at the length you want it, continue editing its information or tap the Send arrow to start the upload.

How to add music to an upload

While uploading a video to YouTube can be a bare bones affair, but we still have a powerful way to punch up an uploaded video: add a soundtrack to it.

To add music to your video:

On the Add Details page, tap the music notes in the top left corner of the playback window.
Music is available in three tabs: Featured music, genres & moods, and on-device music. Tap the tab that you’d like to browse.

In Genre & mood, tap the genre you’d like to preview.

Tap the Play button on a music track to preview it.
To select a music track, tap the plus button on that track.
Drag the music track back and forth along the timeline to adjust the playback selection.

Tap the levels icon to the right of the track.

Adjust the slider back and forth to control how much of the original audio or music is heard.
If you don’t like the music you’ve chosen, tap the music notes in the top left corner of the playback window.

Tap Remove to remove the music or tap Change to remove the music and go back to the music gallery and try again.

Once you have the music how you want it, continue editing its information or tap the Send arrow to start the upload.

How to add a filter to your YouTube upload

Not every video needs to look as realistic as possible, and with filters it’s an easy process to go ahead and adjust the way that your video looks with as little effort as possible. You can pick from one of the filters YouTube has offered to immediately change the look of your video.

On the Add Details page, tap the magic wand in the top left corner of the playback window.
Drag the filter carousel left and right to scroll through the available filters.
Tap a filter from the filter carousel that appears underneath the video preview to see how the filter will look.
If none of the filters fit your video, tap Normal at the far left side of the filter carousel.

Tap the magic wand again to hide the filter carousel when you’re done.

Once you find a filter you like, continue editing its information or tap the Send arrow to start the upload.

Questions?

Let us know in the comments below!

Updated May 2018: We’ve updated this guide to reflect changes to YouTube’s design and expanded our explanation of the settings available for mobile uploads.

BlackBerry KEY2 shown off in teaser video with dual rear cameras

The phone will be announced on June 7.

Earlier this month, BlackBerry revealed that the KEY2 would be announced on June 7. Just a couple weeks later, we now have a teaser video from the company giving us our first official look at the phone.

The render of the KEY2 shown in the video lines up a with leaks we’ve previously seen, including the return of a physical keyboard, a new button that appears to be an app drawer shortcut of some sort, and even dual cameras on the back.

What we’re seeing so far looks a lot like the first KEYone, but that’s perfectly fine. The KEYone is still one heck of a gadget, and with the KEY2 presumably being a more powerful version of that, I’d say we’re going to be in for a real treat.

BlackBerry will be announcing the KEY2 in New York on June 7 and is promoting it with the phrase “An Icon Reborn.”

Are you looking forward to the BlackBerry KEY2?

Why I’m still using a BlackBerry KEYone in Spring 2018

Best Memorial Day apps for Android

These are the apps to help you make it through the holiday weekend!

Memorial Day in the United States means a few things: parades, barbecue, and plenty of outdoor activity. If you want to start your summer right, let your phone applications help you!

• Google Maps
• A severe weather app
• Allrecipes
• Instagram

Google Maps

If you want to find out information on local events, or if you want to chart a route to visit family, Google Maps is here for you. You can obviously find the best way to get to your destination, but you can also get quick links to nearby landmarks and other events. If you want to be extra prepared, you can download maps for offline use.

Download: Google Maps (Free)

A severe weather app

Speaking of being extra prepared, Memorial Day weekend tends to bring severe weather to some parts of the country. Memorial Day usually ends up being my annual reminder that my car can float if it needs to, so I’ve learned to just stay inside away from the trouble. Even if the weather in your area is normally clear, take a few minutes and look at some severe weather apps and accessories.

More: Severe Weather and Android: Everything you need to know

Allrecipes

If the weather in your area is clear, the best way to spend Memorial Day is by cooking amazing food on a hot grill. If you don’t know where to start with your weekend barbecue, Allrecipes is here to help. This app lets you find recipes based on what you want to make, or based on what ingredients you have on hand. You can either follow along with text recipes, or there are over 1000 video recipes. If you use Allrecipes over time, it will make recommendations based on what you’ve cooked in the past. Finally, Allrecipes lets you create a central shopping list from the recipes you’ve saved.

Download: Allrecipes (Free)

Instagram

Nothing matters without documentation, so you can’t have a holiday weekend without taking and sharing some photos. You need photos of the epic road trip to visit old friends, all the barbeque you’re eating, or even the torrential rain storm that kept you inside. Share those photos with the world on Instagram.

Download: Instagram (Free)

What are your picks?

What apps are you planning to use to help you navigate Memorial Day weekend? Let us know down below!