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Apple source code for a core component of iPhone's operating system has purportedly been leaked on GitHub, that could allow hackers and researchers to discover currently unknown zero-day vulnerabilities to develop persistent malware and iPhone jailbreaks. The source code appears to be for iBoot —the critical part of the iOS operating system that's responsible for all security checks and ensures a trusted version of iOS is loaded. In other words, it's like the BIOS of an iPhone which makes sure that the kernel and other system files being booted whenever you turn on your iPhone are adequately signed by Apple and are not modified anyhow. The iBoot code was initially shared online several months back on Reddit , but it just resurfaced today on GitHub (repository now unavailable due to DMCA takedown). Motherboard consulted some security experts who have confirmed the legitimacy of the code. However, at this moment, it is unclear if the iBoot source code is complete

While the moon was eclipsing the sun, Google announced the launch of its new mobile operating system called Android 8.0 Oreo in an Eclipse-themed launch event in New York City. Yes, the next version of sugary snack-themed Android and the successor to Android Nougat will now be known as Android Oreo , the company revealed on Monday. Google has maintained the tradition of naming its Android operating system by the names of alphabetically-ordered sugary delights beginning with Android Cupcake and followed by Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, KitKat, Lollipop, Marshmallow and Nougat. The good news is that the Android team has brought several significant features to your smartphone and tablet with the release of Android Oreo to make its mobile platform more secure, fast, power efficient and offer better multitasking. The new updated mobile operating system, which has been available for the last few months in developer beta, will arriv

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A researcher has claimed that Samsung's Tizen operating system that runs on millions of Samsung products is so poorly programmed that it could contain nearly 27,000 programming errors, which could also lead to thousands of vulnerabilities. Tizen is a Linux-based open-source operating system backed by Intel and Samsung Electronics, which has been in development since early 2012 and designed for smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, smart watches, cameras and PCs. According to Andrey Karpov — founder of Russia-based company Program Verification Systems that made PVS-Studio, a static code analyzer tool that helps programmers to find and fix bugs in their source codes — his team has discovered hundreds of errors in Tizen project using PVS-Studio. Samsung's Tizen operating system, written in C/C++ programming language, currently has 72.5 million lines of source code, out of which Karpov's team has analysed some randomly chosen modules i.e. 3.3% of the entire Project and fou

After the iPhone encryption battle between Apple and the FBI , Apple was inspired to work toward making an unhackable future iPhones by implementing stronger security measures even the company can't hack. Even at that point the company hired one of the key developers of Signal — one of the world's most secure, encrypted messaging apps — its core security team to achieve this goal. But it seems like Apple has taken something of a backward step. Apple deliberately weakens Backup Encryption For iOS 10 With the latest update of its iPhone operating system, it seems the company might have made a big blunder that directly affects its users' security and privacy. Apple has downgraded the hashing algorithm for iOS 10 from "PBKDF2 SHA-1 with 10,000 iterations" to "plain SHA256 with a single iteration," potentially allowing attackers to brute-force the password via a standard desktop computer processor. PBKDF2 stands for Password-Based Key Deri

As far as security is concerned, Google is going very strict with the newest version of its mobile operating system. Until now, Google has not done more than just alerting you of the potential threats when your Android device runs the check as part of the boot process. Android Marshmallow 6.0 does nothing more than just warning you that your device has been compromised, though it continues to let your device boot up. 1. Android Nougat 7.0 Getting Strictly Enforced 'Verified Boot' In Android Nougat , Google has taken the security of its Android operating system to the next level by strictly enforcing verified boot on devices. Among multiple layers of security protection, Android uses verified boot - since Android version 4.4 KitKat - that improves its device's security by using cryptographic integrity checking to detect if your device has been tampered with. Now, Android Nougat will strictly enforce the boot check, giving you far more than just a warning.

Last month, it was reported that the European Commission is planning to impose a record antitrust fine of about 3 BILLION euros ( US$3.4 Billion ) on Google for violating antitrust laws. Not just Europe, Google also lost an anti-monopoly appeal in Russia two months back against ruling for violating its dominant position with the help of its Android mobile OS by forcing its own apps and services like Google Map, Youtube, and others, on users — reducing competition. Now to put an end to the monopoly of major mobile Operating System, Russians are developing their own mobile operating system to compete with Android, iOS, and Windows mobile OS. The Minister of Russian Communication Ministry, Nikolai Nikiforov tweeted last month about the initiative to develop a new Russian mobile operating system, for which the Russian company Open Mobile Platform (Открытая Мобильная Платформа) is hiring developers, testers and security engineers. Open Mobile Platform is developing a Linux-ba

Android N Developer Preview, an early beta of Google's new mobile operating system that was expected to launch on Google I/O in mid-May, is unexpectedly launching right now. Android N Developer Preview for the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Pixel C Nexus 9, the Nexus Player and the General Mobile 4G, an Android One device has been made available as an over-the-air update by Google on Wednesday. So, you can test out Android N Developer Preview on your smartphone and tablet right now from developer.android.com/preview . The good news is that the Google Android team has brought meaningful features to your smartphone and tablet in just five months. "As we look to the next release of Android, N, you'll notice a few big changes aimed at you as developers: it's earlier than ever, it's easier to try and we're expanding the ways for you to give us feedback," Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google's SVP for Android writes . "We hope these changes will ensure that you are heard an

Google is planning to merge its Chrome OS with Android operating system and roll out a single operating system by 2017. New Android OS Optimized for Laptops: Yes, a Single Operating system for Mobile devices, desktops, laptops and notebooks, just what Microsoft is offering to its users with  Windows 10 . Chrome OS is a lightweight operating system based on the Linux kernel and designed by Google to power its Chromebook Laptops and Desktops. Here's the deal: According to a recent report published by the Wall Street Journal, Google has been working for two years to merge Chrome OS and Android, and you can expect to see an early version of the 'single OS for all' as soon as next year at Google I/O event. Is Google Killing Chrome OS? NO, Google isn't Killing Chrome OS.  Some have reported that Google might "kill" Chrome operating system, but it's not what the company has planned about. Also Read:  Google OnHub Router actu

A quiet change in the privacy setting of its forthcoming iOS 8 smartphone Operating System, Apple could effectively block the path for advertisers, marketers, and other snoopers looking to collect data about you and your location from your Smartphone devices. When your mobile device scan for a free Wi-Fi network, whether at the shopping complex, airport, or restaurant, it sends out the MAC address which is a unique identifier of the device that allows devices to distinguish between one another on a network. Routers need this identifier to connect you to a network. Advertisers and retailers have been seeking to track these identifiers to help offer personalized advertisements to customers based on where they've been. Thanks to Apple's upcoming feature which will enhance users privacy to one step higher than other smartphone providers. Apple announced the change during its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in Cupertino last week, revealing that the feature will restrict

Firefox OS is a mobile operating system based on Linux and Mozilla 's Gecko technology, whose environment is dedicated to apps created with just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. After almost two years of development, a few months back Mozilla officially launched their Firefox OS devices in stores and now the first Malware for the brand new platform is available. Shantanu Gawde , 17-years-old, an Independent Security Researcher is going to demonstrate the very first known malware for Firefox OS at the upcoming Information Security Summit - The Ground Zero (G0S) 2013, to be held on November 7th - 10th, 2013 at The Ashok, New Delhi. Firefox OS is different - Every app in Firefox OS including the Camera and the Dialer is a web app, i.e. a website in the form of an app. Simple! Mozilla has developed Web APIs so that HTML5 apps can communicate with the device's hardware and Shantanu has used the same APIs intentionally to exploit the device for malicious purpose. Basically,