Become an ethical hacker and take on the bad guys

Ever wanted to become the kind of BAMF who waltzes through firewalls and bends networks to his will? The Ethical Hacker Bonus Bundle must be the cheapest way of getting over 60 hours expert training.

This could even be the beginning of a lucrative career. White-hat hacker Bryan Seely – that guy who hacked the FBI using Google Maps from a McDonald’s WiFi network – talks about how the demand for security experts is only increasing, and there simply aren’t enough ethical hackers to fill all the available jobs.

If you want to go beyond hacking your phone and learn some ninja hacking skills to join the fight, the Become an Ethical Hacker Bonus Bundle has everything you need.

This huge learning kit comprises nine courses, hundreds of lessons, and coverage of every type of cyber-attack you can imagine. Bug bounty programs, viruses, worms, phishing scams, cross-site scripting, keylogging, etc. You can learn how to do them all, and then show paying companies how to defend against them.

The bundle even includes the popular ‘Build an Advanced Keylogger Using C++ for Ethical Hacking’ course. Valued at $199 alone, you get to grips with widely-used C++ code, then learn how to use it to secretly record every click or keystroke of an unsuspecting victim.

Here’s the full ethical hacker bundle:

• Ethical Hacking from Beginner to Advanced Techniques – $30 value
• Ethical Hacking for Beginners – $99 value
• WebSecNinja: Lesser Known WebAttacks – $99 value
• Automated Mobile Application Security Assessment with MobSF – $49 value
• Learn The Basics of Ethical Hacking & Penetration Testing – $50 value
• Build an Advanced Keylogger Using C++ for Ethical Hacking – $199 value
• Linux Security & Hardening: The Practical Security Guide – $20 value
• Cross Site Scripting (XSS) Attacks for Pentesters – $65 value
• How to Build a $120,000/Year Career as a Web Penetration Tester – $70 value

It might be $681 worth of content, but Tech Deals have bundled it into a great offer. You can get lifetime access to the whole training kit for just $49.99. Little wonder almost 9,000 people have already enrolled, and the five star review speaks for itself.

There isn’t long left on this deal so don’t miss out on this opportunity. Sign up now via the button below.

Check it out!

The AAPicks team writes about things we think you’ll like, and we may see a share of revenue from any purchases made through affiliate links. To see all our hottest deals, head over to the AAPICKS HUB.

---

Looking for a new phone or plan? Start here with the Android Authority Plan Tool:

This smart tool lets you filter plans by phone, price, data tiers, and regional availability. Stop overpaying for cell service you hate and a phone that you’re tired of. Use our Compare Phones & Plans tool to fully customize your mobile experience and painlessly transition from one carrier to another!

Source: Android Zone

The post Become an ethical hacker and take on the bad guys appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.

Sony promises Android 9.0 Pie for XZ1 and XZ2 line starting next month

• Sony will update its line of Xperia XZ phones to Android 9.0 Pie.
• The company says it will start the rollout in September and complete it by November.
• This makes Sony the first OEM to give a specific timeline for its Pie rollout.

---

Although Android 9.0 Pie was available for the Essential Phone the same day as it was for the Pixel line, not every third-party manufacturer can be that fast. However, it does seem like OEMs are going to be much faster with Pie than for Android 8.0 Oreo.

Case in point: Sony just promised that it will bring some delicious Pie goodness to its Xperia XZ line of smartphones, via GizChina. The rollout will begin in September and complete by the end of November.

For clarification, the XZ line of devices includes the following models:

• Sony Xperia XZ1
• Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
• Sony Xperia XZ1 Premium
• Sony Xperia XZ2
• Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact
• Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium

Editor’s Pick

Why the time is right for a Sony PlayStation Phone

It’s no secret Sony is struggling to find any kind of solid foothold in the modern smartphone market. A recent sales report paints a bleak picture for the Japanese giant’s mobile division, but in truth, …

The fact that these smartphones are getting Android 9.0 Pie isn’t too surprising, considering that phones in the XZ line were part of the Android P beta testing program. However, Sony is the first company that we know of to give a specific timeline for its stable rollout.

Other companies – like OnePlus, Vivo, Oppo, Huawei, and more – are being much more vague with their rollouts, giving timelines like “by the end of the year” or “in Q4 2018.” So kudos to Sony for making an actual commitment.

If you want to find out more about the features and changes in Android 9.0 Pie, check out our roundup here. If you want to know when your device will get the latest flavor of Android, bookmark our Pie tracker page here.

NEXT: The Android Pie statue is literally just a bugdroid standing next to a cherry pie

Source: Android Zone

The post Sony promises Android 9.0 Pie for XZ1 and XZ2 line starting next month appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.

Is this the LG V40 ThinQ firmware? Or is it something else entirely?

• The folks at XDA Developers found some firmware that seems to be for the LG V40 ThinQ.
• However, there’s an aspect of the firmware that points to it being for a wholly different device.
• If it is for the LG V40 ThinQ, it suggests the device will have a POLED, a notch, and a Google Assistant button.

---

This year, LG has released four devices with confusing names and similar specs. What’s worse, the devices are coming at a rapid-fire pace that even has us scratching our heads as to which device is which and the timeline of it all.

This strategy also doesn’t seem to be helping LG’s mobile division much.

Things might get even more confusing in a month or so when LG announces the LG V40 ThinQ, the follow-up to the LG V35 ThinQ, which was a beefed-up version of the LG V30S ThinQ, which itself is a beefed-up version of 2017’s LG V30 ThinQ.

Editor’s Pick

New LG V35 ThinQ is a beefed-up version of the LG V30 ThinQ (Updated)

LG

LG today announced two new additions to its “V” line of phones: the LG V35 ThinQ and the awkwardly-named LG V35 Plus ThinQ. Both devices are beefed-up versions of the LG V30 ThinQ and …

Whoa.

But, to make things really confusing, there’s now a rumor that there might be yet another device that could be released around the same time as the LG V40 ThinQ. This rumor is based on firmware that XDA Developers discovered.

Using data in the firmware files, XDA thinks that the software is linked to the LG V40 ThinQ. But one major discrepancy is making the team think that it might instead be for another, yet-unknown device.

See if you can follow us here

Here’s the timeline of the announcements of flagship LG devices this year:

• February, 2018 – LG V30S ThinQ
• May, 2018 – LG G7 ThinQ
• May, 2018 – LG V35 ThinQ
• May, 2018 – LG V35 Plus ThinQ

Now, we don’t know anything for absolute certain about the rumored LG V40 ThinQ, but we have a pretty good idea that LG will launch the device about a month after Samsung launches the Samsung Galaxy Note 9.

With the expected launch of the LG V40 ThinQ, that will bring LG’s flagship lineup to a hefty five devices in one year. But now there’s a possibility that there might be a sixth.

The firmware doesn’t give firm information

XDA Developers found some LG firmware with the codename “judypn.” You may recognize the “judy” portion of the codename, as the internal name of the LG V35 ThinQ is “judyp” and the code for the LG G7 ThinQ is “judyln.”

Judging from the codenames, this is what we think each name stands for:

• LG G7 ThinQ is “judyln” and is an LCD phone with a notch.
• LG V35 ThinQ is “judyp” and is a POLED phone with no notch.

Editor’s Pick

Is LG’s revised mobile strategy actually working? Revenue and sales drop again

It’s been just over six months since LG revealed plans to overhaul its mobile strategy in a bid to end its unenviable run of quarterly losses that stretches all the way back to 2016. Today, …

If that’s the case, then the LG V40 ThinQ (“judypn”) could be a POLED phone with a notch.

Another aspect of the firmware that suggests it might belong to the LG V40 ThinQ are the model numbers, which all seem to match up to the “V” line:

• LM-V400N
• LM-V405N
• LM-V409N

The LG V35 ThinQ’s model numbers are LM-V350 and LM-V350N, so it’s all lining up here.

Finally, “judypn” has a Google Assistant button. XDA knows this because the firmware makes reference to “hot1_key defined” which is how the LG G7 ThinQ refers to its Google Assistant hotkey. The LG V35 ThinQ does not have a Google Assistant button, and also doesn’t make any reference to the hot1_key.

In other words, there is a lot of evidence to point to the firmware with the codename “judypn” belonging to the LG V40 ThinQ, and that the device will have a Google Assistant button, a POLED screen, and a notch.

But something doesn’t add up…

There is one piece of info that the mystery firmware tells us that doesn’t line up with the LG V40 ThinQ, and that’s the number of cameras. The firmware definitively references a dual camera on the rear and a single camera on the front, just like the LG V35 and LG G7.

But the rumor mill points to the LG V40 ThinQ having five cameras: three on the rear and two on the front.

Editor’s Pick

LG V40 ThinQ: All the rumors in one place

In this post, which will be updated regularly, we take a closer look at the latest rumors surrounding LG’s upcoming V40 ThinQ smartphone.
At the beginning of the year, it was reported that LG’s CEO told …

This is a pretty huge discrepancy. The way we see it, there are three possible explanations:

1. The mystery firmware file is for the LG V40 ThinQ, but is not a final version and will eventually get an update to include the two extra cameras.
2. The mystery firmware file is not the for the LG V40 ThinQ, and LG actually has two devices it plans to launch this year: the V40 and a yet-unknown device.
3. The mystery firmware file is for the LG V40 ThinQ, and the device will only have three cameras.

What do you think? Is LG really going to push six devices over the span of a few months, all with the silly “ThinQ” branding? Or does this firmware belong to the LG V40 and simply need a camera update? Let us know in the comments what you think!

NEXT: You asked, we answered: Why don’t we talk more about LG?

Source: Android Zone

The post Is this the LG V40 ThinQ firmware? Or is it something else entirely? appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.

No, your phone is not always listening to you

One evening you’re talking to a friend or partner about some holiday you want to take, a major purchase you’re mulling over, or the latest movie you want to see. Your smartphone is probably on the coffee table or tucked away in your pocket. The next day, your Facebook feed is full of ads related to last night’s topic. You’ve might have experienced this yourself — it’s an increasingly common experience among tech users. If you believe anecdotal ramblings, there’s only one culprit.

It must be my phone — the damn thing must be listening to me! After all, it has a microphone, and it was the only other thing nearby. But are these just paranoid delusions or a glimpse into something even more sinister?

The evidence says …

No, your phone is not listening to you.

Various research attempts have failed to find evidence of smartphones secretly listening and transmitting voice data. Observing the data that smartphone applications and the OS record and send out is a reasonably trivial affair for security researchers. Even if we can’t read encrypted data, it’s at least possible to see if data is being sent and to where.

Despite the endless conspiracy theories, no one yet found compelling evidence that Facebook, Google, or any other major tech company has been recording user voice data without their consent. Amazon and Google are reasonably upfront about the fact that data recorded by their assistants is saved online, but customers can view and delete this data. Google’s developer content policy also rules against apps recording user details without consent. Facebook also previously clarified its position on voice recording too, although it might be naive to just take its word for it.

These theories are based on anecdotes, confirmation bias, and specious reasoning, rather than rigorous testing and evidence.

Editor’s Pick

Report: Your phone probably isn’t listening to your voice, but it’s likely recording your screen

A new study conducted by academics at Northeastern University in Massachusetts attempted to answer one of the biggest conspiracy theory questions of our time: are our smartphones listening to our conversations?

The paper’s conclusion is a …

The legal situation regarding wiretapping, ownership of recordings, and biometric information of voice and image data is a grey area right now, but any collection of this data without consent would inevitably result in very expensive class-action lawsuits. Google has already been embroiled in suits regarding web browser tracking, as has Facebook for call logging — even though the personal information collected was minimal. Secretly collected voice data would almost certainly see the payouts reach new heights and lead to major interventions from national legislators.

The subsequent PR scandal, should such a breach immerge, would arguably be even worse for any of the companies involved. The Cambridge Analytica scandal gave us just a glimpse at the PR nightmare that would engulf a company caught secretly recording and sharing sensitive user information.

This doesn’t rule out the possibility it is happening, but it’s an awfully large risk to take just to scrape a little bit more user data. We already give so much of it away for free anyway.

Voice recognition is complex and expensive

If you’re not yet convinced, step back and think about what would actually be involved in listening to not just you, but to every smartphone user in the world, all just to detect keywords of interest. There are two options to do this, ship recorded data off to big machine learning server farms or process the voice data on your phone locally.

The latter isn’t very likely, because machine learning on this scale on a phone would be prohibitively taxing on the battery as well as on the storage costs to save the neural network and regularly updated keyword databases. Despite what some believe, keyword detection like “Hey Google” is only used to wake up a device from a low power state to perform more powerful listening, it’s not helpful for data tracking. Increasing the number of keywords to thousands or more (which you would need to cover the range of possible ad topics) requires more processing power and therefore defeats the purpose. Your battery would drain very noticeably if your phone was always listening for thousands of possible words.

Furthermore, keyword detection is useless at providing context. How often do you think people realistically say “I want to buy new shoes” to trigger a key phrase? People will talk about shoes in a variety of contexts, so simply triggering on the words “buy” or “shoes” isn’t helpful. Perhaps you’re just complimenting a friend on their latest pair. A high-quality ad-hunting speech-to-text system would have to sift through all of your conversations to pick out keywords and sentences, and then put them into context about products, people, places, and various other categories for advertisers to use.

But contextualization is very data heavy compared to keywords. Some combination of voice detection and audio compression to trim down the amount of data sent for processing is the most realistic method to achieve good results.

Let’s assume Google’s very efficient iLBC 15kbps VOIP Codec sends voice data to servers (compressing audio down with a codec is also battery taxing). ILBC gives us a tiny 112KB of data per minute, but a more noticeable 6.7MB per hour, 162MB per day, and huge 59GB of data a year per user for 24/7 monitoring. You’d certainly need a big data plan to avoid being capped. Even trimming that down from 24-hour monitoring to just one hour of condensed data requires 2.5GB per user a year — about 6 Exabytes for the 2.5 billion smartphone users out there. That’s no small amount of data to conceal, let alone process.

For every snippet of useful ad data, there would be hours of idle chatter to contextualize, even with keyword detection. We’d be talking Exabytes of voice processing a year.

Perhaps more prohibitive would be the sheer cost of processing this much voice data. Speech-to-text services aren’t cheap to deploy, even if you’re Google. The tech giant sells its Speech Recognition system to third parties for $0.006 per 15 seconds of audio. To record just you 24/7, that would cost $34.56 a day or $12,614 per year. Even with just 1 hour of audio data a day that only brings the total down to $525 a year. Scaled up to the 2.5 billion smartphone users, that’s $1.31 trillion just for voice processing. That’s not counting the data storage, processing the transcripts, database integration, networking, and other associated expenses, nor doubling up on devices like smart home speakers, TVs, and laptops.

Even if we assume Google could do all of this in-house at a fifth the price (a generous estimate), that’s $106 per consumer for a total of $264 billion per year to record every smartphone for just 1 hour per day.

Global media ad spending for 2018 is expected to hit $628.63 billion, while digital ads for phones and the like are estimated to be worth around $266 billion. Based on our rough estimate, just processing everyone’s voice would easily consume the entire world’s digital ad budget, leaving nothing left to purchase any ad space. Clearly not a very profitable venture.

Processing everyone’s voice for just 1 hour per day would consume the entire 2018 digital ad budget.

Finally, consider the technical and financial absurdities above and remember that this applies for just one company. However, Google, Facebook, Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, and countless others are interested in your data, and if one of them is recording you why wouldn’t they all be at it at once? The costs would easily be multiples higher than we’ve estimated here, it’s simply not economical.

There’s a simpler explanation

So if it’s not true, why do stories and our own experiences with ads feel like we’re being listened to? It all seems far too accurate to be a coincidence, right?

The law of large numbers is likely the culprit. Even with sophisticated targeted advertising, we skip past hundreds of ads each day that don’t seem relevant to us. It only takes one eerily accurate ad experience to convince us that someone must have cheated and gleaned some insider information. It’s the same phenomenon that convinces people vague physic readings and horoscopes are related to their lives — one accurate coincidence is enough to overwrite the countless misses.

Although it seems improbable that an ad for a new watch would appear just minutes after yours stopped ticking, you might have been skimming over similar ads for weeks without noticing. Furthermore, very subtle things we give away can quickly flag a very accurate ad. If you’re of child-bearing age, don’t be surprised if you start seeing maternity product ads after logging into the free Wi-Fi at Baby Gap.

Big data is even scarier

Ultimately, the “classic” methods of data acquisition and consumer profiling are much much cheaper than processing audio hoping to eavesdrop on a product we might want. Big data collection lets companies learn an awful lot about us by drawing data from a variety of different sources.

Targeted advertising sorts us into buckets or categories based on demographics, interests, and relationships, which companies pay to pitch advertisements to. Even regularly visited locations, YouTube video history, previous purchases, and website cookies, contribute to a refined profile about your tastes, personality, and spending habits.

Editor’s Pick

Just how big is Big Data?

Google

Big Data started with algorithms helpfully scouring vast amounts of data to find patterns. These days it feels a bit like Big Brother. Using machine learning and AI to tweak algorithms, companies are …

Joining the dots between our various social and shopping accounts, and even multiple devices, reveals an even bigger picture, not just about us but about those we interact with. Combined with more invasive forms of tracking, such as Wi-Fi hotspot locations, Bluetooth proximity, and email scanning, and it’s easy to see how a network of our behaviors, preferences, and even the more intimate details of our lives begins to appear.

You constantly skip past ads that one day may suddenly become relevant.

This huge web of data can result in more mundane ads, like ones for games to play on your new Nintendo Switch, or creepily insightful suggestions, for things like engagement rings and maternity wear or even the new Italian restaurant you’ve been meaning to try downtown. That trip you haven’t told anyone you’re taking to East Asia isn’t such a secret if you’ve left a trail of crumbs made of Maps searches, sandal purchases, Facebook likes, Instagram follows, and your latest online reading habits. Even if you haven’t specifically typed your destination into Google, big data can join the dots to present those eerily accurate recommendations.

Big data can be so accurate as to anticipate our wants before we even realize them. Sadly, we’re just not as unique or unpredictable as we might like to think.

Wrap up

In summary, no your phone isn’t listening to you 24/7 — it simply isn’t feasible technologically or economically. Even though microphones can record with no noticeable battery drain, the raw computing power and expense of processing voice data would be extraordinary. Voice analysis on this scale just isn’t realistic at a price point that makes sense to advertisers, especially when other types of data collection are much more cost effective. Plus, secret recording is a PR disaster just waiting to happen.

This myth remains popular only because the alternative is harder to explain and comprehend for a lot of people. Targeted advertising still misses more than it hits. For every anecdote about eerily accurate ads, there’s another one for a terribly inappropriate product placement or consumers who see Amazon ads for something they bought last week.

Related Articles

‘Father of the Web’ working on privacy-focused project called Solid

10 best applocks and privacy lock apps for Android

Still, data tracking is very real and already highly invasive in many respects. We should all be increasingly concerned about our privacy, especially in light of data leaks and shady sharing deals. One thing we don’t have to worry about is our phones listening to us 24/7 — at least not yet.

Source: Android Zone

The post No, your phone is not always listening to you appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.

HTC U12 Plus review: Squeezing can only get you so far

New LG V35 ThinQ is a beefed-up version of the LG V30 ThinQ

LG

• LG just announced the LG V35 ThinQ and the LG V35 Plus ThinQ.
• Both devices look the same as the LG V30, but with beefed-up internal specs and the camera setup from the LG G7 ThinQ.
• We are still waiting on confirmation from LG, but it looks like the device will be a $900 AT&T exclusive.

---

LG today announced two new additions to its “V” line of phones: the LG V35 ThinQ and the awkwardly-named LG V35 Plus ThinQ. Both devices are beefed-up versions of the LG V30 ThinQ and the LG V30S ThinQ with some features from the LG G7 ThinQ thrown in.

At first glance, it would be hard to tell the LG V35 from the LG V30. Both devices feature a horizontal dual-camera setup on the back, with a rear fingerprint sensor directly underneath. The front is the same 6-inch, 18:9 display with a resolution of 2,880 x 1,440 at 538ppi. Even the color options are remarkably similar (New Aurora Black and New Platinum Gray).

Editor’s Pick

Best LG phones you can buy

LG has had its share of ups and downs in the smartphone game, and the company hasn’t made as much of an impact in the market as it might have liked. From being one of …

However, the insides of the device are much different. Where the LG V30 sported a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, the LG V35 comes with the latest Snapdragon 845. The amount of RAM in the LG V35 gets a boost as well, going from 4GB in the LG V30 to 6GB in the LG V35.

The storage options for the vanilla and Plus variants of the LG V35 stay the same: 64GB for the LG V35 and 128GB for the LG V35 Plus. However, that is the only difference between the two V35 variants: screen size, battery capacity, cameras, and all other features are the same.

The camera setup may also look the same, but it is a bit different. Where the LG V30 had a 16MP shooter paired with a 13MP wide angle sensor, the LG V35 takes the camera setup from the LG G7 and pairs two 16MP shooters. The front-facing camera gets some more power too, going from 5MP in the V30 to 8MP in the V35.

The LG V35 is also getting the new AI camera features that came with the LG G7, and has Google Lens baked right into the camera app.

Editor’s Pick

LG G7 ThinQ vs Samsung Galaxy S9/S9 Plus

LG and Samsung have long been considered rivals in the mobile industry. Despite both companies putting out some of the best phones on the market, LG has been unable to get out from under Samsung’s …

All in all, the LG V35 ThinQ seems like the best phone LG device it has on its roster right now, which is both good and bad. It’s good because (obviously) we all want the best phone we can get, but it’s also bad because LG’s lineup is getting incredibly confusing. The LG V30 ThinQ only came out in August of last year, and the LG V30S hit this past February. Then the LG G7 ThinQ was announced this month and hasn’t even hit shelves yet.

Regardless, LG will release the LG V35 ThinQ in the Americas in June, with AT&T pre-orders beginning Friday, June 1. AT&T’s pricing, according to The Verge, will be a ludicrous $900. According to Digital Trends, the device will also be available on Google’s Project Fi. However, we have reached out to LG to get clarification on this info and if the device will also be sold unlocked in the U.S.

We do know that LG will then release the device in limited markets in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa sometime later.

NEXT: Best phone for power users: Note 8 vs LG V30 vs P20 Pro

Source: Android Zone

The post New LG V35 ThinQ is a beefed-up version of the LG V30 ThinQ appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.