Even though smartphone audio quality has improved in recent years, the tiny built-in speakers aren't always loud enough. But if you want to turn the volume up to 11, all you need is a few household items to make a rig that will amplify your phone's speakers throughout the whol ...more
Whether or not you believe that the government is snooping around in our private emails, texts, and phone calls, it wouldn't hurt to protect ourselves a little better in the digital realm. If you're worried about them (or whoever) eavesdropping on your digital messages, takin ...more
Every summer for the last 26 years, hoards of hackers have descended on the Las Vegas Strip for DEFCON, the biggest hacker conference in the US. There's a wealth of talks every season (DEFCON 27 has at least 95 scheduled), and there have been some essential topics to learn fro ...more
You probably already know by now that a custom Android ROM can change your user experience and give you what feels like a new OS on your device, and there's no shortage of them out there to try out. A great perk of being a Nexus 5 owner is that devs tend to commit resources t ...more
I'm a textaholic, as I've said many times before, but even textaholics forget to respond sometimes. When I'm watching a YouTube clip or devouring delicious snacks in Candy Crush Saga, I'll often ignore incoming texts and forget to respond later. Some of this forgetfulness cou ...more
Whether you're in a movie theater, driving, or just want to temporarily unplug from the grid, you need to ignore or completely silence your phone. You'll still receive calls and texts during this time, but in a world where people expect instant gratification, you'll end up loo ...more
Tossing an old Android smartphone with a decent battery into your hacking kit can let you quickly map hundreds of vulnerable networks in your area just by walking or driving by them. The practice of wardriving uses a Wi-Fi network card and GPS receiver to stealthily discover a ...more
As much as it pains me to say it, without my phone, I would pretty much be useless. I can barely remember what I had for lunch yesterday, let alone all of the hundreds of numbers in my contact list. That's why whenever I forget my phone at home, I am pretty much stuck having t ...more
Welcome back, my fledgling hackers! Hacking has a long and storied history in the U.S. and around the world. It did not begin yesterday, or even at the advent of the 21st century, but rather dates back at least 40 years. Of course, once the internet migrated to commercial use ...more
With the Wigle WiFi app running on an Android phone, a hacker can discover and map any nearby network, including those created by printers and other insecure devices. The default tools to analyze the resulting data can fall short of what a hacker needs, but by importing wardri ...more
Silencing my phone always gives me mild anxiety; while my Android is muted, my girlfriend or boss may be trying to reach me with some urgent news or task. On the one hand, I want to enjoy some peace and quiet, but on the other, I don't want to come back to a phone with 100 mis ...more
Several people have been reporting Wi-Fi problems after updating to iOS 6 on both iPads and iPhones. The connection might work sometimes, but it usually cuts out or takes forever to connect to anything, only to time out shortly after. It turns out this isn't so much a bug in ...more
Connecting to your headless Raspberry Pi on the go typically requires a network connection or carrying around bulky peripheral hardware like a screen and keyboard. With the help of an old-school connecting standard, though, you can log into your Pi from any computer using a si ...more
If you're using a mobile device, it's a pretty safe bet that your apps are sending lots of information back and forth from their servers. To make sure there is no inappropriate data collection going on, it's worth setting up a web proxy to spy on this traffic, so you know exac ...more
Since the San Bernardino shooting in 2014, Apple's been engaged in a game of cat and mouse with law enforcement. Authorities want access to evidence on criminals' iPhones, but Apple wants to protect all of its customers' personal data equally. The latest installment in this sa ...more
Here on nullbyte we always hear mention of hacking being used to shut down power grids or attacking SCADA and other such cyber warlord activities, but ive never seen a TDos post come up. Telephony Denial of Service involves saturating call centers or carriers, especially emer ...more
Texting can be difficult sometimes. When you're browsing the web or playing a game on your iPhone and need to respond to text message real quick, you have to exit your current app to do so. Not exactly efficient, especially if a quick "K" is all you need to say. However, if y ...more
50 minute documentary on the history of hacking by the Discovery Channel. Hacking is about more than modding electronics or "hacking" Google. Learn about where it all began, from phone phreaking to virus spreading.
Google's Android L developer preview has given Android a more refined look, with developers excited to update their apps with the new Material Design UI. While some apps are slowly getting updated, QKSMS (QK for quick) is a 3rd-party text messaging app that was built with Mate ...more
Every day it seems like new information comes to light about how the National Security Agency creeps into our lives. Knowing that they can backdoor into our seemingly private devices is a scary thought, whether you have information to hide or not. Blackphone wants to change s ...more
We all know we shouldn't be using our smartphones while driving. But we also know many people do it anyway. Soon, however, the addicts among us may not have a choice but to kick their habit. A new app announced today by Samsung will block all calls and texts while you drive, s ...more
Armis Labs has revealed eight vulnerabilities, called "BlueBorne", which put 5.3 billion Android, iOS, Windows, and Linux devices that use Bluetooth at risk. With it, hackers can control devices, access data, and spread malware to other vulnerable devices through networks. In ...more
Former Google employee Tristan Harris claims there's an easy way to combat phone addiction without installing any new software. By enabling grayscale on your phone, checking your apps and notifications will be less appealing and thus stop you from obsessively checking your pho ...more
I'm the type of person that rarely has an audible ringer enabled on my phone. Haptic feedback (vibration) is enough for me... most of the time. When my phone isn't in my pocket, I become the type of person who frequently misses calls and texts—and no one likes that person. A ...more
With iOS 7, Apple is finally fighting back against spam, offering the option to block certain phone numbers from sending you text messages or iMessages (plus, phone calls and FaceTime too). With this new feature, you can block telemarketers, spammers, and their ilk from spamm ...more
In spite of the degree of difficulty it is to install, CyanogenMod has steadily climbed the ladder to become one of the most popular third-party firmwares for Android devices. To increase its fan base, they even put an easy-to-download installer on Google Play to help people ...more
A relay is an electrical component that works like a light switch, where it's turned on or off with an electrical signal. By connecting a relay to a Wi-Fi connected microcontroller like an ESP8266, you can build a connected switch that can be controlled from the web browser of ...more
How do you call 9-1-1 when you need to remain silent or can't speak? It's a great question that will finally be answered on May 15th. Mobile providers AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless have announced that they will support texting to 911 during emergencies. Althoug ...more
At a time when virtually everyone has a cell phone, it's almost inconceivable to think of a time when we're without them. At work, in bed, and even in the bathroom; we're always with our smartphones. I mean, hell, someone even designed a way to bring your smartphone into the f ...more
Last week's tech roundup featured iPhone 6 clones, an all-in-one sleep tracker, Xbox One updates, and other cool gadgets. This week, there's a lot more to show off, and a bunch of stuff that I need to get my hands on! Everything from app updates to putting stickers on your fav ...more
Surveying a target's Wi-Fi infrastructure is the first step to understanding the wireless attack surface you have to work with. Wardriving has been around since the '90s and combines GPS data and Wi-Fi signal data to create accurate, in-depth maps of any nearby Wi-Fi networks ...more
In 2019, the Raspberry Pi 4 was released with specs including either 1 GB, 2 GB, or 4 GB of memory, a Broadcom BCM2711B0 quad-core A72 SoC, a USB Type-C power supply, and dual Micro-HDMI outputs. Performance and hardware changes aside, the Pi 4 Model B runs Kali Linux just as ...more
Hacking Wi-Fi is a lot easier than most people think, but the ways of doing so are clustered around a few common techniques most hackers use. With a few simple actions, the average user can go a long way toward defending against the five most common methods of Wi-Fi hacking, w ...more
We've all been in a similar situation before—you set your phone's ringer to silent before heading into class, and when you check your phone hours later, you find that your silenced phone didn't alert you to 8 missed calls and 17 text messages. Well, I don't actually get that ...more
Just because your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is on silent doesn't mean that the world stops spinning. Emergencies can pop up at any time, even when your phone is put away during a lecture in class, in the library, or at an important business meeting. You put your phone on silent t ...more
The Raspberry Pi is a credit card-sized computer that can crack Wi-Fi, clone key cards, break into laptops, and even clone an existing Wi-Fi network to trick users into connecting to the Pi instead. It can jam Wi-Fi for blocks, track cell phones, listen in on police scanners, ...more
WhatsApp is one of the most well-known and most utilized cross-platform chat applications available today. It's free for one year, and only $0.99 a year after, which is chump change when you realize there are no hidden costs like international charges. Basically, it creates an ...more
My standard text greeting to friends is something along the lines of "Wazzup biznitch?"—but apparently the auto-correct function on my Samsung Galaxy S3 has a problem with that. Time after time I have to retype it or just add all my made-up words to the word list—and I use a l ...more
Keeping prying eyes off your device isn't always the easiest thing to do, especially once you lend somebody your phone to make a call. Seems that whenever someone is scrolling through your pictures or checking out your new phone, they always end up somewhere you don't want the ...more
One of the many reasons Circuit City should go out of business is their sale of ridiculously expensive cables, wire and cords. The secret to the industry of Monster Cables is that it is unnecessary and ineffective. Gold-plated or otherwise, Monster's $100 cables are not intrin ...more
In my last tutorial I very briefly introduced Zanti , but in this tutorial I will start to show its many features. The first step on hacking is recon . You could use Nmap , but the problem with Nmap on Android is that by itself, in order to gain full functionality your phone m ...more
Snapchat was created for the sole purpose of removing evidence from your mobile that a photo or video ever existed. That way, snoopers can't find any of these questionable selfies in your photo gallery. Of course, there are plenty of ways around this safeguard, but it's still ...more
If you're like me, getting as much sleep as possible is priority number one. With more and more time spent on or around our cell phones, it's becoming harder and harder to block out all the noise. If you've got a Samsung Galaxy Note II or Galaxy S III, you probably love the g ...more
The very first text message was sent on December 3rd, 1992 by Neil Papworth, an engineer for Vodafone, and it simply said "Merry Christmas." He may have jumped the gun on the whole Christmas thing, but you trying coming up with the first text message in history! Today, there ...more
Everyone should know that assigning complex passwords to sensitive digital accounts is the best practice for protecting yourself against hacking. Those who adhere to password creation best practices also know that keeping up with passwords for every account is nigh impossible, ...more
When an iPhone is lost or stolen, it's imperative to start tracking it via Find My as soon as possible, whether that's from a computer, tablet, or someone else's phone. However, if it's stolen, there's a good chance the thief or robber turns on Airplane Mode, blocking all comm ...more
Conducting phishing campaigns and hosting Metasploit sessions from a trusted VPS is important to any professional security researcher, pentester, or white hat hacker. However, the options are quite limited since most providers have zero-tolerance policies for any kind of hacki ...more
Apple announced four different iPhone models during its Oct. 13 web-only event, but only two of them can be purchased this month: the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. Preorders have already started for the two smartphones, and you could have one in your hands as early as Oct. 23, ...more
If you've grown bored of day-to-day hacking and need a new toy to experiment with, we've compiled a list of gadgets to help you take password cracking and wireless hacking to the next level. If you're not a white hat or pentester yourself but have one to shop for, whether for ...more
In this tutorial, learn all about Swype. Swype is an app that you can add to your cell phone to make texting and e-mailing lightening fast. Say goodbye to tap texting - with Swype you just let your finger glide on the keyboard until it creates your desired word. Check out this ...more
Swype is a brand new way to send text messages and e-mails from your cell phone. In this clip, learn how to use this new tool to send the world's fastest messages. With Swype, your fingers will never leave the keypad so you can type in half the time. Check out this tutorial fo ...more
Learn how to add send someone's contact information via SMS text message on a BlackBerry phone. This clip will show you how it's done. Whether you're the proud owner of a BlackBerry smartphone or are merely considering picking one up, you're sure to be well served by this vide ...more
Interested in CCing one or more people on a text message written on a BlackBerry phone? This clip will show you how it's done. Whether you're the proud owner of a BlackBerry smartphone or are merely considering picking one up, you're sure to be well served by this video guide. ...more
In this tutorial, learn all about Swype. Swype is a new program available for your Android phone that will allow you to text in half the time. By not ever taking your fingers off the keypad, you can type at lightening speeds. Swype is perfect for the lazy guy in a hurry. Check ...more
Brian Tong shows you how to avoid awkward text message situations on the iPhone and Android platforms.
In this clip, learn all about Swype. Swype is a cool new app that allows you to type at super fast speeds. If your phone has this capability and you are just in too much of a hurry to actually type a word - check it out. You don't even have to remove your finger from the scree ...more
G-mail can do a lot of things. It is a state of the art, awesome e-mail system, and to top it all off now you can learn to send text messages through it - for free! In this helpful tutorial, learn exactly how to use your very own e-mail account to keep in touch with your frien ...more
Want to shoot video in low-light conditions with a HTC Evo 4G smartphone? Whether you're the owner of an HTC Evo 4G Android phone or just covet one, you're sure to enjoy this Evo owner's guide from HTC Evo Hacks, which presents a complete, step-by-step walkthrough of how to tu ...more
Want to mod your HTC HD2 Microsoft Windows smartphone to use wireless charging—without breaking your warantee in the process? It can be done! And quite easily at that. For complete details, and to get started modding your own HD2 phone to work with wireless chargers, watch thi ...more
If your cell phone doesn't have internet capabilities, or you're just unwilling to pay the insane price of the web connectivity rates, you can still access Google as long as you can text message. Google responds to text messages with the best match, so it's more ideal for look ...more