Starting with the release of Android Lollipop, the process of installing the Xposed Framework got a bit more complicated. Not only are there separate installers for each Android version, but now, you also need to know exactly what type of processor is in your device to make sure you're downloading t ...more
When setting up a Raspberry Pi, it's easy to overlook changing the default password. Like many IoT devices, the Raspberry Pi's default Raspbian operating system installs with a widely-known default password, leaving the device vulnerable to remote access. Using a tool called rpi-hunter, hackers can ...more
Your iPhone's Weather app received its biggest update yet. Apple finally incorporated its Dark Sky purchase into Apple Weather, so you'll see more information for each location's forecast. Plus, there are a few surprises to be excited about, such as the ability to add more trackable cities. This sig ...more
Apple's new iOS 16 software update is finally here, and there are over 350 new features and changes for you to enjoy on your iPhone. There are major lock screen and home screen improvements, a pleasant surprise for the Contacts app, and tons of new upgrades to Safari, Mail, Messages, and more. There ...more
A man-in-the-middle attack, or MitM attack, is when a hacker gets on a network and forces all nearby devices to connect to their machine directly. This lets them spy on traffic and even modify certain things. Bettercap is one tool that can be used for these types of MitM attacks, but Xerosploit can ...more
Google's "At A Glance" widget gives you the current weather conditions and upcoming events from your Google Calendar in a handy spot right at the top of your home screen. But on Pixel phones, this widget is permanently embedded into the launcher, so you can't just long-press it to remove it. In fact ...more
An ESP32-based microcontroller with a camera is an amazing platform for video, but not all modules are created equal. We'll go over the pros and cons of some of the popular low-cost camera modules you can use with ESP32-based development boards, as well as what features they support. The ESP32-based ...more
When you think of an online music service nowadays, Spotify is probably near the first that come to mind, and for good reason. Being able to create, share, and take all of your playlists anywhere, across all of your devices, is something that I couldn't live without. Unfortunately, nothing this good ...more
High-end augmented reality devices like the HoloLens and the Magic Leap 1, as well as the Ultraleap motion tracking modules, have demonstrated robust hand-tracking capabilities. However, many AR wearables (including Magic Leap) still rely on handheld controllers for interactions in AR space. Now, on ...more
Google released the first build of Android 12 almost exactly one year after dropping Android 11, which is remarkable in the midst of a global pandemic. But you can tell the Android engineers have been hard at work while quarantining, because the latest OS version is absolutely packed with new featur ...more
Gotta catch 'em all, right? That's easier said than done, considering that Pokémon GO has region-specific characters that you may never get a chance to see. Sure, you can spoof your GPS location to make the augmented reality game think you're at a different spot on the map, but Niantic Labs seems to ...more
Rumors around Apple's not-so-secret development of an AR/VR headset have been prevalent throughout the young year, but the latest round of reports move speculation of the device into a clearer view. The latest leaks give us not only specifications but also an artist's rendering based on leaked photo ...more
Hand tracking is a key component in making natural interactions with augmented reality content, and one of the leading technology makers in this discipline has just improved on its tracking engine. Ultraleap, the company emerging from the acquisition of Leap Motion by Ultrahaptics, has released a de ...more
Okay, so you rooted your Android phone .... now what? There are a few ducks you need to get into a row, like backing up your stock boot image, getting SafetyNet sorted, and improving security with biometrics. But there are also awesome root mods waiting for you — just don't get ahead of yourself. No ...more
Apps don't need to come bundled with an entire browser just to be able to display web pages — instead, they can call on the system WebView browser to render content for them. Android's default WebView renderer is Google software, which isn't quite as privacy-forward as some other options. For instan ...more
Google's legendary phone series fittingly ended with the Nexus 6 (P), and all the replicants that have come in its wake failed to unite the geek crowd quite as well. It might seem silly to think back on a smartphone with a sense of nostalgia, but if any Android phone deserves it, it's the Nexus. A M ...more
ADB and Fastboot are powerful tools that have always required a computer. But with the right setup, you can now send commands to a phone using another phone. The ADB and Fastboot Magisk module, by osm0sis and Surge1223, will turn your phone into an ADB terminal using root access. You can then connec ...more
Well before Magisk was in our lives, the Xposed framework was where all the mods and magic happened. Magisk was built on a similar concept with the ability to customize your system via modules. We can thank Xposed for where we are today in terms of root-related mods, but it's not done just yet — it' ...more
The Pixel 5 is a great value proposition in this era of $1,500 phones. With its reasonable price tag, fully open-sourced software, and unlockable bootloader, it's also an ideal phone for rooting. The process of rooting the Pixel 5 is a tried and true method: Unlock the bootloader, patch the stock bo ...more
Google switched to gestural navigation in Android 9, and in removing the back/home/recents buttons, they were able to greatly reduce the size of the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen. However, there's still a white line, aka "The Pill," taking up space to show you where to start your gestur ...more
The two primary design paradigms in Samsung's One UI Android skin are vertical padding and rounded UI elements. The extra empty space at the top of most menus moves touchable elements closer to your thumb, and the rounded UI elements match the curved corners of modern smartphone screens. While you c ...more
For the first time in twenty years, Apple created its own custom font in late 2014. Dubbed "San Francisco," it combined elements from Helvetica and FF DIN to create a crisp, elegant, and highly legible font that is now used in iOS, macOS, and tvOS. With an open source Magisk module from developer No ...more
You've protected your Ubuntu system from physical attacks, annoyed network hackers, and sandboxed potentially malicious applications. Great! Now, the next logical steps to locking down your OS include thoroughly auditing Ubuntu for weak points, using antivirus software that respects your privacy, an ...more
Withstanding an attack from a motivated hacker is one of the most important responsibilities a system administrator must undertake. This is especially true for websites that may contain sensitive customer information and a high volume of users. So it's important for a sysadmin to take proactive meas ...more
The Pixel 5 is the first mainstream phone with perfectly symmetrical slim bezels. Most other "bezel-less" phones have had a disproportionately large bottom bezel, and while the iPhone's side and bottom bezels are symmetrical, there's a huge notch across most of its top bezel. The downside to the Pix ...more
While there are completely legitimate reasons to use Bitcoin, it's also used by terrorists, drug dealers, and other shady people that need to be investigated. That's where SpiderFoot comes in, which has a command-line interface to search for Bitcoin wallet addresses on a website and query the balanc ...more
What does it mean when a software company obsessively focused on innovating the way we use our mobile devices to see and communicate with the world adds virtual voice agents? Possibly e-commerce magic, with a powerful layer of augmented reality. That's what may be in the offing with the recent acqui ...more
Android comprises an entire ecosystem of apps, games, functions, and features, so it would only make sense that it has its own lexicon. Words, phrases, and acronyms that didn't exist ten years ago are now used in an off-the-cuff style by developers and support technicians across the web. As the plat ...more
DIY - IR Module A sensor is a device that detects and responds to inputs from the physical environment. The input can be light, heat, motion, moisture, pressure, or any other environmental phenomena. Sensors are very important part of electronics, especially in Robotics and Automations. The output g ...more
If you live in the US, it's pretty simple: The Google Pixel 4a is the best phone for rooting and modding in 2020. Its price keeps the risk-reward ratio nice and low, and its unlockable bootloader makes it easy to modify virtually any aspect of Android. But recent updates to Android's security system ...more
As we've seen with other tools and utilities, administrators typically use certain things to do their job more efficiently, and those things are often abused by attackers for exploitation. After all, hacking is just the process of getting a computer to do things in unexpected ways. Today, we will be ...more
Your phone tracks your every move to some extent, and I'm not just talking about Google services. Smartphone manufacturers use telemetry services that run in the background to track how you use the device, mostly for ads or to improve their future products. You don't usually have a say in the matter ...more
VirtualXposed helps non-root Android users to modify their Android smartphones using Xposed modules. Technically, Xposed modules require root access and a module can be described as a small installable Android modification that can modify Android OS or Android apps. For example, you can use the Sams ...more
Hackers often find fascinating files in the most ordinary of places, one of those being FTP servers. Sometimes, luck will prevail, and anonymous logins will be enabled, meaning anyone can just log in. But more often than not, a valid username and password will be required. But there are several meth ...more
GTFOBins and LOLBAS are projects with the goal of documenting native binaries that can be abused and exploited by attackers on Unix and Windows systems, respectfully. These binaries are often used for "living off the land" techniques during post-exploitation. In this tutorial, we will be exploring g ...more
Android 11 has plenty of new features as you'd expect, including a fancy new embedded media player. Rather than a constant notification, your audio controls now get pushed up into the Quick Settings panel when playing music. However, to make way for this new media player functionality, your total nu ...more
The Snapdragon version of the Galaxy Note 20 and 20 Ultra — the one sold in the US — can't be rooted. Without root, the level of customization is limited. Such a large group of Android users shouldn't miss out on mods, and they don't have to. A number of third-party and Samsung developed apps will h ...more
Apps can learn a lot about you just by reading information about your smartphone. They can easily track what device model you have, your phone number, and in some cases, your hardware MAC addresses. Many third-party apps will only track your device values for advertising purposes, but some might be ...more
As one of the world's largest and most powerful cloud computing platforms, Salesforce is used by countless companies to manage customer relations, deliver services, and innovate solutions to complex problems. So it should go without saying that if you want to be truly successful and competitive in v ...more
DIY - Relay Module Relay modules available in the market are bundled with unlimited useless components. I bet unless you really use them, you may always be thinking of knocking them all out before using them in your project. Well, if you feel the need of having a simple relay module, with just the b ...more
The internet has undoubtedly changed the way we work and communicate. With technological advances, more and more people can collaborate on the web from anywhere in the world. But this remote-friendly environment inherently brings security risks, and hackers are always finding ways to exploit systems ...more
There are countless tutorials online that show how to use Netstat and Tasklist to find an intruder on your computer. But with a few PowerShell functions, it's possible for a hacker to evade detection from the almighty command line. Before we dive into the technical sections, have a look at the follo ...more
Penetration testing, or pentesting, is the process of probing a network or system by simulating an attack, which is used to find vulnerabilities that could be exploited by a malicious actor. The main goal of a pentest is to identify security holes and weaknesses so that the organization being tested ...more
Identifying security software installed on a MacBook or other Apple computer is important to hackers and penetration testers needing to compromise a device on the network. With man-in-the-middle attacks, packets leaving the Mac will tell us a lot about what kind of antivirus and firewall software is ...more
Everybody knows not to store sensitive information in unencrypted files, right? PDFs and ZIP files can often contain a treasure trove of information, such as network diagrams, IP addresses, and login credentials. Sometimes, even certain files that are encrypted aren't safe from attackers. That's whe ...more
SSH is one of the most common protocols in use in modern IT infrastructures, and because of this, it can be a valuable attack vector for hackers. One of the most reliable ways to gain SSH access to servers is by brute-forcing credentials. There are a few methods of performing an SSH brute-force atta ...more
Internet Relay Chat, or IRC, is one of the most popular chat protocols on the internet. The technology can be connected to the Tor network to create an anonymous and secure chatroom — without the use of public IP addresses. IRC servers allow one to create and manage rooms, users, and automated funct ...more
Automation has been a buzz word for quite some time now, but the principles behind it are as strong as ever. For a hacker or pentester, Bash scripting is one form of automation that cannot be ignored. Virtually any command that can be run from the terminal can be scripted — and should be, in many ca ...more
On Android, there is a vulnerability that Google doesn't seem to want to fix — anyone can open the Quick Settings panel on your lock screen. GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, all toggles accessible in this menu, are vital tools for locating your phone in case it is ever stolen. But thanks to Xposed, you ca ...more
To name just a few companies, VK, µTorrent, and ClixSense all suffered significant data breaches at some point in the past. The leaked password databases from those and other online sites can be used to understand better how human-passwords are created and increase a hacker's success when performing ...more
Bootloops are a risk inherent to rooted devices — with great power comes great destroyability, after all. While custom recovery sometimes provides a quick fix when you flash the wrong Magisk module, with TWRP becoming more challenging to implement thanks to Android 10, the solution is a bit more com ...more
There was a period when Google knew they were switching to gesture navigation, but felt users weren't quite ready for it. The result was Android 9's two-button nav bar that you could both tap and swipe. Android 10 has since brought full-on gestures, and that's the version the Pixel 4 shipped with, s ...more
Individually addressable LEDs, also commonly called "NeoPixels" after the popular Adafruit product, are a bright and colorful way to get started with basic Python programming. With an inexpensive ESP8266 or ESP32 microcontroller, it's easy to get started programming your own holiday lighting animati ...more
Google lets you change the system-wide accent color on its Pixel devices, but the options are a bit muted. If you'd like something more vibrant, developer Tulsadiver created a mod that will give you a wide selection of punchier colors. The accent colors will theme things like your Quick Settings til ...more
TWRP has been the king of custom recovery on Android for years now, thanks to device compatibility and core features. But there's a new player in town — at least, for OnePlus devices — and it's got a lot of useful features that might finally get you to ditch TWRP. Sky Hawk Recovery Project (SHRP) is ...more
OnePlus offers a variety of features that you don't get with some other Android phones. Parallel Apps is one of those standout extras you didn't know you might enjoy until you've tried it. It allows you to clone compatible apps installed on your device, which means you can use the same app with two ...more
Network enumeration is one of the essential phases of an attack, but it can take a lot of time and effort depending on the size. We've all been spoiled by Nmap and similar tools, and while there is a learning curve involved, they are extremely useful. But there's also GoScan, a tool that builds upon ...more
Multiple methods can be used to update OnePlus phones, but if you're rooted with TWRP installed, you might want to try this one out for yourself. The update method outlined in this guide works like a charm while maintaining your root status after an OTA update. One of the best parts about it — you d ...more
The Pixel 4 is one of the most talked-about phones of 2019, so you know there will be lots of third-party developer support. Mods are already popping up, so you'll want to get Magisk installed as soon as possible to get root access. The current method used to gain root is the quickest way yet, thank ...more
One of the longest-running cat and mouse games in Android has to be that of Google's SafetyNet feature and specific apps that can trip the flag. Many developers have resorted to using Magisk to create their modules since it can systemlessly pass SafetyNet in most cases. However, EdXposed is having s ...more
