Infi-Zeal's Blog

Bad week for Android. Just days after a critical  Stagefright vulnerability  was revealed in the widely popular mobile platform, another new vulnerability threatens to make most Android devices unresponsive and practically unusable to essential tasks. Security researchers at Trend Micro have developed an attack technique that could ultimately crash more than 55 percent of Android phones , almost making them completely unresponsive and useless to perform very basic functions, including to make or receive calls. The dangerous security flaw affects any device running  Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and later, including the latest Android 5.1.1 Lollipop , potentially putting hundreds of millions of Android users vulnerable to hackers. The flaw surfaced two days after Zimperium researchers warned that nearly  950 Million Android phones can be hijacked  by sending a simple text message. Dubbed  Stagefright , the vulnerability is more serious because...

Is the touch screen on your Android cell phone unresponsive or responding incorrectly? Do some parts of your phones screen respond while other parts do not? When trying to make a selection on your phone does it end up selecting something else instead? Looking for a way to try to fix this and prevent it from happening? Then you have come to the right place. This tutorial describes not only how to test the touch screen on an Android but also what can be done to try and fix it. Before we begin Before we really dive in to testing and troubleshooting your touch screen the first thing that you should do is power cycle your cell phone. Simply powering your phone off, counting to 10, and then turning your phone back on can often solve minor software glitches or software hiccups, especially if you haven’t powered your phone off for a while. If power cycling your phone does the trick then enjoy your working cell phone; if your phone continues to have problems then we are going to want to...

An application normally needs permission and should alert user that it needs permission to make phone call, when it is being installed. Researchers at Security firm CureSec has discovered a security flaw in the Android system that allows malicious applications to initiate unauthorized phone calls.   By exploiting this vulnerability, malicious apps can make phone calls to premium-rated numbers and terminate any outgoing calls.  It is also capable of sending Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes that can be used for enabling call forwarding, blocking your sim cards and so on. The security bug appears to be introduced in Android Jelly bean 4.1.1  and it exits in all latest versions through Android Kitkat 4.4.2. CureSec has also released a source code and proof-of-concept application to demonstrate the existence of vulnerability

Turn Android Emulator into a Pwnage Weapon Today, we’re going to look at a scenario where the Android Emulator can be re-purposed as an exploitation tool. Specifically, we will look at attacks that involve cloning an application and user data from a stolen Android phone onto a computer running the Android emulator. An attacker that does this will be able to use the application as if they were the user. They would also be able to return the phone to the user before the target becomes aware of the compromise. A natural defense to this sort of attack would be to have the application verify what device is running it before giving the user access. The application would only be allowed to run on a device registered with the user’s account. A natural defense against this kind of attack would be to have the application verify the device and to run only on a device registered with the user’s account. We will demonstrate a new tool that repurposes the Android emulator to give...

Run Android Apps on your Blackberry The Blackberry Playbook is the red-headed stepchild of the tablet world. Since being revealed this past year, just about everyone’s taken a swing at it: Pundits dug it’s hearty hardware specs, but decried the device’s lack of native email or calendar functionality. Consumers loyal to the Blackberry name felt compelled to purchase the tablet based on the love they had for their Canadian built handsets, but quickly found the apps on offer in Blackberry App World to be few, with many of the available titles of embarrassingly poor quality. In the face of shrinking profit margins and angry device owners screaming at the front gates of their Waterloo, Canada headquarters with torches and pitchforks, Research in Motion announced the release of the 2.0 iteration of the Playbook’s OS—an operating system that tweaked what needed tweaking, offered on-device PIM management, the company’s much lauded Blackberry Messenger Service and the ability to load And...

Free SMS sending Apps for Android Ever since the advent of mobile phones, short messaging services (SMS) have remained one of the prime tools for getting connected, relatively popular among the young generation. Now, there are many apps available online to help you send free SMSs via your smartphone devices. Check out the 7 free SMS apps for Android phones now available in India via the Android Market. Free SMS India Free SMS India app for Android helps you send SMS for free through your Android devices. You can send unlimited SMS for free from your Android Phone via Free SMS India app. Designed with a sleek user interface, the free SMS app requires GRPS connection to send SMSs. However, with its optimised application, the user has the advantage of less data usage as your SMS is sent in few KB of data. Compatible with devices having Android 2.1 or above version, you can download Free SMS India app by visiting the Android Market. JaxtrSMS The messaging network allows unl...

There are multiple versions of Android available in the market today, each with slight differences. See here, how they differ and why it should matter to you. At last count, over 7,00,000 Android devices were being activated everyday according to Andy Rubin, senior vice president of mobile at Google. Late last year, Gartner estimated that Android held 52.5% of the global smartphone market, significantly higher than the nearest competitors Symbian (16.9%) and iOS (15%). There are a couple of big reasons why Android is leading the charge. The wide choice of hardware at all price points, the number of apps and constant development make sure it stays at the top of its game. These are the current versions of Android you'll get if you buy a device today.   Custom Firmware   Should You Install It?   This is debatable. On one hand, many will be satisfied with using launchers to customise their device. Using a launcher (like Go Launcher) can completely change the look of the p...

Why Windows Phone is better than Android ?  Market share of    Android  phone is increasing at a rapid rate but there are some bottlenecks where Android lags behind as compared with    Windows Phone 7 Series  .  Having worked on these phones and having a strict watch at internet, i found Windows Phone 7 a  great  mobile platform.  Regardless of the numbers, WP7 is one of the favorite mobile platforms, outshining Android in almost every aspect. Don’t believe me? Well, allow me to try and change your mind. Have a look at some reasons why Windows Phone 7 is better than Android . Streamlined User Interface Android’s are different depending on the SKU of the handset. In other words, the UI you’ll be dealing with when using, say, a Motorola handset, will be radically different than one from Samsung or HTC . The ambiguity can be disconcerting. With WP7, you know what kind of interface you’re going to be working with...