LAS VEGAS (AP) — A hacker has discovered a way to force ATMs to disgorge their cash by hijacking the computers inside them. The attacks demonstrated Wednesday targeted standalone ATMs. But they could potentially be used against the ATMs operated by mainstream banks. Criminals have long known that ATMs aren’t tamperproof. There are many types of attacks in use today, ranging from sophisticated to foolhardy: installing fake card readers to steal card numbers, hiding tiny surveillance cameras to capture PIN codes, covering the dispensing slot to intercept money and even hauling the ATMs away with trucks in hopes of cracking them open later. Computer hacker Barnaby Jack spent two years tinkering in his Silicon Valley apartment with ATMs he bought online. These were standalone machines, the type seen in front of convenience stores, rather than the ones in bank branches. His goal was to find ways to take control of ATMs by exploiting weaknesses in the computers that run the machines. He showed off his results here at the Black Hat conference, an annual gathering devoted to exposing the latest computer-security vulnerabilities. His attacks have wide implications because they affect multiple types of ATMs and exploit weaknesses in software and security measures that are used throughout the industry. His talk was one of the conference’s most widely anticipated, as it had been pulled a year ago over concerns that fixes for the ATMs wouldn’t be in place in time. He used the extra year to craft more dangerous attacks. Jack, who works as director of security research for Seattle-based IOActive Inc., showed in a theatrical demonstration two ways he can get ATMs to spit out money: – Jack found that the physical keys that came with his machines were the same for all ATMs of that type made by that manufacturer. He figured this out by ordering three ATMs from different manufacturers for a few thousand dollars each. Then he compared the keys he got to pictures of other keys, found on the Internet. He used his key to unlock a compartment in the ATM that had standard USB slots. He then inserted a program he had written into one of them, commanding the ATM to dump its vaults. – Jack also hacked into ATMs by exploiting weaknesses in the way ATM makers communicate with the machines over the Internet. Jack said the problem is that outsiders are permitted to bypass the need for a password. He didn’t go into much more detail because he said the goal of his talk “isn’t to teach everybody how to hack ATMs. It’s to raise the issue and have ATM manufacturers be proactive about implementing fixes.” The remote style of attack is more dangerous because an attacker doesn’t need to open up the ATMs. It allows an attacker to gain full control of the ATMs. Besides ordering it to spit out money, attackers can silently harvest account data from anyone who uses the machines. It also affects more than just the standalone ATMs vulnerable to the physical attack; the method could potentially be used against the kinds of ATMs used by mainstream banks. Jack said he didn’t think he’d be able to break the ATMs when he first started probing them. “My reaction was, ‘this is the game-over vulnerability right here,’” he said of the remote hack. “Every ATM I’ve looked at, I’ve been able to find a flaw in. It’s a scary thing.” Jack wouldn’t identify the ATM makers. He put stickers over the ATM makers’ names on the two machines used in his demonstration. But the audience, which burst into applause when he made the machines spit out money, could see from the screen prompts on the ATM that one of the machines was made by Tranax Technologies Inc., based in Hayward, Calif. Tranax did not immediately respond to e-mail messages from the AP. Other ATM manufacturers contacted by The Associated Press also did not immediately respond to messages. Jack said the manufacturers whose machines he studied are deploying software fixes for both vulnerabilities, but added that the prevalence of remote-management software broadly opens up ATMs to hacker attacks. ? 2010 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .
July 28, 2010 | Posted in
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LONDON (AP) — An online parody of a Jay-Z hit that swaps New York’s metropolis for a modest Welsh port town has won hundreds of thousands of fans, the director of the spoof said Wednesday. The video “Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind),” a comic tribute to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ 2009 single “Empire State of Mind,” has been viewed more than 1.65 million times on You Tube and drawn praise for its witty lyrics. Ymerodraeth is the Welsh word for empire. Morgan Jane Delaney, a 24-year-old filmmaker, shot a near frame-by-frame recreation of the original music video, but in the less glamorous surroundings of the south Wales city – about 140 miles (220 kilometer) west of London. She said the concept began as a private joke with her boyfriend and their comedian friend, but soon snowballed into a film project. “We just started singing different place names instead of New York, just as a joke, and we thought that Newport was funny. I don’t really know why I decided to go the whole hog and make a film of it, but it just seemed like fun,” the director said. “When you’re in Newport. Chips, cheese, curry makes you feel brand new, washed down with a Special Brew,” the lyric reads, referring to a local fast-food meal and Special Brew, a type of super-strength beer. The spoof, filmed last month, quickly won some high-profile fans – including British singer Lily Allen, who posted a link to the film on her Twitter account. ? 2010 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .
July 28, 2010 | Posted in
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TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The late writer and director John Hughes is being honored at the Traverse City Film Festival. The Lansing native died last year at the age of 59 and is this year’s recipient of the Michigan Filmmaker Award. It’s given to Michigan natives for their contributions to the art of cinema. Jeff Daniels and Christine Lahti are past recipients. The award is to be dedicated posthumously to Hughes during the festival’s opening night on Tuesday. His wife Nancy and sons James and John III say they “appreciate the opportunity to acknowledge how Michigan … helped shape his humor and storytelling.” Hughes’ films include “The Breakfast Club,” “Sixteen Candles” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” — Online: http://www.traversecityfilmfest.org ? 2010 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .
July 28, 2010 | Posted in
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TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — A package addressed from “Grandpa Henderson” in San Diego, Calif., to “Grandma Henderson” in Talladega, Ala., wasn’t ordinary mail, and it wasn’t picked up by any grandmother. The package aroused suspicions among Talladega postal inspectors, who contacted the Talladega County drug task force. Task force commander Jason Murray said a trained drug-detection dog singled out the package, and law enforcement officers waited for someone to pick it up. Three men did that Saturday. They were stopped after they left the post office, and officers found more than 6 pounds of marijuana in the package. Murray said the three have been charged with trafficking in marijuana. — Information from: The Daily Home – Talladega, http://www.dailyhome.com ? 2010 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .
July 27, 2010 | Posted in
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COLLIER COUNTY, Fla -? In Collier County, a fourth horse, within the past month, has fallen victim to the mosquito-borne virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis.? Of additional concern, in Hillsborough County where four horses have died from Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), a resident tragically died from Eastern Equine Encephalitis in recent weeks. EEE causes severe illness in humans and horses. Symptoms in humans develop 3-10 days after the bite of an infected mosquito and begin with a sudden onset of fever, general muscle pains, and a headache of increasing severity. Symptoms can become more severe over 1-2 weeks and infected individuals will either recover or show onset of inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) with seizures and vomiting. Human cases are usually preceded by those in horses. ?Disease transmission does not occur directly from person to person. ?Those at highest risk are people who live in or visit woodland areas, people who work or participate in outdoor work or recreational activities where there is greater exposure to potentially infected mosquitoes.There are vaccines available for use in horses in protecting them against EEE, Western Equine Encephalitis (WEE), and West Nile?Encephalitis (WNV). Horse owners should contact their veterinarian about the appropriate use of these vaccines. ? However, because there are not vaccines for humans, Collier County Health Department and Collier Mosquito Control District officials remind residents and visitors to take precautions to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes. Related Articles Phone Blitz rallies Charlotte County Small Business Administration approves loans for Collier, Lee, and Monroe counties ‘Illegal Immigrant Crossing’ signs taken down in Collier County Health Care Amendment causes problems
July 27, 2010 | Posted in
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — A showcase for potential Academy Awards contenders and big fall releases, September’s Toronto International Film Festival will feature titles starring Nicole Kidman, Ben Affleck, Robert De Niro, Natalie Portman, Keanu Reeves, Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan. The Toronto festival announced many of the titles Tuesday that will be screened at the event Sept. 9-19. Affleck directs and stars in the heist tale “The Town,” playing a thief who falls for a bank manager his crew takes hostage on their last job. Other actors-turned-directors premiering films at the festival include Robert Redford with the Abraham Lincoln assassination tale “The Conspirator,” starring James McAvoy, Robin Wright Penn, Kevin Kline and Evan Rachel Wood; David Schwimmer with “Trust,” featuring Clive Owen and Catherine Keener as parents of a teenage girl raped by a pedophile she met online; and Emilio Estevez, who directs his father, Martin Sheen, in “The Way,” a drama about a father on a pilgrimage after his son’s death. Knightley and Mulligan star with Andrew Garfield, recently cast in the title role of the next “Spider-Man” movie, in director Mark Romanek’s “Never Let Me Go,” a drama about boarding school friends coming to grips with their sheltered past as adults in the real world. The festival also features Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as parents grieving over the death of their son in John Cameron Mitchell’s “Rabbit Hole”; De Niro and Edward Norton in John Curran’s “Stone,” about a prison inmate plotting his release by manipulating a parole officer; Reeves in Malcolm Venville’s “Henry’s Crime,” about a man wrongly convicted for bank robbery who decides to pull a heist for real after he’s released from prison; and Portman as a ballerina in Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” a psychological thriller set behind the scenes at a dance company. Also premiering will be “Miral,” from director Julian Schnabel (”The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”), with Freida Pinto in the tale of a girl growing up in war-torn East Jerusalem. Toronto festival director Piers Handling said the lineup reflects the “abundance of exciting works from established and emerging filmmakers in the world of cinema.” Among other Toronto premieres: George Hickenlooper’s “Casino Jack,” starring Kevin Spacey as disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff; John Madden’s “The Debt,” with Helen Mirren and Sam Worthington in a tale of Israeli agents tracking a Nazi war criminal; Mike Mills’ “Beginners,” about a son (Ewan McGregor) dealing with bombshell news after his 71-year-old father (Christopher Plummer) announces he is gay; and Tony Goldwyn’s “Conviction,” with Hilary Swank as a woman trying to clear her brother (Sam Rockwell) of a murder rap. — Online: http://tiff.net ? 2010 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .
July 27, 2010 | Posted in
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — A showcase for potential Academy Awards contenders and big fall releases, September’s Toronto International Film Festival will feature titles starring Nicole Kidman, Ben Affleck, Robert De Niro, Natalie Portman, Keanu Reeves, Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan. The Toronto festival announced many of the titles Tuesday that will be screened at the event Sept. 9-19. Affleck directs and stars in the heist tale “The Town,” playing a thief who falls for a bank manager his crew takes hostage on their last job. Other actors-turned-directors premiering films at the festival include Robert Redford with the Abraham Lincoln assassination tale “The Conspirator,” starring James McAvoy, Robin Wright Penn, Kevin Kline and Evan Rachel Wood; David Schwimmer with “Trust,” featuring Clive Owen and Catherine Keener as parents of a teenage girl raped by a pedophile she met online; and Emilio Estevez, who directs his father, Martin Sheen, in “The Way,” a drama about a father on a pilgrimage after his son’s death. Knightley and Mulligan star with Andrew Garfield, recently cast in the title role of the next “Spider-Man” movie, in director Mark Romanek’s “Never Let Me Go,” a drama about boarding school friends coming to grips with their sheltered past as adults in the real world. The festival also features Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as parents grieving over the death of their son in John Cameron Mitchell’s “Rabbit Hole”; De Niro and Edward Norton in John Curran’s “Stone,” about a prison inmate plotting his release by manipulating a parole officer; Reeves in Malcolm Venville’s “Henry’s Crime,” about a man wrongly convicted for bank robbery who decides to pull a heist for real after he’s released from prison; and Portman as a ballerina in Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” a psychological thriller set behind the scenes at a dance company. Also premiering will be “Miral,” from director Julian Schnabel (”The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”), with Freida Pinto in the tale of a girl growing up in war-torn East Jerusalem. Toronto festival director Piers Handling said the lineup reflects the “abundance of exciting works from established and emerging filmmakers in the world of cinema.” Among other Toronto premieres: George Hickenlooper’s “Casino Jack,” starring Kevin Spacey as disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff; John Madden’s “The Debt,” with Helen Mirren and Sam Worthington in a tale of Israeli agents tracking a Nazi war criminal; Mike Mills’ “Beginners,” about a son (Ewan McGregor) dealing with bombshell news after his 71-year-old father (Christopher Plummer) announces he is gay; and Tony Goldwyn’s “Conviction,” with Hilary Swank as a woman trying to clear her brother (Sam Rockwell) of a murder rap. — Online: http://tiff.net ? 2010 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .
July 27, 2010 | Posted in
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NEW YORK (AP) — Perhaps only Paul McCartney could call a performance at the White House a little club gig. In June, McCartney was awarded the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, an honor bestowed by the Library of Congress. Accepting it, McCartney performed in the East Room of the White House for President Barack Obama and the first family, who sat front row center. Guests including Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, the Jonas Brothers, Jack White and others taking turns playing Beatles classics. Jerry Seinfeld summarized the choice of McCartney for the Gershwin simply as “duh.” PBS will broadcast the concert as part of its “In Performance at the White House” series on Wednesday (8 p.m. EDT). For the 68-year-old rock ‘n’ roller, the evening was clearly meaningful. He sang “Michelle” to Michelle Obama, adding that he hoped the president wouldn’t punch him out. For the first time, he performed “Ebony and Ivory” live with Stevie Wonder. And he performed one of the more star-studded singalongs of “Hey Jude,” complete with the Obamas joining onstage. McCartney was so fond of the concert – which he called “a little club gig” – that he has already rewatched it, and plans to again. Sir Paul took a moment out of his North American tour to reflect on his trip to the White House. AP: Why was this particular gig a “biggie,” as you called it? McCartney: I’m a fan of the president. I believe that he’s been dealt a bad hand. He came into that job with a lot of difficulties on his plate that weren’t of his creation. So I was eager to meet him, being a fan of his and his wife. I had never actually been to the White House, so that was great. And the idea of playing in the White House was very interesting. We wondered what the acoustics would be like, but they turned out to be great. So we had a great time, just the event of it all. We were all very excited. From me, myself, to the lowliest crew member, we were all buzzing. AP: You joked that you were worried the president might punch you after you sang “Michelle.” McCartney: It was such a nice, friendly atmosphere. It was almost like a little family gathering. So I felt free to say anything I wanted to, just like he was a cousin, like a family wedding or something – just goofy stuff. We found his whole family very relaxing to be with, and I think he found us, hopefully, the same way. So it was nice on that level. And he didn’t punch me out, thank goodness. AP: Was playing “Ebony and Ivory” for the first black president a moment that resonated? McCartney: One of the highs was singing “Ebony and Ivory” with Stevie because we’d never done it live together, so that was great. To sing it live together for the very first time with the first black president there, it suddenly gave a great significance to the song. Sometimes you write a song in a certain era and it’s got a certain kind of significance. I don’t think I would have imagined then that it would be quite so soon that America would elect a black president. It wasn’t that soon, but it was a relatively short period of time. To sing it with Stevie in front of President Obama was very emotional. The lyrics to the song suddenly seemed to have more significance to me in that setting. AP: What else was memorable from your first trip to the White House? McCartney: Getting through the security of the White House. For the rehearsal, we got through fine. But for the actual gig, we were sort of not let in. At the gate we said, “We’re the entertainment.” He said, “No, you’ll have to walk around the other block.” It was heavy traffic, so we’re going, “Oh geesh. Wouldn’t you just know it.” AP: What was your impression of the president? McCartney: At the very end, President Obama leaves the stage and he shook hands with my longtime associate, my guitar roadie John Hammel. John was quite taken aback. The president said, “That was fun, wasn’t it? Thank you.” But then the thing that I thought was amazing was he then reached over to our keyboard technician who was a little out of the way, and he didn’t need to do that. He reached over to this guy D.J. – who is a big admirer of Obama’s – and he took his hand and he said, “Thank you, thank you.” I was blown away. For me, the fact that he reached out to my crew was very heartwarming. It takes a great man to do that. In this business, some people are just jerks. AP: A night like that, with fellow musicians and dignitaries, are you able to quite fathom the impact of the Beatles and yourself on music and culture? McCartney: That’s what’s so amazing: It isn’t quite possible. It’s nearly possible. I think as time goes by I kind of understand a little bit more, just the reflective lens lends a bit of clarity to it. I meet so many people that just sort of say, “I want to thank you for your music. It really helped me” or “It changed my life.” I think back and I think, well, the interesting thing about the Beatles was: The music was one thing, but we kind of symbolized a certain kind of freedom at a time when people of our generation were just growing up and just becoming adults. This idea that you could maybe do anything with your life instead of just going down the road that was laid out for you. And it affected a lot of people. It’s hard to take it in, but it’s very gratifying. AP: The namesake of the honor is George Gershwin, and you grew up a devoted fan of Tin Pan Alley songwriting. What do you think is the most important thing that makes a song work? McCartney: The most important ingredient to making a song work is the magic. You’ve got a melody, you’ve got words, but on the more successful songs, there’s a sort of magic glow that just happens and you can feel it happening. It just makes the songs sort of roll out. So something like “Yesterday,” which I dreamed, that was the magic – the mere fact that I had the whole thing in a dream. And in other songs like “Let it Be,” that actually came from a dream where I saw my mother in the dream. “Hey Jude” just rolls out – “The Long & Winding Road.” But the ones that have become the most successful – “Eleanor Rigby” – something about them just felt kind of magical. So I suppose I’d say the one ingredient that was special to all of them was the magic in them. Does that make sense? — Online: http://www.pbs.org/ http://www.paulmccartney.com/ ? 2010 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .
July 26, 2010 | Posted in
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Owners of the iPhone will be able to legally break electronic locks on their devices in order to download software applications that haven’t been approved by Apple Inc., according to new government rules announced Monday. The decision to allow the practice commonly known as “jailbreaking” is one of a handful of new exemptions from a 1998 federal law that prohibits people from bypassing technical measures that companies put on their products to prevent unauthorized uses. The Library of Congress, which oversees the Copyright Office, reviews and authorizes exemptions every three years to ensure that the law does not prevent certain non-infringing use of copyright-protected material. In addition to jailbreaking, other exemptions announced Monday would: – allow owners of used cell phones to break access controls on their phones in order to switch wireless carriers. – allow people to break technical protections on video games to investigate or correct security flaws. – allow college professors, film students and documentary filmmakers to break copy-protection measures on DVDs so they can embed clips for educational purposes, criticism, commentary and noncommercial videos. – allow computer owners to bypass the need for external security devices called dongles if the dongle no longer works and cannot be replaced. ? 2010 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use .
July 26, 2010 | Posted in
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -? A judge says the state cannot place just the text of a health care amendment before voters without the ballot summary. Circuit Judge James Shelfer rejected an argument Friday by state elections officials that the ballot would suffice in lieu of summary language. Tallahassee attorney Mark Herron represented four private individuals who say the summary misrepresents the intent of the amendment. Shelfer said it would be the height of judicial arrogance to change the wording on the Amendment 9 proposal that was passed this spring by the Republican-controlled Legislature in reaction to President Obama’s national health care overhaul. Shelfer will near arguments next Thursday on the merits of the amendment itself. Related Articles Health Department reminds parents to get school children immunized Clean energy congress meeting in Tallahassee Health Alert: Reusable grocery bags Lee to Consider Mandatory Furloughs, More for Health Insurance
July 24, 2010 | Posted in
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