Chennai Corporation Website Leaks All Birth Certificates Since 1910.

The website managed by the Corporation of Chennai has inadvertently leaked the private details of citizens born in Chennai since 1910, by not putting in any verification checks whatsoever.

Anyone on the Internet can enter any random date and gender to download birth certificates of Chennai citizens born since 1910 as pdf files. The breach was pointed a few hours go in a tweetstorm by Twitter user ST_Hill.

As mentioned by him, we were able to download birth certificates as pdf files without entering any security checks, other than a number verification code.

It's quite likely that once the entire internet discovers this data breach, phishers and hackers could easily steal the identities of citizens on from the portal through crucial details like date of birth, address, mother's name, which form a part of security checks in online commerce and banks.

What a horrible understanding of privacy and personal data. And we think Aadhaar will be the one to create this problem. Sigh!

-- St_Hill (@St_Hill)December 23, 2015

Senthil also points out a simple hack that enables users to skirt the number verification sequence - simply by editing the date in the URL. This gives identity thieves an even easier backdoor for mass identity theft. In the same Twitter thread, Karthik Balakrishnan reveals that the URLs are sequential, making it even easier for a hacker to design a script and scrape all the personal data from the certificates.

Such data breaches do bring into question whether government bodies have fully understood the importance of keeping citizen data private and secure in their rush to digitise India. Earlier this year, Trai had released emails with names of everyone who had submitted responses to its consultation paper on net neutrality.

Gadgets 360 has emailed the Chennai Corporation heads informing them about this breach, and has requested a comment asking for an update on activity logs and latest visitors statistics on its website.

Delhi records its most polluted day of the year.

It was the most polluted day of the year in Delhi today with the authorities recording the highest levels of suspended particulate matters PM 2.5 and PM 10, taking the air quality into the 'severe' category across the city. 

Although a definite conclusion could not be reached immediately, the experts attribute the spike to "open biomass burning", mainly burning of dry leaves to fight cold, across the region for the "extraordinary rise" in the levels of the particulate matters. 
The air quality across Delhi had plunged into 'severe' level post Diwali, but pollutants had shown a steady fall earlier this month. 

The average of PM 2.5 (the tiniest and most damaging of all the particulate matters) and PM 10 were 295 and 470 micrograms per cubic metre respectively, which was multiple times above the corresponding safe limits of 60 and 100, centre's System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) said. 

Severe category air quality affects healthy persons and seriously impacts those with existing diseases. China's capital Beijing has a system in place to alert citizens when pollution takes such hazardous turn, according to the National Air Quality Index. 

SAFAR's Chief Project scientist Gufran Beig said the possible reasons for such a "huge jump", include a rise in the quantity of pollutants from the Indo-Gangetic plains that ranges from Eastern part of the country to the West, and a substantial rise in open biomass in Delhi and its surrounding areas. 

"Medium range transport of pollutants from Indo-Gangetic Plains (rich in pollution) is highest at this time that brings pollution-rich air, which after reaching Delhi, gets downward and pollute Delhi surface. The IGP regions (Kanpur, Varanasi, Lucknow, Patna, etc.) has shown a huge increase in particulate matters," Beig said.
According to SAFAR's forecast, there is no respite in sight as PM 2.5 is expected to remain in the same category over the next few days with a possible marginal fall on December 25 to 248 micrograms per cubic metre. 

"Now, if there is a huge open biomass burning in IGP region, the transported air will be even more dirty and make Delhi more polluted," Beig said, adding that the kind of jump seen between December 21 and 23 "is unusual and meteorology cannot explain this jump." 

World Health Organisation considers 25 to be the maximum safe level for PM 2.5 and as the best indicator of the level of health risks from air pollution. 

Real time readings of Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) stations in Anand Vihar, Mandir Marg, Punjabi Bagh and RK Puram put PM 2.5 readings at 408, 336, 389 and 366 around 7.30 PM. 

CPCB website, functional after almost two weeks, also displayed the 'severe' warning across its stations. 

'Very poor' quality air signifies when PM 10 level is between 351 and 420, and PM 2.5 level is between 211 to 252 microgram per cubic metre.

Kim Kardashian’s new emoji app breaks Apple’s App Store.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian’s ‘Kimoji’ app got downloaded so many times that it affected the Apple’s App Store.

The 35-year-old star apologised to the multinational technology company for the technical issues that occurred due to her app, reported Aceshowbiz.

“Apple, I’m so sorry I broke your App Store!!” Kardashian tweeted.

Apple, I'm so sorry I broke your App Store!!!

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 21, 2015

“I can’t believe so many people downloaded my KIMOJI app that it affected the entire app store! We worked so hard on this app & we know there are some issues due to the massive downloads that the whole tech team is so working on!”

I can't believe so many people downloaded my KIMOJI app that it affected the entire app store!

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 21, 2015

Later, she tried to convince her fans that her app would be available on the App Store again soon.

We worked so hard on this app & we know there are some issues due to the massive downloads that the whole tech team is so working on!

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 21, 2015

“My Kimoji app will be up and running again soon! They are also working on fixing the search so u can easily find it!” she continued. “Ahhhh I still can’t believe we broke the entire App Store!!!! #KIMOJI.”

My Kimoji app will be up and running again soon! They are also working on fixing the search so u can easily find it!

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 21, 2015

At one point, apparently, 9,000 people were downloading the app per second at the same time.

While the App Store team was still fixing the issue, she gave her fans a peek of emojis available in the new app.

The mother of two showed her text conversation with her family members including Kris Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian and Khloe Kardashian.

As shown by her in screengrabs of her text messages with her family, the emojis which include more than 250 food, beauty and pop culture-related images appeared to have made the conversation more fun. 

Google working on smarter messaging app: WSJ.

Google, part of Alphabet Inc, is building a new mobile messaging application to better compete with rival services such as those offered by Facebook Inc, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The new service would tap into Google's artificial intelligence know-how, integrating chatbots, or software programs that answer questions, inside a messaging app, the Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The new app will enable users to text friends or a chatbot, which will search the web and other sources for information to answer a question.

It is unclear when the service will be launched, or what it will be named, the report said.

Google declined to comment.

Popular messaging apps include Facebook's WhatsApp and Messenger services, and Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat, while Google has a service called Hangouts.

Google Confirms They Are Testing Password-Free Logins.

Google was testing out some kind of new login feature where you would not require a password. Given that passwords can sometimes be easily figured out, like birth dates, names of loved ones, a phone number, and etc., this seemed like a good idea. The only problem was we couldn’t be sure it was real.
The good news is that according to a post by Android Police, it seems that Google has confirmed to them that they are testing out this feature. In a statement provided to Android Police, Google said, “We’ve invited a small group of users to help test a new way to sign in to their Google accounts, no password required. ‘Pizza’, ‘password’ and ‘123456’—your days are numbered.”Google also points out that this feature is being tested on both Android and iOS devices, so don’t let the Android screenshots fool you as iOS users who were selected can get in on the fun as well. Unfortunately Google did not state when they will roll out this feature in earnest, or if at all, but it is worth looking forward to.
For those unfamiliar with how it works, basically you’ll have to link your smartphone with your Google account. When you enter your email address to log into any Google website, you will be notified on your phone asking if it is really you trying to log in.

Gionee Marathon M5 Plus launched in China: All the key specs

Gionee Marathon M5 Plus, the bigger screen version of the battery-heavy Marathon M5, has been launched in China by the company. The Marathon M5 Plus features a 6-inch full HD screen and a fingerprint scanner in the home button.

However unlike the Marathon M5 which had a 6020 mAh battery, the Marathon M5 Plus has a smaller 5020 mAh battery. Marathon M5 Plus has a standby time of 34.5 days and 829 hours of maximum standby time.

The Marathon M5 Plus has been priced at Yuan 2499 in China (Rs 25,567 when converted). The original Marathon M5 was launched in India for Rs 17,999.

Marathon M5 Plus has a 6-inch full HD, 2.5D curved AMOLED display (368ppi), has 3GB RAM and the MediaTek MT6753 octa-core 64-bit processor. It comes with 64GB storage space, runs Android 5.1 with Gionee’s Amigo OS 3.0 on top.

Marathon M5 Plus has a fingerprint scanner which the company claims can unlock the phone in 0.38 seconds. Users can store up to five fingerprints on the phone via scanner.

Facebook helps find fun events going on around you

Want some help figuring out what to do tonight or this weekend?

Maybe you should turn to someone, or something, that knows a lot about you, like who you hang out with, what you like to do, where you live and where you go.

Facebook executives are hoping that's exactly what you'll want to do.

The social networking company is testing an events service designed to help users find things to do around their location.

Facebook said the new Event service is available only on the iPhone. With the service, users can specify if they're looking for something to do tonight, on Saturday afternoon or maybe a week from Friday.

Traveling for work or visiting relatives in another city? The service lets you adjust your location.

There's a "Suggested for You" section based on what Facebook knows about you and the things you have liked to do in the past.

"When you go to your Events dashboard in the Facebook app, you'll see new sections with Event results," a Facebook spokeswoman said in an email toComputerworld. "These will include specific categories like Music, Food & Drinks, Nightlife, Sports & Fitness and more."

Microsoft creates its own store within Google Play

To encourage users of Android -- which is by far the most popular mobile operating system in the world -- to use its apps, Microsoft has created its own store on Google Play. This store, which takes the form of an app, enables anyone to easily access and download any of Microsoft's apps that are Android-compatible, such as Office, Skype and Wunderlist.

Microsoft's idea is to have its apps on everyone's screen and to make them popular outside of the Windows universe. While its operating system is still dominant in the PC sphere, the same cannot be said for mobile phones, where Microsoft is still struggling to establish itself. In the third quarter of 2015, sales of smartphones running Windows Phone only accounted for 1.7 per cent of the total (down by 1.3 points), according to Gartner figures.

As a result, Microsoft has decided to launch its own store within Google Play in the form of an app. Microsoft Apps contains links to around 80 apps categorized by theme (communication, education, finance, photography, productivity, etc).

In addition to well-known apps such as the Office suite and Skype, Microsoft Apps enables you to discover other less familiar apps that it wants to bring to the fore. There are also apps bought by Microsoft such as the task manager Wunderlist and the calendar app Sunrise.

Microsoft Apps is free and can be downloaded from Google Play.

Microsoft creates its own store within Google Play

To encourage users of Android -- which is by far the most popular mobile operating system in the world -- to use its apps, Microsoft has created its own store on Google Play. This store, which takes the form of an app, enables anyone to easily access and download any of Microsoft's apps that are Android-compatible, such as Office, Skype and Wunderlist.

Microsoft's idea is to have its apps on everyone's screen and to make them popular outside of the Windows universe. While its operating system is still dominant in the PC sphere, the same cannot be said for mobile phones, where Microsoft is still struggling to establish itself. In the third quarter of 2015, sales of smartphones running Windows Phone only accounted for 1.7 per cent of the total (down by 1.3 points), according to Gartner figures.

As a result, Microsoft has decided to launch its own store within Google Play in the form of an app. Microsoft Apps contains links to around 80 apps categorized by theme (communication, education, finance, photography, productivity, etc).

In addition to well-known apps such as the Office suite and Skype, Microsoft Apps enables you to discover other less familiar apps that it wants to bring to the fore. There are also apps bought by Microsoft such as the task manager Wunderlist and the calendar app Sunrise.

Microsoft Apps is free and can be downloaded from Google Play.

Linux vulnerability lets anyone log-in into comp by tapping backspace 28 times

Linux vulnerability lets anyone log-in into comp by tapping backspace 28 times

Linux has serious vulnerability in its GRUB bootloader which could allow hackers to access a locked computer by just typing the backspace key 28 times.Linux has a serious vulnerability in its GRUB bootloader which could allow hackers to access a locked computer by just typing the backspace key 28 times.
The issue was first reported by two researchers Hector Marco and Ismael Ripoll from the Cybersecurity Group at the Universitat Politècnica de València, according to a report on PCWorld. The researchers have put up the full details of the potential flaw in the Linux systemhere.
According to the PCWorld report, GRUB (Grand Unified Bootloader) is used by most Linux distributions, has a password feature that can restrict boot entries. The protection is important especially in organisations that are using Linux.
Dell admits security issues in its laptops makes them vulnerable to hackersThe researchers showed that by pressing the backspace key 28 times, hackers can bypass the need to put in a password or username and gain access.
According to the researchers, the bug is in the code of Grub since version 1.98 (December, 2009) affecting loader versions till December 2015.
Hackers who successfully exploit this can get access to a Grub rescue shell, a very powerful shell which can give them “full access to the grub’s console.”
Researchers also says hackers can load malware from a USB, copy the full disk or even launch a denial of service attack by destroying any data, including the grub. Attackers can overwrite the disk, causing denial of service.