Cyber criminals have remotely attacked cash machines in more than a dozen countries across Europe this year, using malicious software that forces machines to spit out cash.

The recent heists in Europe and Asia were run from central, remote command centers, enabling criminals to target large numbers of machines in “smash and grab” operations that seek to drain large amounts of cash before banks uncover the hacks.

“They are taking this to the next level in being able to attack a large number of machines at once,” said Nicholas Billett, Diebold Nixdorf’s senior director of core software and ATM Security. “They know they will be caught fairly quickly, so they stage it in such a way that they can get cash from as many ATMs as they can before they get shut down.”

Gone are the days when mugging at knife point was the best way to steal your money. Now it seems criminals can work remotely from the comfort of their living room. Cyber attacks are getting so common now that I think Banks need to re-think their security setups.

More at Reuters.

Samsung issues a statement regarding the Samsung Galaxy S7 Battery

November 21, 2016Android, Tech NewsSamsung issues statement on its S7 batteryGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Call this one rather odd, but Samsung has decided to issue a statement with reference to the Samsung Galaxy S7 battery.

This no doubt has been issued followed the Note 7 saga and potentially the impact and association on other models in the range.

Samsung stated “the company “stands behind the quality and safety of the Galaxy S7 family” the short note goes on to say that “there have been no confirmed cases of internal battery failures with these devices among the more than 10 million devices being used by consumers in the United States.”

Android Authority

Apple offers free battery replacements for iPhone 6S handsets that keep shutting down

November 21, 2016Apple, Tech NewsiPhone 6S Official Apple Battery Replacement ProgramGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Via Apple

“Apple has determined that a very small number of iPhone 6s devices may unexpectedly shut down. This is not a safety issue and only affects devices within a limited serial number range that were manufactured between September and October 2015.

If you have experienced this issue, please visit an Apple Retail Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider and have your device’s serial number checked to confirm eligibility for a battery replacement, free of charge.

Replacement Process –

Choose one of the service options below to have your battery replaced. Your iPhone will be examined prior to any service to verify that it is eligible for this program and in working order.”

This is interesting to note as my wife’s iPhone 6S has this exact problem. The phone just turns off, even though when plugged into the mains, it turns on at around 20-30% charge. Seems she will need a replacement battery now.

The Day after Storm Angus – The South West & Dartmoor hit by a huge storm

November 20, 2016Photography, Tech Newsdartmoor, the day after storm agnusGavin Fabiani-Laymond

It is hard to believe that yesterday evening and into the early hours the UK got hit by Storm Angus. In the South West of England, the storm hit hard causing flooding, gale force winds with lots of trees falling and more.

Up here on the Moors of Dartmoor, I was expecting the storm to be significantly worse due to the rural exposed environment. It wasn’t pleasant but we didn’t get the full force luckily.

Anyway, this morning I took my 3 Labradors out for their walk on Dartmoor. It was water logged, soft sinking mud in places but otherwise the sun was out looking glorious. The weather is due to turn nasty again, as I write this the sun has now vanished leaving an overcast sky.

I created a short video using my iPhone 7 Plus and Sony RX100. The video is from the iPhone.

Three UK got hacked – Here’s the official statement & facts from the CEO of Three UK

November 18, 2016Tech NewsDetails of customers affected, Official response by Three UK, Three UK got hackedGavin Fabiani-Laymond

From Three UK

As you may already know, we recently became aware of suspicious activity on the system we use to upgrade existing customers to new devices and I wanted to update all our customers on what happened and what we have done.

I understand that our customers will be concerned about this issue and I would like to apologise for this and any inconvenience this has caused.

Once we became aware of the suspicious activity, we took immediate steps to block it and add additional layers of security to the system while we investigated the issue.

On 17th November we were able to confirm that 8 customers had been unlawfully upgraded to a new device by fraudsters who intended to intercept and sell on those devices.

I can now confirm that the people carrying out this activity were also able to obtain some customer information. In total, information from 133,827 customer accounts was obtained but no bank details, passwords, pin numbers, payment information or credit/debit card information are stored on the upgrade system in question.

We believe the primary purpose of this was not to steal customer information but was criminal activity to acquire new handsets fraudulently.

We are contacting all of these customers today to individually confirm what information has been accessed and directly answer any questions they have.

As an additional precaution we have put in place increased security for all these customer accounts.
We have been working closely with law enforcement agencies on this matter and three arrests have been made.

I understand that this will have caused some concern and inconvenience for our customers and for that I sincerely apologise.

David Dyson
CEO

Source – Three UK

Three UK suffered a cyber event – 3 men arrested – Updated

November 17, 2016Tech NewsThree UK cyber attackGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Update – On Wednesday the National Crime Agency (NCA) said it had arrested two men from Manchester and one man from Kent as part of its inquiries.

A 48-year-old man from Orpington, Kent, and a 39-year old man from Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, were arrested on suspicion of computer misuse offences, the NCA said.

The third man, a 35-year old from Moston, Greater Manchester, was arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

See conclusion at end of post.

The Telegraph reported that Three hd suffered a massive data breach in which the personal information and contact details of millions of customers could have been accessed. It is believed to one of the largest hacks of its kind to affect people living in Britain.

The personal details of millions of Three customers in the UK may have been accessed by cyber criminals. The information was contained on Three’s upgrade database, which stores the names, phone numbers, addresses and date of birth of people who use the network.

Three has not yet confirmed how many customers may be at risk but the company has advised concerned customers to call 333 on a Three mobile phone or 0333 338 1001 from another phone to get more information about the breach and whether their details may have been accessed.

This information from Reuters and the Telegraph appears to be completely over the top inaccurate.

It seems this is more of a crime to steal phones than anything else and that the media is completely over exaggerating everything. Peoples records were unlikely accessed in the millions. Sounds like more of a sophisticated phone theft only which involved around 400 top priced phones being stolen in stores.

Source

Source 2

My Favourite Recent Photos from the Apple iPhone 7 Plus

November 17, 2016Apple, Tech NewsApple iPhone 7 Plus, fav camera shotsGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Below are the most recent and favourite photos snapped with my Apple iPhone 7 Plus.

Shooting in to the sun with Fury and Tiggy running isn’t the easiest shot to take, but the iPhone did a good job.

Here George and Tiggy are keen to get some dog treats.

The Duchy Hotel was host to a Royal Wedding in the 1950’s. Now its part of the High Moorland Visitor Centre in Princetown. This is only half of the building.

This is a crop of a live photo, snapped through my car windscreen.

Postbridge, Dartmoor. This is the main road through the village. As you can see, not many cars pass along this route.

I really like the above sunset shot taken on Dartmoor. The sky was as black as anything, ready to deliver a huge storm.

As you can see some lovely photos from the Apple iPhone 7.

Tech Addicts Podcast – A Return to Form

November 17, 2016podcastA Return to Form, Tech Addicts PodcastGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Tech Addicts Podcast is back again with a new episode starring Gareth Myles, Jay Garrett, Leila Gregory and myself. Tech Addicts is released every 2 weeks.

To listen to the latest episode subscribe by searching “Tech Addicts” within your favourite podcast app, iTunes, Google Play Music Podcasts or use the URL “mobiletechaddicts.libsyn.com/rss” to add directly.

Or you can listen directly below –

The Grand Tour starts 18th November 2016 -Special offer on Amazon Prime

November 16, 2016Amazonamazon prime, The Grand TourGavin Fabiani-Laymond

Grand Tour Season 1 starts this Friday on Amazon Prime. To watch it you need to be a member of Amazon Prime. For the next few days Amazon is taking £20 off the annual membership of £79, making it just £59.

Click HERE for your Amazon Prime offer.

Obviously apart from the Grand Tour, you also get access to all the other Prime benefits.

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Tech Reviews & Photography

Hackers target European ATMs in spree that highlights new cyber threat – It just gets worse