The World Largest Touch Screen Hacked !

It's gigantic ! It can handle over 100 simultaneous touch points! It has a curvature of 135 degrees! And best of all, it is NOT the newest, insanely expensive gadget to hit the market. Instead, this touchscreen was hacked together with a bunch of PCs, video cameras, projectors and cheap infrared illuminators at the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands.

It works like this: "The cameras, illuminators and projectors are all placed behind a large, cylindrical screen (formally used as a 3D theater). Due to the diffuse layer on the front side of the screen, the cameras cannot see clearly through the screen, however whenever someone touches the screen, enough of the infrared light is reflected back to see the tip of the finger. The difference is very small (on a scale of 0-255 the difference is only 2 or 3), but still big enough to be seen by the computers that analyze the images from the cameras."

The display is used to teach mathematics and computer science students the elusive concept of interactivity.

PlayStation Network Hacked, Information leaked !

PlayStation Network Hacked, Information leaked !

While the PlayStation Network is down, a lot of gamers are curious as to what have been the reasons to this outrageous downtime. Today, Media Molecule said that the PSN is once again, hacked.

According to the post that Media Molecule posted today, the PSN is hacked and it warned users not to enter any personal information including credit card, etc until the PSN website says it’s okay.
Here’s what Media Molecule posted:

The PSN is still down because of a hack and will remain out of service for another while yet (worst-case scenario would be 1 or 2 more days). DO NOT enter ANY personal information (credit card information etc.) until the PSN website says its OK. Even once the PSN website says it’s OK, please wait at least 2 hours to make sure it’s a legitimate announcement. But for the moment, you should be patient and don’t worry about it.

As what Patrick Seybold of Sony Computer Entertainment America said yesterday, the downtime may last up to two days depending on how successful they get in getting the server back up online.

The-HYDRA v6.1 brute force tool released!

One of the most famous network logon cracker - THC-HYDRA, has been updated! We now have THC-HYDRA version 6.1 in less than a fortnight!

“THC-HYDRA is a very fast network logon cracker which support many different services. This tool is a proof of concept code, to give researchers and security consultants the possibility to show how easy it would be to gain unauthorized access from remote to a system. It was tested to compile cleanly on Linux, Windows/Cygwin, Solaris, FreeBSD and OSX.”

This is the change log:
More license updates for the files for the debian guys
Fix for the configure script to correctly detect postgresql
Add checks for libssh v0.4 and support for ssh v1
Merge all latest crypto code in sasl files
Fix SVN compilation issue on openSUSE (tested with v11.3)

Hacker Pleads After Busted With 675K Stolen Cards

A Georgia man has pleaded guilty to fraud and identity theft after authorities found him in possession of more than 675,000 credit card numbers, some of which he obtained by hacking into business networks

Rogelio Hackett Jr., 26, pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count each of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft after authorities executed a search warrant at his home and discovered the card numbers, used to conduct fraudulent transactions totaling more than $36 million, on his computers and storage devices.

According to the indictment, authorities hunted Hackett down after monitoring his activity in internet relay chat (IRC) rooms and on underground forums, where he sold stolen card numbers, usually at $20 to $25 each to buyers around the world. He used the proceeds to make high-end purchases, such as a 2001 BMW X5 and a pair of $450 Louis Vuitton shoes.

In addition, Hackett was charged with obtaining devices used to create counterfeit credit cards.

According to prosecutors, Hackett started hacking in the late 1990s when he was a teenager and eventually was recruited to hack for profit.

He leveraged SQL injection vulnerabilities to access the networks of a number of businesses, including an unnamed online ticket provider in 2007 to steal 360,000 credit card numbers. He also purchased card data over the internet from individuals he believed lived in the United States, Russia and Ukraine.

The net began to close in on Hackett in 2009, after he sold 40 bogus credit cards for $1,180 to U.S. Secret Service agents.

He faces 12 years in prison when he is sentenced, scheduled for July 22. He also faces fines of $500,000 for the two charges.

Additionally he agreed to the judge's restitution order of $36 million. Sentencing is scheduled for July 22.