By just loading a PDF file on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, you could be handing over complete access to your device in what could quickly become a major security breach.

As a recent Apple convert, I’m as guilty as the next geek in thinking that by using Apple products I’m immune to the exploits and hacks that seem synonymous with Windows. I work each day knee deep in Microsoft and I see more than my share of trojans, viruses and spyware. Despite our best efforts, we’re cleaning this crud off of our computers multiple times each week.

When I acquired my first Apple computer (the iMac) in June of 2009 I was giddy as a school girl, not only at the prospect of having new technology, but also in having something I was sure would be free of the pitfalls of the average Microsoft system.

To this day I don’t run anti-virus or security software on my iMac because I know that it is just not as vulnerable as the Windows computers I deal with every day.

But in my heart of hearts, I know that is changing. The Mashable story above is a testament to this fact.

Apple computers and other devices like the iPhone and the iPad are becoming less and less of a novelty and more the mainstream each and every day. Long time hold outs for Microsoft like myself have switched to Apple. And more are adopting every day. Add to the mix the growing number of Blackberry and Windows Mobile users who are ditching these devices in favor of the the iPhone to connect to corporate resources and it’s not hard to imagine that the hackers and sploiters will have no choice but to turn their dark skills to this platform with greater and greater zeal.

I have long recognized that Apple products are not immune to being exploited because they are flawless and so very secure. They have simply enjoyed what is commonly referred to as “security through obscurity.” Hunting hackers in the Windows world enjoyed a target rich environment where identities and banking info was theirs for the taking.

To Apple’s credit, they seem to be very responsive when vulnerabilities in their platform are identified. This is in stark contrast to Microsoft who seem slow to acknowledge and address security issues in a timely fashion.

Every time I see a story like the one above it reminds me that “vigilance” is still the watchword. One simply cannot assume they are invulnerable just because they use one particular product. Digital predators are everywhere and as Apple becomes a juicier target, there’s no reason to suspect the hackers won’t want to add their own “bite” to the popular product logo, metaphorically speaking.

I for one and going to install anti-virus software immediately and keep an eye on sites like Mashable/Apple and Cult Of Mac to make sure I stay informed.

—-

Jay Lee is the co-creator and host of Technology Bytes Radio. Lee is also author of Helpline for the Houston Chronicle.

From About.com

In essence, jailbreaking your iPhone means freeing it from the limitations imposed on it by AT&T and Apple. You install a software application on your computer, and then transfer it to your iPhone, where it “breaks open” the iPhone’s file system to allow you to modify it.

Something we want to make abundantly clear is that taking action to jailbreak your iPhone can have dire consequences. Not only could it damage or destroy your iPhone if done incorrectly, it can also void your warranty. You should also know that there are abundant scams on the Internet that specifically target those who might want to explore the jailbreaking option.

One of our callers mentioned a web site that will provide you with the code to do this for a fee. We responded to the caller that you have no real assurance that the code provided isn’t malicious. To make our point for us, MacDailyNews published this article today called The Microsoft Tax: DNS Windows PC Trojan poses as iPhone unlock utility; Mac and iPhone unaffected

An application that offers to unlock iPhones is actually designed to hijack Internet connections on compromised Windows PCs, security watchers warn,” John Leyden reports for The Register.

While this malicious code only seems to affect Windows computers, who’s to say what the modification to the iPhone REALLY are in ANY of these applications? If you’re going to let someone you don’t know make modifications that could potentially destroy your device or compromise your personal data you are simply playing with fire.

At Technology Bytes we’re fully aware that users of technology like to tinker and we’re neither anti nor pro jailbreak. We just want our listeners to have all the facts.

Users could face fines of up to £500k if they cause a data security breach!

London, 20th January 2010 – A survey released today reveals that in the last year, 4,500 memory sticks have been forgotten in people’s pockets as they take their clothes to be washed at the local dry cleaners. From 6th April onwards if data is lost and it causes a major security breach, this could now cost a company up to £500k with new powers given to the Information Commissioner’s office (ICO) to fine companies who have not sufficiently protected customers details under the Data Protection Act[1].

However, when compared with the same study twelve months ago, the number of these devices languishing forgotten in people’s pockets has halved, and yet it’s still a staggering number of possible data breaches and a potential money spinner for the ICO.

However, the study sponsor – data security experts CREDANT Technologies, has a theory that this decline is likely to be a change in users’ habits as opposed to a significant breakthrough in people’s vigilance. In fact, its experience on the frontline of this battle is that users are now downloading information onto smartphones and netbooks, which have boomed in popularity in the last year, so although on the surface the decline looks promising in reality the situation has just been spread across a multitude of other devices.

Sean Glynn – vice president and chief marketing officer at Credant Technologies said “Although this study shows a positive drop in the number of lost memory sticks we would urge users to take more care than ever not to download unprotected customer details and other sensitive information that if lost could lead to a security breach, especially now there are harsh fines afoot. ”

The survey was carried out in the UK to gauge the frequency and ease with which mobile devices, such as memory sticks, are lost or forgotten in strange places such as dry cleaners and should warn people across the globe to demonstrate prudence when downloading information to carry around with them as it does frequently get lost. In previous studies conducted by Credant Technologies amongst taxi drivers in London and New York over 12,500 handheld devices such as laptops, iPods and memory sticks are forgotten at the back of taxis every 6 months!

Concluding Sean Glynn said “This survey is just one illustration of the stark truth that device losses are happening everywhere, everyday, worldwide. Organisations want to leverage the business benefits of mobile computing and provide their employees the flexibility to work wherever and whenever they want to. However, this must be balanced with the requirement of protecting the organisations data, especially to avoid penalties – such as that promised by the ICO, brand damage or even embarrassing press headlines. If sensitive or valuable data is being carried then people should protect it with encryption to prevent unauthorised access at any point – as it could easily end up in the wrong hands.”

Not just USB sticks left at the dry cleaners……but wedding rings, lipstick and ……….
When asked to recall what the strangest objects were that they’d found in customers pockets most had found pens, lipstick, stockings and a wedding ring, however one unfortunate dry cleaner had found a pair of false teeth!

From the press release:

Former CIA Tech Director Robert Wallace and Intelligence expert J. Keith Melton share the amazing gadgetry used by the CIA, from Communism to Al-Qaeda

What is an invisible photograph used for? What does it take to build a quiet helicopter? This may sound like a James Bond film, but these are actually technologies employed by CIA to gather information and insure national security. Now in paperback, SPYCRAFT: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE CIA’S SPYTECHS, FROM COMMUNISM TO AL-QAEDA (Plume/June 2009) by Robert Wallace and J. Keith Melton, shares the CIA’s secret and amazing technology behind the art of espionage, including never before seen photographs of government gadgets.

Spy technology exploded during the Second World War, and in the decades-long standoff with the Soviets, cameras, microphones, and encryption systems were clandestinely developed years before the public had access to them. And since, the CIA has transitioned from the Cold War to the digital age, and spycraft skills have developed alongside technology in prosecuting the long war against terrorism.

In the interview we will discuss the history and development of some of these amazingly inventive devices, created and employed against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions—including the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and continuing terrorist threats. Some of these devices include:

Technology Bytes hosts Jay Lee and Dwight Silverman have been nominated in the 2008 Statesman Texas Social Media Awards.

There are 125 nominees.

A panel of Statesman judges will choose from these nominations a list of the Top 25 social media users in Texas. Each person on that list will be recognized by the Statesman with an award, a badge for that winner’s blog and free tickets to a bash that they’re throwing around the same time as South by Southwest (these awards are not affiliated with SXSW).

An overall winner will be named at that time, too.

If you have a moment and the inclination please go to the nominee site and make a comment as this is something the judges will use to make their final determination. You can comment on Dwight’s nomination by clicking here and Jay Lee’s nomination by clicking here.

I run a website also, and would like to see if there are ways we can work
together to benefit both our businesses

She went on to say how great our site is and that is was deemed “worthy” of this offer

We feel your site meets our quality guidelines and would be a good fit.

The gist of the contact was that Digital Enterprises, Inc hosted a site called Instant-Registry-Fixes and that they wanted to provide content to Geekradio.com in the form of unique and topical articles for the site. As she went on to explain, these articles would contain 3-5 embedded Web links and all we had to do is agree to leave these links in place when we published the articles on our site.

We are willing to supply you with “unique” content for your website in
the form of keyword rich articles written on topics related to both our
sites. All of your articles will be on interesting topics relating to the
windows registry or related computer topics and of course, will be search
engine friendly. These quality articles will help you in your search engine
rankings, and will never be published on another website. We are offering
you unique high-quality content for your website. In return for the free
articles, we want the links within the article to remain intact. We will put
links (3 to 5) into the article.

I took a little time to investigate and it turns out that Instant-Registry-Fixes is simply a portal run by Digital Enterprises, Inc to push a program called Regcure which is put out by a company called Pareto Logic and that Digital Enterprises, Inc is nothing more than a web marketing firm.

This is the kind of thing I truly despise. This type of marketing works very hard to make sure their web sites show up when computer users search the Web looking for solutions to their problems. If you go out and search for a solution to a registry problem you might stumble across Instant-Registry-Fixes site and find a few possible solutions. But what they want you to see if the download option for the Regcure program.

The site, and many others like it, serve only to sell the reader on the idea that a registry cleaning software is the best solution.

Once they get you to download and install the program it scans your computer and reports a ton of errors.

Sure the software and the scan of your system is free, but guess what? You’ll have to pay for the program before it will fix these so-called “errors.”

According to various articles I have read, the software is not very good and can actually be difficult to remove once installed. There have also been some web reports that indicate sites offer to sell the program for $9.99, but when the bill came the buyers discovered they were charged as much as $40.00. Google search Regcure Scam for some very interesting reading.

I have said it before, and I will say it again. I don’t believe in any program that claims to fix registry issues. They simply don’t work as advertised. Do not be suckered into this type of scam.

And for the record, we won’t be accepting any content for Geekradio.com from these modern day snake oil salesmen….

*note: Many sites offer Regcure for download. Most of them don’t mention the name of the product and just offer a download link. Be aware the downloadable file for Regcure is RegCureSetup_1_5.exe. If you see that file, cancel the download immediately!

Jay Lee was interviewed by Jeff Ehling for ABC 13 (KTRK) about the new music service Qtrax that claims to be offering free and legal music downloads…

You can see the whole story here: Free online music downloads?

The Houston Chronicle’s own weather geek, Eric “SciGuy” Berger, will call in
tonight on Technology Bytes to talk about the science of the tropical storm (Humberto) that’s bearing down on us here in Houston.

Eric does the SciGuy blog, and is a finalist for an Online News Association award.

We’ll bring him on right after the regular news segment around 8:30 CST or so.

Tune in at 90.1 FM KPFT or catch the stream from the station website at kpft.org

If you get an invitation from a friend inviting you to join a social networking site call Quechup, delete it. Joining up and making the wrong decisions in the process could result in the site spamming everyone in your address book.

Yes, Quechup is a genuine social network. But the way it acquires new members is questionable at best.

When you accept an invitation and sign up, it asks you if you’d like to find other people who may be on it by scanning your e-mail address book for people who are in the service. If you use a Web-based e-mail account — Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo, for example — it asks for your login information.

This is common to many social networks — Twitter will do this, for example. But Quechup goes one step further. It automatically sends an e-mail invitation to everyone in your address book, which looks as though it came from you. It does this without warning — essentially, spamming in your name.

I received an invitation that appeared to come from a local blogger. I joined, but did not allow the address-book scan. After I mentioned what I’d done on Twitter, someone warned me about the site and I did some quick research.

This blogger fell for it and wound up spamming all his contacts. He then sent them all an apology, and the resulting e-mail blast caused Google to suspend his Gmail account!

Be smart, and stay away from this site. It’s got serious ethical problems with the way it recruits new users.