Mark Dalby

It’s possible to encrypt an iOS backup using iTunes. However, a piece of software has just been released which allows the encryption to be cracked, therefore giving someone full access to the data stored in your backup.

I suggested some reasons why to encrypt your iOS backups before, the main one being that your data is then protected. But this new software, called Phone Password Breaker Tool, is available to anyone wishing to pay a small fee for it. It’s being marketed as a tool to ‘recover’ password-protected devices, but it could also be used as a way for hackers to get access to your phone backups.

Able to get past the encryption on backups of both Apple’s iOS devices and BlackBerry devices, Phone Password Breaker will not only reveal the password set on the backup, but also extract passwords for mail accounts, websites and third-party applications — data that could be of great interest to malicious characters.
Hack In The Box

Before I actually write any meaningful content, I just want to say… I told you so!

Danger (a Microsoft subsidiary) yesterday announced to Sidekick users that they have got little to no chance of ever seeing any personal information that was stored on their device – such as contacts, calendar entries, to-do lists or photos. This is apparently the bi-product of a “Server Failure” and Danger’s datacenter.

Now, I’m not a sidekick user personally (I don’t think they really hit the UK) but when did “Server Failure” become an acceptable reason for losing massive amounts of data (Backups anyone?).

Not only that but “Server Failure” could be one of a trilliondifferent things. This mentality of generic bullshit catagorizing is really starting to annoy me!!

This is yet another prime example of why I never use Microsoft products.

If you visit the T-Mobile website you are given the following message…

T-MOBILE AND MICROSOFT/DANGER STATUS UPDATE ON SIDEKICK DATA DISRUPTION

Dear valued T-Mobile Sidekick customers:

T-Mobile and the Sidekick data services provider, Danger, a subsidiary of Microsoft, are reaching out to express our apologies regarding the recent Sidekick data service disruption.

We appreciate your patience as Microsoft/Danger continues to work on maintaining platform stability, and restoring all services for our Sidekick customers.

Regrettably, based on Microsoft/Danger’s latest recovery assessment of their systems, we must now inform you that personal information stored on your device – such as contacts, calendar entries, to-do lists or photos – that is no longer on your Sidekick almost certainly has been lost as a result of a server failure at Microsoft/Danger. That said, our teams continue to work around-the-clock in hopes of discovering some way to recover this information. However, the likelihood of a successful outcome is extremely low. As such, we wanted to share this news with you and offer some tips and suggestions to help you rebuild your personal content. You can find these tips in our Sidekick Contacts FAQ. We encourage you to visit the Forums on a regular basis to access the latest updates as well as FAQs regarding this service disruption.

In addition, we plan to communicate with you on Monday (Oct. 12) the status of the remaining issues caused by the service disruption, including the data recovery efforts and the Download Catalog restoration which we are continuing to resolve. We also will communicate any additional tips or suggestions that may help in restoring your content.

We recognize the magnitude of this inconvenience. Our primary efforts have been focused on restoring our customers’ personal content. We also are considering additional measures for those of you who have lost your content to help reinforce how valuable you are as a T-Mobile customer.

We continue to advise customers to NOT reset their device by removing the battery or letting their battery drain completely, as any personal content that currently resides on your device will be lost.

Once again, T-Mobile and Microsoft/Danger regret any and all inconvenience this matter has caused.

Shocking,

Mark