Saturday, March 30, 2013

Software : Selected Apple iMessage users hit by DDoS attack, forcing iOS app crash

Software : Selected Apple iMessage users hit by DDoS attack, forcing iOS app crash

Selected Apple iMessage users hit by DDoS attack, forcing iOS app crash

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Selected Apple iMessage users hit by DDoS attack, forcing iOS app crash

A group of iOS developers and hackers are reporting they've become the target of a malicious attack which overwhelms the Apple iMessage application with spam texts.

The attack, which appears to be confined to those directly targeted, sends messages (claiming to be from Anonymous) in such a large volume that the recipient is constantly receiving notifications.

The next level is to send a single 'Zaglo text' so large in size that the iOS iMessage app cannot cope with the load and crashes.

As Apple's iMessage app does not limit how fast texts can be sent, and does not allow users to block senders, there's no mechanism in place to prevent their instant delivery.

Motivation?

This constitues a new kind of DDoS attack, the kind of which we've seen hackers and online activists use to bring down government websites in the past couple of years.

The iMessage pranksters' motivation isn't totally clear at present, but The Next Web reports that the attack originated from a Twitter account "involved in selling UDIDs, provisioning profiles and more that facilitate in the installation of pirated App Store apps which are re-signed and distributed."

The report suggests that the attack was conducted using AppleScript to set up and send the overwhelming number of messages using the OS X iMessage client, something one victim said was extremely easy to do.

iOS developer Paul Grant told The Next Web: "What's happening is a simple flood: Apple doesn't seem to limit how fast messages can be sent, so the attacker is able to send thousands of messages very quickly."

Apple has been notified of the issue, but is yet to comment.

Apple reportedly pushing hard for iRadio launch as soon as June

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Apple reportedly pushing hard for iRadio launch as soon as June

Apple could launch its long-rumored iRadio service as soon as this summer, finally giving iTunes a streaming music app to take on Pandora and Spotify.

"iRadio is coming. There's no doubt about it anymore," an unnamed music industry source told The Verge.

The report says that Apple is pushing hard for a summertime launch of the streaming music app after making "significant progress" in talks with two top labels, Universal and Warner.

Another Apple rumor from today pins the iPhone 5S launch event to June 20, so the company's apparent push to have an iRadio app present at the event would make sense.

iRadio app negotiations

Apple has reportedly low-balled record labels in negotiations, and the record labels have, in turn, allegedly rebuffed the Apple and its ability to launch iRadio.

The initial offer from Apple is said to have been as low as 6 cents per 100 songs streamed when the Copyright Royalty Board's fair rate for non-broadcast companies is 21 cents per 100 songs.

To give some perspective, Pandora pays 12 cents per 100 songs streamed, while Spotify pays 35 cents per 100 songs streamed.

Whether or not Apple secures a much better deal than all of the other music streaming services out there, the unprofitable Pandora and Spotify are going to be seeking reduced licensing fees.

This will especially be the case if Apple's iRadio app takes on the internet radio spectrum.

Vine adds snappy web embeds in latest update

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Vine adds snappy web embeds in latest update

The latest update to Twitter's Vine app arrived this week with new ways to share the six second video clips.

Most importantly, the Vine update added the ability to embed Vine posts online directly within the iOS app or from the Vine website.

The new Vine embeds can take two forms: a simple layout that only shows the clip, and a "postcard" version that includes your name and the post's date and description.

Vine posts can also be embedded in three sizes: 320px, 480px, and 600px.

Saw it through the grape Vine

With the latest version of the Vine iOS app (sorry Android users, no Vine in sight for you still), users can embed Vine posts by tapping the ellipsis ("…") in the lower-right corner of a post.

From there the video can be shared via an "embed" button that reveals the post's embed code, or added directly to Facebook or Twitter.

This can be done on users' own posts or on the posts of others, provided those users have already shared their own posts outside of Vine.

How do they look?

The embedded Vine posts that can be seen on Vine's blog, CBS, MLB, and USA Today look snappy and load quickly. They're certainly better than GIFs.

Vine highlighted those websites specifically in its blog post announcing the embed update, indicating that support for the short-form video app goes beyond Hollywood (a clip from The Wolverine was published to Vine this week).

"When we launched Vine, we described posts as 'little windows into the people, settings, ideas and objects that make up your life,'" Vine co-founder and general manager Dom Hofmann wrote in the blog post.

"With today's update, you can display them almost anywhere."
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