Recover Lost Documents

A group of Chinese hackers broke into Apple’s gift certificate algorithm and used a key generator to hack the codes of iTunes music gift cards worth $200 each. The hackers, in turn, are selling the cards, valued at $200 each, on a Chinese Web site for as little as $2.60.

Daniel Ionescu reported in his article for PC World that the somehow legitimate gift cards are being sold on an eBay-like site in China for less than $3 in some instances. The buyer receives a gift voucher code from the seller via the site’s integrated instant messaging platform. The code, then, can be used to redeem the card from a user’s iTunes account.

The Chinese blog Outdustry stated that the codes from China are so inexpensive because more people went into this business in the last six months and prices had gone down. The Chinese code seller also stated that he buys the codes from hackers and then turns a profit once more codes are sold.

Apple has not yet commented on the matter. Ionescu noted that the hacked codes could be present on legitimate $200 gift cards in stores now and that buyers could end up paying for an invalid card.

At the time of Ionescu’s article writing, the gift cards and vouchers section of the U.S. Apple Store site was under maintenance.

Google confirmed that a glitch within its free Google Docs utility caused the exposure of some private documents.

JR Raphael stated in a report for PC World that Google stated that only a small number of users were affected and that the issue has been fixed.

Google representatives believe that the bug was limited to less than 0.05 percent of all documents within the system that the files affected were exposed only on a limited basis.

Jennifer Mazzon, product manager of Google Docs, stated that the accidental sharing was limited to people with whom the document owner, or a collaborator with sharing rights, had previously shared a document.

Mazzon added that the issue affected so few users because it only could have occurred for a minute percentage of documents, and for those documents only when a specific sequence of user actions took place.

The sequence of actions involved a user selecting multiple documents within his or her account, then making any sort of adjustment to the “share” settings on the files. Both documents and presentations were affected; spreadsheets, on the other hand, retained their appropriate privacy settings.

Google directly contacted everyone whose documents might have been compromised, denoting within the message specifically which files may have been shared.

Computer historians and researchers at Portsmouth University are developing a software emulator, which will recognize and run all data files from the 1970s through to the present day. Files range from games such as Space Invaders and Pacman to floppy discs and minidiscs of more recent years.

Siobhan Chapman states in a report for Computerworld UK that the Portsmouth University experts are building the world’s first “general purpose emulator,” out of the hope that it will be able to read all types of computer files.

The emulator is part of a project called KEEP (Keeping Emulation Environments Portable), which is aimed at preserving digital files which may otherwise have been lost.

The researchers are also aiming to make the software “future-proof” so that every single piece of data and software created can be coded to be read by newer and faster computers in the future.

Computer historian Dr. Janet Delve stated that digital files risk being either lost by degrading or by the technology used to read it disappearing altogether. Delve cited that by 2010, the amount of digital information created will be equal to 18 million times the information held in all the books ever written.

Historian Dr. David Anderson felt that future generations could face a “cultural catastrophe” with the loss of software from early game consoles and computers.

Researcher and computer games expert Dan Pinchbeck added that games represent an important part of our recent cultural history, and that they are the biggest media formats on Earth and should be preserved for future generations.

Late last year, a Sydney computer society donated an old IBM tape drive in order to recover valuable mission data gathered by NASA’s Apollo missions to the moon forty years ago.

The hacker accused of stealing the e-mail password of former vice presidential nominee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is facing additional federal charges, in addition to the initial charge of breaking into a computer. The new charges consist of fraud, illegal electronic transmission of material outside Tennessee, and efforts to hide records to sabotage an FBI investigation.

Patricia Resende states in her report for the NewsFactor Network that accused hacker, David Kernell, is suspected of stealing Palin’s e-mail password and posting her e-mail messages during her run for vice president.

Kernell is the son of Tennessee State Rep. Mike Kernell, a Memphis Democrat and vice chairman of Tennessee’s House Government Operations Committee.

The new charges against Kernell came after he allegedly deleted records on his laptop to cover his tracks. If convicted, Kernell could receive up to five years in jail for each count and a fine of up to $250,000, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s office in Knoxville.

The Associated Press reported that Kernell pleaded not guilty to the four charges.

Kernell allegedly accessed Palin’s account after answering security questions that allowed him to reset the password and gain access, according to the indictment.

Kernell allegedly made screenshots of the e-mail directory, e-mail content, and other personal information, which includes e-mail addresses, family photos, and cellular numbers.

The indictment states that he then allegedly posted screenshots of the e-mails and other information on a public Web site, and posted the new password, allowing others to also access the account.

Jart Armin, a security expert with HostExploit, stated that the new charges seem to be rather extreme since Kernell’s crimes did not appear to be an implicit cybercriminal act. Kernell’s actions, stated Armin, are comparable to that of a PC-aware teenager.