Tag Archives: NC State
Android ‘smishing’ vulnerability discovered by NCSU researchers; Google has a fix incoming
The art of smishing (SMS-Phishing) has been practiced for some time, but a discovery by the wizards at NC State University has uncovered a new vulnerability that could bring the aforesaid act back into the spotlight. Xuxian Jiang's research team recently identified the hole and confirmed that it impacts Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean. Put simply, if an Android user downloads an infected app, the attacking program can "make it appear that the user has received an SMS, or text, message from someone on the phone's contact list or from trusted banks." This fake message can solicit personal information, such as passwords for user accounts. The team isn't going to disclose proof until Google patches it up, but the school has said that Google will be addressing it "in a future Android release." For now, however, Jiang recommends additional caution when downloading and installing apps from unknown sources, while also suggesting that folks pay close attention to received SMS text messages.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google
Android 'smishing' vulnerability discovered by NCSU researchers; Google has a fix incoming originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsNC State nanoflowers can boost battery and solar cell capacity, make great prom accessories
We see a lot of sleek-looking technology pass through our doors, but it's rare that the inventions could be called beautiful by those who aren't immersed in the gadget world. We'd venture that North Carolina State University might have crossed the divide by creating an energy storage technology that's both practical and genuinely pretty. Its technology vaporizes germanium sulfide and cools it into 20-30 nanometer layers that, as they're combined, turn into nanoflowers: elegant structures that might look like the carnation on a prom dress or tuxedo, but are really energy storage cells with much more capacity than traditional cells occupying the same area. The floral patterns could lead to longer-lived supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries, and the germanium sulfide is both cheap and clean enough that it could lead to very efficient solar cells that are more environmentally responsible. As always, there's no definite timetable for when (and if) NC State's technology might be commercialized -- so call someone's bluff if they promise you a nanoflower bouquet.
Filed under: Science
NC State nanoflowers can boost battery and solar cell capacity, make great prom accessories originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 20:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsAlt-week 9.8.12: Moon farming, self powered health monitors and bringing a 50,000 year-old girl to life
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.
Some weeks things get a little science heavy, sometimes it's a little on their weird side, and there's usually a bit of space travel involved, but these week's trend seems to be "mind-blowing." Want to grow carrots on the Moon? We got you covered. How about bringing a 50,000 year-old ancient human back to life? Sure, no biggie. Oh but what about a solar eruption that reaches some half a million miles in height. We've got the video. No, really we have. Mind blown? This is alt-week.
Filed under: Misc, Science, Alt
Alt-week 9.8.12: Moon farming, self powered health monitors and bringing a 50,000 year-old girl to life originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Sep 2012 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsResearchers propose à la carte internet services, overhaul for web infrastructure
A quintet of researchers funded by the National Science Foundation have envisioned a new internet architecture, one where features could be purchased à la carte. The proposed framework would allow users to fine tune their experience by choosing from a variety of connection services. Let's say, for example, that a customer's connection is fine for browsing the web, but it doesn't pass muster for streaming content -- a service dedicated to video delivery could be added to close the gap. "Ultimately, this should make the internet more flexible and efficient, and will drive innovation among service providers to cater to user needs," report co-author Rudra Dutta told The Abstract. A piecemeal next-gen web is no easy feat, however, as it would require revamping the web's infrastructure with new protocols for choosing particular features, completing payments and monitoring network performance. The group's rough blueprint will be presented at a conference next week, but you can thumb through their short paper at the source.
Filed under: Internet
Researchers propose à la carte internet services, overhaul for web infrastructure originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Aug 2012 07:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsNC State’s new efficient pico projector raises hopes for smartphone cinema
A team at North Carolina State University has developed a new liquid crystal projector that could spell the end of bulky and noisy cinema gear. Conventional tech passes unpolarized light through a filter, but the process is so inefficient that nearly 50 percent of the energy is wasted just keeping things cool. Fortunately, the Wolfpack and ImagineOptix filter claims to be 90 percent efficient -- meaning that future projectors could be far sleeker. It's also a good sign for future smartphone pico projectors, although we're not sure how the owners of our local theater will feel when we start undercutting them with just a phone and a white wall.
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment
NC State's new efficient pico projector raises hopes for smartphone cinema originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 01:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsResearchers partially automate CPU core design, aim to fast track new PC processor production
Tired of the year wait (or more) in between new silicon architecture offerings from Chipzilla and AMD? Well, if some Wolfpack researchers have anything to say about it, we'll measure that wait in months thanks to a new CPU core design tool that automates part of the process. Creating a new CPU core is, on a high level, a two step procedure. First, the architectural specification is created, which sets the core's dimensions and arranges its components. That requires some heavy intellectual lifting, and involves teams of engineers to complete. Previously, similar manpower was needed for the second step, where the architecture spec is translated into an implementation design that can be fabricated in a factory. No longer. The aforementioned NC State boffins have come up with a tool that allows engineers to input their architecture specification, and it generates an implementation design that's used to draw up manufacturing blueprints. The result? Considerable time and manpower savings in creating newly designed CPU cores, which means that all those leaked roadmaps we're so fond of could be in serious need of revision sometime soon.
Researchers partially automate CPU core design, aim to fast track new PC processor production originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 07:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsMobile security researchers present Android Malware Genome Project at IEEE
Android's openness, combined with its popularity, has lead a few of the developer faithful astray -- with malware being a legitimate concern for the mobile operating system. To help combat the issue, Xuxian Jiang, an NC State researcher, has created the Android Malware Genome Project, which was presented at the IEEE Symposium on Security this week. The aim is to collect and analyse all the known malicious software, and share the findings so that more effective and preventative measures to be taken by the community. Jiang claims that the main drawback has been understanding the malware, and getting access to examples, something the project aims to solve. More than 1,200 malware samples have been collected so far, and if you're curious, the dataset is available for download via the source.
Mobile security researchers present Android Malware Genome Project at IEEE originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 22:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsScientists tweak wireless power transfer, Tesla nods happily in his grave
Wireless charging may be all the rage these days, but actually beaming electricity -- as sketched above by the man Tesla himself -- still has some snags. North Carolina State U researchers have found a way to possibly vanquish the biggest problem: the difficulty of exactly matching resonant frequencies to amplify current. If external factors like temperature change the tuning of a transmitter even slightly then power drops will occur, but circuitry developed by the NC State scientists would allow receivers to detect these changes and automatically re-tune themselves to match. This could make for more potent car and device charging in the future and, if they stretch the distances a bit, maybe we'll finally get the wire-free utopia Nikola dreamed up 120 years ago.
Scientists tweak wireless power transfer, Tesla nods happily in his grave originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 11:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsNC State researcher finds more efficient way to cool devices, looks to cut costs too
NC State researcher finds more efficient way to cool devices, looks to cut costs too originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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