Tag: security
Having a security camera on your house can be a good and bad thing. Sure, you can keep an eye on things, but it’s also a sign that you want to keep something protected, and thieves might target your house because it’s got cameras hanging off it. So …
I saw this particular item appear on a promoted tweet this morning and had to check I wasn’t going mad. For just over £126, it’ll capture your tap-to-pay card information and will then clone it. The result, after just a few minutes carrying the thing on the tube, …
Thinking of getting a smart home? The clever learning thermostat, Nest, and the indoor camera, Nest Cam Indoor, have both been reduced in price this weekend. From today until 8AM on Monday both items have been reduced by £30. That brings the thermostat, which we reviewed here, down …
Another security camera for you today and this time it’s from Netatmo. We’ve already written about their kit, and they’ve now moved on from weather stations with this Netatmo Presence camera. It’ll detect people, cars and animals, plus it should hopefully prevent break-ins. How? Well, unlike some connected …
If you’ve had a read of our Nest Thermostat review and want a bit more Nest tech, there’s already the Nest Protect smoke + CO alarm for £99 plus the indoor camera. Now, if you want to keep an eye on what’s happening outside of your house, you …
You may have heard about TalkTalk this year. They’re a British television, telecommunications, Internet and mobile network service provider. They’ve just been handed a whopping £400,000 fine for what is classed as poor web security. It follows a cyber attack which occurred in October last year. This resulted …
The smartphones of today have come a long, long way from the “bricks” of the 1980s and are capable of doing far more than anyone could have imagined when mobiles were first introduced. You’ll know that already of course. I bumped into someone fairly recently who wanted us …
Hello iPhone users. Hope your phones are safe!! News is that there has been a botched attempt to hack into an iPhone recently. Apple have promptly responded with a global update and has marked it as “URGENT”. The story is that the break in was attempted by an …
Since Facebook’s huge purchase of the WhatsApp platform in 2014 and getting rid of the 99p annual fee, they’ve introduced a voice call facility, a desktop application and end-to-end encryption since. However, they never capitalised on any new revenue streams. Well, as you saw yesterday, Facebook-owned WhatsApp announced upcoming …
It’s a move that we could almost feel coming after the application became free. Facebook will now be able to see phone numbers from WhatsApp to allow “better friend suggestions”. Not only that, but they want to let third parties send you “marketing texts” through WhatsApp instead of …
At a glitzy event today Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone at its Unpacked event. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 we will see in the UK will have a Samsung Exynos octa-core chipset, 4GB RAM and 64GB storage which will be expandable via MicroSD. The screen on the …
In today’s world, pretty much every gadget is connected to the internet. Alarms are no different, and I recently got sent this Wi-Fi enabled Home Security System, from Smanos. Whats In The Box: Upon opening the box I was met with the main control unit. It looks like …
You’ve seen a few of our recent camera reviews covering security gadgets for your home. Most of the time it’s security cameras, but they’re not always the fixed ones we’ve checked out – we’ve also used our smartphones to control cameras, to control the heating and more. Home …
Bit weird this. It’s perhaps not something I’d film, but Benjamin Tedesco managed to find something a bit weird on a cash machine whilst on holiday in Vienna. He was filming, in portrait for some reason, and then decided to film himself going to the ATM. I know. …
Remember the all-weather fixed security camera I reviewed the other day? The Reolink IP camera will fix to your wall or roof and points at your driveway, your garden, your warehouse or inside your property and you can view the images and video anywhere in the world via …
We’ve had security cameras in the past but this one will work outside and you can’t move it around automatically. Yes, it’s a “proper” security camera. Now, many of you will probably think that you need some sort of recording hardware and other bits to make this work, …
Ransomware. It’s a scary thought. It can come through on your computer and scare the heck out of you. Here in the UK a council has been hit by it 13 times in just one year. Meanwhile, in the US, the University of Calgary has just paid $20,000 to …
Hop off at Green Park or Bond Street and, if you want to buy a new smartphone with military-grade security, it’s probably best that you only look through the window of the new SIRIN LABS store at 34 Bruton Place in London. Why? Well, chances are that if …
We’ve covered monitoring solutions in the past and, as I’ve pointed out previously, there’s a number of reasons why you’d want them. First though, let me explain a bit more, because the one I’ve been looking at here will monitor phone activity and report back – all without …
We’ve head quite a few security cameras cropping up here at Coolsmartphone. This one is from Annke and you can control and move it from anywhere via your smartphone. First up, the plus points. Although you’ll spot an ethernet port on this, it connects very easily via WiFi …
Before we delve into this article, I believe it is important to give a caveat – there are quite a lot of elements and assumptions in this “attack” for this V10 vulnerability to work. More than likely, the odds are limited in anyone achieving the attack. The YouTuber, …
I mentioned this rather handy gadget back in December last year. Vodafone, like a few other networks, are offering up some rather clever connected gadgets now and this, the findxone, is one of them. In effect it’s a little box that you can hang onto something or put …
Sure, it’s not exactly a huge amount of storage, but it’s a whole lot better than not having any extra and it takes just seconds to grab. All you need to do is head here and review your Google Account settings. It’ll run through the apps and devices …
Canary is more than a simple surveillance camera for your home. From the very moment you purchase your Canary for £159, you’ll instantly notice the quality. Canary was launched back in July 2013 on crowdfunding site Indiegogo. There was clearly a market demand, as within a month over …
I’m conscious that, as my kids hit their teenage years, it becomes a pretty complicated phase in life. As parents we didn’t really have many of the problems that children have today. They’re now connected to the web and a lot of interaction is done online. We didn’t …
Not really related to mobile phones, granted, but most of the bits inside these rather dodgy skimming devices use the tech from modern smartphones. This one, which was found near to Sainsbury’s at Manchester Piccadilly station, was really hard to spot. The devices, which usually include a separate …
It feels like it was only yesterday that I was writing a story about malware on Coolsmartphone . A security researcher from Quihoo 360, unveiled an exploit at the PacSec conference in Tokyo by Guang Gong. However, most of the details have not been fully released to the …
An alarm system, fitted, can cost you around £500. However, for £249 you could try this Myfox Home Alarm and set it up yourself. It’s got bags of extra goodies for us smartphone lovers. It’ll work with Nest too, because this has a key fob and smartphone app …
We recently reported on various studies and stories about Android being vulnerable and various applications been hijacked by malware. It is important to stress at this point, with due care and attention to where you are downloading applications from – you will reduce the risk of an attack on your …
Apps like WhatsApp and iMessage are great because they have a level of encryption which cannot be “sniffed” or decrypted. Indeed, if you drink lots of tea and have a read of the Apple security guide, it clearly states the following… Now – according to The Telegraph, this …
Not something we usually consider as mobile phone owners, is that question of “Where did my application come from? What platforms does it use?” Both questions tie into: “What permissions does my applications require?” Sadly we rarely think of any of these questions, therefore we put our trust …
The Leo privacy guard for mobile devices is built for individuals who want to keep their mobile use private. Some of us don’t mind sharing our phones, but there’s probably a number of you who’d rather keep those personal photos and messages away from prying eyes. Sure, a …
I can feel things slipping now. First this site covered Microsoft smartphones, then Android, Apple and perhaps a few accessories. Now we’re getting all manner of connected gadgets. This particular pitch is from an operation called Response Electronics, who want you to know about all their rather clever …
A pretty bad day for HTC yesterday. First, Four FireEye researchers found that a HTC One Max handset stores fingerprints in an easily-read folder as “/data/dbgraw.bmp”. Any app can read the file. The details are revealed in this PDF and, although the bug is said to be fixed, …
Whether you’re playing World of Goo, Candy Crush Saga, a full-on RPG, or the latest real-money casino games, every mobile user needs to be concerned about security. No-one wants personal details stolen, logins compromised, or credit card information hacked into, but the truth is that attacks are on the …
ZTE have a huge presence at Mobile World Congress this year. Get around the pretty ladies up front and there’s another huge area, then another. Meetings and demonstrations are taking place in the offices behind the stand, and that’s where we got to meet Waiman Lam from ZTE. …
For a while now Apple has had the option of two step security as an additional level of protection for your personal details. Then, last year after those nudes where leaked, they enabled it on iCloud. Logging into iCloud.com, even in a browser, would trigger the verification process …
Tracking your car is possible with just a smartphone. Various apps will let you do it, but it’s a matter of having a spare smartphone with a data plan and GPS, plus you have to leave it plugged into the 12v charger and that alone will probably attract …
Morning my lovely people, hope you’re well. You may remember, some time back, I decided to setup a CCTV system with an old smartphone. Since then we’ve looked at the BT Smart Home Cam and the Pan and tilt camera from SwannCloud. They’re better than a smartphone alone, …
Having the latest smartphone or tablet is one thing, but doing something really useful with it is another. Now, in the past we’ve seen security systems here at Coolsmartphone that’ll talk to your iPhone, Android or Windows handset. Remotely monitoring your home or getting informed when there’s movement …
