Security expert warns hackers can attack Android

A mobile security expert says he has found new ways for hackers to attack phones running Google Inc's Android operating system.

Riley Hassell, who caused a stir when he called off an appearance at a hacker's conference last week, told Reuters he and colleague Shane Macaulay decided not to lay out their research at the gathering for fear criminals would use it attack Android phones.

He said in an interview he identified more than a dozen widely used Android applications that make the phones vulnerable to attack.

"App developers frequently fail to follow security guidelines and write applications properly," he said.

"Some apps expose themselves to outside contact. If these apps are vulnerable, then an attacker can remotely compromise that app and potentially the phone using something as simple as a text message."

He declined to identify those apps, saying he fears hackers might exploit the vulnerabilities.

"When you release a threat and there's no patch ready, then there is mayhem," said Hassell, founder of boutique security firm Privateer Labs.

Hassell said he and Macaulay alerted Google to the software shortcomings they unearthed.

Google spokesman Jay Nancarrow said Android security experts discussed the research with Hassell and did not believe he had uncovered problems with Android.

"The identified bugs are not present in Android," he said, declining to elaborate.

It was the first public explanation for the failure of Hassell and Macaulay to make a scheduled presentation at the annual Black Hat hacking conference in Las Vegas, the hacking community's largest annual gathering.

They had been scheduled to talk about "Hacking Androids for Profit." Hundreds of people waited for them to show up at a crowded conference room.

Hassell said in an interview late on Thursday the pair also learned -- at the last minute -- that some of their work may have replicated previously published research and they wanted to make sure they properly acknowledged that work.

"This was a choice we made, to prevent an unacceptable window of risk to consumers worldwide and to guarantee credit where it was due," he said.

A mobile security researcher familiar with the work of Hassell and Macaulay said he understood why the pair decided not to disclose their findings.

"When something can be used for exploitation and there is no way to fix it, it is very dangerous to go out publicly with that information," the researcher said. "When there is not a lot that people can do to protect themselves, disclosure is sometimes not the best policy."

Hassell said he plans to give his talk at the Hack in The Box security conference in Kuala Lumpur in October.

Obama: 2012 'more important' than 2008

President Barack Obama said Thursday the U.S. political system is "broken" and that makes the 2012 election "more important than 2008."

Speaking at a fundraiser at the New York home of film producer Harvey Weinstein, Obama reflected on an appearance earlier in the day in Michigan, where he said he saw "the enthusiasm, the energy, the hopefulness, the decency, of the American people."

"What I said to them is you deserve better than you have been getting out of Washington over the last two and a half months, for that matter for the last two and a half years," the president told a New York audience that included actress Gwyneth Paltrow, her husband, singer Chris Martin, comedian Jimmy Fallon, fashion designers Vera Wang and Anna Wintour, singer Alicia Keys and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Obama said Americans "realize that they needed to change the way they work, live and play" because of globalization but "they look at what is happening in Washington and think these folks are from outer space. They don't seem to understand how critical it is for us to work together."

Obama said "Washington reached a low water point" with Congress' handling of legislation to raise the federal limit on borrowing and the public "suddenly realized … we are going to have to get engaged."

"If that energy is harnessed and tapped I am absolutely convinced this country is going to be on the upswing in the next couple of years."

The president "a lot of folks thought you elect Obama and suddenly you can fix politics in Washington" when he ran in 2008, but he said the U.S. political system needs repair.

"Democracy is messy and is tough and our system is broken," he said. "That makes this election more important than 2008."

House passes debt limit bill

The U.S. House Monday passed the deficit reduction bill and sent it to the Senate for consideration.

The vote was 269-161 with 95 Democrats joining 174 Republicans in voting in favor of the measure, and 95 Democrats voting with 66 Republicans against it.

The Senate is to vote on the measure Tuesday.

In a huge surprise, the "yes" votes included one cast by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who is recovering from a bullet wound to her head, suffered during a shooting spree at a constituents' gathering in Tucson in January.

Giffords, in her first appearance in Capitol Hill since being wounded, waved to those gathered in the House chamber for the historic vote to avoid the risk of a first-ever default by the U.S. government and blew them kisses. She was greeted with a standing ovation.

After the vote, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Giffords' "presence here in the chamber … brings honor to this chamber."

The debt reduction plan would cut deficits by at least $2.1 trillion over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office said in a letter sent to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

The CBO "estimates that the legislation … would reduce budget deficits by $917 billion between 2012 and 2021," in up-front savings and another $1.2 trillion in savings coming from work done by a special bipartisan, bicameral committee, the letter read.

The non-partisan office's review of the framework came a day after President Barack Obama and congressional leaders reached agreement to raise the federal debt limit that includes steep spending cuts but no new taxes, breaking an impasse that flung the country toward default. Tuesday is deadline for a deal to be struck before the country loses its borrowing authority and risks the possibility of defaulting on its obligations.

The agreement would raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit in two stages by as much as $2.4 trillion.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's hope of quick passage in the Senate could threatened by South Carolina Republicans Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint, who said they would not vote for the bill, The Hill reported.

"I'm not going to tell Americans that we're doing everything when we're not," he said. "We're planning on adding another $10 trillion in debt."

DeMint said he will not permit a Senate vote until he and his staff have reviewed the measure thoroughly.

"I'll be asking for the right to read it and go through it. That takes a while. They need to get us the bill so that we can print it out and start going through it," DeMint told The Hill. "This idea that you have to pass it to find out what's in it doesn't work. I'd like to read it to find out what's in it, and I think a number of Republicans feel that way."

Graham, in a statement, said he couldn't "in good conscience" vote for the bill.

"Simply stated, it locks us into more debt, bigger government and most devastating of all, a weakened defense infrastructure at a time when we face growing threats," Graham said.

Reid said neither side got what it wanted in the legislation, "but it's the nature of compromise."

Debbie Gibson ready to relive the '80s

Debbie Gibson says the idea of her upcoming tour with fellow 1980s teen queen Tiffany came from a surprising show of support at a recent appearance in New York.

Gibson, 40, said she was surprised at the buzz from folks who were still fans of their heyday more than 20 years ago.

"We did a little promo appearance at the Canal Room in New York City and people just went nuts seeing us together, so we were like, 'Hmmm,'" Gibson told Parade magazine.

Gibson said she and Tiffany had previously kicked around the idea of a nostalgia tour. The idea has now taken concrete form in the "Journey Through the '80s" national tour, which will include duets and solo performances.

"I'm doing all my hits and also a big medley of my favorite 80s songs that influenced me," Gibson said. "I'm also doing a medley of my theater songs.

"When Tiffany and I were putting the show together, we were talking about how our influences are so different," Gibson said. "Hers are rock and country; mine are singer-songwriters and real pop people and theater."