Samsung Galaxy S III bug lets anyone bypass password-protected lockscreen

[email protected] (Anupam Saxena)
March 8, 2013

Samsung_Galaxy_S_III

A user has discovered a security flaw in the Samsung Galaxy S III that allows anyone to bypass the lock screen of the phone by following a few simple steps.

Sean McMillan has posted a method to access the lock screen of the Galaxy S II on a mailing list. According to him the bug can be reproduced by following these steps:

1) On the code entry screen (of the lock screen) press Emergency Call

2) Then press Emergency Contacts

3) Press the Home button once

4) Just after pressing the Home button, press the power button quickly

5) If successful, pressing the power button again will bring you to the S3's home screen

McMillan mentions that it might take a few attempts to get the hack working and that sometimes the method works in one go while at others, it can take more than 20 attempts. He also adds that the method seems to work better when the mobile has auto rotation turned on. McMillan claims to have tested the method on three Galaxy S III devices.

We tried unlocking the screen of a Samsung Galaxy S III(GT-I9300 running Android 4.1.2) using the same method but weren't successful.

However, ZDNET says they were able to replicate the hack after a few attempts. The site states that the timing to replicate the issue is very small and that it is difficult to replicate it in the first attempt. But after bypassing the screen once, the bug stays on the device even when the phone's screen is turned back off and the phone stops asking the user for their PIN, password or pattern.

Just a few days back, another user, Terence Eden, had discovered a security flaw in the Samsung Galaxy Note II that allowed anyone to bypass the lock screen and take a look at the home screen app icons by following similar steps. But the hack didn't allow the hacker to use any of the apps.

Last month, a similar vulnerability was discovered in Apple iOS 6.1, allowing users to bypass the lock screen, following which Apple had acknowledged the issue and promised a fix.

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Agencies
February 29,2020

Ahmedabad, Feb 29: The presence of two feral pigeons onboard a GoAir flight at the airport in Ahmedabad in Gujarat created a flutter among the amused passengers, even though the avian surprise did not lead to any untoward incident or delay in the flight.

The incident took place on Friday when the passengers were boarding the Ahmedabad-Jaipur flight.

"Two pigeons had found their way inside the flight G8 702 while the passengers were boarding," an airline statement said on Saturday.

"The crew immediately shooed away the birds. The flight took off at its scheduled time at 5 p.m.," it added.

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Facebook on Monday launched a new consumer marketing campaign in India titled 'More Together'. India is the first country in the Asia Pacific region where such a campaign is being rolled out.

It is also the first time that Facebook is rolling out a 'high decibel campaign of this stature in India', the company said in a statement.

It is also the first time that Facebook is rolling out a 'high decibel campaign of this stature in India', the company said in a statement.

"India is at the heart of Facebook and one of our focus areas this year is to tell the exciting story of a service that is deeply embedded in the fabric of India," said Ajit Mohan, Vice President and Managing Director, Facebook India.

The campaign would have multiple campaigns over the next few weeks in eight languages and the one will be set in the context of Holi.

Facebook in 2019 introduced a new company logo to further distinguish the company from the Facebook app.

The company recently announced the appointment of Avinash Pant as the Marketing Director for India operations, to drive the consumer marketing efforts across the family of apps.

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Agencies
May 10,2020

In the wake of the gas leak at a factory in Visakhapatnam, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued detailed guidelines for restarting industries after the lockdown and the precautions to be taken for the safety of the plants as well as the workers.

In a communication to all states and union territories, the NDMA said due to several weeks of lockdown and the closure of industrial units, it is possible that some of the operators might not have followed the established standard operating procedures.

As a result, some of the manufacturing facilities, pipelines, valves may have residual chemicals, which may pose risk. The same is true for the storage facilities with hazardous chemicals and flammable materials, it said.

The NDMA guidelines said while restarting a unit, the first week should be considered as the trial or test run period after ensuring all safety protocols.

Companies should not try to achieve high production targets. There should be 24-hour sanitisation of the factory premises, it said.

The factories need to maintain a sanitisation routine every two-three hours especially in the common areas that include lunch rooms and common tables which will have to be wiped clean with disinfectants after every single use, it added.

For accommodation, the NDMA said, sanitisation needs to be performed regularly to ensure worker safety and reduce the spread of contamination.

To minimise the risk, it is important that employees who work on specific equipment are sensitised and made aware of the need to identify abnormalities like strange sounds or smell, exposed wires, vibrations, leaks, smoke, abnormal wobbling, irregular grinding or other potentially hazardous signs which indicate the need for immediate maintenance or if required shutdown, it said.

At least 11 people lost their lives and about 1,000 others were exposed to a gas leak at a factory in Andhra Pradesh''s Visakhapatnam on May 7.

The incident took place after it restarted operations when the government allowed industrial activities in certain sectors following several weeks of lockdown.

The lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 for 21 days in a bid to combat the coronavirus threat. The lockdown was then extended till May 3 and again till May 17.

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