NEW YORK: Security researchers said they found a vulnerability in the Google Inc mobile payments platform which is currently available in phones sold by Sprint Nextel Corp.Mobile payment services that allow consumers to pay by waving their phone at a check-out terminal, instead of using a credit card, have long been available in Japan and some other countries but are only just emerging in the United States.
Isis, a venture of Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc and T-Mobile USA, is expected to launch an offering to compete with Google but has yet to announce a launch date.
The alleged vulnerability in the Google Wallet was identified by Joshua Rubin, a senior engineer with zvelo, a closely held security firm in Greenwood Village, Colorado.
Rubin developed an app dubbed Wallet Cracker that he says can break the four-digit PIN required to launch the Google Wallet app. He demonstrated how it works in a video on his blog (bit.ly/zgO2L6)
Rubin said that he had disclosed his findings to Google and that the company "was able to confirm the issue and agreed to work quickly to resolve it."
Google spokesman Jay Nancarrow in an emailed statement said "We are working to resolve the issue," even as he took issue with the study that prompted the allegations.
"The zvelo study was conducted on their own phone, on which they disabled the security mechanisms that protect Google Wallet by 'rooting' the device," Nancarrow said.
Google, he added, recommends that people not install Google Wallet on "rooted" devices and that they should set up a screen lock as an additional layer of security.
Sprint representatives were not immediately available for comment.
Google's Wallet partners also include Citigroup Inc and payment network MasterCard.
Emily Collins, a Citi spokeswoman, said no Citi cardholder information is stored in the Google Wallet nor are cardholders liable for unauthorized transactions.
Jimmy Shah, a security researcher for security software specialist McAfee, said on Friday that the vulnerability did not appear to be a very easy one to exploit.
But he said it was theoretically possible if a hacker was able to physically steal a user's phone.
Shah said that a hacker would need time to install the Cracker app and to install another piece of malware to disable the phone's security system before being able to run the Cracker app to retrieve the PIN number.
The hacker would also still need the phone itself in order to be able to make payments using the stolen Google Wallet.
"It's a nice theoretical attack but it's not a very simple attack," Shah told Reuters.
McAfee is owned by chipmaker Intel Corp. (Reuters)
MOSCOW: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin received a drink fit for dinosaurs on Friday when he was presented with a sample of ancient water from a sub-glacial Antarctic lake pierced by Russian scientists.Russian scientists said this week they had drilled through Antarctica's frozen crust to the vast Lake Vostok, which has lain untouched for at least 14 million years hiding what scientists believe may be unknown organisms and clues to life on other planets.
"Well, did you drink the water?" Putin asked Russia's Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev after being presented with a vial of water which the government said was from the Vostok borehole.
Trutnev, looking flustered, assured Putin that he had not tried a drop of the water.
"Well it would have been interesting you know: dinosaurs drank it and Trutnev, a member of the Russian government, too," Putin said with a smile.
Trutnev stifled a chortle and said he did not want to be dinosaur.
Sealed deep under the ice, Lake Vostok is one of the world's last unexplored frontiers. Scientists suspect its depths may provide a glimpse of the planet before the ice age. (Reuters)
"The Vow," starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, took in $41.7 million at US and Canadian theaters from Friday through Sunday in the biggest domestic opening so far this year, according to studio estimates.
Twenty international markets added $9.7 million, bringing the global total to $51.4 million.
Action movie "Safe House" featuring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds took second place with an estimated $39.3 million domestically plus $10.2 million from 25 international markets. The worldwide total stood at $49.5 million.
The studios had projected domestic openings in the $20million range for each of the top two finishers.
To the surprise of industry executives, four movies topped $20 million each. That lifted the domestic weekend total for all films 29.3percent higher than the same weekend last year, according to the box office division of Hollywood.com.
"The Vow" was inspired by the real-life story of a husband who must win over his wife a second time after a car crash erases her memory of him. The movie was released this weekend to draw in couples ahead of Valentine's Day, said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for distributor Sony Pictures. The film cost about $30 million to make.
"We grossed what it cost to make the film in the first two days. It's really a fantastic result," Bruer said.
"Safe House" had a higher budget of around $85 million that was financed by privately held Relativity Media and distributor Universal Pictures.
The movie features Washington as a rogue CIA agent who shows up at the US Embassy in South Africa. Reynolds plays a rookie operative who must bring him in. "People are back in the movie going mode" and audiences liked Washington in an "action antagonist role," said Nikki Rocco, president of distribution for Universal Pictures.
In third place, family film "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson brought in $27.6million, well ahead of studio projections of around $15 million.
The movie has brought in $74.7 million from international markets after opening in late January, bringing the global haul to $102.3 million. The 3D follow-up to 2008's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" cost $79 million to make.
The movie tells the story of a man leading his stepson, a helicopter pilot and his daughter on a rescue mission set on an unusual island. "We dominated the family business," said Dan Fellman, head of domestic distribution for Warner Bros.
'STAR WARS' STRIKES AGAIN
Families also turned out for a 3D remake of 1999's "Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace," which took fourth place domestically with $23.0 million. Distributor 20th Century Fox had hoped the film that tells the story of a young Anakin Skywalker, the boy who becomes Darth Vader, would bring in $20million or more.
Sales in international markets hit $20.5 million, bringing the movie's weekend total to $43.5 million around the globe.
Last weekend's domestic winner, thriller "Chronicle" about three boys with superpowers, slipped to fifth place with $12.3million.
The movie division of Sony Corp released "The Vow." "Safe House" was released by Universal Pictures, a division of Comcast Corp. News Corp unit 20thCentury Fox distributed "Star Wars" and "Chronicle." Time Warner Inc unit Warner Bros. released "Journey 2." (Reuters)