How to Enable Two-Factor Authentication for iCloud (And Why You Should)

This past weekend was not a good one for at least twenty or so celebrities, as well as Apple's iCloud service. According to a number of reports, a large number of female celebrities had personal photos released from their private iCloud accounts after a hacker was able to gain access to them. While we don't know all the details yet, it is likely that a combination of social engineering, weak passwords, and publicly available security question answers merged to allow the attacker access. In light of these events, it's a great idea to review the security of your account to avoid any accidental exposure of your private information.

Two-Factor Authentication

One of the easiest ways to secure your iCloud account is to use two-factor authentication. With this feature enabled, an attacker will not be able to log into your account unless he or she also has access to your phone. To set it up, first head over to your Apple ID security page here: https://appleid.apple.com/account/manage/security

Make sure that two-factor authentication is setup. If it is not, begin the process by clicking the link. You will be asked for several pieces of information, including a phone number and answers to your security questions. You will also be asked to provide the code texted to you as well as given a very long reset code which should be treated as if it is your password (in other words, don't write it down some place that will be lost, and don't save it on your desktop).

Once you enter all this information, two-factor authentication will be setup. Congratulations, you've just made your iCloud account ten thousand times more secure!

iCloud Two-Factor Authentication

Security Questions

For most accounts, the only thing that stands between a hacker resetting your password and maintaining your security is a strong set of password security questions. What good are these questions if an attacker can find the answers on Facebook? This is a good time to check your questions and make sure they are hacker-proof. Here are some tips:

1. Security questions should be simple for you to remember but complex for anyone else
2. The answers to your questions should not be something an attacker can find on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, or on your abandoned MySpace page.
3. Be very specific in your answers. If the question asks where you met your significant other (a common question), don't use "Los Angeles" as the answer. Instead, provide a specific street name, a friend's name who introduced you, etc.).
4. Don't choose simple questions. "What is your favorite color?" and "Where were you born?" are ridiculously simple questions for attackers. Choose more complex questions that ask for information not found in your online profiles.

Securing iCloud is relatively simple and doing so can go a long way in securing your personal photos and documents. Unfortunately, leaks like the one that happened this weekend are going to occur. But by following these guidelines, at least you can make the hacker's efforts less rewarding, and in most cases, stop them entirely.

Installing Mac OSX Snow Leopard in Virtual Box

Before we begin, I am using Virtual Box 3.2.12 on Windows 7 and have installed Mac OS X Snow Leopard version 10.6.3. The laptop that I have installed this on is an HP dv6t with an Intel Core i5 and 6 GB of RAM. Your mileage may vary significantly. For example, I attempted to first install OS X in VMWare, but after attempting every option and change I could find online, I decided to attempt it with Virtual Box. Also, there are a number of options that may not work if your installation does manage to complete. Regardless, here we go.

Requirements:

1. An Intel-based CPU that supports virtualization (most Core i5 and Core i7 machines do, but check this site for a full list: http://ark.intel.com/VTList.aspx)
2. A copy of iBoot - it can be downloaded from tonymacx86's site here: http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewforum.php?f=125 (note: free registration required)
3. Virtual Box software from Oracle (free): http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
4. A full retail version of Mac OS X. Yes, you will have to purchase this. Obviously you could probably locate an ISO online, but this guide assumes you have the disc (it's only $35 here: http://www.amazon.com/Mac-version-10-6-3-Snow-Leopard/dp/B001AMHWP8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314467096&sr=8-1)
5. Patience

Steps:

1. Enable virtualization through your BIOS. Reboot your computer, press F12, F11, DEL, ESC, or whatever key gets you into your BIOS setup. Look for an entry called "Enable Virtualization" and enable it. If you cannot find the setting in your BIOS, you may need to locate your computer's user guide or Google it.
2. Start Virtual Box and create a new virtual machine.
1. Press Next, enter a name for your VM, select "Mac OS X" as the Operating System and "Mac OS X Server" as the Version.
2. Give the VM 1024 MB of RAM
3. Check "Boot Hard Disk" and select "Create a new hard disk"
4. In the New Virtual Disk screen, click Next and then select "Dynamically expanding storage."
5. Click Next and set a location for the VM. Set the disk size at 20 GB.
6. Press Finish and Finish again
3. Click on the VM name on the left side and click Settings
4. Under the System tab, uncheck "Enable EFI (special OSes only)
5. Click the "Acceleration" tab at the top, and ensure that both "Enable VT-x/AMD-v" and "Enable Nested Paging" are checked.
6. Click the Storage tab on the left and click the disk under "IDE Controller."
7. On the right, under Attributes, click the folder icon next to "CD/DVD Device: Empty"
8. In the Virtual Media Manager window that appears, click "Add" and add the iBoot.iso file that you downloaded earlier.
9. Click "Select" and click OK in the Settings window
10. Start your virtual machine by clicking the Start button at the top
11. iBoot will begin to load. When it loads and then pauses, insert your Mac OS X Snow Leopard DVD into your computer's disc drive.
12. Now, right click on the CD icon at the bottom right of the VM window and change the source to your computer's disc drive.
    
    
13. Now, click inside the VM window and press F5.
14. iBoot will refresh, and now you will see an OS X install entry on the screen.
15. Hit enter to begin the installation process
16. Mac OS X will boot and you will be presented with the installation screen. If you do not see a disk in the window that asks which disk to install the OS on, then follow these steps:
1. Click Utilities at the top window
2. Click Disk Utility
3. On the left, click the only disk that should be listed (probably "VIRTUALDISK" or something similar
4. On the right, click the "Erase" tab
5. Enter a name for your disk volume such as "VOL1."
6. Leave the format as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)"
7. Click "Erase."
8. Now, you will have a sub-disk entry on the left.
9. Click close on the disk utility.
17. Select the disk in the "Install to Disk" window
18. Allow OS X to install now. It may take an hour or so, depending on your hardware.
19. When it is finished, it may say "Installation Failed." That's OK, it didn't really fail.
20. Turn off your VM by clicking the X in the VM window and selecting "Power Off."
21. Once it is turned off, click "Settings" again
22. Click the Storage tab and click the disk under IDE Controller
23. In the drop down menu next to "CD/DVD Device" change it to the iBoot ISO from earlier
24. Click OK and restart your VM
25. Now, when iBoot starts, it will have an option for "OS X Snow Leopard" or "VOL1" (your disk's name)
26. Right arrow click to highlight your disk and hit enter
27. OS X will now boot and walk through the initial setup.

You will need to keep the CD ISO pointed at your iBoot file unless you want to make things complicated and install more third party utilities. So just remember to tab over and hit enter on each boot.

Issues: The resolution is stuck at 1024x768. The USB devices may not work. Shared folders may not function. Most of these issues can be resolved with additional hacks and software. 

Enjoy!

What an iPhone on Verizon Means

As most of you have probably heard by now, rumors are flying about the iPhone coming to Verizon this Tuesday (January 11th). Although I feel that Verizon could use this moment to pull one of the largest pranks the entire mobile industry has ever seen and introduce another Android device, I think that most experts agree this is the day the iPhone will finally be announced. To be honest, I am not as excited about this as most. Allow me to explain.

Since the beginning, I have supported Android. I have owned iOS devices, but have felt that, as someone who loves to modify and customize my device, Android is the better platform. I do admire Apple for their products that "just work" and feel that they have become the leaders in the mobile industry because of this. They are catering to a market of people who don't care about the technology behind their devices, they just want to turn it on and use it (Obviously technology enthusiasts use iOS devices as well, they're just not the bulk of users). But in the end, Android has become a place where I can install whatever application I like, change my home screen, and make changes to how the entire operating system functions; it's just how open source works.

This is why I don't look forward to the 12 Million expected iPhone users, each consuming on average 200 MB of data per month, consuming valuable Verizon resources. Android users have enjoyed Verizon's fast, always-present network for about two years. Unless Verizon has invested millions of dollars in infrastructure to support the impending onslaught of iPhone users, you can bet that the network will stagger under the load. While I doubt that it will suffer as much as AT&T's has, I am certain that the slow-down and congestion will be noticeable.

In addition to speed issues, I fear for the future of Android. Android is an amazing product and has made huge leaps in terms of development and market share. A huge portion of Android's success (sadly) has been because it is typically referred to as the "Verizon iPhone." I have no doubt that Android's market share will take a huge dip when the iPhone is introduced. It will need to fight to stay alive, and without Verizon's ridiculous marketing, I honestly don't know about Android's future.

The iPhone coming to Verizon is something millions of customers have wanted for years. Now that it is finally here, I fear it will bring congestion to Verizon's networks and a decline in Android's market share and development. Google will need to invest millions in marketing, which I hope they do. Competition is good for the consumer and I hope that both products will benefit from this. I just hope that Google can do enough to convince new users that Android is just as good (and better, in some cases) than the iPhone.