How to crack the Kindle’s DRM? Igor Skochinsky found that Amazon’s AZW files are actually Mobi files, but Amazon didn’t share Kindle’s Mobi PID which would allow one to buy encrypted Mobi books for Kindle.He discovered the algorithm used to generate the PID and was able to use it on Fictionwise, but there was another catch. AZW files have a flag set in the DRM info which is not present in books bought from other vendors. After fixing that, he could read the book on Kindle.
Linked archive includes two Python scripts.
kindlepid.py generates Mobi PID from Kindle serial number. You can then add this PID at a Mobipocket vendor site and redownload books with Kindle’s PID enabled. It’s possible that some vendors will refuse this PID, as it has an asterisk in place of the traditional dollar sign (Fictionwise works fine).
kindlefix.py “fixes” a Mobi book so that it can be read on Kindle. It should already include Kindle’s PID (which you need to specify too). The script will output the fixed book with .azw extension.
posted by akuma @ October 26, 2008 1:10 pm
GadgetTrak Mobile Security has launched. GadgetTrak® Mobile Security enables device owners to send remote commands to wipe data from their device and back data up to another phone. Additional commands for Blackberry devices can be sent to lock the device, signal an alarm that cannot be disabled by the thief, get the current location of the device, send a message to the main screen, and initiate a remote call back.
GadgetTrak® Mobile Security is tamper proof, requiring the user to have an administrative password to modify the configuration. If the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) is removed from the phone and a new one inserted, a pre-defined number is notified of the change and the new number is provided to enable the owner to both identify the thief, as well as continue to send remote commands.
GadgetTrak® Mobile Security is compatible with the most popular GSM smart phones on the market today, running Blackberry OS ( 4.2 and higher) and Windows Mobile Pocket PC ( 5 & 6 ). It has a free 3 day trial.
posted by akuma @ October 13, 2008 9:41 pm
I try not to talk politics, in fact I blame BOTH political parties for the issues our country currently faces. However, listening to the debates this evening I heard something from Sentator John McCain that irked me to no end, particularly given his general technological atavism. During this evening’s debates he stated “Let’s put medical records online” as a way to increase productivity. First off this may sound like a good idea, the problem however is that this data cannot be secured. The government as a proven record of lacking IT security infrastructure, they cannot even keep nuclear secrets safe at Los Alamos from meth addicts, trusting the government or any company to keep our medical records safe “online” is a very very bad idea, this is also something that we should have some choice about.
If you want to keep data safe, do not put it online. If you want to keep it really safe, do not put it on a computer. If you want to keep the data really really safe, do not write it down anywhere, and most of all don’t trust it to the government. I lost some respect for McCain tonight, he is not qualified to speak about technology and to make a comment like putting all medical records online is asinine. It is analogous to saying let’s put people’s social security numbers and religious preferences online. Even if the data is encrypted, password protected what have you, there is no reason for this data to be online, or stored in a database that can be mined by the government, or an attacker if the data is compromised. Imagine the street value of every American’s medical records.
posted by akuma @ October 7, 2008 10:07 pm
