Anti-Government Hackers Hit Jay-Z's Android App

judgecorp writes "Jay-Z's Android app has been hit by hackers who created a clone of the software. The app was supposed to deliver a copy of the rapper's single and provide footage and other goodies. The rogue app is a ringer for the real one, but has a time-based trigger to deliver anti-Government propaganda on 4 July. The app, and its service name NSAListener, appears to suggest be a protest against U.S. surveillance."

Re:

[SeaFox]

This is total bullshit.

Signed, a non-Obama loving Jay-Z fan.

If I was a Jay-Z fan I'd post anonymously, too.

Re:

[ganjadude]

jay z is a cross over artist. I actually know more white people who like him than black people so thats just how YOU took it.(sure anacdotal of course) but it has nothing to do with race and only people who focus on race would have read it as such. as to the rest of your assumptions, just laughable and not worth responding to.

Re:

[sixsixtysix]

i'd wager that most rap artists have always had way more white fans than blacks fans. if it wasn't for all those white kids buying it, it'd never have gotten so mainstream.

Re:

[ganjadude]

and to top it off ill make it easy. go to my posts pre 2008, you will see just as much hate on bush. but NO if I dont like obama, in your world I MUST love bush and be a racist. but guess what, bush isnt in power, we cant do anything about him anymore. get over it and look at the problems that the current president is causing.

Re:

[Jmc23]

Yeah, those obamo voters are fanatics! Almost as unlikely to be swayed by logic as those anti-obama people!

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Way to prove his point.
First, you're perpetuating the idea that there are only two choices and that his comment was an indication that he was supporting Obama. Nothing in his comment said that.
Second, that the other choice would have behaved differently.
Third, that the person you are replying to is even a US citizen.

I am not a US Citizen and would have replied to your post in the same way. People outside the use can have opinions too.
Unlike yourself, I can see that supporters on both sides (if you are only

Re:

[poity]

In my experience those who perpetuate the "two choice" myth on Slashdot are largely Democrats. Just look at past political discussion around here, and you will find that the opinions of Green/Libertarian supporters were most often shot down by people who argued that voting for a 3rd party would split the vote and give McCain/Romney the edge.

Re:because

[xero314]

There is logic behind that way of thinking. fire the most part third parties are very heavy on the liberal side of the equation. this means that a third party vote is a divided liberal vote. Tea party is a notable exception as are right leaning libertarians, but most third parties, such as green, workers, reform, progressive, socialist, classical libertarian, etc, fall on the liberal side. So in the first past the post system in the US, a third party vote is a one vote lead for the republican party two thirds of the time. And I say that as someone that votes third party almost exclusively.

Re:

[poity]

Not true. This logic only applies to voters in battleground states. For the presidential election, most people live in states which are already decisively Red or Blue with a comfortable margin. Even a large showing from 3rd party voters in those states would not change the outcome due to the hundreds of thousands of votes that need to switch sides for a change to occur. Because of this, voting in line with your state's majority is as useless as voting against it. The only way a vote in a non-battleground st

Re:

[Jmc23]

jajaja, no soy un gringo we!

Re:

[Jmc23]

For the racists who can't understand what a troll modifier is. I'm basically saying I'm not a USian. I am a north american though, who is slightly ashamed at how my countries have let themselves be raped by the USA.

Re:

[ganjadude]

actually yes. look at how many people voted for obama a second time, after the disasterous first term. And Its not about race its about party. Look at MSNBC , chris matthews still has a boner for obama as does maddow and the rest (all white, some gay and some female). I stand by my statement. IT was a knock at crappy music (jay z) and the people who tend to listen to crappy music tend to vote for crappy people.

Re:

[ganjadude]

I am. I am prejudiced against republicans and democrats. whats the problem?

Re:

[Larryish]

To the tune of "The ABC Song" (R)(TM)

ABCD-EBT, Jay-Z knows what's best for me.
So I will buy his new CD,
And listen to it so I can be a re-re,
I'll be living at ma-mama-how 'til I am 30
ABCD-EBT, Jay-Z knows what's best for me.
And since there once was slavery,
I can blame it all on ol' whitey,
And all the other re-re will nod and agree.
ABCD-EBT, Jay-Z knows what's best for me.
My son is on drugs and my dotta is a ho
'Cause they grew up watching Maury
And the Jerry Springer show.
But since I am too stupid to admit wha

Re:

[Jmc23]

I guess I was wrong. Good to see even idiots have a notion of solidarity.

Re:

[MickyTheIdiot]

It's extremely funny that you would think that empty-suit Romney would be ANY different in this matter. There is no party differences on this one.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, man. You've got a huge chip on your shoulder.
If anything, the person you are replying to was promoting looking somewhere other than Republican or Democrat. Certainly nothing in the comment suggested voting Democrat.
Get your head out of your ass and start thinking instead of sending these knee-jerk responses to anyone who isn't 100% anti-obama.

Re:

[PopeRatzo]

So because you believe that you are going to be a good little partisan and continue to vote democrat?

Did you know that Obama's not going to be running again?

I'm pretty sure it's possible to "vote democrat (sic)" without voting Obama.

Re:

[aristotle-dude]

So because you believe that you are going to be a good little partisan and continue to vote democrat?

Did you know that Obama's not going to be running again?

I'm pretty sure it's possible to "vote democrat (sic)" without voting Obama.

Your point is? You are still voting for the party apparatus that put him in power. Did you know that Obama was not expected to win the Primaries back in 2008? It surprised many of the people in the democratic party upper echelons and they had to scramble to get their party machine behind him.

Re:

[PopeRatzo]

I'm not sure what you're asking. If you want to know who my candidate is for 2016, it's either Russ Feingold or Howard Dean.

Anybody who voted for the Patriot Act is dead to me. Anybody with an "R" after their name is dead to me. Anybody who has said that they would not have voted for the Civil Rights Act or the Voting Right Act (coughRandPaulcough) is most definitely dead to me.

That leaves a lot of governors and Russ Feingold.

Re:

[ganjadude]

sad, rand paul seems to be the only smart member of congress right now

Re:

[ganjadude]

did you know people still bitch B B BUT BUSH! eventhough hes been gone for years? obama cant run again but he can keep fucking up this country for at least 3 years

Re:

[fustakrakich]

Yep. It's even stronger than the Reagan worship. I think Hitchcock (maybe it was Steven King) wrote a film on the phenomenon. Hollywood fiction isn't so fictional.

Re:

[fustakrakich]

No, it's nothing like that. I'm only talking about the power of the old 'cult of personality'. Obama was the perfect choice, covers all bases. He is untouchable.

Re:

[aristotle-dude]

I seems that we have a racist here.

Fuck off, you little twat.

I have blood relatives from several ethnic groups. You assume that if I don't support Obama, that I must be racist. Let be guess, you have some token friends from another ethnicity? Family trumps fake friends and white guilt.

Re:

[aristotle-dude]

I seems that we have a racist here.

Fuck off, you little twat.

Racists either support or oppose someone based on their race. If you voted for Obama because he had a black father then you are a racist. I judge people, not by the colour of their skin but by the quality of their character just like Martin Luther King wanted. A person's character can be judged based on their actions and how their actions line up with their words. Obama's actions have been inconsistent with what he promised.

Re:

[FuzzNugget]

Given that those are the type of people who need the most convincing ... yes.

Re:And this is why I choose to use Apple...

[ichthus]

No, you choose to use Apple so that you can post "And this is why I choose to use Apple" all around the interwebs.

Re:

[ganjadude]

you DO know Apple is in on prism as well dont you? of course you do, but your just a shill for apple.

Re:

[gstoddart]

you DO know Apple is in on prism as well dont you?

And you DO know it's a troll, right?

Re:

[ganjadude]

i noticed it as soon as i hit submit :( sometimes ya get trolled.

Re:

[Nerdfest]

Apple doesn't care about your security, it cares about your money. There are pirated apps in the Apple store by the way, and developers have recently been complaining about it. As Apple gets their cut regardless of whether or not the app has been pirated it's not at the top of their priority list.

Re:

[gstoddart]

Apple doesn't care about your security, it cares about your money.

News flash: that's all any of them care about.

Microsoft, Apple, Google, Sony, Netflix, Samsung, Oracle, Nokia, Motorolla ... every single damned one of them (and more) only cares about your money.

They will often sacrifice your security in order to make it easier for them to intrude on your privacy. Or they're so grossly incompetent to implement any actual security as to make it worthless. The only security they'll put effort into is their

Re:

[Nerdfest]

I'm not addressing other companies here, I'm addressing Apple, and someone (who is probably trolling, but has been modde insightful by the faithful) thinks they care about his security. Security is not the primary reason they've locked down their platform. It bothers me that people think it is as now Microsoft and other are foaming at the mouth now they they have a good shot at locking their platforms and demanding a cut of all software installed as well.

Re:

[gstoddart]

I'm not addressing other companies here, I'm addressing Apple, and someone (who is probably trolling, but has been modde insightful by the faithful)

Well, let's face it -- this is Slashdot. 30% will hate everything a given company does with no good reason, 30% will love everything a given company does with no good reason, 20% or so use lots of different things but aren't 'faithful' and buy on merit, 26.3% of us will just say "get off my lawn" and bitch about everything, about 42% will buy on the basis of

Re:

[Nerdfest]

I like to actively try to stop people from giving money to companies that are reducing my chances of having open platforms available to me in the future. I think it's extremely important. Just letting things go in the direction they are and saying "oh well" will probably end badly for me, and eventually most others as well. Sometime a little idealism is required. Perhaps not to the point of RMS, but enough to point out that if we keep allowing locked down platforms to succeed that eventually only locked dow

Re:

[gstoddart]

Sometime a little idealism is required.

Oh, I hear you my friend.

Sadly, the major players have no interest in open platforms. So your choices become "live in a cave and stop using technology", "find the middle ground you can live with", or "just use it and stop caring".

Obviously the 1st and 3rd choices suck, and the 2nd one is difficult, and quite possibly a losing battle.

Thee and me tilting at windmills won't change the way most people go about doing this. I'm not saying we should stop trying, but sometim

And this is why

[future assassin]

I dont support any BIG comapny if I can. Fuck Apple, Google and etc....

>. I'd say the rest of /. get on this "band-wagon" and put trust into a company that *actually* cares about you and your security...

Take you shiny and shove it up your ass, I don't use any fancy phones so Im better than you, who thinks he's better than ./ I also don't store who whole life on a phone and in the cloud.

Re:

[Khyber]

"Their stuff "Just Works""

No it doesn't. Their Maps app sucks (constantly telling me to turn on streets that have dead ends that stretch a mile before starting back as a road in some neighborhood, thinking the street runs the entire way)

The Camfrog App won't allow me to join 18+ rooms (saying iOS won't allow it) That's pretty broken if you ask me.

Apple - perfect products if you're a child. Useless for real-world applications.

Malevolent misdirection?

[rmdingler]

Perhaps these are anti-JZ hackers cleverly disguising their activities by posing as activists.

Sounds promotional

[Animats]

This sounds like something a music promotion company would do.

Another title that's basically a lie

[93 Escort Wagon]

Jay-Z's app wasn't hacked at all. The story states that McAfee (the antivirus company, not the insane founder of that company) "found" an app that purports to be Jay-Z's app but does these things. It doesn't say where they found the app, nor if anyone has even been affected by this at all - it mainly seems to be a weird "Hey can we turn this whole Snowden story into a way to get our company so e attention" thing.

We rail about the Slashdot editors all the time; but come on. Shouldn't you guys at least make sure the title isn't out and out WRONG?

Re:

[93 Escort Wagon]

m -- oh there it is! I was looking all over for that.

Re:

[93 Escort Wagon]

Crap - BUSTED!

Re:

[HornWumpus]

Update your sig FA reader.

Yet another app

[Anonymous Coward]

So this app just downloads his single, some video and other crap ?
Back in my day there used to be these things called 'websites' that artists used to do all that.

Can't mobile/tablet users do anything without needing a specific app for it ? Or is it just because marketing droids still see 'app' as a buzzword?

Re:

[QRDeNameland]

That was along the lines of my first thought. Media has now gone from being static files to needing an executable "app" wrapper (pun not intended). I know it makes me sound like a crusty old bastard, but this whole "everything is an app" paradigm is one of the big reasons the whole smartphone/tablet space has little appeal to me.

Re:

[tlhIngan]

Well, they could, but apps provide stuff that websites don't, and sometimes stuff doesn't make it in the spec. Like DRM support in HTML5. Since that seems to be a huge non-starter, it just means if you want DRM, you don't put it on the web, you release it as an app.

Whether or not HTML5 DRM is a good idea or not, or whether app-ificiation of the web is a good thing or not, is a debate for another day.

Profit

[future assassin]

Create explitable JAY Z app
Post that its been exploited to get on /.
???
Profit for Jay Z

I would have been more impressed if it sent email

[erroneus]

I think it would be absolutely awesome if someone were to do something like this and have it send out emails making empty threats to political figures that would keep the secret service so ridiculously busy that they can't do their job.

But then again, that might be the cause they need to "increase the security budget and buy another billion bullets." Yeah, probably not a great idea but still. Having feds arrive at the doors of some of these people might be fun to watch.

Re:

[TheGratefulNet]

call it, "project: DOS the BOSS"

lol

Re:

[gl4ss]

well.. you do realize that the way the soviet union fell was exactly that their budgets for needless crap ballooned so much that they practically bankrupted.

so yeah, it might work. of course there's the inconvience of bankruptcy.

Re:

[HornWumpus]

We saw those (greatest presidents ever) stories six years ago. Some of the authors have woken up sense then, but there are always a few idiots that can't accept their savior is just a Chicago politician. Also many who never believed it, but wrote it anyhow.

Re:

[gl4ss]

pragmatic leader? name one thing that he actually did that could not have been done by a puppet.

obamacare? maybe. could have been done by a party puppet too. effective? in what exactly?

(he doesn't see the opposition anyhow). I'm not saying he's worse than bush, but he has not done a single personal level choice in any matter at all despite that being his entire campaign, that he would do the hard things like closing down gitmo and not act like a black bush.

Re:

[0111 1110]

As a Libertarian, let me say that I don't hate Obama. Certainly no more than I hated Bush. What I feel towards Obama is some mixture of indifference and contempt. Pretty much the same as any other modern president. They're all basically idiots who really make no difference. They're just a part of a larger corrupt, evil system which exists for its own sake, to serve its own ends, to accumulate more and more power. I do like that at least Obama has some charisma. Unlike either of the Bush creatures who had al

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose indeed...

It's amusing to see how the Obama fans have divorced themselves completely from reality, with the same zeal and gusto as the Bush supporters were just a few years ago. Hell, I remember Bush shills desperatedly trying to lecture others on how their guy would eventually be vindicated as one of the greatest leaders to ever walk the earth. When morons invest themselves emotionally with any leadership, they always end up trying to convince themsel

Re:

[spartacus_prime]

You're a funny guy, Sully. I like you. That's why I'm going to kill you last.

Re:

[ultranova]

You rarely get people who can show that sort of nous, effectiveness, ruthlessness and pragmatism in one individual, and I bet very few people would survive, let alone thrive with the sort of irrational, hateful opposition that man sees.

Dunno if Obama is particularly ruthless or not, but in any case it's a character fault, not a virtue, especially for someone in a position of power.

Remember, we're in the midst of a once-in-a-century global economic crisis, and the West is fighting wars on two separate front

Government propaganda

[TheP4st]

Cue Government propaganda on how only wide spread NSA surveillance can protect Jay-Z fans from infecting their Android phones.

android, lol

[thetoadwarrior]

Seems like it's about every week now we're hearing about Android vulnerabilities. Google shouldn't make open systems if they're incapable of securing them. That or they're trying to making something more busted than Windows.