Ford and GM will give you the power of David Hasselhoff

American automotive legend Caroll Shelby once said, “Horsepower sells cars. Torque wins races.”

That may have been true in his heyday, but nowadays, horsepower isn’t the only thing pushing cars off the lot. People want tech. And General Motors and Ford are here to deliver.

This past week, both GM and Ford announced they will open up their on-board info-tainment systems to third-party developers.

I hope it's just like Night Rider

It’s about freaking time.

A car takes a whole lot longer to design and sell than the average mobile application. As it is now, most apps become quickly obsolete by the time the car is actually in your driveway. Third-party designed apps could be constantly changed and updated according to the latest innovations and trends.

But before you get too nervous, don’t worry. Angry Birds won’t be distracting that kid drifting into your lane. Both companies said they will restrict which apps can be adopted and promised no apps will be permitted that encourage distracted driving.

So how is this gonna work?

Ford’s program revolves around linking the driver’s smartphone with the car. The system will provide two-way communication between the car and the phone. Imagine streaming Pandora radio on your phone, but playing it through your car’s speakers and controlling it with the on-board controls. Pretty cool.

One of the big advantages here is that developers won’t need to develop apps for a new platform. Furthermore, drivers can easily take their apps with them when they switch vehicles.

GM will be launching an integrated platform for developers. That is – the apps will be stored and run from the on-board system. This might prove a little trickier for developers but could allow for more functionality. Imagine apps that work directly with the car’s electronics — allowing users to monitor things like speed, fuel consumption or perhaps even performance. Use your car for a little casual racing? GM’s system could allow for statistics and performance ratings.

Of course, with systems like these, there’s a lot of concern over the possibility of hacking. How much power would a hacker have if he could control your car? It’s safe to assume that vital functions will be well isolated from the on-board system, but certainly other risks could certainly pop up. Until we see exactly how the integration works, there’s no way to tell here.

Expect to see the new systems on most Ford and GM cars in 2014.

John McAfee: Spy, Super Villain, or Completely Nuts

British-born antivirus godfather John McAfee has returned to the United States after years of exile in Belize where he did some pretty crazy stuff. Or so he claims. With all this chatter about the man, we thought a little overview might be nice.

McAfee: Real life Bond Villain

Who is this John McAfee fellow anyway?

McAfee is one of the pioneers of antivirus software. Back in 1987, he began the software company McAfee Associates and distributed antivirus scanning and removal software under the shareware model. The model, McAfee’s own, was pretty brilliant. The software was available free of charge for individuals and McAfee recouped the costs by charging fees to businesses.

In the early ‘90s, McAfee went on television and claimed that a doomsday virus called “Michelangelo” would wreak havoc on the United States. The announcement instantly boosted software sales. But when it turned out to be a hoax, the resulting scandal forced McAfee to resign two years after the company went public.

So what did he do after leaving his company?

Yoga.

For real.

After effectively being forced out of his own company. McAfee became a yoga instructor in New Mexico. In fairness, the man had a ton of money at this point and could do pretty much whatever he wanted. But really? Yoga?

Why was he in Belize?

In 2009, McAfee told the New York Times that he lost all but $4 million of his $100 million fortune in the market crash in 2008. Of course, he later told tech site Gizmodo that the claim was "not very accurate at all," so who knows what really happened.

Anyway, at this point, he decided to take his remaining money and move to an island in Belize

At this point, you may be thinking this guy is a little crazy. Yup. And it’s about to get so much crazier.

In Belize, McAfee had several projects, many of which involved trying to create drugs from jungle plants. McAfee said his main focus was creating a female version of Viagra. Perhaps appropriate considering he had seven girlfriends who lived on his compound with him.

In addition to hoarding girlfriends, McAfee also had several dogs, a bunch of guns, and piles of drugs. Rumor is he experimented with chemicals in bath salts.

Anyway, last year, McAfee told local law enforcement that he suspected his neighbor of poisoning four of his dogs in response to their constant barking. According to one of his girlfriends, McAfee shot the affected dogs in the head to “put them out of their misery.” But things started looking suspicious when the accused neighbor was found dead in his house two days later, also shot in the head.

When police came to question McAfee, he disappeared.

During his disappearance, McAfee would only speak with reporters and frequently made contradicting claims. Sometimes he said he was changing location every four days and sleeping in lice-infested beds. Other times he said he was at a house very near his compound. Still other times, he claimed he had never left the compound because he didn’t like the look of traffic on the highway.

There is no highway near his compound.

What’s all this spy business about?

After the police raided his property in April, McAfee says he “went on the offensive”.

This is where it gets real. Or made up. We’re not really sure.

McAfee then describes an elaborate scheme in which he used his operatives to crack the phone company’s employees and get wiretaps on his targets in the government.

Yes John, much of your life is a mystery to us as well.

McAfee goes on to describe how his wiretaps and operatives discovered a government-backed plot to smuggle Hezbollah operatives into the United States, sordid affairs involving officials, and an ordered assassination by the Belizean Prime Minister.

You should really just read the entire account on his blog.

Is he a supervillain?

Probably.

Where is he now?

After illegally sneaking into Guatemala from Belize, McAfee was deported by the Guatemalan government and is now back in the United States.

Law enforcement officials in the U.S. said they have no arrest warrant out for McAfee.

McAfee says he’d like to relax, maybe go fishing.

WiFi, Cats, and a fierce VPN

Do you even KNOW how much we love free Wi-Fi?

Most of us here at SumRando are pretty big tech addicts. And there’s nothing more frustrating than being out and about and unable to check your email, update Twitter or send pictures of cats to your friends. (Yeah, LOLCats are hilarious. We’re not ashamed.)

That’s why we’re so freaking excited when we find cool sites like this. The site’s powered by Google Maps and shows free Wi-Fi locations in South Africa. Even cooler, when you click on the location, it tells you the address, what kind of business it is and what kind of data limit they have. As you probably know, we’re based in Cape Town and sometimes it can be hard to find a hotspot when you’re out and about.

Oh Aristocat, you're such a responsible surfer.

In fairness, the site requires a little bit of planning since you obviously can’t use it without internet access. Whatever — still awesome.

But we know what you’re thinking. “I thought open Wi-Fi was really insecure.”

It is. It’s absurdly insecure. When you use open wireless networks, you’re pretty much begging thieves to steal your information and it’s really quite easy for them to do so.

Unless you’re using the GREATEST VPN EVER.

And that, my friends, is why we love free Wi-Fi. We could sit in a freaking hacker convention on an unsecured connection and keep our data safe with SumRando’s fierce encryption. You heard me. FIERCE. As in: would take a computer longer than the age of the known universe to crack our encryption.

So go forth, sip coffee, send email, laugh at cats. With a killer VPN, you can surf anywhere you want with total confidence.

Stay secure my friends

3 Reasons Owning a Mobile Device will Suck in 2013

Best part of the new year? Predictions!

Will Rihanna leave Chris Brown? Will Katie Holmes date Bradley Cooper? Will we make contact with aliens? Here at SumRando, we are so FREAKING EXCITED for the coming year.

Sadly, the party poopers over at McAfee Labs thought we should hear about some real predictions. Ya know, the kind that are important. In their defense, they put together a pretty good list. Lots of malware, hacking and software issues. But the big takeaway?

Having a mobile device is going to suck this year.

These guys are pretty legit

From mobile worms to malicious apps and ransomware, we are all doomed. DOOMED.

Mobile worms on victims’ machines that buy malicious apps

In 2013, malware installs you!

Once criminals discover a profit-making technique that works, they’re likely to reuse and automate it. For example, Android/Marketpay.A is a Trojan horse program that buys apps from an app store without user permission. We’re likely to see crooks take this malware’s app-buying payload and add it to a mobile worm. Buying apps developed by malware authors puts money in their pockets. A mobile worm that uses exploits to propagate over numerous vulnerable phones is the perfect platform for malware that buys such apps; attackers will no longer need victims to install a piece of malware. If user interaction isn’t needed, there will be nothing to prevent a mobile worm from going on a shopping spree.

Malware that blocks security updates to mobile phones

Think you’re going to update away that app buying malware. How about nope?

One of the advantages that a mobile service provider (as opposed to Microsoft, for example) has in fighting malware is that once the cell company recognizes malware it can automatically push an update to customers to clean their devices. This works on phones that have not been rooted (or unlocked) by their owners. For mobile malware to stick around for a long time, it will have to prevent updates. Putting an app on a store that does nothing more than download external malware which locks the phone from communicating with the cell provider will achieve this.

Mobile phone ransomware “kits” that allow criminals without programming skills to extort payments

Gimme your money or I'll brick the phone!

Ransomware on Windows PCs has more than tripled during the past year. Attackers have proven that this “business model” works and are scaling up their attacks to increase profits. One way ransomware is different from other types of malware—such as backdoors, keyloggers, and password stealers—is that attackers do not rely on their victims using the infected systems for financial transactions to separate them from their money. Instead these criminals hijack the users ability to access data, communicate, or use the system at all. The victims are faced with either losing their data or paying a ransom in the hope of regaining access. One limitation for many malware authors seeking profit from mobile devices is that more users transact business on desktop PCs rather than on tablets or phones. But this trend may not last; the convenience of portable browsers will likely lead more people do their business on the go. Attackers have already developed ransomware for mobile devices. What if the ransom demand included threats to distribute recorded calls and pictures taken with the phone? [McAfee]