HWM Singapore June 2020

As you read this issue of HWM, we’d officially have moved out of Circuit Breaker. However, I believe that the message is no longer that we will be transitioning to a new norm. Rather, we already have, and we just don’t know it. I have come to realise that I’ve always valued the privacy of home because I’m always interacting with people on a daily basis. Now that I’m home all the time, I start finding the need to be vocal on social media, not so much as to communicate, but to show people that I’m still alive. I also now have so many different videoconferencing software installed that I’m sure there is a security story in there somewhere that’s begging to be written. So yes, we’ve completed our circuit breaker, but…

MORE INSIDE Q+A: HACKING IN SINGAPORE Samuel Eng is a Singaporean bug bounty hunter. While hacking is still often associated with criminal activity, bug bounty programs—such as those from HackerOne and the Singaporean government—are making it a more respectable endeavour. THE GREAT JUGGLING ACT Covid-19 has forced our editors into lockdown. Here’s an inside look at how Hardware-Zone’s own Editor-in-Chief, Vijay Anand, has newfound appreciation for the simpler things in life through working from home and home-based schooling.…

“WHEN SINGAPORE FIRST STARTED OFFERING 4G NETWORK SERVICE TO SMARTPHONE USERS IN 2012, WE ONLY HAD 50% COVERAGE ACROSS THE ISLAND” There’s been a consistent wave of 5G-ready smartphones arriving on the shores of Singapore. We have Samsung, which brought the 5G-capable Galaxy S20 Ultra despite it not being the first 5G-capable phone in their stable. Huawei has their P40 series, where the full line-up can connect to 5G mobile networks. Oppo and OnePlus brought their respective Find X2 Pro and OnePlus 8 series here, too. More phones launching this year and the next will see more 5G compatible devices, but Singapore’s first few 5G networks aren’t slated for launch until January 2021 with a generous deadline of the year 2025 for a full, island-wide roll-out. With 5G taking its time to reach…

What age did you start hacking? Do you have a favourite type of bug or vulnerability to hack? Samuel: I started learning about hacking in my university years around the age of 23. I love server-side vulnerabilities such as Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF), Server-Side Template Injection (SSTI) or code injection bugs. How do you keep up to date on the latest hacking techniques, tools and vulnerability types? Samuel: I did take a lot of certifications such as Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) and Offensive Security Certified Expert (OSCE) for example, and I read a lot of blogs, including Chinese, South Korean and Russian security blogs (I do not want to miss any information). Do you remember when you found your first bug? What was the type of bug? How did it feel to find…

Your spouse is engaged in an office conference call in another room. Your first grader is trying to figure out why he can’t see his other friends in a class video call and wails out to you, while your toddler has bumped into a tower of bricks and is screaming for your attention. You’ve also just realised you’re out of bread and milk for breakfast. All this while it’s still the first half of the day when you’re likely to have a lot of important incoming messages and email from work, one of which could be your boss asking for an update. What do you do first? Among all the daily craziness and coping with the new norm, there have been some positive points to glean from all of this. Here…

THE PERFECT HOME OFFICE This one's made for multi-taskers. If you're looking to get the most efficient setup going and stay productive throughout the day, you'll like the recommendations below. 01 CalDigit TS3 Plus The CalDigit TS3 Plus is without a doubt one of the best Thunderbolt 3 docks on the market right now. It's small, compact, and can sit either horizontally or vertically. In addition, its selection of 15 ports is one of the most comprehensive you can get today, including a handy SD card reader, five USB-A 3.0 ports and two USB-C ports, one DisplayPort output, and a dedicated Gigabit Ethernet port. The Thunderbolt 3 ports allow for daisy-chaining of Thunderbolt 3 devices, and there is support for up to dual 4K 60Hz displays, or a single 5K monitor. It'll also provide…