Russia is a hacking powerhouse. We should all know that by now. Look at the controversy that followed the 2016 US election. Furthermore, Russian agents hacked Yahoo. But what does the current administration do? Anti-hacking deadline: Trump misses it.
So let’s go back to January 2017. President Trump promised to fight Russian hacking, and other forms of hacking as well. He also promised to put a team together to fight this hacking threat. That was 90 days ago. And we still don’t have an anti-hacking team. But in the last three months, contact still continues between US and Russian officials. However, some of the testimony, on both sides, is so confusing it stalls the process.
On January 31, President Trump had a meeting about this. Former NYC major Rudy Gulliani attended. In that meeting, President Trump said, “We must protect federal networks and data”. Some reports say he was supposed to sign an executive order about it. But somehow, it didn’t happen. This led to a lot of confusion. Just who is responsible for fighting anti-hacking? Is it the NSC (National Security Council)? Is it Homeland Security? There also seems to be a lot of confusion between the private sector and Washington. But nobody expects the White House to answer about this anti-hacking deadline.
But Russian hacking is a problem. Everyone in IT support knows it. And most Americans know it. Say what you will about the elections. But this issue gets scarier and scarier by the day. It’s bad enough they hacked over 350 million Yahoo emails. Also keep in mind these were Russian agents! Imagine what these hackers can do to our military and government secrets. So I really don’t care about deadlines. But this administration needs to do all it can to fight hacking. This is especially true when it comes to foreign hacking. Because China has also been accused of hacking the US. Don’t forget. Why do you think they missed the anti-hacking deadline?
How do you get into your office or work space? Do you still use keys? Or maybe you use a code? But in Sweden, they’re using microchips. They implant these microchips in your hand, near your thumb. Sweden’s Microchip: Tech Trend or Big Brother?
So the company leading the microchip charge is Epicenter. Their headquarters are in Stockholm, Sweden’s capital and largest city. Sometime ago, Epicenter offered the microchip. It’s the size of a grain of rice. Also, it can open doors, control printers, and even order food. All you have to do is wave your hand. Furthermore, Epicenter CEO?Patrick Mesterton praises the microchip. He loves the convenience of the implant.
So do the people. Sweden’s microchip is so popular Epicenter throws parties around it. These parties entertain the people as they wait for their implant. ?It uses NFC’s (near field communication) technology. It reads data from a couple of inches away. They also contain info about other devices, and other people. But the implants can’t read information on their own. However, this brings up biological and ethical concerns. Somebody asked about a chip being in somebody’s body. But Mesterson practically compared it to the heart’s pacemaker.
But what about the privacy and ethical issues? Sweden’s microchip, and any microchip, can follow you wherever you go. You put the chip in your hand. Your employer and colleges can track you 24/7, whether you’re on the clock or not. That is scary. Plus, they inject this in your body! Don’t forget that part. Now microchip technology is nothing new. They put it in dogs to track them, for fear of getting lost. You can put them in your kid’s shoes. This is in the name of finding them, and to ‘make sure they’re doing the right thing’. Hence, there’s even talk of using the microchip to track down a potential cheating spouse/significant other. There’s IT support and there’s outright tracking. There are laptops fixed and then there are fixing laptops to follow you. So I ask you. Sweden’s Microchip: tech trend or big brother?
Should I buy a tombstone saying: Internet privacy: 1994-2016 RIP? Should I buy it now or later? I ask this because Congress voted to repeal consumer privacy rights on the Internet. So, Internet privacy dies: Congress killed it.
The US House vote was 215-205 to. This vote helps overturn former President Obama’s FCC rules. Those rules say ISP’s (Internet service providers) require consumer’s permission before they use certain information. This includes finances, health, and info about their kids. But that protection is in danger now. But wait. It gets worse. Last week, the Senate voted 50-48 against you and me and in favor of Comcast, Verizon, and the big boys. And this is how Internet privacy dies.
The White House said ISP’s still need ‘opt-in’ permission. That’s when ISP’s give you the option of sharing your information. But here’s the problem with that. Websites don’t need to ‘opt-in’ with anybody. That’s because websites are less restricted, thanks to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). FCC Chariman?Ajit Pai praised the decision. But he assured we would stay have protection for our privacy. Then you have privacy rights groups like the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). One leader said ISP’s shouldn’t buy or sell our information without consumers’ approval. Of course, Comcast and other major ISP companies aren’t talking.
I like what?Michael Capuano said. He’s a Democrat Congressman from Massachusetts. You know, home to our Boston computer service shop. Online, he bought underwear. Why should the government, or anyone else, have to know about the underwear he bought? Some may say, “But what about the terrorists?” What about the cyber criminals?” I get their concern. But what about the welfare and privacy of the 99 1/2 percent who aren’t doing these things? What about our children? Why should you know where our kids go to school, or what activities they do after school? How come the government wants to know where I bought what and from who? How come ISP’s and other corporations want to know what I look at online?
How much do you know about cyber security? If you’re like most Americans, then not much. But in this world of constant hacking and espionage, that needs to change. Americans and cyber security: We must do better.
So the Pew Research Center came up with a quiz. This quiz tested what Americans know about online security. Apparently, it’s not much. There were ten questions. ?Consequently, of those who took the tests, 58% got more than half the test wrong. Another 15% got just half the quiz right. So that’s nearly 3/4 of Americans who got 50 or below. Only 1% got all 10 right, and 3% got 9 of 10 right.
The quiz covered numerous issues: password security, phishing, encryption, Wi-fi safety, and ransomware. As we can expect, those between ages 18-29 did the best. But those over 65 did the worst. However, the education gap really shows. Those who have a college degree did better than those without a high school diploma or GED. But there is some good that came out of the results. The majority of them picked the strongest password as the best password. Thankfully, very few picked 12345 as the best password. But of the ones most got wrong, they deal with VPN’s (virtual private networks and identity authenticity. These are critical to Americans and cyber security.
Yes, we are making progress. I say that because years back, many would choose a password like abc or 12345. But we in computer repair need to do better teaching our customers about cyber security. There’s a reason they don’t know. It’s because we don’t tell them. At our?Boston computer service shop, we’re discussing running courses about Americans and cyber security, just to keep the public informed. ?I guess what I’m trying to say is, knowledge is power. And we in the tech industry need to better educate ourselves. Then, we need to pass that knowledge on and educate our people. The cyber crooks are getting smarter every day. When it comes to Americans and cyber security, shouldn’t we?
Apple is no stranger to cyber crime. Remember when cyber crooks exposed nude celebrity pictures back in 2014? But this one developing case could be even worse. Because it literally holds accounts hostage. Apple held hostage: Hackers threaten iCloud accounts.
The hacker group name is Turkish Crime Family. They demand $750,000. Also, they say they have hundreds of millions of email accounts. Furthermore, they’re demanding this money by April 7. But if they don’t get it, they’ll wipe out emails and iClouds. However, they’ll take $100,000 worth of iTunes gift cards. One hacker says he wants Apple customers to know what’s going on.
Furthermore, they sent email accounts to their website, Motherboard. The Turkish Crime Family put up a You Tube video. The video showed them browsing through iClouds. We don’t know how many email accounts they have. But Apple held hostage is real. The low number is 200 million accounts. The high number is 600 million accounts. But I don’t care how many Apple email accounts they have. One email account is one account too many. But one security expert said he doesn’t know if the threat is real. He doesn’t even know if The Turkish Crime Family is real or fake. This is a bad move on this expert’s talk.
Anybody in computer repair, anybody in IT support, and anybody in cyber security will tell you the same thing. You take every threat seriously! Especially a threat of this magnitude. There’s a lot we don’t know. We don’t know if these hackers really are from Turkey. It they are, are they working for their president Tayyip Erdogan? Remember, the people who hacked Yahoo were Russian agents! So it is possible. And what do the hackers mean, “They want their money?” What makes them think they’re entitled? And what is Apple doing about this threat? I hope they’re not waiting until something bad happens. This is a serious threat, and what is Apple doing about it?
So 20 over million Gmail and over 5 million Yahoo email accounts are for sale. An underground vendor calling himself, “”SunTzu583” listed the emails. But now, he’s promoting them to the cyber criminal world. What is his price? He offers the Gmail accounts, all 20 million of them, for only $450. That’s less thank half a Bitcoin. But if you want the 5 million Yahoo email accounts, those will only cost $250. That’s around a quarter Bitcoin.
So what exactly will a criminal get? He’ll get email addresses, and more to the point, he’ll get passwords. We can thank a Hack Read report for this security alert. Sun Tzu got the defunct emails from My Space, Adobe and Linkedin data branches. However, the vendor says not all the passwords and accounts work, so they should be careful which ones they try. Aw, a cyber crook with a heart (yes, I say that will all the sarcasm I can muster). Who ever thought?
But such cyber attacks threaten the IT support community every day. All I can do is tell you what our Boston computer service shop people tell customers. Make strong passwords. Also, don’t use the same one for every account. And change them often. Furthermore, get anti-virus protection for your system, whether it be a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone. You can get such protection for free, and add layers of protection for a small fee. Also, it’s always good to read up on every security alert you can. Arm yourself with knowledge. Ignorance is not bliss. Not only that, ignorance can wipe you out! The cyber criminals are getting smarter. Shouldn’t you?
