North Korea is at it again. Dictator Kim Jong Un is using technology to further isolate and oppress his own people. He’s using it to threaten and intimidate the rest of the world.
First off, North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, announced it’s total blockage of Facebook, You Tube, Twitter, and all South Korean websites. They’re also banning gambling and hard core pornography sites. For most North Koreans, they already have little or no online access. But visitors enjoyed basic, but heavily monitored online freedom. More than two million North Koreans have cell phones. But only officers and hand picked citizens had online access. Now, not even they or visitors have access to such sites. The law says anyone caught using Facebook, Twitter or ?You Tube will be subject to punishment, but Pyongyang was illusive to what that punishment would be.
Then, North Korea is jamming GPS signals. This tampering severely affects air and sea travel around the North/South Korean border. In the last month, this GPS jamming happened over 100 times. South Korean leaders say these jams haven’t caused major damage or incident. But they do believe this is blatant provocation on North Korea’s part. North Korea has had this jamming system since 2010, to be used in acts of hostility against the US and South Korea.
Why is North Korea doing this now? We all know how they sent satellites after the Super Bowl. They claim not only to have nuclear weapons, but they claim they can send them over the Pacific. Kim Jong Un, just like his grandfather and father before him, have always used extremely oppressive measures against their own people. This dictator is upping the ante. Why is Kim Jong Un blocking social media sites entirely, even for visitors and his own officers? And he’s toying with the GPS systems? I’m almost afraid to ask what the punishment would be if a North Korean did look at one of these websites? What is Jong Un trying to prove here?
Not so long ago, the FBI got a huge one-up on Apple over the iPhone unlocking case. It was revealed they no longer need Apple’s backing, permission, knowledge, or approval to crack codes: they can do so on their own.
The FBI says they will teach local law enforcement agencies all over the country this mysterious trick of unlocking phones. The fact that local police are asking how the Feds did it is should say enough. In a statement, the FBI said they ??…will of course consider any tool that might be helpful to our partners.? We can read between the lines. Of course they’re not going to reveal the third party who helped them unlock that phone. An anonymous law enforcement official told tech news website BuzzFeed sent an advisory to offer any tech support. The statement says there could be some limitations to revealing such secrets. The letter sounds like they’re concerned with the whole ‘classified’ part of this organization (Let’s get real. We all know ‘classified’ really means secrecy). What if these methods, or the contents, need to be exposed during trials?
I’m no legal expert. Maybe the title FBI Spills the Secrets was a little misleading. Because I know one thing: the FBI will never expose how they cracked the code to people like you and me. They won’t even tell us who this 3rd party is. That’s why this whole things stinks to high heaven. If they can break into a phone and be this secretive about it, what’s there to stop them from breaking into your or my device? They don’t even need a search warrant; you just need to be suspected of something. Could this lead to a big brother system? And who is this third party? Many inquiring minds want to know. Could this change everything? Was Edward Snowden trying to teach us a thing or two?
Over the last many weeks, we’ve read about Apple’s case against the US government. Some say the FBI is just keeping us safe. Others argue our civil liberties and privacy rights are being violated. It seems that Apple isn’t the only ones fighting the fight against alleged government misbehavior.
Google’s Gmail will let you know when you’re being target and when you’re about to open a suspicious email link. They’ve always warned you when a linked was clicked. Now, a warning will show up between the link is clicked and when the link is actually downloaded. Right before the link is opened, Gmail will give you one last chance to ignore the page. Google wants to stop it’s customers from wandering onto malicious sites, and give them every opportunity to keep from wandering before it’s too late. This warning includes government associated hackers and cyber attacks. Google admits the probability of someone getting this last warning is 0.1%. But if you’re a known journalist, activist, or blogger who is critical of the US government and foreign governments , that number will surely increase. Gmail has been stepping it’s security up lately. They’re going to start warning email senders who send emails using TLS encryption.
Gmail’s security over government hacking isn’t the only issue. We all know stories by now about people hacking for financial reasons, as well as for sexually perverted reasons. But for the last three years, there’s been a growing concern of cyber attacks by rival governments overseas, as international tensions continue to escalate. ?There’s also concerned about our own government spying on us and doing online misbehavior to it’s own citizens. This is especially true if for someone who is criticizing the government. A lot of people are doing so. Just look at social media. Something tells me that 0.1% is going to increase and increase in a hurry. Is Google Gmail doing the right thing here?
Imagine driving down a highway. Your brakes lock. Your steering wheel locks. Your speed increases, but not of your own power. Your car, not you, makes an aggressive turns and slams into another car going 80 mph. Your accident causes miles of back up. You, your family, and the passengers your car hit need the jaws of life to get out. All of you are fortunate to be alive.
Sounds like a cool TV episode, right? It isn’t. According to the FBI, this threat is real and it’s on the rise. This threat is called vehicular cyber-sabotage. ?This?PSA was put up by the FBI and backed by Dept. of Transportation and NHTSA (National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration) warning drivers of cyber hacking to vehicles in motion. It talks about car sabotage and offers ways to keep your car safe. Such advice includes keeping your auto software up to date with the latest software editions. Avoid any unauthorized changes to your car’s software. Be weary about putting insecure gadgets in your car’s network. Take any vehicular recalls seriously, especially if your model is the one being recalled. Be vary weary of letting strangers control your vehicle. Would you let a stranger get too close to your computer information, bank account, or child? Take that same vigilance with your vehicle. If you feel your vehicle has been hacked, call the FBI or local law enforcement agency immediately.
Why would hackers go after cars? Some could argue it’s just another way for them to get money and/or your personal information. But they can hack a computer or smart device for that. Something way more sinister is going on. The only reason I can think of to cause vehicular cyber-sabotage is to either deliberately hurt or kill the driver and/or passengers, or to show utter contempt and hatred for society. That’s what makes vehicular cyber-sabotage so disturbing and so sick. What can be done about it?
As far as viruses are concerned, Apple computers have always been the safer bet. It’s often Android and Windows products that have been targeted. In the last few days, that changed.
Apple Mac computers were targeted by hackers. The culprits used ransomaware. This is the first attack of it’s kind in Apple history. Ransomware is malware that blocks access to your own computer. Hackers remotely take control and will demand a ransom be paid before they give control back to the machine’s owner. This time, the ‘KeRanger’ virus was used. It was born through a tainted copy of data transfer program called Transmission. This piece of ransomware was downloaded over 6,000 times. That’s a very small dent compared to the 8.8 million cyber attacks that happened in 2014 alone. ?The good news is that Apple’s top developers thwarted and stopped the attacks from getting worse. The bad news, according to cyber experts, is more ‘KeRanger’ ransomware attacks should be expected.?”It’s a small number but these things always start small and ramp up huge,” said a?Fidelis Cybersecurity manager, claiming there’s a lot of money to be made. Apple rep said it will prevent further attacks by revoking certificates that enable rouge software. Transmission is doing it’s part as well. They removed the tainted 2.90 software and replaced it with 2.92, which fights ransomware.
We shouldn’t be surprised that hackers tried to go after Macs. And the experts are right. They will try again. Remember the FBI virus, when they made the virus look like the FBI put a hold on the screen. It was really ransomware hackers. I’m glad Apple developers stop KeRanger before it spread like wildfire. But this proves Apple isn’t immune. It seems almost daily, hackers are getting smarter, more clever, and more deceitful. Don’t let this stop you from buying a Mac. They’re going after any device they can. So if the bad guys are getting smarter, shouldn’t we be?
Terrorist group ISIS, or Islamic State, makes direct threats at Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. These social media outlets are fighting to silence the terrorist group’s propaganda of murder and jihad.
The Islamic State made the threats in a 25 minute propaganda video. They don’t stop with threats to Zuckerberg and Dorsey. The deep, obviously disguised voice brags about how Islamic State hacked 10,000 Facebook accounts, 5,000 Twitter profiles and 150 Facebook groups. They claim after they were hacked, the accounts were given to Islamic State supporters. The video admits this is in retaliation of Facebook and Twitter’s campaigns to suspend accounts created by the terrorist groups. Twitter has suspended 125,000 profiles linked to ISIS. The video threatened to create one for every ten Twitter profiles removed. At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Zuckerberg declared, “If we have opportunities to basically work with governments and folks to make sure that there aren’t terrorist attacks then we’re going to take these opportunities…”. There’s been pressure on other Internet companies to crack down on ISIS, especially after last fall’s terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernadino. Nobody at Facebook nor Twitter has yet to comment on this recent video.
But ISIS often uses social media for propaganda and recruitment. They’ve shown You Tube videos of them serving ice cream to kids. They’ve sent messages to lonely and venerable women promising them the world if they leave everything behind and join them in Syria, even paying for their one-way plane ticket. So Zuckerberg and Dorsey are doing what any businessman, and any concerned upstanding citizen would do. They’re protecting their businesses and customers from a serious threat by any means necessary. ?It must be working. The Islamic State wouldn’t be threatening them if it had no effect. If I saw Dorsey and Zuckerberg, I would encourage them to keep the fight up. I’d say intensify it. Don’t give in. Don’t give up. Social media should NEVER be used to recruit others for murder, war, jihad, or other acts of such demonic evil. Shouldn’t other online companies and leaders follow Dorsey and Zuckerberg’s example?
