In 2013, former government contractor Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the NSA. Americans learned their desktops, laptops, smartphones, and social media pages were being spied on by this government entity without their approval or knowledge.
Now, that story is all but completely forgotten about. Many Americans seem to forget who Snowden is. But late night talk show host and comedian John Oliver hasn’t forgotten, and he’s determined not to let us forget. It bothered Oliver that nearly half of Americans don’t seemed that concerned about government surveillance. ?Do you know what happens June 1? John Oliver reminds us that’s the expiration date of certain parts of the controversial Patriot Act. By that day, government officials will either renew or kill those certain parts. One of those provisions is Section 215. It’s common name is the Library Records Provision. Don’t let that name fool you. Section 215/Library Records Provision requires employers to hand over any ‘tangible things’, including books, hard drives, records, even social media pages and music on your iPod. According to this provision, this would only be used investigate terrorist activities. That’s not all. John Oliver went to Russia and interviewed Edward Snowden. Part of his interview aired on Oliver’s HBO program called Last Week Tonight.
I’d like to thank John Oliver for re-starting the conversation. I’m thankful he educated us about the June 1 deadline, Section 215, and what’s really on the line. And he interviewed Snowden himself. Some may say Oliver is doing this for ratings. If that’s the case, then why aren’t there more host speaking out against this? I think the closer we get to June 1, the more Section 215 is going to be debated. At least that’s my hope. I live in a ?politically charged and progressive city. So when the government surveillance story broke, there were protest and rallies everywhere to stop government surveillance. A few months later, they stopped. I don’t trust Section 215. They say it’s only to investigate potential terrorism. But the cynic in me says it will be used and abused for more sinister reasons. Is John Oliver the man we need to re-start the call against government surveillance?
It’s no secret Android has had malware problems. At this time last year, a scathing report said most of mobile malware is on Android mobile products. Google is combating malware and it looks like Google is winning.
According to Android‘s own State of the Union report, the malware rate fell by 50% over the course of 2014. The article claiming 97% of all mobile malware is on Android came put in March 2014. According to Google, only one percent of Android devices had harmful apps installed in 2014. This State of the Union is 44 pages long. It doesn’t just talk about malware problems. This report tackled things from ransomware to SMS abuse. They expect to continue do more research on harmful glitches and bugs. This is part of Google’s war on malware wherever it exists, from Android devices to Chrome. Last week alone, Google cut out around 200 harmful extensions in their web browser, making web surfing easier for nearly 14 million people who struggled otherwise. But the report didn’t talk about the high risk Android Jellybean phone. There’s still controversy about the lack of a venerability patch, but some Android leaders say that was the best course of action for protection.
If this report is accurate, then it sounds like Android is making tremendous progress in reducing their malware threat. I’m guessing that March 2014 article was a wake up call. I was a little skeptical of getting a Droid phone, but then I remember the majority of malware issues came from Asian and Pacific nations. But there are still things you can do to prevent a malware attack, no matter what your favorite smartphone brand is. Get good antivirus protection. Today’s it’s simple to get and very essential. Watch the apps you subscribe to. If it looks suspicious, stay away from it. I can think of some websites to steer clear from. How well do you think the malware problem has improved?
If your international trip flies through Washington Dulles International ?Airport, that passport had better be who you say you are. There’s a camera that runs deep, and I mean deep, that will check you out.
It’s called facial recognition technology. It’s biometric technology that studies a person’s unique facial features: facial position, eye shape, nose, cheekbone, etc. Back on March 11, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began a facial recognition program at Dulles Airport to combat passport fraud and false identity. It’s believed this technology will help catch impostors flying into our border, but civil libertarians and privacy rights groups worry of more sinister consequences. You see, the picture taken will be matched with the RFID backed passport picture. If the two pictures don’t seem to match, the officer alone will have full discretion on legal action. CBP themselves say facial recognition won’t be the only factor in letting a person into the country, or whether further screening methods are necessary. Other than that, CBP has been generally hush-hush about this new security measure. It only takes a few seconds to snap a facial recognition photo, and they promise the photos won’t leave CBP headquarters, unless there is a criminal investigation. This test program is likely to last 19 months.
I know some are going to go hurrah for extra security at our airport. When I look at one incident that happened today, I see why. But let’s dig deeper. They have RFID technology in our passports already. Our passports can tell any law enforcement official around the world where we are. Do we really need to spend billions of dollars on this? Some may say, “Look at ISIS and other terror groups. Look at the drug cartels. Look at human traffickers.” I understand how dangerous and fragile this world is. But whose to say they won’t use this technology to go after law abiding Americans while letting the sociopaths go free? Haven’t they done it before?
The FBI is investigating a series of hacks. But these aren’t hacks to steal money or ID information. These hacks seem to come from a far more sinister nature.
The FBI and international law enforcement are investigating hacks claimed to be by ISIS; it’s logo has appeared on many a site over the past several days. Websites from a Goodwill store in St. Louis to NASCAR star Tony Stewart’s speedway in Ohio to a rape crisis center in Dublin, Ireland are among the ones hit. When someone logged on these websites, they were met with a black ISIS flag and the phrase, “hacked by ISIS, we are everywhere.” Many investigations say this is probably a hoax. Even intelligence say they have no hard evidence that the people behind these web attacks are linked to the terrorist group in any way. But as you can imagine, people are freaked out to have this symbol flash on their screens. They even got a credit union in Montana, which still remains down. In fact, a bar right here in the greater Boston area was hit with this ISIS symbol, but they took it in stride. They wrote on their Facebook post, “It’s Saturday night. Come in and have a cocktail! Don’t let ISIS win!”
I hope ISIS isn’t behind this. Because if they are, I shutter to think what their next step could be. Most cyber criminal experts don’t think they are. But until there is hard evidence to prove they’re not behind this hacking, I’m going to leave it as a real realm of possibility. If domestic hackers are trying to make a name for themselves, why would you use a group like ISIS as a cover? Don’t they know the atrocities this group has committed? Don’t they know about the murder, rape, torture, pillage and destruction they’ve caused to countless people around the world? Or are these domestic hackers just a bunch of copycats who don’t even care? Why would they even do that?
Throughout the United Kingdom, this week has been dubbed ‘strike week’. This isn’t because workers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are going on work stoppages. They’ve dedicated this week to crack down on hacking and other cyber crimes.
Twenty-five operations have been carried out in the United Kingdom and there have been at least 56 arrests. These people have been arrested for ID theft, fraud and virus writing. One operation found a hacker suspected of hacking Yahoo back in 2012. In the West Midlands, England area (the county that holds Birmingham, England), they arrested a man suspected of hacking in the US Dept of Defense last year. But the biggest bust took place between the city of London and county of Essex, just north of London. In these two areas, 25 people were arrested for attempting to steal and launder money through cyber means. It gets better: they already stole information from over 800 people. Also in London, a young man was arrested for his ties with a British hacking group called The D33Ds. This group allegedly stole around 400,000 Yahoo email addresses and passwords. The police group behind ‘strike week’ is called National Cyber Crime Unit.
Why am I talking about a major British story while living in the United States? What does this have to do with us? It shows that the good guys can win against these cyber criminals. It shows these guys who wreck lives behind a computer screen can be held accountable. So good for United Kingdom’s ‘strike week’. I think we should follow their example. We have the tools, manpower and will to do it. We need an anti-cyber crime unit to dedicate a week or month to crackdown on cyber crime. Go after the crime leaders first. If the head is cut off, the body will shut down (sorry if that sounded too graphic). We’re already doing this with revenge porn, cyber bullying, and sextortion. Can’t we do it with financial based cyber crimes?
Not even our skies are immune to a hack attack. According to one US government watchdog organization, our air traffic controllers are vulnerable to a major hacking that could spell catastrophe.
There is a 42 page document called Information Security: FAA Needs to Address Weakness in Air Traffic Control Systems. This document states there are problems with air the Federal Aviation Administration’s cyber security that could hinder safety in our skies. While certain actions have decreased vulnerabilities somewhat, more needs to be done to toughen the cyber barrier between their computer systems and hackers. The document says controls for protecting system boundaries, sensitive data encrypt, and monitoring FAA operations are weak, especially when it comes to preventing unauthorized access to the air traffic control system. This scathing report says FAA security systems don’t even meet 2002 requirements, and plans haven’t been updated since 2010. We’ve come a long way technologically since 2002, and even 2010 for that matter. But the report doesn’t just scold the FAA; it gives ways to make it better. It suggests better training, strengthening protocol, better record keeping, and better data monitoring to detect unauthorized access. The FAA has actually responded to the document and vowed to do better job increasing cyber security.
This is a huge, huge eye opener. To think that a hacker with bad intentions could cause a major tie-up with our flights all over the country is chilling. Even more chilling if the flights are already in air if a hack attack starts. How are they going to land or find a place to land? ?The FAA needs to incorporate these suggestions…yesterday! I don’t report on this to scare anybody. But there is strength in numbers. If more of us write to political leaders and government and insists the FAA do all they can to keep us safe, I think they will get the message. Millions of people take to the skies every day. Why wake for tragedy to strike before addressing this potential threat?
