In recent weeks, Samsung released the smart TV. I believe it’s the first of it’s kind. Off the bat, this smart TV is having not so smart problems.
It wasn’t long before it was discovered the Samsung Smart TV can spy on us. These TVs can pick up everything we say and everything we watch. They watch every move we make in our living room, or even scarier, our bedroom, if your smart TV is in the bedroom. Don’t take my word for it: Samsung even has the warning in small print! They’re even marketing this Smart TV to children, and yes, their voices and movements can be tracked as well. Even US federal agencies are concerned. Privacy groups are filing complaints to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), claiming this TV violates many privacy acts, such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. A privacy advocacy group asked the FTC to investigate Samsung altogether, and stop them from collecting unapproved data for a third party. The South Korean technology conglomerate defends it’s TV. They claim the TV can collect voice data only when the user commands the TV, but not before clicking the activation button, then speak through the remote microphone.
Ever since the 1950s, American families, friends, and tavern partrons have gathered around to watch television. Never could I ever imagine a time when the TV would be watching me. When I was a kid, I thought this kind of technology would exist in a fictional sci-fi section, or in George Orwell’s 1984. But here we are. No TV should be watching and recording our every move. And they definitely have no right to record what our children are saying. Thank goodness privacy rights advocates are speaking out and getting the ear of our government and elected officials. But we have to keep the pressure up. We must tell them this kind of violation is uncalled for. And here’s what will get Samsung’s attention: When not a single American buys this monstrosity of a TV. Can you hear us now, Samsung?
Computer users have been on the hunt for the most secure and stable apps and operating systems out there, and the shocking truth about which Apps and Operating Systems are actually the most stable may surprise you.
As far as operating systems go, sorry all you MAC lovers, the award for the most vulnerabilities no longer goes to Microsoft, but to Apple Mac OS X, followed by Apple iOS and then Linux kernel. The numbers to date show Mac OS X had 147 vulnerabilities - 64 being rated as high severity. Numbers also show there were 127 in iOS - 32 of those rated as high. And lastly, Linux kernel had 119 security vulnerabilities - 24 being rated as high severity.
As far as Apps go, Microsoft cannot gloat too much about being the most secure, as Internet Explorer had nearly twice as many flaws as the second most flawed app on the list ? which was Chrome. This comes as a shocking truth, as many people have viewed Chrome as the most stable and secure App. Internet explorer had 242 security flaws - 220 of those being high severity. Chrome had 124 total bugs with 86 of those rated as high.
So, as you can see users need to be aware, and choose carefully when installing Apps and Operating Systems on their computers. There are always going to be bugs out there, because nothing out there will ever be ?perfect?, but if you run into some trouble with your computer, know Computer Geeks is always there to help. Some good news is that that the percentage of vulnerabilities rated as ?high severity? dropped to 24% in 2014. So at least there is some hope going forward!
Chinese based computer technology firm Lenovo dropped the ball. It promoted software that was meant for good, but turned out to be anything but. This is Lenovo’s security fail.
The software was called Superfish. It was on laptops and PC’s sold between September 2014 and January 2015. Off the bat, Superfish got bad reviews. But earlier this week, the situation went from bad to worse. A password was discovered that would allow anybody access to the computer’s certificate authority, even if it means bypassing encryption. And as sophisticated as hackers are today, they can easily infiltrate that Lenovo computer to spy on the user or flood their system with malware. This could lead to identity theft, sextortion, revenge porn, cyber bullying, and other cyber crimes and indecencies. Lenovo has come up with software to help you uninstall Superfish and test your machine to see if you have this potential threat. Superfish is such a widespread concern that even the US Department of Homeland Security is urging customers to test and rid their machines of Superfish.
I’m glad they caught this potential threat when they did. I haven’t heard of anybody being hacked severely by Superfish. Let’s hope it stays that way before we read yet another report of a major hacking. Lenovo is working with Microsoft and other technological giants to combat this threat. So if you think you’re venerable, don’t procrastinate. Get it off your system immediately. Don’t wait until you’re the next victim. But what can be done to prevent Superfishes of the future?
Months ago, Kevin Bollart from San Diego, California was arrested on revenge porn charges: identity theft, extortion, conspiracy. The United States is cracking down on revenge porn, and now another one goes to jail.
Earlier this week, Hunter Moore, 28, pleaded guilty to revenge porn related charges, including identity theft and aiding and abetting. Moore now faces over five years in prison. His co-defendant, Charles ‘Gary’ Evens, has also been charged. Evens allegedly stole nude photos from victims and made $200 a week from it. By the time of their arrests last year, hundreds of emails were compromised and many nude photos came from disgruntle exes in the name of revenge. Hunter Moore’s website was called IsAnybodyUp. He was inspired by Bollart’s revenge porn scheme, which allowed people to put up other people’s nude, sexually explicit, or other embarrassing photos on their site, for a small fee, without the victim’s knowledge or approval. Moore’s website and reputation became so notorious Rolling Stone magazine called him the most hated man on the Internet. Here is the part that struck me the most: Hunter Moore’s IsAnybodyUp made up to $10,000 a month in ad revenue alone. This revenge porn site got an estimated 30 million views.
There lies the problem. The fact that a revenge porn site got this much money and this many reviews is disturbing. If the demand for such filth is this great, we’re going to see more Hunter Moore’s and Kevin Bollart’s in the future. I’m happy laws and governments are doing something to combat revenge porn. But it starts with us as the consumer. When we stop logging on to such sites that violate peoples’ basic rights and scar them for life, maybe they’ll get the message. When we boycott advertisers that support revenge websites and tell these advertisers why we’re boycotting them, maybe they’ll get the message. Hopefully, Bollart, Moore and Evens are getting that message now. Will this help to prevent the next revenge pornographer?
A Russian speaking hacking ring breaks into banks throughout the world. They steal a billion dollars. This isn’t a movie plot or TV pilot. This is real life.
According to cyber security company Kaspersky Lab, hackers stole a billion dollars from banks in Russia, United States and Europe. These cyber thefts have been going on since late 2013. They’ve hit up 100 banks in 30 countries, although the names of these banks haven’t been released, and they’re probably not even known. The hackers used phishing schemes, studying bank and ATM operations for months. Then they strike, programming ATMs, setting up fake accounts, gaining $10 million per bank, then moving on to their next target. Unlike many other hacks, their only interest is cash money, not credit/debit cards or other personal information. Unlike robbers, they target banking systems instead of people. Because they can move from bank to bank so quickly, that’s how they can accumulate so much money without getting caught. Then there’s the widespread geographic. Since late 2013, these cyber robbers targeted Russia, United States, Germany, and Ukraine, and these are the targets people know about. But there’s speculation this ring wants to expand to China and other parts of Asia, even the Middle East.
I hope authorities find out which banks have been targeted. That would help in solving this case. Don’t think just because they don’t target people that they’re less of a threat. That’s just a strategy they use to further evade the law. It seems everywhere you look, major targets are being hacked: Target, Home Depot, Anthem health insurance, Sony Pictures. This has to be at least the fourth blog I’ve written about cyber security in a matter of weeks. A few days ago, US President Barack Obama met with technology leaders in Silicon Valley to combat this ever increasing threat to us all. And believe me, this is a threat to us all. What if hackers get into electric and nuclear and military systems and shut them all down? What do we do then?
Today, President Obama is expected to land in Silicon Valley. Yes, they’re security threats to talk about, like the health insurance company Anthem hack. But there’s an elephant in the room. The elephant is called: Tech and federal relations.
For decades, technology companies and the US government had a great alliance, from World War One to the Cold War to the 21st century War on Terror. Tech firms and corporations have been asked to help build equipment and strategies in war time to job creation and growth. But in 2013, that buddy-buddy relationship went sour when the NSA/Edward Snowden scandal broke out. Tech companies claimed the NSA forced them to turn over private consumer records, like cell phone conversations and social media posts. Many customers believed Silicon Valley and Washington were in collusion invading our privacy and violating our rights. Silicon Valley distanced itself as far from DC as possible. The net neutrality debate is hardly helping matters. Now this current administration wants to stop tech giants from strengthening encryption. They don’t want enforcement agencies cracking their codes. Now there’s the zero days controversy. The government wants to deliberately build up flawed software and use it to fight future enemies. I can only imagine how Silicon Valley feels about that one.
But yet hacking, security breaches, revenge porn, ID theft, and other cyber crimes are at all time highs. And this will be a part of the discussion as well. I hope they talk about security more than they do their disagreements. If the tech and government communities can come together to end wars, bring east and west together, and fight terrorism, surely they can come together to fight these cyber evils. I know you’re getting tired of hearing it, but we on the side of right need each other more than ever. Can tech and federal relations be improved?
