Month: July 2014

Gaza Cyber Warlords

July 31, 2014 — Leave a comment

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The endless news flow about the Gaza conflict with a number of victims increasing on both sides and troubling potential for further escalation has completely camouflaged some other equally important events taking place in the background. One of them is definitely an unparalleled Israeli hacking school, which fights its virtual battles with the same or even greater intensity.

It is an intriguing and proven fact that the Israeli IT infrastructure is one of the most endangered and attacked in the world. This fact provides the Israeli hacking school with an absolute abundance of real-life scenarios and practicing material. Israeli hackers are among the best in the virtual battlefield. Is this true?

Well, we can never be quite sure about this one. As long as the system is functioning as it supposed that means someone is doing a proper job. The experts from the Israeli hacking school say that they regular job is to handle up to 10,000 different cyber attacks every single hour. How about that for a change?

We need peace in Gaza as soon as possible, in both real and virtual world. We are quite aware that this is an easy thing to say and almost impossible to achieve at the moment. Unfortunately, we cannot hear or see the cyber guns, but we can certainly experience their harmful effect first-hand once they occur.

Privacy Healthcare

July 30, 2014 — Leave a comment

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How about this horror movie for a change? A laptop with the 500 patients personal data was stolen from the medical facility in South Carolina. What kind of personal data? Well, anything you can possibly think of including medical history for each and any of the 500 patients.

The laptop itself was password, but the data were not encrypted. Really hard to believe, and absolutely impossible to accept. Simply there is no excuse, which we can swallow. How about the patients themselves? It comes without saying that their condition just got worse.

What happened with the cloud storage system? What about prioritizing these type of data? You do not have to be a rocket scientist to ask these type of questions all day long. What is the purpose? In the paper era we were more secure than in the golden digital age.

Does this type of news about security breaches and identity thefts make you sick? What kind of an epic data catastrophe we have to experience in order to be awakened from our dreams of self-illusions? Enough is enough, let us do something about it for real this time. Shall we?

eBay Rainy Days in Louisiana

July 29, 2014 — Leave a comment

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It simply had to happen one fine day, eventually, this way or another. The only difference is, the users themselves will not be a collateral damage, but the provider of services in charge the eBay itself. Why? Well, it should have done more and known better, as well.

The lawsuit eBay is about to face in Louisiana does not target some abstract unknown hackers, but rather a flesh and blood company responsible for one of the worst security and privacy breaches in the recent Internet history. So, what happened?

The users were kept in dark for months intentionally in a desperate attempt to cover up the catastrophic identity theft. This additional claim opens the second legal front for eBay, which has to deal with both serious accusations: negligence and cover ups.

It comes without saying that some of the biggest companies care more about their money than our privacy and well-being. If this is the only way to change something dramatically, then let it be. In order for the small ones to survive, one giant has to fall. Right?

Hackers Love Superman Too

July 27, 2014 — Leave a comment

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The guys from the McAfee have a sharp expert IT security eye for all intriguing things taking place in the background, or to be a little bit more precise in the backstage. So, what do they have for us this time? They came up with a Superman warning. What are we talking about?

Well, it seems that hackers are using some of the most popular superheroes to camouflage their malicious links. If you do not think twice before you click on a certain link associated with your favorite superhero, there is a chance that you make unwanted friendship with some malware or Trojan.

These superheroes may fly and have all kinds of super-powers. However, when it comes to the cyber space there are quite helpless. As soon as you experience a close encounter with some malware or Trojan you need to call heroes of a different kind. Your IT security experts come for a rescue.

It is a sad thing that flawless Superman’s reputation has been violated in such a shameless manner. To make things even worse for us movie fans the upcoming saga Superman vs Batman is very likely to be misused in a similar way. Oh dear, is there something sacred to these villains hackers?

Tesla For Hacker Dummies

July 26, 2014 — Leave a comment

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All of our hats off to Nikola Tesla, one of the most brilliant minds in an entire human history. Thanks to his inventions we are able to write our posts in the first place and you enjoy them on your devices, as well. No wonder, the inventors of one of the most successful oil-free cars honored their model with his name.

Now, after this relaxing and educational introduction you are ready for the right stuff. Did you know that you can hack a car? This is exactly what happened with the Tesla Model S. To make things even more interesting the hacking took place during the SyScan +360 security conference. The Chinese guys were after a prize of $10,000, that is their sin.

How they did it? Well, all they had to do is to hack the six digit code for the Tesla Model S mobile app. It is a secret how they managed to take control of almost all vital car’s functions in the first place. Unfortunately, this is a weak comfort for all current and potential Tesla car users. So, what is left for us to do?

For what is worth, be careful with your Bluetooth, radio, wireless, and navigation maps in your car, because through them you can get some unwanted virtual guests next to your seat. Maybe, it was not a smart thing to put a computer in your car, in the first place. You do not need a smart car. You need a smart driver and reliable machine. No more, no less.

Project Zero: Google’s Hero

July 25, 2014 — Leave a comment

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The Project Zero is an ambitious attempt to introduce the zero tolerance when it comes to security bugs. There will be a special team working around the clock. Something like navy seals behind the computers. They will deliver security bug fixes on a daily or even hourly basis. Then, your vendors will be responsible for timely security updates and patches.

We do apologize for our tones filled with a bitter tone or irony. However, we just cannot help ourselves noticing how this is a convenient way to switch your responsibility and blame someone else. In this case the poor old vendors themselves. So, what can we conclude from this brave new plan introduced by our thoughtful Google?

The next time you face a security threat, you will know who to blame. There has to be a solution for your trouble. Nevertheless, your vendor was lazy to either inform you or deliver the invaluable solution. Google’s busy little bees have done their homework. It is not their responsibility that vendors cannot catch up with them.

So, what is next? Google will create the black list of uncooperative vendors? We will storm the vendors, rather than to deal with the hackers themselves? Why is Google determined to present itself as the protector of the cyber – galaxy? Maybe, because the absolute majority of all attacks comes through the browsers. Who runs the biggest and the most popular search engine in the world?

Internet Security: Who Is To Blame?

July 25, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Finally! Someone has spoken our minds on this matter. The troubles with the IT Security are not one month or a year old. Seth Hanford, who is the head of Cisco’s Threat Research Analysis and Communications, has hit the right nerve with his observations. The proper IT Security has only been an illusion all of this time.

What does it mean to be a little bit more precise? Well, for what is worth, the situation with our IT Security has not been worse or better compared to the previous periods of time. The only difference is that we are now more aware about it. We conduct more surveys, tests and analysis. That is actually the only difference in this story.

In other words, it is similar to the situation when someone has accidentally turned on the light after nights and nights of complete darkness. And, we have apparently become aware of our current condition. On the second thought, this does not have to be necessarily bad. How do we dare to come up with such a claim?

Well, now that we are fully aware of all threats and dangers that are waiting for our next move in the cyberspace, we can finally do something about it. Not bad for a change and something that should have been done years and years ago. The old and wise Chinese said something like that a long journey starts with a small first step.

Payment Networks – Invaluable Lessons

July 23, 2014 — Leave a comment

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The troubles we have with our passwords and proper identification required for numerous online services can be overcome based on the experiences from one of the least likely fields in this matter. We are talking about the different payment networks. What they got to do with the identity protection challenge?

Well, for what is worth, the payment networks had the same problems we are facing now. We all know that these systems rely heavily on credit cards. The basic presumptions about the identity protection are absolutely the same. At some point in time someone has figured out that credit cards have to be protected in order for the entire system to work.

This does not mean that we have to hire rocket scientists to solve our password puzzle. All we have to do is to closely evaluate the invaluable experiences and solutions left by the top security experts for some of the most successful payment networks. In our case we pay with something far more valuable than our money.

We trade with our privacy. So, let us do our best to ensure that this is a fair deal where both sides of the process are equally protected and safe from any harm. We should look for more appropriate analogies around us. You never know where you can find a solution for your problem. Right?

The Next Chapter: The Public Cyber-health

July 22, 2014 — Leave a comment

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There is nothing wrong with this picture. If we have cyber illnesses, we should have the cyber-health section opened, as well. As a matter of fact, this should be our next chapter and priority. We were able to eliminate so many dangerous diseases for good. Why should malware and Trojans be an exception in the parallel cyber universe?

This is how the US Department of Justice has decided to eradicate GameOver Zeus and CryptoLocker. We are talking about the massive, unprecedented action, which included hundreds of thousands of infected computers. The government seemed pretty much determined to demonstrate its ability to challenge any kind of IT security threat.

These types of analogies are not only the eye-catching figures of speech. We do not need additional chapters for the believe it or not magazine section. It is not a joke to introduce a Ministry of Cyber-Health. Maybe we will not be able to save lives, but we will certainly prevent some serious damages from occurring in the very first place.

Prevention should be our priority in both public and cyber-health. You know how they say, don’t you? Prevention is the best possible medicine you can take. The sooner we examine the seriousness of cyber-illnesses for our cyber-health, the quicker we will be able to successfully eliminate all IT security threats. It is about time we use some extremely effective IT Penicillin.

How To Hack Your Hotel Room?

July 22, 2014 — Leave a comment

 

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Here is one hot topic literally. You are already there or planning to hit the road to a nice looking beach. Here is the catch. With a little bit of patience and nothing more than an iPad 2 you can take control over your hotel room. We are talking about the real control, including all the services your hotel room has to offer, such as cooling system, lights, TV, and others. You name it, you can have it.

However, there is also some bad news. Someone else other than yourself can easily hack your hotel room. Or, as a matter of fact the entire hotel. You can easily end up paying someone else’s hotel bills. Or, even worse, you can be forced to look for another hotel as soon as you arrive. According to the hotel books and computers everything is as it should be, but only you know that is not true.

It seems that the hotel industry has to update itself, as soon as possible. The times when hotel robbers took their tools with them are long gone. Nowadays, you do not have to get your hands dirty in order to rob a hotel. All you have to do is to play smart and use your smartphone or tablet. In this matter, the sky is the only limit you face while you walk down the virtual hotel lobbies.

Well, it is about time for prestigious hotels make some additional investments for appropriate software. It is not enough to have the top booking software. What about the security of hotel in the first place and its guests? The last thing you need is some new virtual hotel’s manager with the dishonest intentions to take over the control. The IT room service is at your door.