China vs China

August 26, 2015 — Leave a comment

China has arrested more than 15,000 hackers and cyber criminals. When you have almost 1,5 billion of your own citizens, this really seems like a meaningless drop in the ocean. Or, everything and anything has to be huge and impressive in China, including the number of hackers.

On the other side, there are quite raised eyebrows and suspicious faces that this battalion of arrested hackers is not going to end up in prison. What is that supposed to mean, exactly? Well, China has quite a notorious reputation for its numerous and merciless hacking teams.

It is not an unimaginable thing to witness Nikita scenario for Chinese hackers. It is better to work for the Chinese government or military things you are doing best, than to dream about computers from your cell in some God forsaken province. It is not much of a choice, is it?

So, what is China supposed to do, in order to gain our trust? Even if they arrest 150,000 hackers, we are still going to be suspicious, aren’t we? We sure hope China is doing some serious job in this field. Otherwise, hackers can easily hack the entire China one day. We are not exaggerating.

The Consoles Are Back In The Game

August 5, 2015 — Leave a comment

Great news for Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony. China has canceled its limitations related to distribution of gaming consoles throughout its territory. So far, the gaming consoles in China were strictly limited to the free zone of Shanghai. Now, all doors are wide open, for the first time.

This is going to create an unparalleled gold rush for gaming consoles. China is the promised land for any manufacturer in the cyber field. Yet, we have to worn you that this is not going to be an easy ride, as it may seem at the first glance. Why?

Just because China has decided to suspend some of its commercial limitations, it does not mean that the censorship is being canceled, as well. In other words, you may get any console in China you want, but this does not mean you can play any game you want on them.

Either way, our hats off to China, for this unexpected, but highly appreciated decision. We are more than sure that the busy little business bees in Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony, are already dreaming huge. Who is to blame them. The Chinese dream has become a reality.

The Four-Million Super-Hack

June 11, 2015 — Leave a comment

No one knows for sure, what has actually happened. Maybe, we are too embarrassed to admit it. Yet, for what is worth, some 4 million federal employee data were stolen. Does it mean that all federal data are compromised? How many federal employees, we have in the first place?

Or, let us ask the right question. Who is to blame? It turns out that all eyes are on Chinese hackers, for the moment. Although, it is not quite clear, what are you supposed to do with these federal data. Can you sell them? Are these people more attractive to people, because they have reliable sources of income?

The black-cyber-markets can be very generous for these types of data. On the other hand, this is a huge blow straight in the face of the federal cyber security. If the US government cannot protect its own employees, then what is going to happen to the so-called ordinary citizens?

You can rest assured that this cyber embarrassment is not going to disappear so easily. We are going to write and read much more about the aftermath of this hack attack of epic proportions. Can you hack an entire country? Now, under these circumstances, this question does not sound crazy at all.

Big Gun China #1

May 3, 2015 — Leave a comment

Here is our word of advice. If you plan to read this post, then you should listen ACDC. You do not have to guess twice, which song in particular, do you? Oh dear, if you thought that the so-called Great Firewall of China is something special, then wait until you hear about the Big Cyber Gun.

The busy little Chinese bees in charge of censorship have really done something amazing. Now, not only are they capable of blocking the entire Internet traffic, but also they can redirect it and manipulate according to their wishes with all kinds of malicious software solutions.

One serious rumor has it that compared to the Big Gun, the notorious Great Firewall of China looks and works like an outdated toy. However, this is not something you say our hats off for a respectable achievement. It is actually a sad fact. Just imagine resources and time required for its development and maintenance.

All of that, for what exactly? So, you can monitor and control your own citizens? Unfortunately, we have every reason to believe that the Big Gun made in China is going to give all kinds of crazy ideas to their US colleagues in the NSA. The Internet and freedom. Oh, that is such a bad joke. Indeed.

The United Colors Of Apple

April 19, 2015 — Leave a comment

Even the IT giants, such as Apple itself, can make ridiculous, unreasonable, and very often damaging mistakes. Emoticons for the different races of Apple users. This sounds like a nice idea in theory. However, when you try to implement it in the real life, then you hit a wall with a surprising strength.

What were they thinking? You are desperately trying to enter the Asian market with the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and at the same time you are using yellow emoticons for the users with the Asian origin. This is impossible to comment properly. What happened to the universal values?

You can rest assured that these race-out-of-the-place emoticons are going to be used by the extremely short and unpleasant expiration date. At the same time, we still have this funny and awkward feeling that this was a bad prank. You can do us a huge favor by checking what is happening right now.

Either way the book about the biggest mistakes in the IT marketing just got itself an additional invaluable chapter. We sure hope that the other major IT league players have figured out what is the moral of this story. We sure hope that the iPhones will not change their colors in accordance with your race.

The Certification Wars

April 9, 2015 — Leave a comment

Google has a new cyber enemy made in China. The CNNIC or the China Internet Network Information Center is at least to say furious about Google’s rejection to accept its web certificates. So, what is the big deal with these certificates? Does it really have to be this way for these “old cyber friends”?

Do we really need an additional chapter in the book of conflicts between Google and China? Well, it seems that there is no other choice. This can be a disturbing and annoying thing for the Chinese website owners. Why? Each time someone uses the Chrome to check out your website, there is a surprise.

As a matter of facts, this surprise is not a nice one. You get a warning that this particular website does not play by the Google web security certification rules. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to guess twice how is this tiny detail going to affect the number of total visits, do you?

Maybe, this is a Google way of paying back some old dues for all the inconveniences associated with the rigid, but extremely profitable Chinese market. Unfortunately, while these two giants are fighting, we, the mortals, are going to suffer either way. What happened to a magical word called compromise?

Fight Fire With Fire

March 25, 2015 — Leave a comment

Poor old grandpa Microsoft. So many on its troubled mind right now. Windows 10 is ready to hit our devices with all of its features force. However, there are quite a few annoying strongholds Microsoft has to deal with first in order for Windows 10 to truly work. What is going to happen with the pirate versions?

There is an entire pirate’s paradise in China. We are talking about millions and millions of pirated Windows versions all over the world. What is going to happen with all of these people? Are they going to be left outside the latest and legitimate version? Is this the only way to solve this problem?

One serious rumor has it that Microsoft is about to do one least expected and quite an unprecedented thing. Windows 10 is going to open its doors with no prejudices at all. Yes, cyber boys and girls, the Windows pirates will be able to harbor in the safe legitimate waters with no consequences.

When you put it this way, it sounds almost like a fairy tale. Is it going to work, for real? Or maybe, it is actually quite a simple choice. If you cannot win them, then give them a free legitimate OS version. Right? We know grandpa Microsoft all too well. There is a catch with this one. We just do not know what it is.

iPhone 6 Minus

January 24, 2015 — Leave a comment

Here is a story, you can easily use to make the next big Hollywood summer hit. There was a crew in China, which managed to dig a tunnel not longer than a single meter into the iPhone warehouse. As a result, these guys got their hands on more than $200,000 worth of merchandise. Can you do the math?

How many iPhones, you have to steal to reach this amount? If one is to cost $600, that is more than 3,000 models. Or, maybe we are not good at math. Honestly speaking, we are too lazy to get a calculator. Either way, an entire iPhone store was on the street with a much affordable and hard to resist offer. Right?

What happened to the thieves? Did they manage to get away with it, eventually? Well, these guys are in prison. This is how we can tell you this story, in the first place. They were reckless in the most unimaginable way. They were buying cars, gold and spending in the night clubs like crazy. What was the result?

The police first located the stolen iPhones thanks to their serial numbers. On the other hand, La Vida Loca boys were the easy catch for the cops. At the end of their tunnel was not the light of profit, but rather the prison darkness. What is the moral of this story? Sell the movie rights, what else could it be.

The Death Red Star

January 14, 2015 — Leave a comment

What in a world is that? Well, prepare yourself for some more mind blowing surprises made in North Korea. For quite some time, we have neglected and even underestimated the North Korean cyber capacities. Now, all of these hit us back like a boomerang. There are no more amateurs in the cyber universe.

The Red Star is a cloned OS from A to Z, and what is even more important fully controlled by the state itself. Although, the Red Star OS strongly resembles Microsoft’s Windows, it is actually based entirely on Linux. So, what do you know the North Koreans know how to develop an entire OS.

Impressive? Whatever you think or do about this one, just do not say anything against their leader. Otherwise, you can end up like Sony Pictures. Because of the Interview movie, they are trembling because of the constant cyber attacks conducted by the notorious government group the Bureau 121.

The next thing you know the North Koreans will come up with the Internet of their own. One of the serious rumors has it that China and Russia have the “national” Internet fully operational and ready to be launched at any given moment. Can North Korea join this big boys club for real? Let us see.

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