Cyber Security

123456

March 18, 2015 — Leave a comment

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There are almost 100,000 Gmail accounts, which have or use the identical password: 123456. Can you believe it? What is wrong with all these people? We should not forget the reckless guys, who just cannot get enough of the timeless classic: password. Some guys were a little bit smarter. How exactly?

They have included some modifications. How about “p@ssword” or “passw0rd”, for a change? We just cannot get enough of these hilarious security flaws. What needs to happen to make us change our harmful habits? We keep complaining about the dangerous cyber world we live in, don’t we?

On the other side, we fail to include even the most basic security measures. And, we still have the nerve to hope for the best. This is a perfect disaster scenario for any field in life, not only the cyberspace. You can rest assured that hackers all over the world are praying for more of these “passwords”.

So, what is the moral of our cozy disturbing story? The epic journey to the very next level of your magical cyber security begins right now with the simplest step you can possibly imagine or do? How hard could it possibly be? Which reminds us to change the password for our blog. We have to go.

A Smartwatch On A Watch

January 31, 2015 — Leave a comment

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You know how it goes, don’t you? The ignorance is the mother of all cyber troubles. We are so blindly focused on smartwatch performances that we are completely neglecting the serious threats and potential damages in this field. Are you confused, or maybe you think that we are exaggerating?

Who in the world would hack a smartwatch and why? Well, you should know better or at least think twice. When you attack a smartwatch, you are actually after the bigger target. A smartphone is something you are trying it to reach through a smartwatch. How? Communication is the key here.

What is that supposed to mean? You do not have to be a rocket scientist to know that your smartphone and smartwatch have to communicate and exchange tones of data almost each second, do you? This is exactly what the hackers are aiming at. This is the Achilles’ heel of modern smartwatches.

What can we do about it? It is not such a bad start to be fully aware of this serious danger. Now, we are ready to do something about it for real. We need to implement some effective measures in order to prevent that our data transfers are intercepted and misused. How hard could it be? Right?

The Security Patch Wars

January 29, 2015 — Leave a comment

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It all started when Google had published a report about one extremely security flaw in the Windows 8 system. Microsoft was furious. For them that was an obvious sign of practices, which cannot be treated as fair and positive in their nature. In its defense Google said that it has waited long enough.

How long exactly? Well, more than 90 days, that was for sure. There is an unwritten rule that you have to wait for 90 days before you go public with your security flaw discovery. Why? This is a time period left for the warned party to do something about it and come up with the proper security patch.

Then, Microsoft decided to fight back with an announcement about the security trouble with the latest Android 5.0, or better known as the Lollipop. In the meantime, Google has found some security risks in the IOS, as well. Huh, and there is more. Google has just published two additional Windows security risks.

What is there for us, the users? This war of security patches is supposed to improve our safety and privacy. Instead, all what is left for hackers to do is to sit and wait for the next I-found-something-wrong report. By the time the appropriate security patch hits the network, you can rest assured they will take an advantage of the situation.

Matrix Unloaded

January 21, 2015 — Leave a comment

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What is wrong with these guys? What is the catch with this rage-against-the-machines attitude? Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, among other Terminator haters, are dead worried about the possible implications of the AI and highly advanced robots in our lives. Have they seen too many movies?

We do not even dare to claim that at some point in time we will not witness the SkyNet scenario more or less. However, our sarcasm and fully revealed bitter tone have quite a practical cause. While we are examining various SF scenarios our friendly neighbors hackers are having the time of their cyber lives.

To tell you the truth, one efficient computer virus is a more serious reason for our deepest concern, than an entire army of Terminators. Why do you think that the Terminator in a real life situation will have time or nerves to chase you around? Why? He will soon figure out what needs to be done.

You can rest assured that our worst case scenario Terminator will gladly trade all of his weapons for some basic hacking skills. While we are thinking and predicting big, some hacker busy little bees are rocking small. Do you remember how The War Of The Worlds eventually ends? Read it again guys.

PoC Schock

January 16, 2015 — Leave a comment

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We have already written about the extremely problematic security flaw with the Windows 8.1, which allows a hacker to gain administrative privileges in an almost undetectable way. To make things even worse for Microsoft the busy little bee, who has discovered this trouble, published the PoC, as well.

The PoC is actually the Proof of Concept, which gives you a step-by-step guide how to do it yourself. In the meantime, Microsoft has come up with a patch to fix this annoying problem. However, this meantime actually took three months to happen. Why? Is it a really complicated problem? What could it be?

For what is worth, Microsoft has to offer a solution for more than platform. That is why you cannot build a Rome in a day. On the other hand, some comments have pointed out that it was not an advisable thing to publish this vulnerability with the PoC. Microsoft would have reacted either way. Right?

This one comes without saying, that is for sure. We should be also aware what is happening in our brave new IT world. It seems that we are not as safe as we thought we are. We should not discourage the future cyber whistleblowers under any circumstances. Otherwise, we will end up living in the dark of harmful cyber ignorance.

The Lizard Squad

December 31, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Who are these guys? It turns out that we are witnessing a birth of a new phenomenon. We are already treating some hackers and hacker’s groups as the genuine rock stars. These so-called lizards have something against the most popular gaming platforms such as the Xbox Live and PSN. Why is that?

Well, to tell the truth, we are not quite sure. Maybe, they just want to prove something to themselves. This one is entirely up to them. The similar situation we had when the North Korean Bureau 121 was discovered. The “innocent” movie called the Interview was the trigger for their activities.

The trouble with the curve in this matter is that some busy little malicious cyber bees can be caught into the bigger-stronger-more labyrinth. In order to prove something and impress the cyber audience, they can attack the vital systems and literally destroy the world, as we know it today. Can we avoid that?

It is hard to tell. Maybe, we should not make provocative movies, which can annoy the dictatorship regimes all over the world. This was a joke, but not too far from the truth. We should not give the undeserved publicity to the hackers. This can be surprisingly effective. Better than any known antivirus program.

The Interview Feeling Blue

December 30, 2014 — Leave a comment

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The Interview has entered the movie theaters. For what is worth, not on a full scale as planned. If you have a reason to fear that someone will conduct a terrorist attack in the darkness of the movie theater, you have an option to rent this movie online and watch it absolutely safely. Or not?

Maybe, the notorious Bureau 121 from the North Korea has the capacities to attack every single computer on this planet, which shows this movie. There is a little bit strange angle for this unusual situation we would like to share with you. We dare to say that this was an unplanned and unusual win-win situation for both parties.

You may wonder, how can this be? Well, it is actually quite simple, if you are willing to accept it. Sony Pictures has advertized its latest movie in the most unusual, but very effective way. On the other side, the North Korea has a rare and unique opportunity to fight the common prejudices about its technology development.

So, the North Korean hackers have provided some free advertisement for the Sony Pictures. In return, we have expressed our admiration with the North Korean achievements in the cyber field. So, who is hurt here? We have seen the movie. And our blog is still operational, but do not tell anyone. It is our little secret.

The Millennium Bug Has A Cousin

December 26, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Oh dear, just when we thought that the cyber things can get any worse than this. It turns out that there is one more Millennium Bug set for the 2038. In other words, somewhere during the January of this year our cyber world will meet its end, this way or another. Why? For the same reasons the millennium bug threatened us.

We will try to avoid the rocket science in this story as much as possible. This so-called the year 2038 problem targets specifically the 32-bit systems. For what is worth, the 64-bit crew can relax. At least for a while. On the other hand, what are we supposed to do in the meantime? How many years we have left?

Some 23 years, more or less. Right? Plenty of time to come up with a solution. Yet, what is going to happen to the cyber world as we know it today? Two decades are more than enough time to reinvent all what we know and use beyond recognition and the most optimistic expectations. What does it mean?

Maybe, in the year 2038 there will be nothing to damage for this bug, in the first place. Remind us what happened with the millennium bug in the year 2000? We are still alive and typing, as well. Right? Maybe, we are worrying too much. There are some other more dangerous things, which deserve our attention. More than this one.

The Net Lords

December 20, 2014 — Leave a comment

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We really do not know, who are the seven richest or popular people in the world, but we certainly know that seven people have the destiny of the entire World Wide Web in their hands, or better to say the keys. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has introduced a legendary procedure.

Every three months we have the new DNS codes for the seven guardians to take care of. These Internet keys are the most valuable things in the cyber world. They come from the seven different countries and they are responsible for the renewal and safekeeping of these master keys in the top secret environment.

As you might have guessed there was more than one attempt from numerous governments to change this procedure. However, there are quite a few busy little stubborn cyber bees in the ICANN, who are not willing to allow for any government to control the Internet. Better experts, than governments.

For the time being our cyber destiny is in good expert hands. We sure hope that will not change in the near or far future. With these seven keys you can demand seven billion wishes. We can only wish all the luck in the world to these seven cyber dwarfs. The last thing we need is an evil witch to spoil all the fun. Right?

Don’t Lie And Drive

December 16, 2014 — Leave a comment

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What is wrong with this post’s title? Actually nothing, it is perfectly fine. The days when we used to say, do not drink and drive, are long gone. Nowadays, you are required to tell the truth, and nothing but the truth, in order for your car to allow you to drive. Are you still confused about what we have just said?

Our story about the unparalleled lie detector for drunk drivers begins in Germany. Some busy little bees have actually recorded hundreds and hundreds of hours, which include drunk driver talks. Based on these recordings they have come up with a genuine software solution. What does it do?

Well, as soon as you try to start your car you will be required to have a convenient conversation with it. If you convince your car’s computer that you are not drunk, you are good to go. Otherwise, you will not able to start the engine. Is this a reliable solution? Hard to say, without some thorough testings.

For what is worth, this is a huge step forward for the AI. The possible applications for this intriguing software solution are not limited only to the traffic safety control, that is for sure. We have to look for the wider picture. The AI will be able to communicate with us in a much profound and precise way.