What do the following conventions all have in common?
16thBlack Hat-Las Vegas, Hacker Halted-Reykayvik/Kuala Lumpur,2ndTHC 2013-Delhi and Def Con-Boston USA? You have probably guessed that they are all concerned with Internet hacking, on-line surveillance and the security of personal information. However there are others who hold an opposing view saying that some attending are actually trying to keep up to date on how to steal data. Governments watch what happens at these conferences whilst those attending, no doubt, watch the governments.
But where do such activities leave you and me?
Well the bottom line is that we should all take responsibility for keeping our information safe. Sir Francis Bacon, an English statesman and philosopher, is attributed in 1597 with the expression “ipsa scientia potestas est” (“knowledge itself is power”). In modern day parlance this has been expanded to mean, “information is knowledge and knowledge is power”. New technology and the Internet mean that information, your information, is everywhere. It was back in the sixties that the use of computers and your personal identification number, “PIN”, were first mooted with banks wanting to facilitate the automated teller machine – “ATM”.
Interestingly the inventor of the PIN didn’t make any significant money from his idea. It was only earlier this year that James Goodfellow, the Scot who invented the PIN in 1965, was internationally honoured at an awards ceremony at Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA.Now 75 years old, he only received £10 ($15.50) for his invention because he had signed over patent rights to a company which shortly afterwards laid him off due to “redundancy”. Your PIN still remains a prime target for unscrupulous hackers. In the battle to keep your PIN secure, gadgets which clone your number are one thing but another consideration is the predictability of people!
A recent survey shows that many of us still choose obvious numbers for our PIN. An analysis of over 3 million four digit PIN numbers showed that nearly 28% can be guessed using just 20 combinations. The least used combination was also identified, along with the cautionary note that hackers could read it as well. Consequently this least used number is now unlikely to remain so – 8068. Popular are single number combinations which include 5555, 7777 and 9999 and the James Bond number 0007. The most common numbers are: 1234, 1111, 0000 and 1212.
What about the future? Well just as these “hackers” conventions are worldwide international events, for exchanging ideas, equally so are the reports of new ways of obtaining information. Have you ever looked at “Google Maps – Street View” for your own area? I was surprised to see a picture of my home with a red car parked in my drive. As I have never, in the past ten years, owned at red carit took me ages to work out to whom it belonged. Anyone worldwide may view yours and mine home. So much for my telling others I live in a mansion with landscaped gardens!
The latest news is that it is now possible to access the microphones in Android phones and record conversations. Furthermore it is also conceivable to access your laptop and PCs in a similar way. Expert “hackers” are being courted by governments trying to turn “poachers into gamekeepers”. Spyware is also being developed to monitor your Internet usage. Governments are not the only ones wanting to keep tabs on you. The truth is that businesses, advertisers, scammers and hackers are all hoping to get information from you which will help make them money. Tablets, Smartphones, Smart TVs, Smart Meters, Cable Boxes and Gaming Consoles all provide potential for stealing information about you.
Were you aware that if you inadvertently install a “TouchLogger” app onto your tablet it could provide scammers with enough information to create chaos for you?
When it comes to “Smart” technology last year German researchers, by hacking into a “so-called” secure electricity company’s Wi-Fi network, were able to access customers’ private information. As for Smart TVs, you expect to watch TV but some smart TVs are vulnerable to hackers who can spy on you whilst you are watching your TV.
With all this in mind it is perhaps not that surprising to read that one intelligence service is reverting to using old fashioned type-writers to record highly confidential reports. Firstly type-writers cannot be hacked and secondly each has an individual type face which easily identifies them. Which brings us back to my earlier question: “Where do such activities leave you and me?” Well if you recognise any of the numbers in this article,as one of yours, you had better change it! Because in order to keep our information safe we must remember never to do the obvious and always keep our wits about us so we may “PIN” the hacker down.