Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The War Within The Net
Net War and Cyber War are a issue today with the Internet. Most people don't think too much about it but somehow it affects everyone. Ever get one of those e-mails that was actually a virus? You have been the victim of cyber terrorism, depending how you define cyber terrorism. The idea behind cyber terrorism is the hacking of someone else's computer to disable it or cause harm in some way. This of course can be a simple mass e-mail with a virus or something more dangerous like hackers getting your credit card information and identity theft.
Hackers are all over the place now and some of them do cause harm but some also do good. I believe when a hacker unlocks a cell phone for instance, its a good thing and it opens up the software to a better service perhaps. We can't rely on the big companies to provide us with the best software because they wont all of the time, and hackers can force them to do better by improving technology. However hackers do cause a great deal of danger on the Internet. The risk of identity theft is so great this day and age. The other day i saw a news piece that talked about big retail stores such as best buy and target that operate with Wi-Fi to store and transfer information. Including customers credit card information.
Hackers got to this information. How you ask? They drove around the parking lots of these stores and with a simple laptop and free software program boosted all the customer information. This included credit card information as well as social security numbers, phone numbers and anything else retail stores may have that belong to you. Since these retail stores carry so much information and are so connected, they feel Wi-Fi is the best way to do business, and it is. No wires, no mess. But these stores were using an outdated firewall that hackers could sleepwalk through. The news piece was on 60 minutes and the opening lines were very clever i thought, Lesley Stahl said
Do you think twice when typing in your credit card number online, but have no problem handing over your plastic card at a store? Well actually, you may have it backward. Your personal information may be more secure in cyberspace than at the mall down the road.It's true, most people take caution when buying online but cant swipe the credit card fast enough at the store. Here is the 60 minutes story link
Labels: Net War
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A very good post.
Hacking is a technique that involves breaking into closed systems. It can be used for cyber-crime or cyber-terrorism or other more benign purposes. We need to distinguish between vandalism, activism, crime and terrorism. Thievery is a crime online as it is in meatspace.
Criminal hacking is an economic serious economic threat to individuals, corporations and the national economy.
Security concerns are real and should be addressed, however, fear of cybercrime can be used as a reason for locking-down access to open systems and as a result threaten our civil liberties online.
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Hacking is a technique that involves breaking into closed systems. It can be used for cyber-crime or cyber-terrorism or other more benign purposes. We need to distinguish between vandalism, activism, crime and terrorism. Thievery is a crime online as it is in meatspace.
Criminal hacking is an economic serious economic threat to individuals, corporations and the national economy.
Security concerns are real and should be addressed, however, fear of cybercrime can be used as a reason for locking-down access to open systems and as a result threaten our civil liberties online.
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