Category Archives: Cyberwar

Using EMV to Secure Social Security

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Identity thieves want Social Security numbers matched with names, addresses and birthdays.

And they have them. By the Millions!

On 90 Million Americans! Possibly 200 Million!

They used Experian to get information on 15 million T-Mobile customers – and threaten everyone in Experian’s databases. They stole information on 90 million people whos health insurance is provided by Anthem Blue Cross or Excellus Blue Cross.  And 22 Million current and former employees of the U. S. government, by hacking Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Plus 58 million customers of Home Depot and 70 million customers of Target.   The problem is growing. They are also targeting parking services such as Book 2 Park, Park N Fly, and One Stop Parking.

The sets intersect – it is likely many Home Depot customers also shop Target, work for the government and or have health insurance from Blue Cross Blue Shield.  But it’s also likely that very few of the 10 million customers of Excellus Blue Cross are also customers of Anthem Blue Cross so we are looking at a problem for at least 90 Million Americans, 28% of the country. That’s almost one out of three. And 200 million? That’s 2 out of 3.

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After XP – Windows 7, Windows 8, Linux, the Mac or Retirement?

Win7StartOn April 8, 2014 Microsoft will end support for Windows XP, Internet Explorer 6, Office 2003, and MS Exchange Server 2003. If you still use XP, and according to Net Market Share, as of Dec. 22, 2013, 31% of people on the Internet still use Windows XP, then you should plan on migrating to Windows 7, Windows 8, Linux or the Mac before April 9, 2014. Or retiring.

As I see it, the main reason to upgrade is security. Another reason is performance. The bottom line is money.

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New vulnerabilities exposed in cyberwar attacks

From Details Emerge About Syrian Electronic Army’s Recent Exploits , on the Bits Blog of The New York Times, by Nick Bilton and Nicole Perlroth:

This week, after the parody site became the latest publication to have its Twitter account hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army, The Onion took a more serious note, explaining in a detailed blog post how the company’s account was hacked, and warning others how to avoid the exploit. Continue reading →

Assessing the Threat of Cyberwar

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Bob Garfield began the segment, Assessing the True Threat of Cyberwar, on the WNYC radio show On the Media, on Friday, August 10, 2012,

Last year when a water pump in Springfield, Illinois burned out, a water district employee noticed that the system had been accessed remotely from somewhere inside Russia. Two days later, a memo leaked from the Illinois Intelligence Fusion Center, made up of state police, members of the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, blamed the pump failure on Russian hackers. It looked to be the first example on American soil of the worst case scenario in cyber warfare, that a hacker could wreak havoc in the physical world.

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Cyberwar: USA & Israel v Iran, China v USA, Russia v The World

Iranian Pres. Achmadinejad at Natanz

Iranian Pres. Achmadinejad at Natanz.

Focusing on “Operation Olympic Games,” the US efforts behind the Flame and Stuxnet cyber attacks, Mischa Glenny, in “A Weapon We Can’t Control,” an op-ed in the NY Times, 6/24/12, says the U.S. has “fired the starting gun in a new arms race … cyberweaponry.” However, Mr. Glenny ignores efforts by hackers in China and from the former Soviet Union.

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