Each week I will highlight some of the most interesting developments in the cybersecurity space to both enlighten and encourage each of us to maintain our personal cyber hygiene.
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(1) How Much Information Facebook and Google Store About You
This Twitter post went viral, and rightfully so. It caught me by surprise how many people were unaware of this data collection business model.
This lack of awareness is something I wish to mitigate via these very cyber weekly posts! As the saying goes, “If the product is free, you are the product.”
While mainstream is focused primarily on Facebook these days, the granddaddy of the data collection/surveillance complex is undoubtedly Google.
What Google can track includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Search and browser history across all devices since the beginning of use (think about that)
- Demographic data (e.g. location, gender, hobbies, status, weight, income)
- Every app, extension, and OS you use and how, when, why, and with who you use them
- Youtube viewing history
- Photos, bookmarks, emails, contacts, Google Drive files, etc.
- Calendar, location history, music you listen to, books you read, the groups you hang with
Please read the fully unrolled Twitter thread, below!
(2) U.S. Indicts Hackers Over Terabytes Worth of Intellectual Property Theft
Allegedly, nine Iranian nationals stole over 31 Terabytes of documents and data from over 140 U.S. universities, 30 U.S. companies, 5 U.S. government agencies, and another 176 foreign universities. As the U.S. Attorney Berman stated, the Iranian hackers “targeted innovations and intellectual property from our country’s greatest minds.”
That is quite the statement, especially because the Trump administration is built upon a theme of MAGA (Make America Great Again). Doesn’t look so great when your brightest minds are having their work stolen, does it? I expect this issue to intensify tremendously, and for it to become a top priority not only in U.S. politics, but in governments worldwide.
These Iranians worked for the Mabna Institute, which serves as a “quasi-government technology company based in Iran” that has previously hacked for both profit and state. The DOJ, FBI, and Department of the Treasury have all been coordinating the response to this data theft. To say that it will be dealt with swiftly and diligently would be an understatement.
Speaking of cyber in the world of politics, what happened to any sort of news about the Imran Awan scandal? The scandal in which an IT staffer basically spied on all of U.S. Congress via Wasserman Schultz? You know, probably the biggest news event in recent times? Very odd. This lack of coverage leads me to believe we are further along into a cyber war than our leaders will let on about.
(3) Limiting Security Risks In Telecoms
Moving down the line of how cyber warfare is interconnected into foreign policy matters of national security, currency wars, trade wars, and psychological warfare, we have an article on how the telecoms industry is moving towards removing all foreign suppliers of hardware or software. Protectionism manifesting itself, once again.
Cyber is the most crucial tool in the tool bag for sovereign foreign policies because it can be leveraged on a scale unlike any other tool. The foreign policies of each world government use these tools to achieve their political goals, something we retail investors and everyday folk have to keep in mind.
The Trump administration has already shot down any merger/acquisition bids from foreign telecoms giants (see Huawei and Broadcom), and as the hacks continue to mount I imagine the U.S. policy will be left between a rock and a hard place. Another reason why I encourage folks to pay more attention to the cyber world, particularly in the U.S., China, Iran, Russia, Israel, France, and Germany.
(4) New Spyware Company 'Grey Heron' Is Linked to Hacking Team
As the article below details, there is quite the gray area in cyber as it relates to new companies and services emerging offering various products and services. These new services and products most commonly emerge in the private market, and then are contracted out to state-backed initiatives, identical to the weapons and defense industries.
While the demand for the products and services of these emerging companies are in high demand, it is crucial that there exist oversight as to what these products and services are offering governments around the world.
(5) New Site Resurrects CrackMe Challenges From the Old Crackmes.de
For those of you inclined to test your skills in the realm of reverse engineering (hacking), I encourage you to visit the post below. While it is still in development, it warrants being tracked on your radar and worth perusing for the truly curious mind.
There are numerous resources like this on the web, and at the very least, I encourage you to watch some videos or read some threads that help you understand the basic mechanics of how hackers do what they do. If you find you are gifted in the art, you can write your own ticket in this world. Just don't sell out for the wrong cause.
Closing Comments:
The cyber space is really the wild wild west. It is full of bad actors, and the more aware of it we are, collectively, the better our odds are for mitigating the actions of these bad actors, progressing, and re-focusing our efforts to the matters that seriously matter for our species (e.g. water supply, environmental mitigation, jobs, economics, AI, etcetera).
Basically, I am saying that as a group, we have bigger fish to fry than “me too” and gender inclusive restrooms. This "social warrior" agenda pales in importance compared to what we should be concentrated on fixing. We should be focusing our efforts to securing the Dark Web so that we can move into the next chapter of advancement, and creating an open-source human consciousness that will tackle some of the largest challenges humanity has ever faced before (at least this civilization around).
Pragmatically, if we are to stand any chance of tackling some of the issues defining our generation (and all future generations) we must secure the world of cyber, first and foremost. Cyber basically acts as our collective consciousness, and right now it is full of viruses and the bad guys have the upper hand because they are operating in the dark. Let's fix that.
"A good plan executed today is better than a perfect plan executed at some indefinite point in the future." – George Patton Jr.