This week we wrap up the Data Leaks series, explaining the ideas, and risks, of location- based services (LBS).
Imagine someday in the future walking into the food court at the mall and being pummeled with text messages from every vendor, each trying to entice you over to their counter, offering coupons and deals tailored to you.
How did they know when to text you? Your cell phone service provider told them you were in the area, and the clock told them it was the lunchtime hour. [Read More…]
This week the Data Leaks series explores another troubling piece of hackery, the rootkit. Today we are going to investigate what they are, what they do, and why you should care about them.
Unfortunately, there will be neither be a “how to detect them” or a “what to do about them” segment. Why? Despite the existence of rootkits on traditional computing platforms for years, i.e. desktops and laptops, the ability to detect and/or prevent their installation is a hard problem. Personally, I’d rather tackle world peace than the rootkit problem—it is that hard to solve. [Read More…]
Last week we kicked off a four-part series on Data Leaks with a lead article about vehicular data leaks. In today’s article, we’ll be diving into the realm of free WiFi.
This series is designed to look at how ordinary things we take for granted encroach on our perception of privacy. This series isn’t about ridiculously risky, yet highly popular, opt-in social networks—like blippy, a web site that divulges recent shopping details via sharing credit-card bills among friends.
If any member of this site participates in blippy.com, stay put—the black rendition van is on its way to your location at this very moment to knock some sense into you.
Instead, the Data Leaks series focuses on unexpected data leaks; ways you might be leaking the personally identifiable information that data thieves profit from. This week’s article leaves the car in the garage and focuses on the coffee joint around the corner where you login to pay your bills each month. [Read More…]
In my first article here at ITS, Social Networks and Your Digital Identity, the subject was identity theft.
One way to mitigate that risk is to carefully consider your privacy settings at social networking sites. Last week I presented the DefCon/Black Hat roundup, announcing a four-part series that inspects how ordinary things we take for granted encroach on our perception of privacy, much more so than opt-in social networking sites.
Today we’ll get into the first article in the data leaks series, how my car betrays me. [Read More…]
Black Hat USA 2010 and DEF CON 18 took place last week in Las Vegas. In order to really appreciate the magnitude of each conference proceedings, it is important to understand where each conference focuses its attention.
Black Hat is a security conference largely addressing all things computer and communications security. It is where industry comes together, describes attack vectors, and openly talks about malware, hackers, and threats to innocent systems and privacy. Black Hat is big business, both expensive to attend and sponsored by big name companies such as IBM and Adobe. If Black Hat were personified as a female actor, it is probably most analogous to an Angelina Jolie. Mostly prim and proper, strong reputation, easily discussed in polite conversation.
In sharp contrast is DEF CON, a conference in its 18th year. This year’s theme: 18 and barely legal. If that doesn’t set the tone for this conference, consider that DEF CON would be best personified as Lindsey Lohan- often drifting into illegal situations. DEF CON is an all-cash conference, no attendance records by design. It is where electronics and software gurus—hackers in proper parlance, meet for 3 days to discuss—and demonstrate—the unthinkable. [Read More…]
DEF CON 18 is in full swing at the Riviera hotel at the end of the Las Vegas strip. If you haven’t heard of DEF CON before, it’s ok; the conference is focused at the über geeks among us.
Attendees at DEF CON include computer security professionals, journalists, lawyers, federal government employees, crackers, and hackers with a general interest in computer code and computer architecture.
From demonstrations of turning Pringles cans into directional antennas, through interactive discussion on hacking ATMs, physical penetration (e.g. lock picking), Internet routers, and building your own UAV to map WiFi and capture videos of your neighbors skinny dipping in their pool, DEF CON pretty much covers it all in gory technical detail. [Read More…]
The web has forever changed the way we socialize. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Blogs, and other less popular sites all represent you in the digital realm.
The bottom line is this: when the 1’s and 0’s start flowing across the ether, you are exposing yourself to all of the web’s vagrants. Paradoxically, if you decide not to participate in all these sites, you are exposing yourself.
[Read More…]
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