iPhone Hack

With the iPhone hack, it is now possible to get a revolutionary Internet device, that is ATT SIM free works on any GSM network. You can always just opt out of the cell phone service, and use it as a revolutionary Internet device through the phone's wi-fi capabilities.

Come to think of it, you don't even need the cell phone since the phone comes wi-fi equipped. Using VO.I.P., one could have a revolutionary Internet phone device available for use.

Cyber-Fire

The recent forest fires in Greece are good examples of how cyberspace can be misused for terrorism. Apparently, many of the arsonists bombs were detonated via cell phone. This might allow for more evidence, however, given the bungling of the Vodafone incident, it is doubtful that the Greeks will be able to use the evidence that could be available. Hopefully, Vodafone wil not erase its logs before any investigation.

Vodaphone Bungles a Cyber-Crime Investigation

The Athens affair is likely to become a textbook case of how a cyber-crime investigation get mishandled.

Briefly, the case is as follows.

During the 2004 Olympics in Athens, security services used the legal phone tapping system installed in Vodafone's cellular network in order to gather intelligence on potential terrorist attacks. However, after the Olympics, someone (most likely the National Security Agency) used sophisticated spyware that was nearly stealth, in order to tap into the highest echelons of the Hellenic government. These conversations were sent to particular cell phones in the Athens area.

Eventually, the tap was discovered; however, Vodaphone bungled the investigation by erasing data logs and other important evidence which could have been used to track down the perpetrators. The only evidence that is available is the triangulation of the spy-phones, all of which were in the vicinity of the U.S. Embassy there.

The lack of either a cyber-forensics squad, or know how of how to conduct a cyber-crime investigation on the part of the Hellenic police is indicative of an important problem in tackling the issue of cyber-crime not only in Hellas, but in all countries.

Without technical know-how of a dedicated corps of officers, it will be impossible for even developed countries to assure prosecution of cyber-crime.

The solution: I propose an international task force that trains and maintains a liaison with police departments. It would be best to do so under the auspices of INTERPOL. The authors of the article would agree.

Telepresence

"Telepresence has created a new paradigm in visual communications not
only in Asia-Pacific, but globally," notes Frost & Sullivan industry
analyst Yen Yen Har.
   "The solutions available today are capable of delivering full-size,
real life images in a fully interactive environment with the use of
advanced real-time audio, video and data technologies, giving users in
different geographies the experience of being in the same physical
location," adds Har.
   Seen as the closest alternative to physical meetings, telepresence has
become a powerful productivity tool and is expected to find wider
acceptance amongst MNCs (multinationals) and large corporations.

Full article here.  

Envatement

The Matrix presents a version of an old philosophical fable: the brain in a vat. A disembodied brain is floating in a vat, inside a scientist's laboratory. The scientist has arranged that the brain will be stimulated with the same sort of inputs that a normal embodied brain receives. To do this, the brain is connected to a giant computer simulation of a world. The simulation determines which inputs the brain receives. When the brain produces outputs, these are fed back into the simulation. The internal state of the brain is just like that of a normal brain, despite the fact that it lacks a body. From the brain's point of view, things seem very much as they seem to you and me.

The brain is massively deluded, it seems. It has all sorts of false beliefs about the world. It believes that it has a body, but it has no body. It believes that it is walking outside in the sunlight, but in fact it is inside a dark lab. It believes it is one place, when in fact it may be somewhere quite different. Perhaps it thinks it is in Tucson, when it is actually in Australia, or even in outer space.

From : The Matrix as Metaphysics.

The whole article is a must read for all those interested in the philosophical problems surrounding the merging of humans and machines.


This envatment hypothesis is the continuation of Socrates' Allegory of the Cave. I guess humans just don't trust their senses. Today, our ideas of the merging of humans with computers and machines are posing new problems, which Chalmer's deals with in his article.

U.N. Website Hacked

THE official website of the United Nations appeared to have been hacked last night and briefly displayed a message protesting US and Israeli policies in the Middle East
"The chief architects of this protest are myself, Eno 7 from Turkey, and the byond hackers team from Chile ... We expanded our efforts as nine other countries joined us afterwards," it said.

FULL ARTICLE

What remains to be seen is how the governments of Turkey and Chile will respond to this.

Domestic Efforts at Governing Cyberspace

Many national governments have a set of laws governing cyberspace. The problem with these laws is that they are domestic and not-binding on other countries. Therefore, what is needed is an international law that harmonizes domestic laws, and sets up an international CERT.

This article is a case in point for why international negotiations have to take place in order to secure cyberspace.

It has been suggested that more cybersecurity laws here will help with computer security. Thompson and I agreed on a view about that. It's a waste of time to pass laws in the US that can't or won't be enforced in Russia or China.

Of course, there can be economic carrot and sticks associated with a country abiding by U.S. cyber-law. That is, if you obey the U.S. cyber-law then you will have access to advanced technology, if not, then you will be sanctioned. That is the black and white view at least.

China Watch: Congress Investigating Yahoo

It appears that China is using American companies providing cyber-services to crack down on dissidents. Our Congress has noted and responded. As reported by the Blog of M'Gath: Congressman calls for investigation of Yahoo

China's Emerging Cyber-Power

The below newsfeed was barely noticed, but it is pertinent discussions for why it is important to begin finding ways to govern the use of cyberspace.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- China is seeking to unseat the United States as the dominant power in cyberspace, a U.S. Air Force general leading a new push in this area said Wednesday.

"They're the only nation that has been quite that blatant about saying, 'We're looking to do that,"' 8th Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Robert Elder told reporters

Elder is to head a new three-star cyber command being set up at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, already home to about 25,000 military personnel involved in everything from electronic warfare to network defense.

The command's focus is to control the cyber domain, critical to everything from communications to surveillance to infrastructure security.

"We have peer competitors right now in terms of doing computer network attack ... and I believe we're going to be able to ratchet up our capability," Elder said. "We're going to go way ahead."

The Defense Department said in its annual report on China's military power last month that China regarded computer network operations -- attacks, defense and exploitation -- as critical to achieving "electromagnetic dominance" early in a conflict.

China's People's Liberation Army has established information warfare units to develop viruses to attack enemy computer systems and networks, the Pentagon said.

China also was investing in electronic countermeasures and defenses against electronic attack, including infrared decoys, angle reflectors and false-target generators, it said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry rejected the U.S. report as "brutal interference" in China's internal affairs and insisted Beijing's military preparations were purely defensive.

Elder described the bulk of current alleged Chinese cyber-operations as industrial espionage aimed at stealing trade secrets to save years of high-tech development.

He attributed the espionage to a mix of criminals, hackers and "nation-state" forces. Virtually all potential U.S. foes also were scanning U.S. networks for trade and defense secrets, he added.

"Everyone but North Korea," he said. "We've concluded that there must be only one laptop in all of North Korea -- and that guy's not allowed to scan" overseas networks, Elder said.

In October, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff defined cyberspace as "characterized by the use of electronics and the electromagnetic spectrum to store, modify, and exchange data via networked systems and associated physical infrastructures."

The definition is broad enough to cover far more than merely defending or attacking computer networks. Other concerns include remotely detonated roadside bombs in Iraq, interference with Global Positioning Satellites and satellite communications, Internet financial transactions by adversaries, and radar and navigational jamming.

Since cyberspace is such fresh battleground, it is possible for an incident in cyberspace to spiral out of control and bring two powers into a physical war. Without international laws of cyberspace defining exactly what kind of electronic attack would constitute an act of war, and with the high potential for a cyber-arms-race between great and not so great powers, the future becomes perilous.

Keep in mind that cyber-attacks will cause harm to a country if and only if its economy, critical infrastructure, security and happiness of its citizens rely on cyberspace. This is the case in America.

Scarily enough, the U.S. military appears to be behind in making sure cyberspace is safe.

Cyberspace as Lifesaver

Auto industry is designing for a time when wireless network keeps roads safe.

The important points, read the full article here:

Already, onboard vehicle information systems help drivers find the closest gas station to refuel. "Over the next decade, products and services for connected vehicles will, in fact, change the driving experience as we know it today," Voccola said.

Beyond safety, the technology could be used to relieve congestion, experts say. A smart-highway system could send real-time crash information to vehicles and suggest alternate routes.

But major obstacles remain.

The technology will need to be set up with a wireless system that will enable all vehicles to communicate with one another. Today, General Motors can communicate with its customers through the OnStar system, but not to anyone driving a Ford or a Toyota.

Setting up a national system is expected to be costly, and it is unclear how it would be funded.

Congress could earmark funds to create a national digitally collected roadway network, said Kirk Steudle, director of the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Governing Cyberspace

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is a two phase conference from which the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) emerged.

Such international efforts are important since they lay the groundwork for a future convention that will try to govern what can be called global cyberspace. Such governance is not only aimed at securing cyberspace from criminal and terrorist misuse, but also to assure that the developing world will be able to exploit cyber-resources.

Lets wish them luck, visit their sites, and contribute to their mission. After all, we too are members of the “interested stakeholders” which the The World Summit on the Information Society identifies as one player in the development of Internet governance structures.

Electromagnetic Counterterrorism

DHS Wants Cell Phones to Detect Chemical, Radioactive Material

At the 2007 DHS Science and Technology Stakeholders Conference, S&T Director of Innovation Roger McGinnis outlined how the system could work. Cell phone sensors would continually test the air for harmful compounds and digitally relay any information to a central monitoring system if they find anything amiss.

This is a very imaginative way of using the full potential of cyberspace to fight terrorism. Of course, it might get tricky if the sensors are emitting dangerous wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. If that were to occur, then our health would be at greater risk from the very device built to protect us.

All this is new technology is exciting, but one wonders if they could use a similar system to detect attacks on the cyberspace of critical infrastructure.

Identity Negligence of the “new” AT&T & Apple

This article on the Blog of M’Gath raises a number of interesting issues of how Apple and ATT might be putting their customers’ identity in peril.

Basically, you can use anyones social security number during the iPhone activation process. As M’Gath puts it:

“When companies make identity theft trivially easy, is it any wonder that it's rampant?”

Or, when there is no standard set by law that puts a hefty burden on companies who negligently handle personal information.

This raises several issues.

If a company employee misplaces a PC which contains customer data, then the company should be held liable beyond the negative publicity that it will receive, thereby lessening the trust individuals have in a company.

However, the current system is set up in such a way that allows companies to not report cases of cyber-crime, even the information missing contains social security numbers or other important information that can be uses against you.

Therefore, unless the law changes to the contrary, companies will continue to underreport the true extent of cyber-crimes that may affect your personal information, and make it tremendously easier for criminals to misuse your information.

Identity Theft Legislation

The recent legislation signed by the governor of Massachusetts is a step in the right direction for protection personal information from theft. Identity theft is a huge propblem. This is due largley to the shift of storing people's personal data on networked computers that can be penetrated by crackers.

However, it is not just crackers who can steal your personal information. Identities can be compromised in several ways. An example of a threat to your personal information that does not require a a computer science degree is an ID thief taking your trash before the garbage man does, and finding your unshredded personal information.

E-Compliance

The E-Compliance: Towards a Roadmap for Effective Risk Management is an interesting article on information law.

From the abstract:

The article starts with a brief overview of what we might describe as a shift from traditional compliance to e-Compliance. It then maps the central themes of E-Compliance and the characteristics of a comprehensive E-Compliance strategy. After discussing the key challenges of E-Compliance, the article outlines practical guidelines for the management of E-Compliance activities and ends with recommendations

Cyber-War Video

The Cyber-War series, the full video which is offered by PBS online is a must see for anyone who is wondering why on earth this guy is writing the blog. The scope of my blog is to make people aware of the security problems coming from the electromagnetic spectrum. Of course, there are doubters who will tell you that its not that big of a problem. However, when its too late, these same doubters will tell you that we didn't do enough, even though there was some danger.

Its better to be one step against other states, such as China, or even violent non-state actors who will want and train use cyberspace against us.

Some say that they already have, but the government is keeping mum about it. When cyber-war does come, it will definatley be something new to see.

U.N.I.T.A.R. Webinars

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research Webinars offer a great glimpse into where the future of computing lies. After wathcing some of the topics, it is safe to say that the the future is with Wi-Fi enabled youth who use Free Open Source Software. That seems to be the trend that has been going on in there once, and future, webinars.

National Security Strategy for Cyberspace

While the U.S. appears to be inflicted with problems of information (in)security, it is on the right track. The National Security Strategy for Cyberspace (P.D.F.) is an interesting and important read since it shows that the U.S. is aware of the peril of not security cyberspace. The government, like any bureaucracy, will take a long time before it is able to claim that it’s the information stored on government, business and personal computers are at low risk. As long as cyberspace remains insecure, so does almost every aspect of our lives. From the federal to the local.

Note: The President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board is now known as the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) and operates within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.