34 Year Old Robert Ver Bergan invested in Bitcoin in 2011 when the price was right around $1 per Bitcoin. Now with prices currently hovering above $1,000 he is a virtual millionaire. Because of his wealth, he has earned the nickname "Bitcoin Jesus."
Here's the full article: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101237537
I don't understand the big fuss! IT IS VIRTUAL MONEY! It's not real money. The most you can do is sell them to receive an Amazon or iTunes gif card. Nobody accepts them as cash. I can't believe that this has caught on and people are actually buying and selling these things. To me this is like a Wall Street Banker trying to buy my Monopoly money from me. It's only real value lies in the gift cards, you can at least, in turn, use them to purchase things. How idiotic are the sites that are exchanging these gift cards for Bitcoins. They're just losing money.
Overall it's just people exchanging money for no reason. You can't just create a new currency. The only way Bitcoin could actually be effective is if the government got involved to somehow give them worth. But until then, I don't see any major business using them.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Monday, December 2, 2013
Windows XP is in the news?!
Just prior to Thanksgiving, Microsoft issued an advisory about the bug (CVE-2013-5065), which lies in the kernel component of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Apparently, the attacker can excute code through the kernel mode, then the attacker goes to “install programs; view, change or delete data; or create new accounts with full administrative rights.”
"FireEye researchers Xiaobo Chen and Dan Caselden revealed in a blog post that to target users, in-the-wild attacks had been detected where the kernel vulnerability was used in conjunction with an Adobe Reader exploit."
The article goes on to say that if you have the most current version of Adobe Reader, you are not susceptible to this kernel attack. So, patch your systems, people.
I'm really wondering, who the hell still has Windows XP?! My grandmother doesn't have Windows XP and she's 76! And if you're hacking Window's XP what are you looking for?! Photo's of somebody's childhood vacation?!
UPDATE YOUR SYSTEMS, PEOPLE!
"FireEye researchers Xiaobo Chen and Dan Caselden revealed in a blog post that to target users, in-the-wild attacks had been detected where the kernel vulnerability was used in conjunction with an Adobe Reader exploit."
The article goes on to say that if you have the most current version of Adobe Reader, you are not susceptible to this kernel attack. So, patch your systems, people.
I'm really wondering, who the hell still has Windows XP?! My grandmother doesn't have Windows XP and she's 76! And if you're hacking Window's XP what are you looking for?! Photo's of somebody's childhood vacation?!
UPDATE YOUR SYSTEMS, PEOPLE!
Anonymous is Back at it Again
On Monday, Anonymous posted on PasteBin taking credit for an attack targeting Japanese Microsoft websites. This was the post on pastebin.com
Credit: http://pastebin.com/P6KcaBjM
Apparently, they are upset about the slaughter of dolphins in the village of Taiji, Japan. Operation Killing Bay or #OpKillingBay is the protest against the slaughter.
Interesting that they apologized to Microsoft and complimented them on XBOX-One. Also "F**K the Japanese Language" seems a tad out of place and unnecessary. I also don't think a DDoS attack is going to stop what is happening to the dolphins in Taiji. All in all, I don't really understand this attack, but I guess these guys have to keep busy somehow.
- Greetings Citiziens of the World
- And Greetings Microsoft
- We are Anonymous...
- A couple days ago a DDoS attack was launched at Japanese Microsoft(Domain) Websites and Servers.
- We are sorry to report that the Japanese Microsoft Websites and Servers did not go down as planned.
- Although something did go down.
- We took the pretty much the entire Microsoft domains down.
- That includes sites such as:
- Hotmail.com
- MSN.com
- Live.com
- outlook.com
- Microsoft.com
- The DDoS attack was launched in response to Taiji...Operation KillingBay OR #OpKillingBay
- Although We are sorry for any inconvenience We caused you Microsoft...It's the thought that counts right?
- For the record Microsoft, We love the "XBOX-One" and the games it offers (CODGhost)
- F**K the Japanese Language
- We do not Forgive
- We do not Forget
- We are Legion
- We are Anonymous
- Expect some F**king DDoD attacks Taiji
- Expect us...12:1:13
- #OpKillingBay
Credit: http://pastebin.com/P6KcaBjM
Apparently, they are upset about the slaughter of dolphins in the village of Taiji, Japan. Operation Killing Bay or #OpKillingBay is the protest against the slaughter.
Interesting that they apologized to Microsoft and complimented them on XBOX-One. Also "F**K the Japanese Language" seems a tad out of place and unnecessary. I also don't think a DDoS attack is going to stop what is happening to the dolphins in Taiji. All in all, I don't really understand this attack, but I guess these guys have to keep busy somehow.
People Don't Take Precautions when Accessing a Public Wi-Fi Network...Shocker
AnchorFree a software security company and PhoCusWright a travel research firm conducted a study of 2,203 American travelers that have taken at least one leisure trip of 75 miles or more in the last year. And as you could guess, the statistics were alarming to people who have a security background. I've seemed to complain a lot on this blog so let's start out with something positive:
4 out of 5 people surveyed felt their personal information was not safe when using a public Wi-Fi network. So there's that.
But according to the study 84% of of people do not take action to ensure their data is secure. I attribute this to probably not knowing how to protect your data. The most visited sites for these travelers were banking websites, or commerce websites where they have to put in account data, such as credit cards. So people do not feel safe, but they still enter personal information into these sites while using public networks.
One other positive is 54% of respondents say they stay away from using personal information when using these public networks. YAY!
I'll admit I used to try to use and open Wi-Fi network when I was in an airport. But I was also, 13. Truth be told, I stopped because the Wi-Fi in airports were so terrible, I could never connect to them. I almost blame the airport for peoples actions. If they see the airport's Wi-Fi is free and can't get on, they might just go and try to join the next network available thinking it can do no harm. Maybe the airports should offer secure Wi-Fi that is built into ticket prices. You could receive your authentication when you check in. I could be your account number or something. I know that some offer a secure network once you a re sitting down waiting for your plane, but nobody wants to go through the hassle to join it when your device picks up other free networks. It could make more money for the airport, and keep peoples information more secure.
Here's the full article: http://www.scmagazine.com//study-majority-of-us-travelers-dont-take-precautions-when-using-public-wi-fi/article/322956/
4 out of 5 people surveyed felt their personal information was not safe when using a public Wi-Fi network. So there's that.
But according to the study 84% of of people do not take action to ensure their data is secure. I attribute this to probably not knowing how to protect your data. The most visited sites for these travelers were banking websites, or commerce websites where they have to put in account data, such as credit cards. So people do not feel safe, but they still enter personal information into these sites while using public networks.
One other positive is 54% of respondents say they stay away from using personal information when using these public networks. YAY!
I'll admit I used to try to use and open Wi-Fi network when I was in an airport. But I was also, 13. Truth be told, I stopped because the Wi-Fi in airports were so terrible, I could never connect to them. I almost blame the airport for peoples actions. If they see the airport's Wi-Fi is free and can't get on, they might just go and try to join the next network available thinking it can do no harm. Maybe the airports should offer secure Wi-Fi that is built into ticket prices. You could receive your authentication when you check in. I could be your account number or something. I know that some offer a secure network once you a re sitting down waiting for your plane, but nobody wants to go through the hassle to join it when your device picks up other free networks. It could make more money for the airport, and keep peoples information more secure.
Here's the full article: http://www.scmagazine.com//study-majority-of-us-travelers-dont-take-precautions-when-using-public-wi-fi/article/322956/
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
The FBI came to Syracuse
On Wednesday, Steve Vizyary of the FBI came to our IST 323 lab to discuss cyber security and hackers. Vizyary is based out of New York and specializes in tracking Jihads and their use of the internet. Here are some of the main points I picked up on.
1. Soon hacking will be the number 1 threat to the country, over terrorism. This idea came from a quote from Vizyary's former director. But it's finally happening. Hacking is growing and growing. Soon hacking will be the form of terrorism. Countries will be hacking each other in order to try and get the upper hand.
2. A level 2 hacker is usually somebody searching for financial information. Sure, that's not too strange. But I found it strange that the 3 leading countries for this type of hacking are Russia, China, and Iran. These are 3 of the stronger economies in the world yet they are still trying to steal financial information. I find it peculiar. It's probably more mob/Mafia type of people doing these attacks. I'm not accusing any country of financial fraud or some type of crime but it does seem fishy.
3. One in eight spam messages are clicked on. ONE IN EIGHT! I can't believe that. It was harder for Shaq to shoot a free throw then for a hacker to catch somebody with a spam attack. I wouldn't think in 2013 that the number would be so high. I could maybe understand one in twenty. But one in eight?! Come on.
4. Hacktivists are the largest group of hackers around, but they are not that much of a threat. Mainly because these hackers are not that experienced, and some like to do it just for fun (like the Joker in Batman). But I see a lot of potential in Hacktivist if they were more organized and skilled. They could really cause major problems in computer security world wide.
5. The FBI's "arch-nemisis" is Industrial Espionage. I find the idea of it really cool. It's basically like Inception only with computers. Some hackers will break in and then patch the area so nobody can get in and then they can hide in the system they hacked.
Overal the talk today was pretty interesting. We also learned that malware is still the leading type of attack.
That's all for now.
--Chris
1. Soon hacking will be the number 1 threat to the country, over terrorism. This idea came from a quote from Vizyary's former director. But it's finally happening. Hacking is growing and growing. Soon hacking will be the form of terrorism. Countries will be hacking each other in order to try and get the upper hand.
2. A level 2 hacker is usually somebody searching for financial information. Sure, that's not too strange. But I found it strange that the 3 leading countries for this type of hacking are Russia, China, and Iran. These are 3 of the stronger economies in the world yet they are still trying to steal financial information. I find it peculiar. It's probably more mob/Mafia type of people doing these attacks. I'm not accusing any country of financial fraud or some type of crime but it does seem fishy.
3. One in eight spam messages are clicked on. ONE IN EIGHT! I can't believe that. It was harder for Shaq to shoot a free throw then for a hacker to catch somebody with a spam attack. I wouldn't think in 2013 that the number would be so high. I could maybe understand one in twenty. But one in eight?! Come on.
4. Hacktivists are the largest group of hackers around, but they are not that much of a threat. Mainly because these hackers are not that experienced, and some like to do it just for fun (like the Joker in Batman). But I see a lot of potential in Hacktivist if they were more organized and skilled. They could really cause major problems in computer security world wide.
5. The FBI's "arch-nemisis" is Industrial Espionage. I find the idea of it really cool. It's basically like Inception only with computers. Some hackers will break in and then patch the area so nobody can get in and then they can hide in the system they hacked.
Overal the talk today was pretty interesting. We also learned that malware is still the leading type of attack.
That's all for now.
--Chris
Monday, October 28, 2013
U.S. Caught Spying...Again
The Associated Press reported a story that the United Stated monitored over 60 million calls in Spain. A Spanish newspaper ,El Mundo, published a documentary on Monday that said the United States spied on over 60 million phone calls in one month. A graph titled "Spain-Last 30 days" which depicted the call traffic between December 10, 2012 and Jan. 8, 2013. The document says the NSA monitored the numbers and durations of the calls, but not the content. El Mundo said the Metadata System the US used could monitor e-mails and text messages, but that was not shown on the graph. The document used for the documentary was one leaked by Edward Snowden, who, if you can remember, has asylum in Russia from the United Stated for information leaking.
Last week there was a report in the French newspaper, Le Monde, reported a similar story of allegations that the US had been spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone. The same story was reported in a German magazine, Der Spiegel. US Ambassador James Costos, was summoned to Spain last week to discuss the United States targeting with Foreign Ministry. Afterwards the Ministry called on the US to hand over all information from the "supposed eavesdropping carried out in Spain.
I understand that when you are leading a country and you are concerned for there wellbeing, sometimes you might have to do things that aren't as ethical as we'd like them to be. But my concern is why are spying on our allies? Last I knew they were there so we could trust them and depend on them. This is a bad reputation for the US to have. These countries are very angry with what the Government has been doing, and rightfully so. We would be very upset if England or somebody was spying on us. We would feel exposed and violated. I know that we aren't the only country to be doing this. It's just sad that this is what it has come to.
Here is the full story: http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_289563/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=RVibRptQ
Last week there was a report in the French newspaper, Le Monde, reported a similar story of allegations that the US had been spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone. The same story was reported in a German magazine, Der Spiegel. US Ambassador James Costos, was summoned to Spain last week to discuss the United States targeting with Foreign Ministry. Afterwards the Ministry called on the US to hand over all information from the "supposed eavesdropping carried out in Spain.
I understand that when you are leading a country and you are concerned for there wellbeing, sometimes you might have to do things that aren't as ethical as we'd like them to be. But my concern is why are spying on our allies? Last I knew they were there so we could trust them and depend on them. This is a bad reputation for the US to have. These countries are very angry with what the Government has been doing, and rightfully so. We would be very upset if England or somebody was spying on us. We would feel exposed and violated. I know that we aren't the only country to be doing this. It's just sad that this is what it has come to.
Here is the full story: http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_289563/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=RVibRptQ
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Google Chrome Doesn't allow Google Apps
We all praise Google. They are the best tech company to date, they're so innovated, everything that they do is so amazing!!! But I have found a hole in the great Google. The older version of Google Chrome does not allow you to use any of GOOGLE'S APPS. If you do not have the newest version of Google Chrome you are not allowed to use anything that isn't just a google search or Google Images. Gmail, Blogger, or Google Maps are all unreachable because of and incorrect certificate for the host. When I try to get on Google Maps in Chrome I receive a pop up message saying "The server presented a certificate that doesn't match built-in expectations. The expectations are included for certain, high security web sited in order to protect you." And then it says the servers certificate appears to be a forgery.
I find this EXTREMELY ironic that Google itself is not allowing it's own services. So obviously the smart move would be to delete Chrome and install the new version which is a hassle. But what if you can't download the new version? My girlfriend's Mac is so old that she is not able to download the newest Chrome because she does not have a new enough Mac OS. The kicker is, her computer does not have the ability to update itself any further. Her computer is stuck at Mac OS X 10.5.8.
So what do you do if you're in this position? You go to a different browser. For the user it is frustrating and funny (the irony). But think about if you're Google. There are people who cannot use your web browser they are going to go somewhere else which is bad for business.
I find this EXTREMELY ironic that Google itself is not allowing it's own services. So obviously the smart move would be to delete Chrome and install the new version which is a hassle. But what if you can't download the new version? My girlfriend's Mac is so old that she is not able to download the newest Chrome because she does not have a new enough Mac OS. The kicker is, her computer does not have the ability to update itself any further. Her computer is stuck at Mac OS X 10.5.8.
So what do you do if you're in this position? You go to a different browser. For the user it is frustrating and funny (the irony). But think about if you're Google. There are people who cannot use your web browser they are going to go somewhere else which is bad for business.
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