This
month’s article deals with an area which is increasingly becoming the hunting
ground of the scam artists, No matter what anyone tells you the internet or
cloud if you prefer is not a secure entity and neither is anything you keep on
it. I am not one bit surprised as we have all be lulled into a false sense of
security regarding technology and are easy prey if we drop out guard. In this
article I will outline some common misconceptions and hopefully you’ll keep
your guard up.
Myth #1 – The Cloud
There is no
cloud, no such entity exists it is simply a marketing term for the internet but
one which has been enormously successful. When you think of the Cloud you are
immediately transported to some mythical place no doubt up there somewhere.
It’s a complete falsehood. The cloud is nothing more than file storage servers
hung off internet connections. Neatly wrapped in some front end software it
appears magical. Its not. It hackable, crashable, and vulnerable. There is no
special task force watching your cloud accounts. If I get your password and
have your device I am you. It’s that simple and that dangerous. It is not now, nor will it ever be, a
substitute for your own trusty hard drive stored in your drawer.
Myth #2 – Hacking is not as bad as reported.
Hacking is
severely unreported. No company wants their customers to know they have been
compromised and they will only admit when it is going to hit the news. You hear
about those hacks where the hackers force the company to admit it or else they
release the info onto the net. You do not hear about the undetected hacks. To
quote Rumpsfeld you never hear about
the “unknown unknowns.”
Hacking is
big business and is not strictly the domain of a bunch of teenagers. Organized
crime uses it, countries use it, and unscrupulous businesses use it. These
entities are actively involved in attempting to breach security across the
internet. Knowledge is power
and spying has been around virtually since time begun. It will never go away ever.
Myth #3 – Hackers employ advanced software.
Most hacks
are due to human error and laziness. Humans are creatures of habit and quite
often employ easily guessed password. Once a hacker is inside a network gaining
more and more access is simply trolling through data. Passwords are commonly
transmitted over unsecured networks and easily intercepted with the right piece
of software and equipment. Witness the ATM scams which never seem to go away
despite the best efforts of the banks. Hackers and criminals spent their time
thinking of new ways to get at your information and consequently your money.
Next month I’ll continue on this topic God
willing. Stay safe.
