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Is data security even possible?


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I've been talking to friends who still work for the federal government - about their computers. Now, things were bad when I was there, and they've gotten worse since. We're talking old, old computers that are well past their end date, and no longer even serviced by their manufacturers, PCs too old to run Windows 10, software that dates back decades and was written in Cobol. The federal government's computer system is held together by the equivalent of duct tape and shoelaces. It hasn't been updated, upgraded or maintained properly for decades.

Today a 20 year old German was arrested for breaking into the accounts of a 1000 German politicians and journalists, including Angela Merkel and stealing data, emails, pictures, etc. He apparently acted alone and had no formal computer training. Using that as a baseline, imagine what state actors who have tens of thousands of top IT engineers in their 'hacking army' can do. 

I doubt that there is a computer in the federal inventory the Chinese, Russians, Americans, North Koreans, etc., don't have full and complete access to aside from the more modern ones owned by the likes of CSIS and CSE. In fact, they probably have a better picture of individual Canadians than our own government does. After all, data held by Service Canada can't be accessed by Canada Revenue. Data at Canada Revenue can't be accessed by DND or Immigration Canada. This is all to protect our 'privacy'. I doubt that hinders the Russians or Chinese.

And I doubt your $29.99 firewall and anti-virus package does either.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46793116So

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-02-07/inside-kim-jong-un-s-hacker-army

https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/03/03/chinas-hacker-army/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/10/04/unit26165-russias-elite-military-hacking-centre/

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24 minutes ago, paxamericana said:

Yes, don't plug it to the internet. It is it really that simple. The avionics for the F22 and F35 are not store in computers that have internet access. 

https://thenewsrep.com/110405/hacking-the-f-35-turning-the-fighters-biggest-strength-into-its-biggest-weakness/

Quote

The 13 dedicated ALIS network servers on board every F-35 transmit this information back to its designated host nation and then through to Lockheed Martin’s central server hub in Fort Worth, Texas. Enemy operatives that gained access to the ALIS system could wreak havoc on repair and maintenance scheduling, making many aircraft non-operational. The bigger threat, however, would be using the ALIS network to locate F-35s around the world and gain important information about the operations they’re involved in.

---

The F-35s ability to communicate all on its own is exactly what makes it so deadly, according to Lockheed Martin, but nearby drones and warships aren’t the only things the F-35 is communicating with — and as anyone that works in cyber security can tell you, the more avenues of access a system has, the harder it is to defend.

May be right about the avionics with direct access, but you can now see how vulnerable the F-35 really is.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/why-did-a-chinese-spy-from-bc-get-less-than-four-years-for-stealing-f-35-secrets

Quote

A couple of days ago I wrote an article about a Chinese spy who ran an aerospace firm with an office in British Columbia and who had just been sentenced to jail for stealing confidential information on a U.S. military transport aircraft and the F-35 stealth fighter.

How confident are you now with regards to the safety/security of the F-35?

Edited by GostHacked
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20 minutes ago, GostHacked said:

https://thenewsrep.com/110405/hacking-the-f-35-turning-the-fighters-biggest-strength-into-its-biggest-weakness/

May be right about the avionics with direct access, but you can now see how vulnerable the F-35 really is.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/why-did-a-chinese-spy-from-bc-get-less-than-four-years-for-stealing-f-35-secrets

How confident are you now with regards to the safety/security of the F-35?

Pretty confident actually. What you're talking about is electronic warfare. And also that article is philosophical not using real evidence to back its claim.  

While it is true that the russian or chinese may eventually identify some vulnerabilities, who is to say we don't have counter measure? 

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17 minutes ago, paxamericana said:

Pretty confident actually. What you're talking about is electronic warfare. And also that article is philosophical not using real evidence to back its claim.  

While it is true that the russian or chinese may eventually identify some vulnerabilities, who is to say we don't have counter measure? 

You can't have counter measures for things you are unaware of.

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Overall  data security will never be 100%. It can get close, but there is always going to be a way in somehow.

The growing problems are hacking the 'Internet of Things' devices, like smart appliances.  Always -on voice recognition devices like Alexa from Amazon, Siri , also are very problematic for your data security.  Crypto-ransomware is a continuing problem. It only needs a small in to wreck an entire company's information. When that happens, the only solution is to restore from proper back ups (hopefully offline back ups). Once the infections starts, there is NO way to fix it.

I had to get a new cell phone recently and I already discovered that it's not that hard to get data from other phones close by.

If you want your data secure, back it all up on couple USB sticks or something like that and store it in a safe. But that only means you can restore your data after some kind of breach.  And that we see on a very large scale now where hacking MSPs occurs daily. 

Tips? 

Make complex secure passwords.

Firewall your stuff as much as you can. Always use your own router connected to the ISPs modem/router.

Shut down your PCs when not in use. Lock your device when not in use.

Back up regularly to an offline device and store it in a safe location

Beware of phishing attempts in email (this is a very large issue for people not all on the up and up regarding PC/Internet usage.

Get off Facebook

Use alternative search engines (google tracks more than you care to know about)

Stop being apathetic about your use of technology or you will become a victim.

 

 

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5 hours ago, paxamericana said:

Yes, don't plug it to the internet. It is it really that simple. The avionics for the F22 and F35 are not store in computers that have internet access. 

And then you sell the F-35 to Turkey....

  • Haha 1
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  • 3 months later...
On 1/8/2019 at 5:31 PM, paxamericana said:

Yes, don't plug it to the internet. It is it really that simple....

This tip is relevant for government computers that store our complete data. That is, having only an internal network without Internet access is probably the best way to prevent hacking. But for most people who store a lot of data already on their own phone, it is unrealistic.  I use a mobile wallet for fast qr pay so I set up fingerprint access plus additional code. If you don't be lazy and take care of your safety, then many problems can be avoided. In addition, new blockchain-based digital data protection systems are being developed. 

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  • 9 months later...

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