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Archives for July 2018

Americans Want Local Governments To Spend More On Cyber Security

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While a significant percentage of Americans are suspicious of government spending beyond the essentials, there’s at least one notable exception, according to a recent survey conducted by SecurityFirst.

A majority (74 percent) of Americans want their local governments to spend more money on cybersecurity.

Here are a few of the highlights from the survey:

64 percent believe that a ransomware attack on local government installations could have serious, long-term impacts

Only 33 percent of respondents believe that their local governments are capable of keeping their data safe in the event of an attack

60 percent believe that a cyberattack could jeopardize essential services, and 77 percent fear that fallout from such an attack could hinder first responders

In terms of the biggest concerns of the citizenry, the data broke out as follows:

74 percent cited potential dangers to local utilities

68 percent cited potential dangers to our court system

68 percent cited potential dangers to local schools

Not long ago, the city of Atlanta suffered just such an attack, which cost them millions of dollars and erased several years’ worth of critical data.  The city is still working to recover from the incident.  It underscores the fact that the concerns brought to light by the survey are all too real, that citizens are right to worry, and they demand more from their local governments.

Unfortunately, in an age where government spending of any kind almost reflexively comes under intense scrutiny and debate, it remains to be seen whether this and similar surveys will provide any traction to the idea of greater government spending on cybersecurity.

If it does not, then we can expect to see more incidents like the unfortunate attack on Atlanta, with similar consequences.  If the past is any indication, the survey will generate a few conversations, but not much in the way of action.  Sadly, it will probably take a major attack that costs lives before we start getting serious about protecting local governments and critical infrastructure.  Here’s hoping it doesn’t come to that.

Bug In Facebook May Have Unblocked People You Blocked

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Facebook recently announced a site bug that impacted the privacy settings of more than 800,000 of its users.  If you’re one of the unfortunate souls who has been affected, then people you had formerly blocked may have become unblocked, and can now see your posts.

For many people, that’s not a huge deal. In some cases, say for example, if you blocked your ex-girlfriend, boyfriend, or wife and were impacted, they may be able to see things you don’t want them to.

Facebook’s official statement in response to the matter provided additional details and said that 83 percent of the people who were impacted only had one person on their blocked list temporarily unblocked, and that the situation had been remedied.

Of significance, the bug did not allow unblocked users to see content shared by friends of those who had blocked them, and it did not reinstate a “severed” friendship on the system.  In some cases, however, someone who had been blocked may have been able to establish (or attempt to establish) a Facebook Messenger communication with the person who had blocked them.

The bug was active between May 29th and June 5th, and was caused when a small amount of data governing “associations” between users was deleted.  When the data was restored, the issue went away on its own.

The number of impacted users may sound grim, but given the legions of people who use Facebook, it’s actually a drop in the bucket.  Even so, Facebook’s response was immediate, decisive, and the company took actions to reassure its user base that the issue had been resolved and they would take steps to see that it did not happen again.

Nice words, but given the intense scrutiny Facebook has been under in recent months, blunders like this one only underscore that the company still has a lot of work to do where privacy is concerned.

LTE Networks May Be Vulnerable To Hacking

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Researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum and New York University in Abu Dhabi have discovered serious security flaws in 4G LTE networks that allow hackers to spy on, listen in on, intercept, and disrupt phone calls and text messages.

Given that billions of people rely on 4G LTE networks for cellphone communications, it’s a serious issue, and there are no easy fixes. So, don’t expect these flaws to be patched out of existence any time soon.  Worse still, the planned 5G networks currently in development may well suffer from the same (or similar) flaws.

Based on their research, the team was able to develop a trio of new attacks that specifically target weaknesses in the 4G LTE architecture.

One of these, dubbed “aLTEr” is a DNS spoofing attack that allows a hacker to become the “man in the middle,” intercepting communications, and gives them the ability to spoof alerts, texts, and other messages.

All three of the attacks developed by the team take advantage of weaknesses found in “Layer Two” of the LTE network.

This is the data layer that rests atop the physical channel.  Its function is to maintain wireless communication between users and the network itself, and has an organizational function that (among other things) manages how users access various resources on the network, helping to protect data via encryption and to correct errors in transmission.  Obviously, a hack that can exploit this layer could be devastating indeed.

If there’s a silver lining, it lies in the fact that these three attacks are exotic. It would be difficult for a casual or even a fairly determined hacker to execute to any real effect.  Unfortunately, it would be a much easier task for a state-sponsored group to pull off, and that’s the big fear here.

Hopefully, since 5G networks are still in the planning stages, something can be done before they’re rolled out to limit the effectiveness, or perhaps even negate these new types of attacks, but that remains to be seen.

Microsoft Edge Mobile Browser Blocks Android And iOS Ads

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As most people know, Microsoft Edge was the company’s “reboot.”  After trying for years to patch and update their beleaguered Internet Explorer, Microsoft ultimately decided to scrap it and start fresh.  Since Edge’s launch, it has struggled to gain traction with users.

Recently, Microsoft has upped the ante, at least where Edge for iOS and Android devices are concerned.  A recent update sees the browser outfitted with a built-in ad blocker.  Prior to the update, if you wanted an ad blocking solution, you’d have to download and install it separately.  This move saves users a step, and gives you one less thing to think or worry about.

It’s a good move, but that alone is unlikely to give Edge the surge in popularity it needs to catch up with other browsers.

To provide some perspective, currently, Microsoft Edge is installed on about five million Android devices, based on stats from the Google Play Store.  Contrast that with 100 million installs of Mozilla’s Firefox, and more than a billion Chrome installations.

Those are sobering numbers that underscore just how much ground Edge needs to cover to even be playing in the same league as other popular web browsers on mobile devices.  While we don’t have statistics for installs from the Apple Store, it’s hard to imagine that they’d be any better, and, are probably a fair bit lower.

That’s not to say that Microsoft’s move wasn’t good, because it definitely was.  Anything that a company can do to cut down the number of unwanted, annoying, and potentially dangerous ads is a very good thing. Odds are that the company’s recently move will be copied by the major players in the browser world.  Even if it doesn’t boost Edge’s numbers much, that’s a win for anybody who uses the internet.  Kudos to Microsoft for making the change.

Mobile Users Gain Privacy Protection In Supreme Court Ruling

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There’s some good news from a recent Supreme Court ruling where privacy is concerned, but take it with a grain of salt.

In a recent 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement agencies must obtain a warrant before they can get access to data collected and stored on mobile devices.  Of special significance, the court rejected the “third party rule,” which dates back to the 1970’s and asserts that any data collected by third-parties is automatically devoid of Constitutional protection.

The ruling is undeniably good news, and privacy advocates who have been watching the issue closely hail the decision as a victory for individual privacy. However, it should be noted that in the overwhelming majority of cases, “probable cause” is sufficient for most judges to grant a search warrant to law enforcement officials.

The reality is that probable cause is one of those “squishy” words that can mean wildly different things to different people.  While it serves as a speed bump to accessing data on mobile devices, it’s a relatively modest one that’s unlikely to prevent many instances of law enforcement getting the information they need during the course of their investigations.

All that to say, it’s a good first step, but this ruling alone isn’t enough.  So far, no national government anywhere in the world has been able to craft a set of sensible policies that adequately protect the privacy of individuals on the web.  Corporations collect oceans of data on the consuming public, and increasingly, that data is packaged, resold and used for a variety of purposes.

While most of those purposes are fairly harmless and aimed more at marketing than anything else, other purposes border on or are abuses of the public’s trust.  There are no easy fixes here, but kudos to the Supreme Court for taking an important first step.

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