Exploding Data by Michael Chertoff

Author:Michael Chertoff [Chertoff, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780802165787
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
Published: 2018-07-25T16:00:00+00:00

What We, as Citizens, Should Do to Protect Ourselves

The government should do all it can to protect citizens against online criminals and other hackers, who may seek to steal our identities and money, freeze our computer data to hold it for ransom, and even damage the infrastructure in our houses and automobiles. But we also should take measures to protect ourselves. One of the most devastating cyber incidents ever was the widespread 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack, which exploited a vulnerability in Microsoft’s operating system to freeze data in computers across the globe. A month before this occurred, Microsoft circulated a patch to close the vulnerability, which would have prevented the ransomware from entering a network. Sadly, many network operators neglected to download the patch, exposing themselves to a cyber threat that shut down their network operations. For these victims, this cyberattack was utterly avoidable.

Most networks connected to the internet are in private hands. Therefore, unless we invite the government to live in our computers—thereby, eliminating any privacy—we will always be our own first line of defense. Here are some simple tactics that we, as citizens, should adopt to reduce the risks to our own networks and data.

First: Be mindful of what data you transmit and what you connect to your own network.

Every decision to transact online, to furnish sensitive information, or to use publicly available communications infrastructure, such as Wi-Fi, carries with it benefits and risks. The more widely you disseminate sensitive data, the greater the likelihood that it may fall into the wrong hands. Additionally, the more the internet of things expands, the broader the network that can serve as a surface area for attacks. Networked objects are not really smarter—they are just more connected, providing more entry points to your network.

Indeed, for critical physical control systems, you should ask whether your pacemaker is wirelessly connected so it might be hacked.56 There are now cars in which the steering, drive train, and brakes can be controlled by remote wireless connection. There is value to having these systems connected, but is that convenience worth the risk? If considering buying such an equipped automobile, you should ensure that the manufacturer built into these devices the capability to upgrade security and patch weaknesses so that they are less easily exploitable by hackers.

The truth is that many of these new “smart” connected devices are built with less than minimal security features. They can easily be hacked and turned into a widespread network of remotely controlled zombies: a botnet. In a 2016 incident, printers, cameras, baby monitors, and similar devices attached to the DNS service provider Dyn were infected with Marai malware. Remotely directed to generate an excessive volume of traffic, Dyn was overwhelmed. Internet users were shut out of numerous websites for many hours. In this case, innocent internet users—and many brand-name businesses—suffered the consequences of inadequate security built into millions of simple home devices. To protect your data, and to avoid allowing your device to be hijacked into becoming part of a destructive botnet, the lesson is to buy only connected devices that allow security updates.

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