Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryComputer Security

security-worker-during-monitoring-video-surveillance-system-stockpack-adobe-stock
Security worker during monitoring. Video surveillance system.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
April 15, 2022
Categorized
Computer Security
Tagged
, ,

The Cybercriminal Isn’t Necessarily Who You Think…

Chances are, the “human data collector” is just someone who works for a company that makes money collecting data about you
News
April 15, 2022
7
Computer Security

Veteran software developer David A. Kruger offered some thoughts on computer security recently at Expensivity and we appreciate the opportunity to republish them here as a series. Yesterday’s discussion focused on ruining cybercriminals’ lives by making their businesses unprofitable. And now, let’s look at who the cybercriminal typically is… it’s more complicated than his iconic hoodie. And it’s way worse too. Close Encounters of the Third Kind We have been taught to think of cyberattackers as being one of two kinds, criminal cyberattackers who gain control of others’ data to make money, or military/terroristic cyberattackers who gain control of others’ data to project military or political power. There is a third kind: Software makers who systematically destroy privacy, so they can gain control Read More ›

business-technology-internet-and-networking-concept-young-businesswoman-working-on-his-laptop-in-the-office-select-the-icon-security-on-the-virtual-display-stockpack-adobe-stock
Business, technology, internet and networking concept. Young businesswoman working on his laptop in the office, select the icon security on the virtual display.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
April 13, 2022
Categorized
Computer Security
Tagged
, ,

Computer Safety Expert: Start Helping Ruin Cybercriminals’ Lives

Okay, their businesses. Unfortunately, part of the problem is the design of programs, written with the best of intentions…
News
April 13, 2022
8
Computer Security

Veteran software developer David A. Kruger offered some thoughts on computer security recently at Expensivity and we appreciate the opportunity to republish them here as a series. Yesterday’s discussion focused on agile software development. Today’s discussion looks at making life somewhat less comfortable for the guy who wants to steal your credit card number. Ruining the Economics of Cyberattack Would fully implementing controllable data and full scope authentication prevent every cybersecurity failure? Of course not. There are scenarios, particularly those aided by human gullibility, ineptitude, and negligence, where cybersecurity can and will continue to fail. However, cyberattacks are carried out by human beings for the purpose of acquiring money and/or exercising power, and there is a cost/benefit analysis behind every attack. Controllable Read More ›

matching-keys-made-of-circuits-led-lights-encryption-crypto-stockpack-adobe-stock
matching keys made of circuits & led lights, encryption & crypto
Type
post
Author
News
Date
April 13, 2022
Categorized
Computer Security, Mathematics
Tagged
, , ,

New Clue in the Problem That Haunts All Cryptography?

A string that has no description shorter than itself is a good bet for cryptography. If the hacker doesn’t know it, he can’t use shortcuts to guess it.
News
April 13, 2022
4
Computer Security, Mathematics

A central problem in all computer security (branch of cryptography) is the one-way problem. Cryptography should function as a one-way street: You can go north but you can’t go south. So if a hacker doesn’t have the code to go north, he can’t go anywhere. Which is where the computer security expert would like to leave the hacker… Is there such a thing as a one-way function in mathematics? Mathematician Erica Klarreich says, probably yes, and explains what it looks like: To get a feel for how one-way functions work, imagine someone asked you to multiply two large prime numbers, say 6,547 and 7,079. Arriving at the answer of 46,346,213 might take some work, but it is eminently doable. However, Read More ›

computer-code-on-a-screen-with-a-skull-representing-a-computer-virus-malware-attack-stockpack-adobe-stock
Computer code on a screen with a skull representing a computer virus / malware attack.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
April 12, 2022
Categorized
Computer Security
Tagged
, ,

The Sweet Science of Agile Software Development

Effective security, as opposed to partial security, increases costs in the short run but decreases them in the long run
News
April 12, 2022
7
Computer Security

Veteran software developer David A. Kruger offered some thoughts on computer security recently at Expensivity and we appreciate the opportunity to republish them here as a series. Yesterday’s discussion focused on putting a lid on risks. Today’s discussion looks at the sweet science of agile software development — proactive, not reactive responses. Agile Software Development, Known Art, and Updates to the Rescue The “get out of it one piece of software and data at a time” requirement seems daunting, if not impossible, but it isn’t as bad as it sounds due to agile software development, the availability of “known art,” and the speed at which large-scale software changes propagate via the Internet. A key attribute of agile software development is frequently Read More ›

propane tanks
Gas cylinders used welding Industrial in factory
Type
post
Author
News
Date
April 11, 2022
Categorized
Computer Security
Tagged
, , , , , ,

Cybersecurity: Put a Lid on the Risks. We Already Own the Lid

Security specialist David Kruger says, data must be contained when it is in storage and transit and controlled when it is in use
News
April 11, 2022
11
Computer Security

Veteran software developer David A. Kruger offered some thoughts on computer security recently at Expensivity and we appreciate the opportunity to republish them here as a series. Last week’s discussion focused on the ingredients that cybersecurity needs to work. Today, the focus is on putting a lid on risks. Put a Lid on It Fortunately, we have at our disposal untold millions of man hours of safety engineering focused on safely extracting benefits from the use of hazardous things. For example, our homes and the highways we travel on are chock full of beneficial things that can easily kill us, such as high voltage electricity, flammable/explosive natural gas, and tanker trucks filled with flammable or toxic chemicals driving right next Read More ›

cyber-security-and-extortion-stockpack-adobe-stock
Cyber security and extortion
Type
post
Author
News
Date
April 7, 2022
Categorized
Computer Security
Tagged
, , ,

Ingredients That Cybersecurity Needs To Actually Work

Software makers continue to produce open data as if we were still living in the 50s, and the Internet had never been invented.
News
April 7, 2022
11
Computer Security

Veteran software developer David A. Kruger offered some thoughts on computer security recently at Expensivity and we appreciate the opportunity to republish them here as a series. Yesterday’s discussion made the point that the hacker’s target isn’t networks, computers, or users; they are just pathways to the target —gaining control of data is the target. Today, we look at the ingredients that cybersecurity needs to work. Necessary Ingredients Data in this context is digitized information. Digital information is physical, as in, it’s governed by the laws of physics. Data is the result of software converting (digitizing) human usable information into patterns of ones and zeros that are applied to “quantum small” physical substrates: microscopic transistors, electrical pulses, light, radio waves, Read More ›

online-security-technology-stockpack-adobe-stock
Online Security Technology
Type
post
Author
News
Date
April 6, 2022
Categorized
Computer Security
Tagged
, , , , ,

What’s Wrong With Cybersecurity Technology?

Know your enemy: The target isn’t networks, computers, or users; they are pathways to the target —gaining control of data
News
April 6, 2022
10
Computer Security

Veteran software developer David A. Kruger offered some thoughts on computer security recently at Expensivity and we appreciate the opportunity to republish them here. He starts with “Root Cause Analysis 101” Now we’ll apply the lessons learned in yesterday’s discussion to cybersecurity: Lesson Learned 1: A pattern of multiple types of recurring related failures indicates the presence of an unidentified root cause. In cybersecurity, is there a pattern of multiple types of recurring failures that appear to be related? Yes! A cybersecurity failure occurs whenever a cyberattacker gains control of data and then:  1) views or plays it, 2) steals copies of it, 3) ransoms it, 5) impedes its flow, 5) corrupts it, or 6) destroys it. The lesson learned is that the Read More ›

a-computer-popup-box-screen-warning-of-a-system-being-hacked-compromised-software-environment-3d-illustration-stockpack-adobe-stock
A computer popup box screen warning of a system being hacked, compromised software environment. 3D illustration.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
April 5, 2022
Categorized
Business and Finance, Computer Security, Crime
Tagged
, , , , ,

The True Cause of Cybersecurity Failure and How to Fix It

Hint: The cause and fix are not what you think
News
April 5, 2022
12
Business and Finance, Computer Security, Crime

Veteran software developer David A. Kruger offered some thoughts on computer security recently at Expensivity and we appreciate the opportunity to republish them here. He starts with “Root Cause Analysis 101” The classic line “I have a bad feeling about this” is repeated in every Star Wars movie. It’s become a meme for that uneasy feeling that as bad as things are now, they are about to get much worse. That’s an accurate portrayal of how many of us feel about cybersecurity. Our bad feeling has a sound empirical basis. Yearly cybersecurity losses and loss rates continually increase and never decrease despite annual US cybersecurity expenditures in the tens of billions of dollars and tens of millions of skilled cybersecurity Read More ›