Current Mood: wistful
Current Tunes: Delain - We Are The Others
Increasing the range of the WiFi spectrum will be very beneficial to the United States. WiFi is becoming increasingly important each day through the use of phones, laptops, and other devices. Currently, many WiFi hot spots are extremely congested making service for everyone slow and causing major headaches. This expansion of the available spectrum will make working from a variety of places, such as an airport or a university, much more convenient. However, this transition must be made very carefully. Currently, some of the spectrum that has been planned to be made public is in use by private entities, such as the military. The FCC must make sure that the modification will not interfere with these entities or dire consequences could follow, such as weapon equipment malfunctions or plane crashes. Hopefully, all the government entities that currently use the new public frequencies have kept meticulous records of which frequencies they use and the devices that must be changed. If the government goes about this change correctly, everyone will benefit with faster wireless speed and greater convenience.
Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2415667,00.asp
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Double Rainbow...tables
Current Mood: content
Current Tunes: Nightwish - Dark Passion Play
While reading The Cuckoo's Egg, two main points seemed to jut out in my mind. The first is that a government entity must exist whose sole purpose of existence is to track down hackers, especially foreign, and persecute them to the fullest extent of the law. In The Cuckoo's Egg, Stoll mainly pursued his mysterious visitor without government help. This is mainly due to the fact that the Internet was very new in 1986. It was unclear which government organization presided over it. Internet crime was almost non-existent in 1986, and the main culprits were college-age pranksters. The dramatic increase in Internet usage has shown the desperate need of a government entity to combat the malicious use of Internet services. Whether this entity be a branch of the CIA, the FBI, or the NSA, someone needs to take on the mission of investigating Internet crimes.
The second point that stuck with me from the book was the method of hacking used by Stoll's adversary. He did not use sophisticated tools or state-of-the-art programs to break into his victim's computers. Most of his access came from knowing the default accounts and passwords for various types of computers. This must have been extremely embarrassing for the military bases and universities since they were expected to have some of the highest security on the planet. While hackers today cannot prey as easily on systems using these methods, default passwords and guest accounts still present easy access to malicious users. System designers must carefully approach this issue in order to balance security and convenience.
Current Tunes: Nightwish - Dark Passion Play
While reading The Cuckoo's Egg, two main points seemed to jut out in my mind. The first is that a government entity must exist whose sole purpose of existence is to track down hackers, especially foreign, and persecute them to the fullest extent of the law. In The Cuckoo's Egg, Stoll mainly pursued his mysterious visitor without government help. This is mainly due to the fact that the Internet was very new in 1986. It was unclear which government organization presided over it. Internet crime was almost non-existent in 1986, and the main culprits were college-age pranksters. The dramatic increase in Internet usage has shown the desperate need of a government entity to combat the malicious use of Internet services. Whether this entity be a branch of the CIA, the FBI, or the NSA, someone needs to take on the mission of investigating Internet crimes.
The second point that stuck with me from the book was the method of hacking used by Stoll's adversary. He did not use sophisticated tools or state-of-the-art programs to break into his victim's computers. Most of his access came from knowing the default accounts and passwords for various types of computers. This must have been extremely embarrassing for the military bases and universities since they were expected to have some of the highest security on the planet. While hackers today cannot prey as easily on systems using these methods, default passwords and guest accounts still present easy access to malicious users. System designers must carefully approach this issue in order to balance security and convenience.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
404 - Women Not Found
Current Mood: It's going to be one of those weeks...
Current Tunes: Gojira - From Mars To Sirius
There is a severe deficiency of women in computer science. While some may regard this as a minor inconvenience or not even a problem, the lack of females in this field should greatly disturb everyone. Due to the minuscule amount of women involved, the field of computer science is overlooking untapped talent. Women think differently than men, and this difference is a great attribute that brings about wonderful innovations. One of the reasons that many women do not choose computer science as a major is that they do not know that they would be adept at programming. Every student should take at least one computer science course at some point during their university experience. This would accomplish two goals: it would give students a chance to appreciate computers and all the work that is invested into creating effective software. It would also find students, especially women, who are proficient at programming but would have not know this had they not taken a computer science course.
Current Tunes: Gojira - From Mars To Sirius
There is a severe deficiency of women in computer science. While some may regard this as a minor inconvenience or not even a problem, the lack of females in this field should greatly disturb everyone. Due to the minuscule amount of women involved, the field of computer science is overlooking untapped talent. Women think differently than men, and this difference is a great attribute that brings about wonderful innovations. One of the reasons that many women do not choose computer science as a major is that they do not know that they would be adept at programming. Every student should take at least one computer science course at some point during their university experience. This would accomplish two goals: it would give students a chance to appreciate computers and all the work that is invested into creating effective software. It would also find students, especially women, who are proficient at programming but would have not know this had they not taken a computer science course.
Monday, February 4, 2013
The Mandarin Word For DDOS is...
Current Mood: Tired, if that counts as a mood
Current Tunes: Kamelot - Silverthorn
The New York Times and Wall Street Journal claimed that attackers from China attempted to hack the news companies' computers in what seemed to be a state-sponsored attack. China denies these allegations. In a world where the Internet's importance is increasing dramatically, cyber-attacks are becoming more common. Soon, soldiers specializing in computer and Internet security will have the same importance as marines and artillery. The United States must invest more time and money in cyber-security training programs or it will be left behind and needlessly expose itself to future computer attacks. The government should invest in incentives for education in computer security with grants and scholarships. Recruitment for the NSA and similar agencies charged with keeping America's information highways safe should be invested in just as much as the navy or air force. This will keep the United States safe and allow more people to serve our country in ways they otherwise could not have. The soldiers of the future will not fight with bullets but with DOS attacks and rainbow tables.
Source: http://news.sky.com/story/1047269/china-peoples-daily-rejects-us-hacking-claims
Current Tunes: Kamelot - Silverthorn
The New York Times and Wall Street Journal claimed that attackers from China attempted to hack the news companies' computers in what seemed to be a state-sponsored attack. China denies these allegations. In a world where the Internet's importance is increasing dramatically, cyber-attacks are becoming more common. Soon, soldiers specializing in computer and Internet security will have the same importance as marines and artillery. The United States must invest more time and money in cyber-security training programs or it will be left behind and needlessly expose itself to future computer attacks. The government should invest in incentives for education in computer security with grants and scholarships. Recruitment for the NSA and similar agencies charged with keeping America's information highways safe should be invested in just as much as the navy or air force. This will keep the United States safe and allow more people to serve our country in ways they otherwise could not have. The soldiers of the future will not fight with bullets but with DOS attacks and rainbow tables.
Source: http://news.sky.com/story/1047269/china-peoples-daily-rejects-us-hacking-claims
Monday, January 28, 2013
Who Really Owns Your Phone?
Current Mood: Not too shabby
Current Tunes: Sabaton - Coat of Arms
Recently, James Hadley Billington, a congressional librarian, declared that unlocking cell phones in order to be used by different carriers is illegal. This has angered some people because they feel that they completely own their phones and can do whatsoever they want with them. The real issue is who owns what on a cell phone. According to Billington, the firmware on the phone is property of the company that created it, and, therefore, unlocking the phone via changing the firmware is violation of copyright. The answer to "Who owns what?" on a phone is simple: it works much the same as a computer and its software. A person may own their computer, but when they purchase software, they agree to a end-user license agreement. When a person buys a phone, they agree to use the phone according to the carrier's dictates. A carrier can put whatever they want in their agreement including a clause that the firmware cannot be changed. If a customer agrees to it, he or she must adhere to the agreement.
Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2026236/phone-unlocking-ban-could-could-hit-you-in-the-wallet.html
Current Tunes: Sabaton - Coat of Arms
Recently, James Hadley Billington, a congressional librarian, declared that unlocking cell phones in order to be used by different carriers is illegal. This has angered some people because they feel that they completely own their phones and can do whatsoever they want with them. The real issue is who owns what on a cell phone. According to Billington, the firmware on the phone is property of the company that created it, and, therefore, unlocking the phone via changing the firmware is violation of copyright. The answer to "Who owns what?" on a phone is simple: it works much the same as a computer and its software. A person may own their computer, but when they purchase software, they agree to a end-user license agreement. When a person buys a phone, they agree to use the phone according to the carrier's dictates. A carrier can put whatever they want in their agreement including a clause that the firmware cannot be changed. If a customer agrees to it, he or she must adhere to the agreement.
Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2026236/phone-unlocking-ban-could-could-hit-you-in-the-wallet.html
Thursday, January 17, 2013
From the Apple II to Nanobots
Mood: devoid
Current Tunes: Dragonforce - The Power Within
New technology is not simply appended onto society; technology completely changes society. Sixty years ago, there were only a handful (actually room-full) of computers. Today, computers are ubiquitous. We depend on them so much that if they were to disappear our society would be thrown into complete pandemonium. Technology has blessed our lives by facilitating the completion of tasks in a short amount of time. For many people, this has led to taking on too many tasks, each one completed poorly. People simultaneously update their Facebook profile, listen to music, do homework, converse on Skype, skim global news outlets, and perform many other activities as a result of technological advances. Left unchecked, society will focus on such a multitude of tasks that it will never complete a single task. Society will become like butter that has been spread over too much bread: adding a little flavor but not enough in one place to satisfy our appetite. We must learn to focus on what is truly important today and in the future.
Current Tunes: Dragonforce - The Power Within
New technology is not simply appended onto society; technology completely changes society. Sixty years ago, there were only a handful (actually room-full) of computers. Today, computers are ubiquitous. We depend on them so much that if they were to disappear our society would be thrown into complete pandemonium. Technology has blessed our lives by facilitating the completion of tasks in a short amount of time. For many people, this has led to taking on too many tasks, each one completed poorly. People simultaneously update their Facebook profile, listen to music, do homework, converse on Skype, skim global news outlets, and perform many other activities as a result of technological advances. Left unchecked, society will focus on such a multitude of tasks that it will never complete a single task. Society will become like butter that has been spread over too much bread: adding a little flavor but not enough in one place to satisfy our appetite. We must learn to focus on what is truly important today and in the future.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
First Post
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)