Yes, this is amusing. It also reiterates the possibility of an individual making an attack that could be mistaken for the start of a cyber war.
https://www.databreaches.net/north-korea-hacked-him-so-he-took-down-its-internet/
North Korea Hacked Him. So He Took Down Its Internet
What a great — and thought-provoking — story by Andy Greenberg:
For the past two weeks, observers of North Korea’s strange and tightly restricted corner of the internet began to notice that the country seemed to be dealing with some serious connectivity problems. On several different days, practically all of its websites—the notoriously isolated nation only has a few dozen—intermittently dropped offline en masse, from the booking site for its Air Koryo airline to Naenara, a page that serves as the official portal for dictator Kim Jong-un’s government. At least one of the central routers that allow access to the country’s networks appeared at one point to be paralyzed, crippling the Hermit Kingdom’s digital connections to the outside world.
Some North Korea watchers pointed out that the country had just carried out a series of missile tests, implying that a foreign government’s hackers might have launched a cyberattack against the rogue state to tell it to stop saber-rattling.
But responsibility for North Korea’s ongoing internet outages doesn’t lie with US Cyber Command or any other state-sponsored hacking agency. In fact, it was the work of one American man in a T-shirt, pajama pants, and slippers, sitting in his living room night after night, watching Alien movies and eating spicy corn snacks—and periodically walking over to his home office to check on the progress of the programs he was running to disrupt the internet of an entire country.
Read more at Wired about why and how a security researcher known as P4x sought revenge on North Korea. The story will make some people cheer but it should also raise questions as to whether our government did enough when security researchers were attacked by a foreign government — and what our government will do now. Will it sit back and let vigilantes strike back or what? Is our government going to put its cyberskills where its mouth is or not?
If individuals are the target of a hacking campaign and the government doesn’t show up to help them in meaningful ways, and doesn’t say to them, “Look, we’ve got something going on right now so sit tight for a while please,” then why shouldn’t individuals take matters into their own hands to protect themselves?
Perhaps we are not inclined to think of TikTok as a real threat?
https://www.wsj.com/articles/tiktok-security-risk-china-biden-11643807751?mod=djemalertNEWS
U.S. Moving—Some Say Too Slowly—to Address TikTok Security Risk
The Biden administration is moving to revise federal rules to address potential security risks from TikTok and other foreign-owned apps, eight months after opting not to pursue a forced shutdown of the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform.
The Commerce Department recently concluded a public-comment period on the proposed rule change, which would expand federal oversight to explicitly include apps that could be used by “foreign adversaries to steal or otherwise obtain data,” according to a filing in the Federal Register.
Under the rule, the commerce secretary could effectively bar foreign apps deemed unacceptable security risks. That could force social-media platforms such as TikTok and other software applications connected to the internet to submit to third-party auditing, source-code examination and monitoring of the logs that show user data, according to the proposed rule.
The future of Colorado privacy?
Prepared remarks: Attorney General Phil Weiser on the way forward on data privacy and data security (Jan. 28, 2022)
Colorado’s Attorney General, Phil Weiser, gave a speech for Data Privacy Day that talks about Colorado’s Privacy Act and its provisions with respect to both privacy and data security.
It is a speech worth reading, especially if you want an overview of what is coming your way in Colorado.
With three states now having state laws, you’d think Congress would be under more pressure to have one federal law, but given how dysfunctional Congress is and how much money is spent — including by data brokers and media outlets — lobbying them not to seriously protect our privacy and data security, I’m not holding my breath. Thank goodness some states keep pushing forward to protect consumers and to hold entities accountable.
Read AG Weiser’s speech here.
(Related)
Colorado AG Publishes Guidance on Data Security Practices and Announces Upcoming Rulemaking Under the Colorado Privacy Act
… The “Data Security Best Practices” guidance document outlined nine key steps companies should take to protect their data, including:
Perspective.
Divergent Global Views on Social Media, Free Speech, and Platform Regulation: Findings from the United Kingdom, South Korea, Mexico, and the United States
Wihbey, John and Chung, Myojung and Peacey, Mike and Morrow, Garrett and Tian, Yushu and Vitacco, Lauren and Rincon Reyes, Daniela and Clavijo, Melissa, Divergent Global Views on Social Media, Free Speech, and Platform Regulation: Findings from the United Kingdom, South Korea, Mexico, and the United States (January 3, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=
“Citizens and policymakers in many countries are voicing frustration with social media platform companies, which are, increasingly, host to much of the world’s public discourse. Many societies have considered regulation to address issues such as misinformation and hate speech. However, there is relatively little data on how countries compare precisely in terms of public attitudes toward social media regulation. This report provides an overview of public opinion across four diverse democracies – the United Kingdom, South Korea, Mexico, and the United States – furnishing comparative perspectives on issues such as online censorship, free speech, and social media regulation. We gathered nationally representative samples of 1,758 (South Korea), 1,415 (U.S.), 1,435 (U.K.), and 784 (Mexico) adults in the respective countries. Across multiple measures, respondents from the United States and Mexico are, on the face of it, more supportive of freedoms of expression than respondents from the United Kingdom and South Korea. Additionally, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Mexico are more supportive of stricter content moderation than the United States, particularly if the content causes harm or distress for others. The data add to our understanding of the global dynamics of content moderation policy and speak to civil society efforts, such as the Santa Clara Principles, to articulate standards for companies that are fair to users and their communities. The findings underscore how different democracies may have varying needs and translate and apply their values in nuanced ways.”
No comments:
Post a Comment