First Blog

Did you know?  Researchers at the University of Michigan* have discovered a new way of hacking, one that you may have never even widely guessed – and how it was done.  What’s that?  Using acoustics, they discovered the tiny device, called a MEMS accelerometer and other motion detectors, can be fooled by sound waves.  These are found in all smartphones, all smart watches, and other technologies.  For example; this little device is used in step counters found everywhere, including the Fitbit.   These apps measure when you take a step by the device response to a physical step. You take a step, and this causes a force felt by the accelerometer, and this is translated into a step. Generally, the new technique is achieved by “acoustic interference.  So, using sound, you can take thousands of (measured) steps without moving a muscle.  Moreover, you can disable and control devices using sound.  Stupid, you say, if not just plain cheating....

Everyone these days is flying up to the cloud, for storage of files (dropbox, onedrive, etc). for transmission of information, for communication.  Yet, I am suspicious.  When posting information to one of these free or even private clouds, there is an organization behind the service, often a free service.  No service is in business to simply "give" to the client a valuable portal toward information transmission of any kind. Once a file is up there on the cloud, someone has access, someone wants to know what you are doing, someone wishes to mine the information for advantage.  Someone wants to and needs to pay their electric bill.  Information must be exchanged for cash, influence, or other value. There is a consequence of payment, whether it be so benign as to determine products that may be of interest, to understand confidential aspects of your life, your family, your company, or your government. Private servers are subject to hacking. Public servers are th...