First Blog

 New Wars for New Times  What has changed for you and I  (i.e. old farts)  is the nature of conflict . In the olden days, there were the spies as individuals trying hard to subvert whatever. Individual or in a “cell,” they carried out operations such as a simple murder or theft of secrets. There were the armed enemies opposed by armed forces. So, we and they had spies trying to penetrate the opposition, promoting or preventing war. But now China has shown us the new method of institutional spying through co-opting congressional leaders (Swalwell, Feinstein, et al.), computer hacking for the theft of arbitrary information for future processing (everyone), co-opting of entire countries by issuing nonrepayable loans (Africa, Sri Lanka, etc), military intimidation (India, South China Sea), and penetrating corporate interests (Google, Facebook, etc) worldwide. Not a shot is fired; no armies are marshaled. The war now engaged is under cover of protocols, laws, policies, corruption, and p

It’s finally happened.   It had to.   There is now a course on hacking. Next, a possible degree?   “Ethical Hacking - Most Advanced Level Course” https://www.simpliv.com/cybersecurity/ethical-hacking-most-advanced-level-course?channel=mailer&camp=Mar15_SIMPLIV_IBM

Today, we are discussing all those cameras being placed all over our cities.   Officials tell us it's for our protection.   Citizens are worried. Movements are afoot to reduce this camera presence.   Is it justified?   Remember, its not just the picture, it what comes with it. Pictures plus a thousand words?   Artificial Intelligence (AI) can put together your picture with all your personal data. Subversives should be nervous.   So should we all. Dossiers for all. In the West we need to trust our government to restrain its natural instincts to use any information they have to stay in power.   The comes to ethics, and ethics is rapidly becoming a theoretical subject, a historical artifact, a quaint quality. Deprecated at last review.     I don’t care what your politics.   Can you say with certainty your party would not use this information to track political opponents in looking for damaging information?   Like the old song, “Simply Irresistible.” Want more?   Enter the h

Basic comment on the China deal.   My message to the Trade Team.   “Do what you can, BUT accept what cannot be done.”   Probable facts. 1. China has already stolen enough technology and materials to sustain them for at least ten years.   They need no more now, but cannot give up their practices if only to save face. 2. China will continue to hack.   3. China will continue to promote their information hegemony worldwide, and military hegemony in the Pacific. China’s military development in the the South China Sea.   What can you do except get promises?   Here you can exert tariff policies if it continues.   This is measurable! China’s space explorations and militarization.   These will continue regardless. This is not measurable! Trade deal.   Negotiate a move toward a fiscal quid pro quo over the next six/seven years. This is measurable! China’s foreign corporate ownership (in China).   This should be a non negotiable part of a trade agreement.   China is bending

It has been suggested that America is overcoming its digital innocence in face of the dark force of hackers.  Not so.  Before America overcomes its digital innocence, it has another couple of levels of ignorance to descend.  Just a few points. a. Foreign hackers may not be so foreign, only so disguised. b. Contract hacking (Party A against Party B) is ascending. c. Medical records will be the next hackers' bounty. The big score for 2019. d. The availability of data oceans for sale of data already hacked is eminent. e. Corporations (and governments) refuse to fund their IT departments sufficiently to prevent hacking. f. Hacking and how to is fundamentally beyond the experience of congress. Basically, you can't do something unless you know what to do and how to do it. The Hackers' theme is reminiscent from the past. To know know know him Is to spy spy spy on him And I do And I do To be just a little cynical, nothing will be done about hacking until our illeg

On the Google engine for snooping on Chinese citizens linking Internet use to cell phone numbers.   Perhaps now, per the Google CEO on December 11, 2018, this engine may or may not be delivered to the Chinese government.  So what! Do we not realize this engine, now apparently created, can be marketed to anyone, any country, any company, any agency, any party, any billionaire, with only few simple tweeks (aka adjustments)?   Its very existence is not unlike a nuclear bomb.   If deployed, it could destroy millions of lives, level groups and companies, ruin governments, and decimate universities.   China may have been a mere foil for Google to develop such a tool it could itself use – or sell. Do they not already sell customized versions of their search engine to private companies? Yes.   Do they not already sell search data to private merchants or politicians?   Yes. Forget China.   For the power players of the world, let the bidding begin... Logic .   Nonsense you

Listen all.  NOKO has no industry, no research, no university system, and no technology.  Yet, they are world class in ICBCM and nuclear weapons technology?  SOMEBODY  is helping them.  Their only problem is rolling it out slow enough so everyone thinks they are doing the research. Why does everyone talk about giving or not giving them more time in process?   They do have, however, world class hackers.  A lot cheaper.

Hacking undone .  How to prevent hacking?  Take your system off the Internet.  This is exactly the situation with the 99 active nuclear power plants in the US.  Recent evidence establishes Russian hacking into US nuclear power plants. Among the targets this time, US officials say, the Wolf Creek nuclear plant in Burlington, Kansas.  (This, according to a recent report by NBC news.) But, and finally a wonderful but, the operational platforms of these plants are not hackable because they are off the net.  Perhaps the perps got emails and billing records, but not the plant operations.  Well done.   Might I suggest the creation of a second Internet channel, one not in any way connected to the main stream.  It should be built from the ground-up with no possibility of a breach built-in.  Televisions  and their commercials.   If you watch a TV show on commercial television, you get commercials about every 7-8 minutes.  The commercials last about three minutes, one after the other.  If

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.  However, sound can affect this same device used i

One political type made an accurate point about all the Hillary emails, of which there have been thousands, that being none from Bernie or Donald have appeared.   He asked why we haven’t seen any from Trump?   Could be the Trump group has better security?   Absolute security is easy and almost free, if you want to use it.   It is a certainty that Hillary was careless about security.   The reason is simple.   Neither she nor her team fully understood how easy hacking can be.  One thing I've learned is many of those at premier levels do not respond well to new things.  To plea d ignorance or amat eur status , they expos e themselves to themselves and to others.  Old hands have trouble with new events and new concepts. So, they hide it or ignore what's happening.  Another reason exists, perhaps about Trump but certainly about others.   We generalize beyond Donald as he is unlikely to win the election.  Why can it not be so that multiple, maybe hundreds, of important po

1. If the ad even mentions the word "affordable," to me it means I can't afford it or its not worth it.   Affordable has become a buzz-word for costly, for inept, or for deception. 2. Many auto ads are now signifying they feature an EBS, emergency braking system.   These show a driver being completely distracted from driving and then just at the point of a crash, the EBS takes over and saves the day. It will not affect you and I.   It will, however, affect the ever-stupid teenagers believing they are even more bullet-proof than already do.   The EBS will certainly cause deaths and then lawsuits. Many will die. This is a problem for the near future, with actual crash victims charging the manufacturer with faulty equipment or inaccurate expectations.    3. On Hillary's health issues - in the spotlight.   Is the Dem inner circle ready to throw Hillary under the bus in the interest of the progressive agenda?   Possibly. But how can they do it?   Curious quest