No, Evil Hackers Aren’t After You

The evil hackers are not necessarily the CIA, FBI, and NSA. Those organizations are recording a lot of information. And that information can be used against you whenever it suits the suits...

However, the threat of evil hackers is not limited to governments. Identity theft is big money. Ransomware exploits are big money. The 'evil hackers' are out to get you... yes... even boring you.

And what kind of world do you want to live in anyway?

The kind of world where the precise location of any given citizen can be pinpointed at nearly all hours of any given day? Or a world where the government needs a warrant for that kind of information?

Just because the government is not out to get you today, doesn't mean they won't be out to get you tomorrow. And that very boring and mundane life of yours may suddenly seem not so mundane to the political machines driven by all that data. Why would any government do this? Because they can.

My sshd log from the time I had my machine open to the net disagrees with him.

> Why would any government do this? Because they can.

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.” ― attributed to George Washington, though this is disputed.

>My sshd log from the time I had my machine open to the net disagrees with him.

The sshd attackers are looking for the low hanging fruit... anything that matches their username/password lists.

The argument is basically:

1. "Evil Hackers are looking for machines to zombie and don't care about you as an individual."
2. "The Government is only looking for hardened criminals."
3. "Corporations just want to tailor services to your needs."

All of these are demonstrably false. And even if they are partially true... meaning, not all government personnel are tracking you as individual or corporations don't use the data that way... the fact remains that both the government and the corporate data thieves could use the data that way. It's very likely that eventually a given individual's online history will be available at the touch on a button to either corrupt corporate interests or corrupt government interests or corrupt criminal interests. And then what... maybe the side that the individual is on is no longer in political power... and then what?

Why would people offer either corporations or the government complete tracking power? It's simply insane to believe that all that information and power will never be used against a given individual for nefarious purposes. None of what I wrote says, "I'm important"... no... that's not the problem nor the message. The problem is: "I'm not important, so why do you have a complete dossier on my activities?"

>"I'm not important, so why do you have a complete dossier on my activities?"

The fear to lose power : as old as the sun. Same as : the urge to dominate.

Anxiety : related to above; they need a good psychiatrist.

Voyeurism : as old as the human kind; incurable.

What can the citizens do ? For the most part, they want it to be this way because of (badly) perceived security, and they are too busy enjoying life. For the others, they watch the boat sink powerless.

The author seems too old to be naive. He is just playing the game nicely for his bosses.

> The sshd attackers are looking for the low hanging fruit... anything that matches their username/password lists.

Of course. But most automated attacks are that way. That doesn't make them any less dangerous if there's a known vulnerability that hasn't been patched yet.

for every person who uses their high security clearance to clearance to reveal national secrets to the public there is surely a few more who will use the same clearance for their own personal gain. like that guy who put his (ex-)wife on the no-fly list.

the problem is not hiding from unlikely enemies, but avoiding to become collateral damage.

we might just as well walk around unprotected in a war-zone. they are not attacking civilians, right? that's what they said, and besides, we are tourists, we have no beef with either side, so we are totally safe.

greetings, eMBee.

Seems to me they're more likely going after the actual COMPANIES THAT TRACK YOU!

Tinfoil hat sure, but gotta admit it makes better sense for both the evil hx0rs and The Man to respectively commit exploits onto and put the screws on businesses that track ALL OF US onour "phones, computers and microwave ovens" (:cough::cough: Google, Facebook, .... :cough::cough:) for all that juicy data-mining info the BUSINESSES've got on us!

2c

> ...and microwave ovens....

Hmm, I wonder how long before Google starts offering free or low cost appliances that track what you use them for. No reason to let LG and Vizio have all the fun.

Quoting:Hmm, I wonder how long before Google starts offering free or low cost appliances that track what you use them for. No reason to let LG and Vizio have all the fun.

Google has moved onto bigger, and creepier, projects now...

They call it "singularity".

Super humans who are sexier, stronger and smarter will arrive by 2029 as brains begin to fuse with machines, Google expert claims

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4319436/Singu...