Morning sports fans! No, I don't care if it's not morning here nor where ever you are, but it's morning somewhere. Also it will eventually be morning, so I'm counting it. Well, my recent increased blogging is due to me being constantly mentioned on the HappyFace podcast, which is done by my friends. They have challenged me to post at least once a week so that they can talk about me more, so let's see how long I can keep it up. Now first (and only) order of business today is ethical hacking.
So, recently this happened (All the articles I have found say pretty much the same thing, so I won't link to anymore). Glenn Mangham has been sentenced to 8 months in prison for computer misuse, more specifically hacking Facebook. "But, wait! He's an ethical hacker. He's one of the good guys!" You say excitedly. No, dear reader, not quite. Yes, yes, there is the whole £7,000/$7,000 from Yahoo! and whatnot, but there is a slight twist to this little tale. So, lets start by clearing up exactly what we are talking about.
An ethical hacker, or white hat, is a hacker who spends their time finding vulnerabilities in systems, applications, websites and pretty much anything that's connected to anything. Once they find such a vulnerability, they record the details of what they did and send it to the creators and/or maintainers of this product. Companies respond in many ways to this, ranging from a thank you e-mail to cash rewards to a job offer.
A malicious hacker, or black hat, is not so nice. Upon finding a vulnerability, they will try and exploit it for personal gain, normally for money. Of course they can record the details and share it with others, but now with the makers of the product. Once they are found out, the companies tend to come down on them pretty hard and fines and jail time normally ensues.
So, that's all nice and clear cut and very much black and white, if you will pardon the pun. Sadly, the real world is not so clear cut, as evidenced by this case. There are times when a person will at times be a black hat and at times be a white hat, somewhat of a grey hat if you will. A white hat may use their skills for some personal gain, in a very black hat kind of way and on the flip side, a black hat may actually do some white hat work.
To illustrate this further, let's look a bit more at Glenn Mangham. He did some white hat work for Yahoo!, which is all well and good. But then he hacked into Facebook in a very devious manner. Now from what I gather, he uploaded some malicious code to the puzzles server which Facebook uses to test potential employees and gained access to the internal system. Now, here's where it gets really devious.
From what I have read it seem he managed to impersonate a Facebook employee, get his password reset and thus gain access to all of Facebook's servers. He then proceeded to download important data to an external drive and delete all evidence of his little visit, or so he thought. Turns out that Facebook actually found out about this and it cost them something to the tune of $200,000. Now that's a pretty penny and a chunk of change.
Two very important things come to my mind here and those are:
1) To the best of knowledge, Glenn Mangham didn't inform Facebook, thus disqualifying him as an ethical hacker
2) He entered a guilty plea
Having considered that, he is definitely guilty of hacking, or computer misuse in legalese, and should be punished for his crime. The whole argument that he is an "ethical hacker" hold no water whatsoever. There's not much more to say, so I;m going to leave it at that. Good night sports fans! (Again same argument as above :P)
Sunday 26 February 2012
Sunday 19 February 2012
Activism vs. Vadalism, Digitally speaking
Howdy sports fans (this is here to stay), I know I've been away but I'll try and be better. Having said that I realise how often I say that and don't fully go through. Please don't hate me *cute face*. Moving on, let's talk about the difference between digital activism and digital vandalism. Let's start off by talking about a term I hate, which you will know is a long list, if you have been reading my blog. More to the point todays hated word is "hacktivism."
Hacktavism is a portmanteau of "hacking" and "activism" and is basically "activism by means of hacking." Which basically a roundabout way of saying "the (perceived good) ends justify the (blatantly wrong) means." The basic idea is that you, as a hacktavist, hack somebody/something to make a point or a statement, but really you are pretty much doing this. Yes, that sketch does exaggerate for comic effect, but you get the point.
Of course, the very first thing that comes to most people's minds when they hear the word hacktivist is Anonymous. I have written about some of their activities before and as you may or may not know, I'm not really a fan. They started of playing pranks on people and general trolling, which was OK by me. They said we are doing just for lulz (yea LulSec also has the same kind of problem). Then they got a bit more political and most recently, but I still think that they are being a tad juvenile about it.
"But, then what is the grown up thing to do?" you may be asking, oh intrepid reader. Well, let me tell you. There was, and is still some, raging going on about SOPA/PIPA (yes, yes, I'm going to write more about this, after I've done more reading) and quite rightly so. People sent letters to their senators, congressmen/congresswomen and representatives and registered protests in the conventional way. And, then something magical happened - a proper online protest: the SOPA blackout.
Basically a large number of websites, big and small, replaced all their content with a black page explaining what they are protesting and why. Some people didn't get the memo, so this happened, but overall I think it was a success. Almost instantly a SOPA/PIPA lost a lot of support and were then shelved. Normal service resumed the next day and everybody was happy. In all of this, nothing illegal was done and nobody was harmed, inconvenienced maybe, but no real harm was done.
Compare that to the very next day when Kim Dotcom (Who goes and changes their surname to Dotcom? I mean really? Does he want to be mocked?) et al. were arrested and what Anonymous did. They took down the websites for
Unfortunately, law enforcement really has no idea to deal with these kinds of digital vandals, due to several reasons. I'm not sure there is an easy solution to this, but who knows? So, in short, you can protest via digital means, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it and sadly the wrong way is more prevalent.
Hacktavism is a portmanteau of "hacking" and "activism" and is basically "activism by means of hacking." Which basically a roundabout way of saying "the (perceived good) ends justify the (blatantly wrong) means." The basic idea is that you, as a hacktavist, hack somebody/something to make a point or a statement, but really you are pretty much doing this. Yes, that sketch does exaggerate for comic effect, but you get the point.
Of course, the very first thing that comes to most people's minds when they hear the word hacktivist is Anonymous. I have written about some of their activities before and as you may or may not know, I'm not really a fan. They started of playing pranks on people and general trolling, which was OK by me. They said we are doing just for lulz (yea LulSec also has the same kind of problem). Then they got a bit more political and most recently, but I still think that they are being a tad juvenile about it.
"But, then what is the grown up thing to do?" you may be asking, oh intrepid reader. Well, let me tell you. There was, and is still some, raging going on about SOPA/PIPA (yes, yes, I'm going to write more about this, after I've done more reading) and quite rightly so. People sent letters to their senators, congressmen/congresswomen and representatives and registered protests in the conventional way. And, then something magical happened - a proper online protest: the SOPA blackout.
Basically a large number of websites, big and small, replaced all their content with a black page explaining what they are protesting and why. Some people didn't get the memo, so this happened, but overall I think it was a success. Almost instantly a SOPA/PIPA lost a lot of support and were then shelved. Normal service resumed the next day and everybody was happy. In all of this, nothing illegal was done and nobody was harmed, inconvenienced maybe, but no real harm was done.
Compare that to the very next day when Kim Dotcom (Who goes and changes their surname to Dotcom? I mean really? Does he want to be mocked?) et al. were arrested and what Anonymous did. They took down the websites for
- , which is whole other kettle of fish. This is basically vandalism, even though it is not the standard defacement type of vandalism you may be thinking of, but the point still stands. Not to mention the fact that it is illegal, but well.
Unfortunately, law enforcement really has no idea to deal with these kinds of digital vandals, due to several reasons. I'm not sure there is an easy solution to this, but who knows? So, in short, you can protest via digital means, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it and sadly the wrong way is more prevalent.
Monday 6 February 2012
Megaupload (Because I was guilted into it)
Greetings sports fans. So I did say I was going to this post in my last post (I've added a link this in there) and I'm actually doing it. The main reason is that my friend Jamie mentioned me in the his podcast (highly recommended) and said that he would provide his listeners with a link to this if and when I do write it. Commence guilt trip. But, that's enough blabbering from me, down to the matter at hand: Why nobody has Megaupload go-ed bye-bye?
So, if you are reading this, you are either connected to the Internet or I finally got that book deal I wanted. For now, let's assume you have Internet access. One of the really interesting uses of the Internet is storing files online so that they can be accessed by many people. There were several really creative and some down right moronic ways thought of to this, but the one that really took off were called "file lockers."
Anywho, the concept of a file locker is simple: You sign up and you get some storage space on a server. You can then upload files and manage who can access them. You make it public, so that anybody can download it, or private, so that only you and/or selected other persons could download it. Of course, we all know there is no such thing as a free lunch, so "where's the money?" you ask. Well, let me tell you.
Some file lockers charged for their services, but some, like Megauplaod, were freemium. What they did is they put ads on the site and before you download something, unless you paid the membership fees. Sounds reasonable, right? Yes and then it gets hinky. So, not only did you have ads, but it seems that the site paid uploaders every time a file was downloaded. Not only that, but files that were not downloaded frequently enough were removed. But, it gets even more sinister and here's where the illegality comes in.
It's obvious that if somebody uploads illegal copies of TV, movies and music, then it will get downloaded more often than a picture of me on the beach. This pretty much encourages illegal file sharing. If offending content was found, it was removed, however it is alleged that the user accounts were not suspended or terminated. I have a distinct memory of reading somewhere that uploaders could pay to upload anonymously, thus even if the content was marked as illegal, it could be taken down, but not traced back to them. I cannot for the life of me find that article again and thus state this as a recollection that I can not back up. Moving swiftly on.
There was also the related website Megavideo, which was also somewhat devious. It has been alleged that all this infringing content was not searchable through the site's main search functionality, but was accessible to those who had the link. Again there is the same allegations of content being taken down without punishing the offenders and so on and so forth. Although there was a de jure legal use for the site, the de facto primary use was for the distribution of illegal content. So, the United States Government decided to do something about this.
About 2 years ago (2009), criminal investigations were started into the activities of Megaupload Inc., with a whole lot of red tape. The company itself is based in Hong Kong and a lot of the key people, including founder and chief Kim Dotcom, were in New Zealand. Well this went on for 2 years and we arrive in the present. Actually more like the recent past, but here we go.
A few months earlier, the US government had brought forth two acts called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Proctect IP Act (PIPA) and this got everybody up in arms. That's a whole other kettle of fish, to be fried on another day. The main point is on January 18th 2012, a large number of websites "blacked out" and replaced their normal content with a page explaining why they are protesting SOPA and PIPA. On January 20th 2012, Dotcom and associates were arrested (alt article) and several assets were seized in a multi-country raid.
A large number of people think that this was a sort of backlash reaction to the blackouts, but it was in fact timed to coincide with a party Dotcom was hosting at his house, so that all the eggs would be in one basket, so to speak. These arrests were the culmination of a 2 year long investigation, with the cooperation of the police in all countries involved. Of course, nobody bothered to check that and Anonymous did their usual retaliation bit. Although the charges are being laid by the US, the police in all the countries involved were a part of the investigation, thus solving any jurisdictional issues.
I will be a little evil at this time and point out that there were millions of dollars worth of stuff seized, including some art, tech and a few luxury cars.There were also large accounts frozen and so on. The irony here is a large number of people justify piracy by saying it only affects the super rich guys in the super rich studios/labels, which kind of describes these guys. Not really sure why everybody is so vociferously supporting them, but I'm sure they have some really good reasons. Let's look at how exactly Megaupload is defending themselves.
The main defense that has been put forward is either "The majority of our traffic (and therefore business) was legitimate" or "we always took down infringing content." The first defense is, in my opinion, a big steaming pile of shit. That is like saying "You can't shut down my shop because only 10% of my income is from selling drugs." I don't at all doubt that there were users who were using in a fully legal manner, but that's really beside the point. The point put forward is that those in charge were aware of this infringement and actively promoted it. As for the second argument, takedowns were only effected if provided if a notice was provided and as said before there was no real punishment for the uploaders.
There is sort of the further complication that of them trying to rip off youtube, but that's something I haven't really looked at and don't feel well informed enough to comment. I would recommend that you read the linked article.
So, in all of this a lot of facts got jumbled up and a lot of people assumed things that were not true. There facts a touch murky, but with a bit of time, one can wade through and see what's going on. I guess it was a matter of bad timing on a couple of fronts. The bottom line is that they have been arrested, denied bail and will face an extradition hearing on February 22 2012. For now, Megaupload is gone and I don't think it's going to come back any time soon.
So, if you are reading this, you are either connected to the Internet or I finally got that book deal I wanted. For now, let's assume you have Internet access. One of the really interesting uses of the Internet is storing files online so that they can be accessed by many people. There were several really creative and some down right moronic ways thought of to this, but the one that really took off were called "file lockers."
Anywho, the concept of a file locker is simple: You sign up and you get some storage space on a server. You can then upload files and manage who can access them. You make it public, so that anybody can download it, or private, so that only you and/or selected other persons could download it. Of course, we all know there is no such thing as a free lunch, so "where's the money?" you ask. Well, let me tell you.
Some file lockers charged for their services, but some, like Megauplaod, were freemium. What they did is they put ads on the site and before you download something, unless you paid the membership fees. Sounds reasonable, right? Yes and then it gets hinky. So, not only did you have ads, but it seems that the site paid uploaders every time a file was downloaded. Not only that, but files that were not downloaded frequently enough were removed. But, it gets even more sinister and here's where the illegality comes in.
It's obvious that if somebody uploads illegal copies of TV, movies and music, then it will get downloaded more often than a picture of me on the beach. This pretty much encourages illegal file sharing. If offending content was found, it was removed, however it is alleged that the user accounts were not suspended or terminated. I have a distinct memory of reading somewhere that uploaders could pay to upload anonymously, thus even if the content was marked as illegal, it could be taken down, but not traced back to them. I cannot for the life of me find that article again and thus state this as a recollection that I can not back up. Moving swiftly on.
There was also the related website Megavideo, which was also somewhat devious. It has been alleged that all this infringing content was not searchable through the site's main search functionality, but was accessible to those who had the link. Again there is the same allegations of content being taken down without punishing the offenders and so on and so forth. Although there was a de jure legal use for the site, the de facto primary use was for the distribution of illegal content. So, the United States Government decided to do something about this.
About 2 years ago (2009), criminal investigations were started into the activities of Megaupload Inc., with a whole lot of red tape. The company itself is based in Hong Kong and a lot of the key people, including founder and chief Kim Dotcom, were in New Zealand. Well this went on for 2 years and we arrive in the present. Actually more like the recent past, but here we go.
A few months earlier, the US government had brought forth two acts called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Proctect IP Act (PIPA) and this got everybody up in arms. That's a whole other kettle of fish, to be fried on another day. The main point is on January 18th 2012, a large number of websites "blacked out" and replaced their normal content with a page explaining why they are protesting SOPA and PIPA. On January 20th 2012, Dotcom and associates were arrested (alt article) and several assets were seized in a multi-country raid.
A large number of people think that this was a sort of backlash reaction to the blackouts, but it was in fact timed to coincide with a party Dotcom was hosting at his house, so that all the eggs would be in one basket, so to speak. These arrests were the culmination of a 2 year long investigation, with the cooperation of the police in all countries involved. Of course, nobody bothered to check that and Anonymous did their usual retaliation bit. Although the charges are being laid by the US, the police in all the countries involved were a part of the investigation, thus solving any jurisdictional issues.
I will be a little evil at this time and point out that there were millions of dollars worth of stuff seized, including some art, tech and a few luxury cars.There were also large accounts frozen and so on. The irony here is a large number of people justify piracy by saying it only affects the super rich guys in the super rich studios/labels, which kind of describes these guys. Not really sure why everybody is so vociferously supporting them, but I'm sure they have some really good reasons. Let's look at how exactly Megaupload is defending themselves.
The main defense that has been put forward is either "The majority of our traffic (and therefore business) was legitimate" or "we always took down infringing content." The first defense is, in my opinion, a big steaming pile of shit. That is like saying "You can't shut down my shop because only 10% of my income is from selling drugs." I don't at all doubt that there were users who were using in a fully legal manner, but that's really beside the point. The point put forward is that those in charge were aware of this infringement and actively promoted it. As for the second argument, takedowns were only effected if provided if a notice was provided and as said before there was no real punishment for the uploaders.
There is sort of the further complication that of them trying to rip off youtube, but that's something I haven't really looked at and don't feel well informed enough to comment. I would recommend that you read the linked article.
So, in all of this a lot of facts got jumbled up and a lot of people assumed things that were not true. There facts a touch murky, but with a bit of time, one can wade through and see what's going on. I guess it was a matter of bad timing on a couple of fronts. The bottom line is that they have been arrested, denied bail and will face an extradition hearing on February 22 2012. For now, Megaupload is gone and I don't think it's going to come back any time soon.
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