Tag: security

Don’t Get Sucker Pumped

maybe this will get the cc companies to finally fix security instead of making bleating noises about identity theft.

Increasingly, pump skimmer scammers are turning to bluetooth-enabled devices that connect directly to the pump’s power source. These skimmers can run indefinitely, and allow thieves to retrieve stolen card data wirelessly while waiting in their car at the pump.

On finding the Boston bombers

current events up in boston make me wonder why relatively little time has passed in tracking down the culprits. is it due to sousveillance? collaborative filtering? what will it mean for large scale facial recognition (a technology that is here but is held back)? is this the impetus for the transparent society, or something much worse? what boondoggles will come out of this, and what good, if any?

Bored kids

bored kids look up celeb private details, call in SWAT teams to their homes, and then brag about who they swatted that day. it is very interesting how digital natives are such virtuosos with all this stuff. i wonder if there are any positive examples of such mastery, and don’t mention tired examples like the supposed tweets that caused that arab spring (didn’t happen).

DNI forecast

every 4 years, the director of national intelligence (nominally in charge of the us intelligence community) commissions a report about the future. it doesn’t matter whether it is strictly more accurate than other forecasts because this forecast will definitely influence policy. there is lots of food for thought, but here are a few teasers:

There will not be any hegemonic power.
We are facing a transition point just like in 1815, 1919, 1945 and 1989

Cyber Mall Cops

CFR is designed to prepare first responders to effectively and efficiently act to counter any type of cyber-based terror attack against our nation’s internet, communications, and network-based infrastructure. This is an intense, hands-on course for skilled technical personnel who meet specific technical prerequisites, and are responsible for responding to agency assistance calls for potential cyberterrorism activity.

wat. oh, of course, your tax $ at work.

The resilient community

The talking heads will soon turn their attention to this. Will we get thorium reactors, one per block? Vertical farming?

The resilient community has broad applicability beyond just improving the ability of those of us in developed economies to preserve wealth and a quality of life despite severe system shocks. It can also be applied to the problems of counter-insurgency in semi-modern urban environment (to radically update a process that was built for the last century) and provide the potential for organic development in underdeveloped areas of the world.