With nearly one million Android phones being hacked over the weekend, hackers stealing almost two billion rubles ($31.3 million) from a Russian bank, and with the recent release of the video game Watch Dogs 2, chances are cyber-attacks have been in on your news feed.
As award-winning computer scientist Ray Kurtweil says, “The more advanced we become, the faster we become at advancing.”
This “Law of Accelerating Returns” is most noticeable in our advancement of the Internet and the creation of the Internet of Things. The Internet of Things is both amazing and terrifying; its creation is noted as being the point when there were more things on the Internet than people.
There are many advantages to our technology being able to communicate without human interference. Most of these advantages are simply for convenience, but they have the potential to save lives.
Essentially houses can be transformed into something found in a Ray Bradbury novel, with lights, televisions, stereos, thermostats, refrigerators, and cars that can all be controlled from the same device – a handheld computer with access to an endless amount of information.
The technology being placed in automobiles creates a network of systems that let the vehicle know such things as how much air is in the tires or when the oil is getting low. This alerts the driver, and sometimes the mechanic, to let them know what needs immediate attention. It can also send information to the car manufacturer allowing them to be well-informed on their product. This makes for safer, more reliable cars and other products.
Sometimes this extensive communication goes further than a car or a house, it can literally save a life. For example, Benson Hougland, a computer hardware consultant, was having a heart attack in his sleep and woke to find that an ambulance was already en route to his house. The health monitoring bracelet he was wearing alerted his doctor about his condition and review Hougland’s vitals before he arrived at the hospital.
The downside to this technology is how easily accessible it is. Most websites and servers are protected by one or multiple firewalls. This makes the site more secure and less susceptible to invaders. However, if a company, say a bank, has a thermostat that is connected to their network of computer for their comfort and convenience, it is no trouble for someone to hack into that thermostat, that has a very basic firewall, and gain access to the entire network of computers.
This accessibility is a never-ending threat. The Android cell phones that were hacked into had an app that gave the hackers full access to the information stored within the phone. The people accountable for hacking into the Russian banking system had codes that let them access a worldwide interbank communication network.
Individual groups aren’t the only ones trying to gain access to national information and platforms, there are thousands of cyber-attacks being launched across the globe. Norse, a company that investigates cyber security, has a website dedicated to this cyber warfare. The Norse Attack Map (http://map.norsecorp.com/#/), is a real-time platform that allows people to see the origins of a cyber-attack and who they are targeting.
Of course, with any new technology there are faults and downsides, but more often than not new technology proves to become the standard. With such things as electricity, cars, and airplanes most people were afraid of the new technology but as Any Rand said, “You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.”
