Anyway Michael I tend to agree with the Statement I personally think it's much more likely to be When rather than If you are attacked and a Robbery Attempted. With the advent of Social Diseases err Media these days it's very much a case of so many people using it and not knowing what it is that they are actually doing.
Facebook users are so interested in sharing the Color of their Underwear, their Bank Account Details and so on that they as a Group are a very tempting Target and that places founder, firmly believes that to be Totally Safe you should be Totally Open and share everything. It's only when you have nothing to hide that you are safe. I tend to Violently Disagree with that Concept as I believe it's only when you have nothing that someone else may want that you are safe and to me I don't know of any person who falls into that Category.
Even the poorest person who uses Publicly supplied Hardware over a Free Public Access Point has things that others may want. Doesn't matter that they have no items that they own they still have their Internal Organs which there is a very big Black Market in. Even then if their Organs are of no use their have their Identity which others may want to use for Nefarious Purposes and they don't actually need anything at all from that person other than the fact that they once existed. It may even be in the Criminals Best Interests to Murder and Hide the Body so there can be no reports of Incorrect Transactions.
So to put it simply if you have Nothing at all, are supplied Hardware by a Publicly Funded Program and access the Internet over a Open Public Access Point to be perfectly safe you need to be Dead, Cremated and have your Previous Identity Erased from the Public Records.
Currently I know of No Person who falls into that Category and more importantly if they did they would have no use for that Publicly Funded Access or be able to use it anyway. Generally Speaking Dead People don't need a Net Connection or use it ever.
When I read the above I was reminded of the First Denial of Service Attack in AU possibly the World where a On Line Bookie was approached with a demand for Payment or they would be taken off the Net. That person Immediately approached their ISP a very big one in AU and was told that he had nothing to worry about and that the ISP would protect him. Personally I think it was all Marketing Speak with No Technicians involved at that stage but regardless there was no previous Attack Similar to compare to so those who where advising the Bookie had nothing to compare the Threat against.
Anyway when the attack happened the ISP was flat out trying to Protect Itself let alone protecting their Customer who had no hope of staying On Line in a functioning business. The Customer was Hung out to Dry by the ISP who in reality was on the edge of being declared Bankrupt by the actions of the Criminals, who in reality where not interested in the ISP at all. They where simply a Means to an End and nothing more than Collateral Damage in the Initial Attack.
Anyway back to the Original Point with the advent of Social Media and the Belief that to be Perfectly Safe you need to have No Secrets and the complete Lack of Understanding of what it is that these people are actually doing it is now far easier to have someone on the Inside Open a Door for the Criminals to get in and remain Unnoticed. The days of End Users clicking on Links because there are there is not over and if anything things have got far worse as now days they no longer need to click on a Link simply opening a Web Page like this one is more than enough to infect things. Throwing into that Mix a Bring Your Own Disaster Demand from the staff is just leaving the Door ripped off it's Hinges and the Company not only Wide Open but actually Welcoming/Inviting Attack, though those involved in the decissions making process may not understand that fact.
Centralizing so much of your Data in the Cloud doesn't help either as you are moving the Attack Points to a more Available Location where you as a Business may accidently be picked up while the Organized Criminals are looking for some thing/one else to attack. You may not even be directly attacked but be nothing more than a Bit Player aversely impacted when your Cloud Provider for whatever gets hit.
Any Company who Stores it's Data in the Cloud will call it a Disaster if they can not connect to that Cloud when they need to, to access their Data but as yet I'm not sure how they would describe the situation if they where to find out that not only could they not connect reliably but that their Data was constantly being refreshed from Backups on the few occasions when they could get on. It's even possible that all their Data could simply just Disappear without them being directly implicated or targeted in an Attack, but the Cloud Provider is or another company who uses the same Cloud Provider being the subject of the Attack.
The Brave New World of Big Computers, Centralized Data Stores and constantly being On Line has a lot to offer some people but it also has a lot of Disadvantages which can adversely impact far more that it actually helps.
With the move to the Internet of Things, a Company who makes Medical Equipment like Pace Makers could easily be targeted and Blackmailed by threatening to Turn off the Pacemakers of the users. In a case like that the damage to the company would be devastating but in all likelihood the Government of the country that they are in would step in to protect them, but the results to the people who use that Equipment not only would be Fatal but quite Permeant.
It could be something as simple as End Users Fridges reordering food that needs to be replaced after it is used but as these devices are always connected the Criminals could quite easily Blackmail the Fridge Makers or the Supermarkets into payments or they will send these products crazy ordering things that are not wanted or needed thus giving who ever was the original target the wrath of the End Users and a bad name while also adversely impacting on the end users and their suppliers. It's not hard to believe that a Rash of Fridges reordering items could easily swamp the system and break it even though it was the Fridge Makers who where the original Target of the Attack so many others are adveraly impacted.
On a much more simple level the Talking Toaster which is Hijacked and constantly asks you do you want it to make you toast sounds like a trivial nuisance but the reality is that with the current Supply Trends just a very small % of the population getting fed up with their Smart Device and destroying it will cause a Total breakdown in the Supply Chain and the inability to supply any number of people with these devices that have been attacked and hence destroyed or rendered Inoperative. Whichever you personally prefer.
Uncontrolled Technological Advancement while being perceived as Great has the ability to Destroy Society unless the necessary Safe Guards are built in before they go live, but with the speed of advancement today what the dangers actually are, are not known until after they happen in most cases and while the then appear Obvious to everyone after the event until they actually happen no one gives them a single thought.
So today I firmly believe that you are more likely to be Attacked because you are Connected to the Net than you where in the past and the same applies to what where previously Unremarkable Companies who on the surface of things would appear to have no Interest to the Criminals.
Of course as things develop these same people and companies are more likely to be attacked so things are getting progressively worse not better.
Col
