Although the hacking activity is a real threat against all of the networks the break downs of the systems mostly caused by the servers' complexity. The more our computers are interdependent the more flaws and risks are in the networks.
If we hear about a new case that a network system was shutted down for hours or days which caused delays and it happened especially on an airport our first thought is that malicious hackers attacked it. But maybe it is not true. In most cases there are some other reasons, malfunctioning network card, flawed systems, overtaxing, unpredictable software flaws, the size of the network, a bad algorithm... Problems can be happened accidently as well not only as a result of malevolent activity. We have to keep in front of our eyes that things what people create can go wrong.
Nowadays the world news is full with the chinese attack against the Pentagon. An e-mail system in the Pentagon was shut down for almost three weeks. It was not the first time in this year when they had to stop because of a cyber attack. China denied that they would have broken into the Pentagon's system. They said that China has also been cyber-attacked and these wild allegations against them reflecting a "Cold War mentality".
Every states in the World has seriously protected computer systems and servers but that's not enough against the hackers. USA is an especially preferred target for the hackers, in the last two years they have noticed about 800 attacks.
This is a real problem in our cyber-world, and I think one of the problems for what politicians won't find a solution for everyone's content.
Not only the computer sciences and programs develope very fast, the hackers can follow the changes and adapt them. They are also creating constantly their new tricks. Some of them was presented on a security conference in Las Vegas.
Using a webmail with public wifi isn't very safe. Now, there is a program, with it they can log in into our e-mail account, send mails from it and monitoring our incoming letters. The presenter's advice was to use webmails which practise encryption.
Another man opened a door - protected with entry-cards - with only a knife and a cheap mikrocontroller. He had found flaws in the protocoll between the sensors and the server. More and more buildings are built with these entry-cards systems because it's seems to be very safe. It's not.
These were only two tricks now, but how many more can be about we never get to know. So we have to take care and be aware to protect our informations and datas.
www.infosecuritylab.com
