The Red Eye Radio guys played a blurb from the CBS reporter who was investigating Benghazi – she had her computer hacked by a very sophisticated attack – one of the symptoms was her work computer would turn itself on in the middle of the night.
People “in the know” are aware that Ethernet has always had the ability for a remote user to turn on a computer, as long as the Ethernet cable is connected to the router – typically this is used in corporate networks to push software updates in the middle of the night – so if you think turning off your computer at work before you leave for the day means that the computer is secure until you arrive in the morning, you’re blissfully unaware your assumption is wrong.
Then the guys mentioned WiFi which got me thinking – is there a WiFI equivalent that someone with access to your wifi router or someone within range of your computer (not constrained by legal power levels) be able to use WiFi to remotely turn on a computer that is completely turned off?
The answer is an emphatic Yes.
Sleep well
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2776718
http://revolutionwifi.blogspot.com/2010/11/wake-on-wireless-lan.html?m=1
I think she was getting a special scan, designed just for her. You can’t buy anti-virus software without your email address (and name and credit card numbers)…. and that software communicates with its servers in a bidirectional manner. Call this the CC conspiracy theory. 🙂
” Intel Corp. (INTC)’s McAfee unit, which makes Internet security software, regularly cooperates with the NSA, FBI and the CIA, for example, and is a valuable partner because of its broad view of malicious Internet traffic, including espionage operations by foreign powers, according to one of the four people, who is familiar with the arrangement. ”
” Such a relationship would start with an approach to McAfee’s chief executive, who would then clear specific individuals to work with investigators or provide the requested data, the person said. The public would be surprised at how much help the government seeks, the person said. ”
“McAfee firewalls collect information on hackers who use legitimate servers to do their work, and the company data can be used to pinpoint where attacks begin. The company also has knowledge of the architecture of information networks worldwide, which may be useful to spy agencies who tap into them, the person said.”
from http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-06-14/thousands-firms-trade-confidential-data-us-government-exchange-classified-intelligen
She was getting scanned by the NSA. That is the way Obama and his cronies “manage” the environment. I actually heard a Pugh poll (worthless as they are) that stated 48% of Americans support the NSA spying on them. Say what!!?
I don’t recognize the planet I am living on anymore.
You and me both. Maybe those are Romney’s 47% who are getting free government cheese (adjusted for freeflation)
Here two of my all time favorites that reinforce the Orwellian world we now live in :
“I’ve abandoned free market principles to save the free market system.” – President George W Bush
“We know there are people who want to take away our freedoms.” – NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg
How could I have forgotten his 1960’s classic!?! :
“It became necessary to destroy the village in order to save it.” – An American major after the destruction of the Vietnamese Village Ben Tre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Tre
Stupid question (because I don’t really understand electronic workings) Wouldn’t pulling the plug stop intrusions? Why didn’t Sharyl Attiksson just pull the plug on her home computer or do laptops work differently?
Laptops work pretty much the same as desktops except they have a battery. She could have removed the battery and unplugged it and it would have stayed off.
I think the main point is that in today’s world, she could not have done her job without using the computer.
She should used the information in this document
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1149
Wow. Just reading that and I am worried that I might now have the Byrdflew. Carrier pigeons would have been safer, now I have to squab the computer deck. Paging 0528. 0528. CC to 0528, over.
http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/tenuredradical/files/2011/06/byrd0528.jpg
The risk to the avian carrier protocol is someone might intercept a packet and eat it for dinner
One needs a bidirectional proto-call that corrects for missing packets, perhaps through regular chirps, or nesting information in RAID 5. 😉
Laptops have batteries and built in wifi adapters. Unplugging them from electricity and the router doesn’t disconnect them from the Internet. Removing the battery and unplugging the power would make the computer “safe”, at least I think so
Once someone figures out how to fire-up laptops or desktops without a battery or plugged into the grid then maybe they figured out what Tesla was doing back in the day.
Tesla builds cars using carbon credits, Samsung builds laptops that don’t need a battery or plugin.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/samsung/8588174/Solar-powered-laptop-launched-by-Samsung.html
Don’t ask me if they work well, I haven’t bought one and am holding out for a wind powered model. 😉
Yeah, flicking the switch on the side of your humble laptop computer will turn off the wireless network card. Flicking that switch and disconnecting the Cat-5 cable from the Laptop will be good to keep it from being highjacked overnight. I have a plethora of crazy Dell 650 and 850 laptops, about 4 year old computers. They run ok. They have the switch on the right hand side, for the wireless network card.
Come on Sharyl, you already have Holder after you, I hope she has personal security.
LOL “Robert C Byrd” Every dam street, bridge, library, school, Gov’t building, and a building at Marshall university in Huntington W.VA.
Good one CC
Parrott –> Possibly the official SRG bird ? (no relation to Robert C. Byrd)
Thanks, Parrott. I am glad you liked it and hope it made you and/or others smile. The facial expression on that photo all by itself seemed funny to me.
Laughter is important. It is too easy to get bogged down with day to day issues and to focus on things that are not perfect- laughter is the best medicine I truly believe. I like to be serious most of the time, but like a good laugh now and then.
And you believe a physical on/off switch is protecting you? The switch is just an input to a piece of software. You probably also believe a light is a reliable indication if a camera is on – don’t make me drag out the Forbin Project clip again.
While WowLAN is not likely the cause of her zombie computer attacks, the document from Microsoft indicates that some WiFi adapters now how their own on board power supply so they can continue to listen for the “magic packet” to activate the computer – upon receiving the packet, the wifi adapter has the ability to bring the entire computer back up to a running state.
That’s the documented capability – what an intelligence service using back doors in Windows could do is anyone’s guess. One little detail this has flushed out (not a surprise) is Microsoft immediately discloses security holes in Windows as soon as they become known – which then allows spooks to exploit the holes quickly – hence the way Iran had its centrifuges blow up in part because some unknown entity had three unpatched “zero day” exploits to work their way into the Iranian computers to then take control of the Siemens devices controlling the centrifuges.
If they can do that, breaking into a laptop is child’s play
Well, without open source, it is more than possible that some exploits are not bugs, but undocumented features…. undocumented to all but the people that paid for the development of those features.
Remember too that each copy of Windows is registered with its own Serial Number…. it is also possible to deliver updates that are specific to a specific serial number.
The range of opportunities is limitless.
Time for a musical interlude:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItlY6oIfRVg
Just wait until we have a human created virus that is designed to be delivered and installed only to a specific human DNA pattern
I heard that such a virus was developed, and it targets Asians, something to do with the BirdFlew Virus. Since I’m not of Asian descent, that I know of, the details did not lodge in my memory.
Not being involved, I wonder how frequently open source communities have caught things being slipped into code – these are the same types of programmers who participate in code obfuscation competitions.
More and more of what we do with computers is controlled by proprietary microcode running on processors – SMART drives, routers, wireless printers, NIC cards – who can you trust? Now software can pretty much assume that it always has access to the Internet to talk back home to the Mother Ship
Most software “protecting” you is focused only on bad guys breaking in through your defenses – not blocking what is inside from getting out.
The company I work at is going to install a second layer of firewalls to protect itself this weekend. It’s hugely complex and they may not survive intact since they have so many systems that rely on talking to each other and the outside world using TCP-IP. It might be a long weekend
Just wait until we all try to convert to IPv6
Each of your disposable e-cigarettes can have its own roaming IPv6 address, with start-stop times and cataloged by NSA for Mayor Mike to data mine.
What happens if that Smart Phone in your pocket becomes a gateway for certain devices, as mentioned above?
With LTE and WiMAX , no need for routers and it’s everywhere.
About a week ago, I made my first post-CT trip to a Little Caesar’s pizza – wow has that place changed… Right next door was an i*mobile store pitching Clear, the 4G service from Sprint. I probably would have signed up – it is about $50 for a hub and $50 a month for unlimited data no contract – but the asian man behind the counter was unable to understand or answer the most simple questions in Engrish.
Routers are a good way of sharing a signal among many devices… and also a good place to define a DNS that is known for preventing phishing such as http://www.opendns.com/ which is free, btw.