articles.sfgate.com — "What they've been attacking on the desktop they'll starting attacking in our mobile devices as they become more like PCs in our pockets. We can't wait five years to do something about it. We have to do something now" US Cyber Czar Howard Schmidt said.
Jan 4, 2010 View in Crawl 4
bigsheldyJan 5, 2010
sounds like a load of crap to me
johnnysoftwareJan 5, 2010
Short answers: run down battery really fast, or sleep a lot.Longer answer: between catnaps... a wardriver drone in the pocket of people who do not know what wardriving or botnets are, if they're near a wi-fi devices with default/no/simple password then a perhaps a hard-to-trace connectivity path not to mention they might DoS things via broadcast or multicast.... plus, there are Windows worms whose bootstrap code fits into one packet so that can be sent out too efficiently - oh, yeah, plus they can spy on your audio and maybe see you if the cam is on - mics are always hot. Plus, there is a lot of old network device firmware & desktop OS with bugs galore which means vulnerability. Oh, yeah, plus presumably an infected node in the botnet would rip off passwords stored inside its password lists and emails from service providers. Plus hack webservers and plant IE/Adobe drive-by-webviruses on them.Those aren't like the Real Answer. I am sure there are more significant things that people with average knowledge would think up in a few minutes. That is just pointing out the obvious stuff that everyone knows, though probably forces themselves not to think about. If someone is ignoring OS safety at this point (2010) they must have ignored the past five years. Smartphones have a TCP/IP connection and OS. Windows mobile even has a Win32 API in it.
s73v3rJan 5, 2010
"Czar" is just used as an informal term by the US media. In reality, he's just the guy in charge of the US Government's cyber security. If you don't like the term Czar, then complain to the media. Or to Reagan, who appointed the first "Czar" back in the Eighties.
bigsheldyJan 5, 2010
I understand that part, I'm asking why you think hackers need a job to be able to hack.
murxJan 6, 2010
So the change in US goverment from democracy towards feudalism started back in Reagans time?Makes sense...
Closed AccountJan 6, 2010
heh i just got an iphone yesterday and one of the 1st things that popped in my mind while surfing around was "hey can i get a virus on this?"
qwertasdf12Jan 6, 2010
Well the logical thing to do would be to appoint an iPhone czar, and a blackberry czar, and a droid czar, as many czars as possible
goldmann099Jan 6, 2010
well most smart phones either are mac, linux, or winows mobile
atroxodisseJan 6, 2010
@s73v3rPeople get caught. It goes on their record. Don't hire them. @bigsheldyMost theft of data comes from employees. It has nothing to do with hacking. Employees can simply take the data. I was talking about the spot in the article where he talks about IT workers needing to have background checks.
johnnysoftwareJan 6, 2010
Abstract says, "as they become more like PCs". Smart phones are already incredibly like personal computers. Look how close.1. Windows Mobile: uses Win32 and has had viruses since the early 2000's, just like Windows.2. iPhone: uses OSX and has no known malware epidemics, just like Mac OS X.The strong resemblance to their desktop counterparts is pretty eerie already.
emmeronJan 6, 2010
No, the change started that under Jefferson when he jumped beyond his powers as president in both the Louisiana purchase and with his ... interesting searches and seizures. You know, the kind of stuff he claimed no president should do.Czars, as a title, started with Reagan. It is true. The bad politics have been going on forever. But really, no, the media isn't alone on using it. That aside, the idea that someone should have power by appointment and beyond any real oversight is unnerving.