Technology, Privacy and Security

Last week in Professional Sales two with Professor England, class took a little bit of a side track. The professor took the time out of the day to teach the class something that is crucially important to our protection and our privacy. He brought up the new ways in which technology makes hacking a whole new game. Certain classmates shook in their boots and started rapidly asking questions as he loosely mentioned some ways he claims even little kids that grew up immersed in technology know how to easily steal your soul. He spoke about a group of people who he watched on 60 minutes. They drove up 93 North starting at its beginning in Canton, Massachusetts to its end in Saint Johnsbury, Vermont, hacking all of the road side businesses simply by connecting to their wifi. They did this to mess with their systems as a prank and also an experiment. It look only the few seconds in which they drove by the businesses. He also spoke about the dangers of connecting to public WIFIs. He mentioned that if you connect to a hacker’s fake WIFI then your privacy and protection is up to their discretion. They could steal absolutely everything on your computer and therefore everything that connects to your computer such as your phone, Ipad, Fitbit or even your smart home and baby monitor. A search of these security risks brought me to, https://qz.com/1493748/how-one-lightbulb-could-allow-hackers-to-burgle-your-home/. This site states, While it may be convenient or even fun to control your home from a smartphone, there are many documented cases of how critical security devices like locks, alarms, and even baby monitors can be hacked. According to a new study by computer scientists at The College of William & Mary, even seemingly benign smart home devices, like smart plugs or lightbulbs, can provide entry points for hackers”. They explain this by stating that all of these smart home devices are connected over wifi. Therefore all it would take is for a hacker to connect to something simple like a power outlet which turns on a light at the time you usually arrive home. This hacker now not only knows when you usually come home but also can now get into your alarm system which is also connected to that “at home” setting. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel thought about the fact that smart cameras and door bells are mass produced giving millions the ability to find their weaknesses and then use these weaknesses against whoever they choose to hack. Overall, security has always been an issue but technology has given means for new security and privacy issues. Peeping Toms no longer have to risk a neighbor catching them peeping in a window but now can hide behind a computer viewing your webcam from thousands of miles away. Smarthomes and wifi are just a few ways for hackers to take over whatever they chose.