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I am not sure how i ended up picking up this book. Thank god i did. I will talk about two scenarios based on this book (they are extremely possible and have already occurred)
Scenario 1: you are using your banking app on your smart phone and have done a transaction. The transaction is successful and the screen says so. After some days, when you go to the ATM there is a surprise waiting.. all your money is gone!!!
Scenario 2: Suddenly your car is no longer under your control and driving itself towards an oncoming truck. Something similar to the latest fast and furious movie. The cars can be hacked as they are computers on wheels.
Scenario 3: Your phone is switched off, yet someone has recorded all your conversation. that someone was an innocently installed app
Scenario 4: Your dad is using a pace maker and suddenly you get an SMS saying if you don't pay money he will be hurt or worse killed.
Scenario 5: The Chinese phone that you use, sends data secretly to a data center. Imagine you are from the DGMO (military operations) of the Indian army.
The book talks about the above scenarios and many many more such incidents and the background leading to it. (the people, the technology, some real life case studies)
Broadly the book is divided into 04 buckets. Corporate (google, facebook and apps) , crime Inc, the users and the future. Before you write this off as another blah what do i care, please hold on.. This is about you, us and our family and much much more
Corporate: For all the freebies that we have, please remember one thing. There is nothing called a free lunch. We are the product and we sell it for free. The data on us, is mind boggling which even we wouldn't be aware off. Plus there are a handful of companies that horde this data and sell it to whoever needs this. There is very poor security and we have nothing called as privacy on internet. It is a dangerous combination.Crime Inc: The most innovative, agile and fast learning component in the world. The rewards and risks are equally high and especially with internet & bitcoins there is anonymity with proportional legality.
A. There are hackers who have been legends and have done awesome damage the past couple of years.
B. The are contests with rewards to break bio-metric Iphones (it was done in 20 hrs flat!!1)
C. There are markets or bazaars which sell drugs, identities, credit cards etc on the internet which are delivered by fedex!!
We the people: We the people, trusting, greedy for the freebies and small minded will go after anything that is free and available easily. (obviously me included) We have no idea the insights that google, facebook and other social media apps have on us. More than even what our grandmothers and mothers would know about us. The amount of data that we leak throughout the day is humongous. The places we have visited, the searches that we make, the products that we buy, our relationships and connections, the opinions, pictures and what not. It is unimaginable.
Future: The above scenarios are possible and have already occured. What about the future, where imagination can run crazy
A. How about a virus targeting just made for you
B. IoT: The latest fad of every Tom, Kumar and Harry. The safety and security of the existing devices are pathetic, imagine a connected world. We will positively be handing over our keys to anyone with basic tech knowledge.
C. 3D printed weapons, synthetic biology, hackable transportation and the list goes on and on
D. Last but definitely not the least. Who controls our screen, controls all our thoughts actions and life. It all boils to that. Worried about India. Do we have the capability against Pakis and Chinese (they have a cyber army of 2 lac people!!!)
“At this pace there are only two people in the world. Ones who know they have been hacked & the others who are yet to know that they have been hacked”.
The book is good, simple with good examples to read. Anybody can read & everybody should read. Especially the so called technology freaks who know shit about the implications.
Oh the video is also an eye opener by the way.
