The recent Obama budget released today (April 10, 2013) has officially listed a section in which money will be earmarked for more military “hackers” in order to fend off threats from hostile countries. According to an article by Reuters, it would also “bolster defenses for government and private-sector computer networks.” Still, one is left wondering for how long this increase in military ‘hackers’ will be for defensive purposes. This is particularly relevant in light of the Raymond Davis incident a couple of years ago, which highlighted that the United States is still active in aggressive espionage and ‘off-the-record’ strategies for influence abroad. For another example of off-the-record, United States activities, check out my article on the Fast and Furious Scandal.
Regardless of the politics and Homeland strategy, consumers and everyday Americans would benefit from this increasing importance on cyber security. A recent burglary at the video-streaming company Vudu’s headquarters resulted in stolen hard drives, many of which “contained customer information, including names, e-mail addresses, postal addresses, phone numbers, account activity, dates of birth and the last four digits of some credit card numbers…”
Though this was a physical break-in, one day, if it is not already happening on occasion, thieves may not even need to actually break-in to a facility in order to get such information and more.
The lesson behind this story: make sure to use different passwords for access to sensitive information (banking, investing, etc) and your consumer applications like Netflix, Vudu, WSJ, and so on.
Thanks,
Anthony
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