ibe98765 Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Interesting article: CRYPTO-GRAM - October 15, 2003 by Bruce Schneier Founder and CTO Counterpane Internet Security, Inc. <http://www.schneier.com> <http://www.counterpane.com>The Future of SurveillanceAt a gas station in Coquitlam, British Columbia, two employees installed a camera in the ceiling in front of an ATM machine. They recorded thousands of people as they typed in their PIN numbers. Combined with a false front on the ATM that recorded account numbers from the cards, the pair was able to steal millions before they were caught.In at least 14 Kinko's copy shops in New York City, Juju Jiang installed keystroke loggers on the rentable computers. For over a year he eavesdropped on people, capturing more than 450 user names and passwords, and using them to access and open bank accounts online.A lot has been written about the dangers of increased government surveillance, but we also need to be aware of the potential for more pedestrian forms of surveillance. A combination of forces -- the miniaturization of surveillance technologies, the falling price of digital storage, the increased power of computer programs to sort through all of this data -- means that surveillance abilities that used to be limited to governments are now, or soon will be, in the hands of everyone.Some uses of surveillance are benign. Fine restaurants sometimes have cameras in their dining rooms so the chef can watch diners as they eat their creations. Telephone help desks sometimes record customer conversations in order to help train their employees.Other uses are less benign. Some employers monitor the computer use of their employees, including use of company machines on personal time. A company is selling an e-mail greeting card that serriptiously installs spyware on the recipient's computer. Some libraries keep records of what books people check out, and Amazon keeps records of what books people browse on their website.And, as we've seen, some uses are criminal.This trend will continue in the years ahead, because technology will continue to improve. Cameras will become even smaller and more inconspicuous. Imaging technology will be able to pick up even smaller details, and will be increasingly able to "see" through walls and other barriers. And computers will be able to process this information better. Today, cameras are just mindlessly watching and recording, but eventually sensors will be able to identify people. Photo IDs are just temporary; eventually no one will have to ask you for an ID because they'll already know who you are. Walk into a store, and you'll be identified. Sit down at a computer, and you'll be identified. I don't know if the technology will be face recognition, DNA sniffing, or something else entirely. I don't know if this future is ten or twenty years out -- but eventually it will work often enough and be cheap enough for mass-market use. (Remember, in marketing, even a technology with a high error rate can be good enough.)The upshot of this is that you should consider the possibility, albeit remote, that you are being observed whenever you're out in public. Assume that all public Internet terminals are being eavesdropped on; either don't use them or don't care. Assume that cameras are watching and recording you as you walk down the street. (In some cities, they probably are.) Assume that surveillance technologies that were science fiction ten years ago are now mass-market.This loss of privacy is an important change to society. It means that we will leave an even wider audit trail through our lives than we do now. And it's not only a matter of making sure this audit trail is accessed only by "legitimate" parties: an employer, the government, etc. Once data is collected, it can be compiled, cross-indexed, and sold; it can be used for all sorts of purposes. (In the U.S., data about you is not owned by you. It is owned by the person or company that collected it.) It can be accessed both legitimately and illegitimately. And it can persist for your entire life. David Brin got a lot of things wrong in his book The Transparent Society. But this part he got right.Kinko's story:<http://www.computercops.us/article2568.html><http://www.securityfocus.com/news/6447>ATM fraud story: <http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030812.gtatmm0812/ BNStory/Technology> <http://canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=f07cac50-62c7-46d8-892a-b66dfa2f 1d88>Net spying: <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/10/technology/10SPY.html><http://news.com.com/2100-1029_3-5083874.html> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cluttermagnet Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 This is something that is pretty much spinning out of control now. Most folks really don't have much to worry about other than the risk of identity theft. OTOH if a person has ever become 'of interest', the spying that can be brought to bear is simply unprecedented, and can include essentially 24/7 surveilance in all conceivable settings, including in the subject's residence- whether or not that happens to be legal. The state of the art is unbelievable. Tiny cameras hardly recognizable as such. Internet surveilance and telephone surveilance that are completely undetectable. It boggles the mind. If I were of a mind to be paranoid about it, I could be very paranoid indeed. But I'm just not all that 'interesting' a subject. I have always had it in mind, however, that if someone felt the need to massively study me, it is entirely possible with todays still-evolving tech to get virtually gapless 24/7 coverage of a person's every word and movement. And a surprisingly accurate history and behavioral profile including some pretty accurate guesses about future behavior (humans are very much creatures of habit- just find the patterns). Of that I have little doubt. How much worse could it get under "TIA", supposedly now shut down (why don't I believe that?) In the same sense that it has been said for years now "the power to tax is the power to destroy", isn't it true today that the power to amass detailed profiles about individuals is also fast zeroing-in on 'the power to destroy' as well? Already the databases are being exploited unethically by medical insurers and prospective employers to deny needed coverage or even deny a highly qualified person a job they might otherwise get. Oh, not openly, of course, because that would be illegal- but I'm sure they do that at times. Not a pretty picture, and not a solution in sight, as I see it. I think it would be rather foolish to assume that persons having access to our info will behave legally and ethically. Maybe they will, but then again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 Back in the 60s when Canadian writer/biologist Farley Mowat realised his phone was bugged by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police he would start off any phone conversation by greeting the Mounties listening in, talking very slowly to them as if they were children, saying something like, "Corporal, you're getting this all down, I'm not going too fast for you ..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 Peachy! LOL! That is so funny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scot Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 I agree that most people have no idea how big a deal identity theft is. it's rampant, and people are not paying attention -- they think it's only going to happen to someone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cluttermagnet Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 Back in the 60s when Canadian writer/biologist Farley Mowat realised his phone was bugged by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police he would start off any phone conversation by greeting the Mounties listening in, talking very slowly to them as if they were children, saying something like, "Corporal, you're getting this all down, I'm not going too fast for you ..." Wasn't Mowat the author of "Cheaper By the Dozen"? I remember reading that as a teenager. It was a good-natured celebration of larger families, I guess. Actually, bigger families often mean resources stretched very thin and an even harder struggle for each child to differentiate themselves and work out a personal story and identity. Probably leads to a few more 'lost children' in the middle age group. Perhaps not as idyllic as Mowat Paints it. Anyway, if this is the same Mowat, how could someone who can write such a sweet work as "Dozen" be unsavory enough to have the mounties dogging him? Godless commie? Hippie pot smoker? This is one bit of Canadian history I have not come across before. Please tell us more, Peachy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 Wasn't Mowat the author of "Cheaper By the Dozen"? I remember reading that as a teenager. It was a good-natured celebration of larger families, I guess. Actually, bigger families often mean resources stretched very thin and an even harder struggle for each child to differentiate themselves and work out a personal story and identity. Probably leads to a few more 'lost children' in the middle age group. Perhaps not as idyllic as Mowat Paints it. Anyway, if this is the same Mowat, how could someone who can write such a sweet work as "Dozen" be unsavory enough to have the mounties dogging him? Godless commie? Hippie pot smoker? This is one bit of Canadian history I have not come across before. Please tell us more, Peachy.You must be thinking of Frank B. Gilbreth; apparently that book and Mowat's Never Cry Wolf are often listed in highschool reading lists in the United States. Here's a quick bio of Mowat. He will not travel to the US being denied entry in 1985 for being on a list of undesirables. So why was he an undesirable? Well they thought he was a Communist for one thing. I suspect it was his visceral anti-Americanism, which is ironic, considering he is a bestselling author in the U.S. market. Mowat once quipped that he used to take pot shots with his .22 caliber rifle at SAC bombers flying over his home.Our federal police force spied on many Canadians during the Cold War-era, including Pierre Trudeau before he became the Prime Minister of Canada, Adrienne Clarkson, who is currently the Governor-General of Canada, and they even had a file on Harry Belafonte. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibe98765 Posted October 17, 2003 Author Share Posted October 17, 2003 I agree that most people have no idea how big a deal identity theft is. it's rampant, and people are not paying attention -- they think it's only going to happen to someone else.Identity Theft Resource CenterIf you think your credit record is bad now, wait until someone steals your identity. The ITRC ( http://www.idtheftcenter.org ) is there to help, with guides (how to prevent it, what to do if you're a victim), forms, shopping tips, and even tips on testifying in court. You get solid advice on protecting yourself and, if your identity is stolen, on cleaning up the mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cluttermagnet Posted October 18, 2003 Share Posted October 18, 2003 Thanks for the interesting notes, Peachy. I didn't realize the Canadians had gotten nearly as paranoid as the Americans during the 50's. Wow- 800,000 people? That sounds like a significant chunk of the total population of Canada at the time. I must admit my ignorance, however, and go look up that number. Heck, I'm having trouble even keeping track of the current US population, any more. I used to know the current numbers cold. Aw, heck- it's a spinning dial now anyway, with so many illegal entries happening all the time. Yes, by all means, let's keep Mowat out- we might learn something from him. Wouldn't want that to happen. Now that I look at it in context, I think I remember reading also "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be" by Mowat and Cheaper By the Dozen by Gilbreth. I had obviously transposed the two authors' names over the years, as I could have sworn "Dozen" was Mowat's. Ah well... Back then, some of us in 'middle school' (grades 7,8,9) still read, although television was coming on strong by then. I'm very grateful now that my family didn't buy a TV until I was 10 years old. I deeply resented it at the time. There was some sort of optional, voluntary 'book club' sort of activity where students got to order paperback books at a reasonable cost, and I took good advantage of that program at the time and kept on reading. But television was gaining ground fast. Still, I kept up a fairly heavy diet of reading well into my late 20's/ early 30's when I finally started to slow down. I had also shifted over to the area of technical periodicals and such by then, career-related. And through it all, a fairly steady diet of science fiction, which I believe had a big impact on improving my own imagination and perhaps my ability to think outside that proverbial box.When we lived in southern Ontario in the late 50's, my mother had a favorite friend in town whose husband knew Pierre Trudeau well and apparently joined him on hunting/ fishing trips, or so the story goes. I was a little kid at the time, and it was a nice experience living there for 3 years. I enjoyed all the winter sports, but by age 10 was already becoming a confirmed SF fan as we returned to the states. By age 13 I lost any remaining interest in team sports/ athletics and became a confirmed, lifelong radio geek, and, years later, a computer geek as well. Oh well, at least I get to the gym on a fairly regular basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cluttermagnet Posted October 18, 2003 Share Posted October 18, 2003 I agree that most people have no idea how big a deal identity theft is. it's rampant, and people are not paying attention -- they think it's only going to happen to someone else.Identity Theft Resource CenterIf you think your credit record is bad now, wait until someone steals your identity. The ITRC ( http://www.idtheftcenter.org ) is there to help, with guides (how to prevent it, what to do if you're a victim), forms, shopping tips, and even tips on testifying in court. You get solid advice on protecting yourself and, if your identity is stolen, on cleaning up the mess. Looks like a good resource, ibe. Thanks! I will check it out. Jeez, I hope that never happens to me. What a nightmare that must be to go through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibe98765 Posted October 18, 2003 Author Share Posted October 18, 2003 I agree that most people have no idea how big a deal identity theft is. it's rampant, and people are not paying attention -- they think it's only going to happen to someone else.Identity Theft Resource CenterIf you think your credit record is bad now, wait until someone steals your identity. The ITRC ( http://www.idtheftcenter.org ) is there to help, with guides (how to prevent it, what to do if you're a victim), forms, shopping tips, and even tips on testifying in court. You get solid advice on protecting yourself and, if your identity is stolen, on cleaning up the mess. Looks like a good resource, ibe. Thanks! I will check it out. Jeez, I hope that never happens to me. What a nightmare that must be to go through. Hasn't happened to me either. Here's series of first person articles by a San Francisco Chronicle columnist who had his identity stolen:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...18/BU293901.DTLhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...10/BU167701.DTLhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../27/BU89488.DTLhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...30/BU101241.DTLhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...01/BU169218.DTL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stryder Posted October 18, 2003 Share Posted October 18, 2003 At a gas station in Coquitlam, British Columbia, two employeesinstalled a camera in the ceiling in front of an ATM machine. Theyrecorded thousands of people as they typed in their PINnumbers. Combined with a false front on the ATM that recorded accountnumbers from the cards, the pair was able to steal millions before theywere caught.Lol, that is too funny. I'm sorry, but if I come up with a scheme that brings in that much money, no one would EVER find me TO catch me.Oh, that's millions in Canadian money....nevermind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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