PC-camera spying software leads to arrests.

Ever wonder if people can watch you through your PC's webcam? Well, if it makes you feel any better, they can! it has been going on for a while, in fact - for example, there was this story from 2010 about teachers and administrators watching students at home through their webcams for disciplinary purposes. Completely invalid, unacceptable disciplinary purposes that ended in a huge scandal, but they were still doing it.

More recently, last week in fact, the creators of Blackshades RAT, and many of its users, were arrested. Blackshades RAT (Remote Access Tool or Remote Administration Trojan, depending on who you talk to) is a trojan that infects a PC when the owner opens an attachment in an email which then installs the tool. Once that happens, it allows a remote user to see through the PC's camera and record what it sees without the owner's knowledge. It's believed that around 500,000 machines were infected worldwide.

The raid on the creators and users was an international effort that took place in many countries and saw almost 100 people taken in to custody. It was brought to light when a hacker attempted to blackmail Miss Teen USA with images recorded using the trojan, but it backfired when she contacted law enforcement and went public.

It's an interesting case, since the creators of software aren't usually held responsible for what the users of that software do. In this case, though, since the software was sold for $40 through their site, was designed explicitly to carry out illegal acts, and even offered technical support through their website, there was more leeway in the prosecution. The outcome of the raid is unknown for now, but it will be interesting to see how it all works out.

A couple of additional points: The only anti-virus program I could find that confirmed the ability to remove this malware is Symantec's Norton Antivirus, a product I am not a big fan of, as you all know. I believe most antivirus programs have the capability to remove this malware, but you'll want to check to be sure. Also, sometimes people advise that you put black electrical tape over your webcam if not using it. I advise against that because it will gum up the front of the camera and prevent the laptop from closing, and if you don't clean off the gum it can even damage the machine. You can hang something over it, cloth perhaps, use a binder clip, but electrical tape is a bad idea. But it is a good idea to cover it!

China charged with hacking U.S. companies

If you haven't heard, the United States, for the first time ever, has filed charges against another government. Specifically, China. This was because the U.S. discovered that members of the Chinese military, who were part of an elite unit known as 61398, used what's known as spearphishing, in which phishing emails are sent to a specific company to get information about that specific company, then once inside stole corporate secrets that allowed them to create new, cheaper products that then flooded the American market, from steel tubes to nuclear power plants. This is known as Industrial Espionage.

The result is lost jobs and closed companies, and the U.S. isn't willing to let this go. Of course China denies it, even going so far as to issue a warning, but the evidence is clear. Even so, filing charges against another COUNTRY, as opposed to a foreign company or person, is untested ground.

Michael Jackson performs once more.

I'm not sure exactly why, but people are often surprised to find out I'm a fan of Michael Jackson. He was a great performer, great entertainer, great songwriter, and the entertainment world is worse of because of his loss.

However, during this year's Billboard Music Awards (held right here in Las Vegas, by the way), we were able to see him perform one more time, through realistic light projection similar to the process that brought Tupac Shakur back to life at Coachella a couple of years ago.

This time, it was Michael Jackson that received the treatment. It combines live dancers with pre-recorded and holographic technology to bring the performer back to life. The technology involved is mainly projection technology, but its development and history, even its ownership, is murky and involves a bankrupt company that originally brought Tupac back to life, and the current owners of the technology actually sued to have MJ's performance blocked!

The video of his posthumous performance is below. Pretty amazing stuff, and I'm very curious to see who gets the treatment next. I'm guessing Elvis.

Love Star Trek? Have $35,000,000? This house is for you!

Star Trek, originally run for three seasons from 1966-1969, predicted many of the technologies we have today. Communicators, space travel tech, medical technology, automatic doors, voice commands, big screens, portable computers, in fact it predicted so much that there was a TV show called How William Shatner Changed the World, which focused on the predictions the show made.

If that isn't enough for you, if you need to live *in* the Star Trek universe and happen to be rich, really rich, supa-dupa rich, and don't mind living in Florida, then do I have the house for you. A spectacular house that has been built up to represent everything Star Trek. Never mind the 16 bathrooms, full arcade, and bridge-movie-theater, it's Star Trek!

Read the article and definitely take a look at the pictures over on Cnet. The full listing for the house is here.

It's still looking bad

Although it's not finalized, the FCC, chaired by former cable-company lobbyist Tom Wheeler, has allowed discussion to move forward on the idea of allowing 'paid priority' for companies on the Internet. In other words, ISPs such as Cox or Comcast can charge a company like Netflix for a guaranteed level of service.

This really annoys me, not just because it will completely rearrange the economy of the Internet and cause content-delivery companies (like Netflix) to pass the costs on to you making the whole experience more expensive while other companies friendly to the ISP won't have to, but also because Tom Wheeler is blatantly lying to us. He is saying there will always be an open Internet and nothing will interfere with the end-users' experience online, but it's a bald-faced lie. He has toed that line for a long time, then this happens. It's bizarre in how overt his deceit is. Usually when politicians lie, they couch it in terms that make it seem like they're sort-of telling the truth, but Wheeler hasn't even done that.

Want to see something really scary? This chart from the Huffington Post shows how much extra you might have to pay for various web services if this plan moves forward. Truly terrifying, and a dark day if this ever comes to fruition.

Again, nothing is finalized but it looks more and more likely that it will ultimately go through, even though many heavy-hitters including almost all large tech companies, many politicians, citizens, the only ones who *do* want this to happen are Tom Wheeler and the communication companies.

With this change looming, as well as control of the Internet infrastructure soon to be handed over to the U.N. (at the request of China and Russia, no less), the Internet will never be the same, in a bad way.

My newest find.

This is a Sony Video Walkman. We all remember the regular Sony Walkman, right? No? Sheesh, alright, Sony had the big electronics device of the '80's, the cassette-playing Walkman. The Walkman made it easy to take your music with you, something that was obviously not as easy to do as it is today. There was no such thing as a portable turntable (well, maybe there was, but it clearly had very limited use).

Anyway, I found this Video Walkman, which was intended to make portable video as easy as the Walkman made portable music, at a Goodwill and it is quite a find - a sort of portable VCR. It uses a standard 8mm tape, and in the days of analog TV broadcasts could pick those up as well. As you will see in the images, it has quite the array of controls in a small package; it can switch between TV and Tape, it has all controls for both, it can display the data of the tape or not, it can output video to a TV or take video input *from* a TV, it's just an amazing device.

Sadly, you can tell from the white screen that the capacitors have gone bad, so it will need to have them replaced. That's no small task. Even so, for $6 I'm really happy with it.

Have some more images!

Google Glass is finally for sale to everyone, sort of.

If you have $1,500 burning a hole in your pocket and don't feel you stand out enough in a socially awkward way, then you're in luck!

Starting yesterday, anyone who wants can buy Google Glass. Originally it was only available to beta testers, but now anyone can buy a pair, although the device itself is still in beta. Not only that, they're only for sale to the general public as long as Google has them in stock. On the other hand, as the linked article states it might be better to wait until official release when they'll be attached to frames from such companies as RayBan and Oakley.

Google refers to people who are testing their glasses as 'Explorers,' but others have less dignified names. So if you don't mind people snarkily referring to you as a 'Glasshole' - something even Google itself doesn't want you to be - and want to give a new technology a try (and are rich), then jump in! You can buy them here. Be aware: the backlash can be severe; we're already seeing signs stating Google Glass is banned in some places.

Facebook now provides self-esteem.

About a month ago I deactivated my Facebook account. I needed a break from the 'OMG please like and share!!' posts, the blatantly self-promotional posts, the Foursquare check-ins that just tell me you're not home in case I want to burglarize the place, and the passive-aggressive posts that provide no context yet scream out for a response. You know the ones - they say something along the lines of 'well this sucks' and nothing else, begging you to pry in a false display of concern.

I even saw conversations happen on Facebook among people who lived in the same house!

So I needed a hiatus. Facebook was just causing me too much stress, with the ratio of inane, nonsense posts to valuable, informative posts being very high. It appears, however, that in doing so I am in the vast minority. According to this article on Cnet, immediate feedback on Facebook posts is required for many people to feel a sense of belonging, to feel involved, loved, and worthy. In other words, without immediate feedback to posts people suffer measurable drops in self-esteem and self-value, they feel ostracized and no longer part of a social circle or group of friends. Even depression can result. The Atlantic has a brutally in-depth article about technology, Facebook included, actually making us lonelier as our social interaction moves all on-line to the increasing exclusion of actual human contact.

Answer: Yes. Also, don't think what this image depicts doesn't happen.

This is troublesome, a continuing example of the move to virtual interaction over actual interaction. I was astounded, and more than a little distressed, when a couple of friends (not many, mind you, I vanished from Facebook almost unnoticed, apparently) informed me, one via email and one via text, that they didn't know how to get in touch with me any other way than Facebook. Apparently they didn't realize they had just contacted me in a way other than Facebook.

I don't have anything inherently against Facebook, I used it to keep in touch with people all over the world, it was good for sharing photos and interesting tidbits and even for group meetings for projects on which I was involved, and it does provide a valuable source of social interaction. It's good for those things and I don't think people should abandon it. But when it starts to become the barometer of your self-worth and your value as a person, something is very, very wrong. Personal interaction is monumentally important, but actual personal interaction, not just virtual.

Let's get outside, people! Call someone on the phone!

(In the interests of full disclosure, my understanding is if I log back on to Facebook it will all come back, so perhaps in the future I will do that; never say never!)

The future of this blog.

Just a quick note to anyone who may be interested - although commenting will obviously no longer be required (Sunday was the last day comments counted towards your grade), I will continue to make posts and you are welcome to follow along or even comment if you are so inclined; everyone is welcome! The 419 scam / Apple-password entry below is the first post-class post to start off the summer.

If you need to get in touch with me, if you have a tech-related question you'd like to ask or need more info on something, you can contact me through my NSC email address, but not Canvas as I won't be checking that after Wednesday.

Either way, it was a wonderful semester, a great class, and a pleasure to have you all be part of it!

Look what I got.

Remember we talked in class about the 419 scams? The scams in which someone sends you an email saying you are a beneficiary to a foreign dignitary with no heirs and they would like to offer you a million dollars or so to help them transfer funds to an American bank account?

My NSC account finally got its first one. Here, in all its glory, is what they sent.

---
Attn: Beneficiary.

Note that in regards to your over due funds release to you, your due required fees has been settled by the central bank through the federal high court in Lagos in a 14 page affidavit sworn on your behalf and we hereby notify you that your funds have been cleared to be delivered to you through the UN zonal office here in London.

Be officially informed that Patrick Howard, a diplomat attached with the UN zonal office will inform you of his arrival with your funds by tomorrow, please you are urgently required to forward your address and your direct telephone number immediately.

Thanks for your urgent co-operation.

Regards,

Mr Mauri Butlear
UN Zonal Office,
3 Whitehall Court London SW1A 2EL
United Kingdom
---

As you can see, it is completely legitimate. By which I mean not legitimate at all. There is no UN 'Zonal Office,' there is no 'Mr. Mauri Butlear,' and there is no money waiting. Remember, if you get anything like this, DO. NOT. RESPOND. If you do, they will never, ever let go.

On another note, I meant to show this in class but didn't get the chance: this is the message I received from Apple when I needed to change my password. This is what makes passwords weak, not strong. It's what causes people to write them down which negates their effectiveness. This is terrible password policy.

I don't remember what password I used, of course. I guess I'll be seeing this window again.