Instinctive fear of being hacked
Humanity is afraid of new technologies, it is natural. Once they were afraid of electricity, then cars, then satellites. Ancient people were even afraid of comets flying away from the solar system with a beautiful tail from the heat of the sun.
We are afraid of everything new: who knows what to expect from these incomprehensible inventions? Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Recently, a survey was conducted among Americans about what they are afraid of . Here are the five most popular answers:
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Pay attention to paragraphs 2 and 3, which are associated with modern digital technologies. I can argue that these items got here only because of the novelty. These are new technologies, and therefore they are scary. Characteristically, they are surrounded by irrational, instinctive fears: death, darkness, crowds. Perhaps the fear of hackers is, as it were, the embodiment of instinctive fear of a new (incomprehensible) technology that can be dangerous and unpredictable.
American University of Chapman is going to conduct such surveys every year to trace the evolution of human fear. You can make a prediction: in a year, in a few years, the fear of walking on one night will not disappear anywhere, but the fear of becoming a victim of identity theft will be forgotten by the Americans after watching the Bourne Identity like a strange dream. This is a threat from Hollywood scenarios, not real life. But there will be new technological horror stories.
The ground for horror stories is ready: the FBI convinces the public that hackers will soon become more dangerous than terrorists . Because of this, many young guys go to jail for computer articles, and some are driven to suicide . Authorities in the US clearly overestimate the threat: see the EFF statement about the “hacker madness” of the authorities .
But society reacts irrationally. For example, a talented hacker, Berneby Jack, in 2012 found vulnerability in pacemakers , allowing them to be managed remotely, and developed a program capable of sending a deadly pulse of 830 volts to the heart from a distance of 9 meters from the victim. So they attacked him from all sides with accusations that such information could not be disclosed! As if it was Berneby Jack, he made a low-quality, buggy model of a pacemaker.
No, people are afraid of hackers, and not at all the manufacturers of buggy equipment.
In 2013, Berneby Jack died in unclear circumstances a few days before the start of the hacker conference, where he wanted to make a new report . By the way, before that, he put forward an interesting idea about creating a virus that is wirelessly transmitted from one pacemaker to another. But we will never hear this report ...
Pacemakers are not the only devices implanted into the human body that in the future will be controlled wirelessly, interact with each other and transmit information to external sensors. All these medical devices are part of the unified Internet of things, which forms before our eyes. In recent years, there has been particularly rapid progress.
The site of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering has opened The Bionic Man catalog, which lists many modern technologies and mechanisms suitable for transplantation into the human body as a replacement for biological organs or the addition / expansion of innate functions.
Here is a list of some of the available technologies and mechanisms:
All this is already certified for use or is in the final stages of certification and will be available in the coming years, according to medical assurances.
What can I say, if the first Olympic games for cyborgs are planned for 2016 - Cybathlon . Owners of robotic legs, hands will compete there, and fully paralyzed patients will beat in computer games, wearing helmets with electrodes and controlling the brain.
Illustration from Cybathlon site
So the future is already here (it’s just not spread enough yet).
Many of the listed devices support wireless communication and can be hacked, like that of Berneby Jack's pacemaker. This also applies to other devices that integrate into the Internet of things. There is no absolute protection: in any device there are bugs and vulnerabilities.
If someone thinks that only sick people with medical implants are at risk, he is mistaken. Judging by the current trends, this or that wearable electronics can be found on almost every person.
As life shows, people really like to wear gadgets on their bodies: smartphones, smart watches, fitness trackers. Maybe it will come to “smart” clothes and to bioimplant chips. In fact, it is convenient to sew a purse with money under the skin, so as not to lose by chance.
NFC chips for storing Bitcoin cryptographic keys implanted by Martin Wismeijer (Martijn Wismeijer)
In this future, each of us must become a little hacker in order to understand the protection of gadgets, including cryptography, and possible attack methods. In the dangers that threaten in every situation. Eliminating ignorance, we get rid of fear.
However, there are things and more terrible hackers. This is when devices on the Internet of things come together in a semblance of a single Artificial Intelligence that serves people. Imagine that as the AI ​​improves, people will no longer understand the reasons for its actions.
We are afraid of everything new: who knows what to expect from these incomprehensible inventions? Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Recently, a survey was conducted among Americans about what they are afraid of . Here are the five most popular answers:
')
- Walk alone at night.
- Become a victim of identity theft.
- Security breaches on the Internet.
- Become a victim of mass / accidental execution.
- Public speaking.
Pay attention to paragraphs 2 and 3, which are associated with modern digital technologies. I can argue that these items got here only because of the novelty. These are new technologies, and therefore they are scary. Characteristically, they are surrounded by irrational, instinctive fears: death, darkness, crowds. Perhaps the fear of hackers is, as it were, the embodiment of instinctive fear of a new (incomprehensible) technology that can be dangerous and unpredictable.
American University of Chapman is going to conduct such surveys every year to trace the evolution of human fear. You can make a prediction: in a year, in a few years, the fear of walking on one night will not disappear anywhere, but the fear of becoming a victim of identity theft will be forgotten by the Americans after watching the Bourne Identity like a strange dream. This is a threat from Hollywood scenarios, not real life. But there will be new technological horror stories.
The ground for horror stories is ready: the FBI convinces the public that hackers will soon become more dangerous than terrorists . Because of this, many young guys go to jail for computer articles, and some are driven to suicide . Authorities in the US clearly overestimate the threat: see the EFF statement about the “hacker madness” of the authorities .
But society reacts irrationally. For example, a talented hacker, Berneby Jack, in 2012 found vulnerability in pacemakers , allowing them to be managed remotely, and developed a program capable of sending a deadly pulse of 830 volts to the heart from a distance of 9 meters from the victim. So they attacked him from all sides with accusations that such information could not be disclosed! As if it was Berneby Jack, he made a low-quality, buggy model of a pacemaker.
No, people are afraid of hackers, and not at all the manufacturers of buggy equipment.In 2013, Berneby Jack died in unclear circumstances a few days before the start of the hacker conference, where he wanted to make a new report . By the way, before that, he put forward an interesting idea about creating a virus that is wirelessly transmitted from one pacemaker to another. But we will never hear this report ...
Pacemakers are not the only devices implanted into the human body that in the future will be controlled wirelessly, interact with each other and transmit information to external sensors. All these medical devices are part of the unified Internet of things, which forms before our eyes. In recent years, there has been particularly rapid progress.
The site of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering has opened The Bionic Man catalog, which lists many modern technologies and mechanisms suitable for transplantation into the human body as a replacement for biological organs or the addition / expansion of innate functions.
Here is a list of some of the available technologies and mechanisms:
- Cap with a set of electrodes for recording brain activity
- Brain-computer wireless interface
- Contact lenses with glucose measurement
- Focused ultrasound transmitter for gene therapy in the brain
- Spinal stimulator
- Artificial kidney
- Implantable Prosthesis Sensors
- Micro needle needle patch for vaccine entry
- Robotic lower leg prosthesis
All this is already certified for use or is in the final stages of certification and will be available in the coming years, according to medical assurances.
What can I say, if the first Olympic games for cyborgs are planned for 2016 - Cybathlon . Owners of robotic legs, hands will compete there, and fully paralyzed patients will beat in computer games, wearing helmets with electrodes and controlling the brain.
Illustration from Cybathlon site
So the future is already here (it’s just not spread enough yet).
Many of the listed devices support wireless communication and can be hacked, like that of Berneby Jack's pacemaker. This also applies to other devices that integrate into the Internet of things. There is no absolute protection: in any device there are bugs and vulnerabilities.
If someone thinks that only sick people with medical implants are at risk, he is mistaken. Judging by the current trends, this or that wearable electronics can be found on almost every person.
As life shows, people really like to wear gadgets on their bodies: smartphones, smart watches, fitness trackers. Maybe it will come to “smart” clothes and to bioimplant chips. In fact, it is convenient to sew a purse with money under the skin, so as not to lose by chance.
NFC chips for storing Bitcoin cryptographic keys implanted by Martin Wismeijer (Martijn Wismeijer)
In this future, each of us must become a little hacker in order to understand the protection of gadgets, including cryptography, and possible attack methods. In the dangers that threaten in every situation. Eliminating ignorance, we get rid of fear.
However, there are things and more terrible hackers. This is when devices on the Internet of things come together in a semblance of a single Artificial Intelligence that serves people. Imagine that as the AI ​​improves, people will no longer understand the reasons for its actions.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/364231/
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