A cyborg soldier controlled entirely by AI. A cybernetically enhanced human roaming the streets doing all kinds of jobs for money. These sound like plots out of a movie or video game. That’s because they are! But don’t let fiction fool you. These developments are coming to the real world sooner than you think.
It is always amazing to look back at old sci-fi movies and literature, getting glimpses of what the future may hold regarding technology. Whether it is the tv walls from Fahrenheit 451 or the communicators from Star Trek. So much of our technology today was inspired by the sci-fi genre, but none so intriguing to me as a universal translator. Sci-fi has showcased characters wearing a small device like a hearing aid to automatically shift foreign languages into their own native language.
Have you ever purchased software but asked yourself, “I wonder if there are any known bugs in here and does the company even know?” Well, a little known fact is that they often do. Many websites, organizations, and software developers offer a deal called the bug bounty program. Individuals who participate can receive recognition and compensation for reporting bugs, especially those pertaining to security exploits and vulnerabilities.
When I was a kid, about the only thing I had to worry about when using a computer was dying of dysentery while playing Oregon Trail. The threats that face computer users today, especially children who are not aware of cybersecurity best practices, are far worse than not making it past the Rockies in a video game. We teach our children basic security aspects of using computers and laptops, but often don’t realize that something far more dangerous is lurking in their midst: smartphones.
When a vulnerability hits 10 out of 10 on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), people pay attention and so should you. CVE-2020-1472 did just that–it hit a 10 and is dubbed the “perfect” exploit by Tara Seals, author at ThreatPost.com. While this exploit requires network access to already be established, it allows an attacker to obtain the “keys to the kingdom,” a.k.a. Domain Admin. With domain admin credentials, an attacker can do pretty much whatever they want on that domain: create new accounts, delete accounts, turn off security services, crawl through the network and pilfer pretty much any and all data that is under the purview of that domain.
