(July 17, 2017 at 6:30 pm)c172 Wrote: Were you a geek/nerd in school, or the cool kid on the block or somewhere in the middle?
I was a geek.
(July 17, 2017 at 6:58 pm)ignoramus Wrote: What's some of the dumbest hacking things you've seen in the movies?
Eg, matrix? Portscan?
The portscan in the matrix was actually done with a real "hacking" tool called Nmap: https://nmap.org/movies/
The dumbest things that I can remember in no particular order:
1) Using invalid IP addresses. This happens so often it's laughable. A valid IP address has 4 numbers, separated by periods, and each number is between 0 and 255. Movies and TV shows regularly just stick 2-3 random numbers in each place so you get IPs like 134.452.12.228 which doesn't exist.
2) That bit in the James Bond film "Skyfall" where they just plug a terrorist hacker's laptop into the MI6 computer network and it "hacks" them. There was so much wrong with that scene. Firstly, MI6 are at least technically competent, so they wouldn't ever just plug a laptop into the same network as the rest of the organization. They'd use a separate network, one not connected to anything. Secondly, IIRC (and I just read the plot synopsis) they were trying to decrypt the laptop. Well to decrypt the laptop, unless it uses a TPM, you would just need to remove the hard drive and mount it separately. Nothing would be running at a software level on the laptop or the hard drive while the decryption took place. Finally, even if the laptop managed to connect to MI6 systems, I doubt it would be able to find and access things like the release mechanisms for the cell that the terrorist is in.
3) Any hacking scene where they show the network being gradually compromised, often with "layers" of firewalls being displayed as a visual on a screen and slowing disappearing. Hacking a network with multiple layers of firewalls / protections is (a) not quick, and (b) not done with visual effects for the "good guys". Instead you'd probably see a load of tech guys looks at logs and the occasional alert window.
Also, non-movie related, but I've played the game "Watchdogs" and it's enjoyable and even slightly realistic (in what you can hack), but the most unbelievable thing is that the hacker is doing all of it via a smart phone. Even the best smart phones aren't that good. Proper hackers would use a netbook at the very least. Ever tried to type complex OS commands on a touch screen? Fuck that.
If you want to watch a good hacking movie that was mostly accurate with the hacking, watch War Games.
(July 17, 2017 at 7:00 pm)Sal Wrote: AVG any good?
It's kinda bloaty ...
I wouldn't say so. It's decent, but so is every AV these days.
(July 17, 2017 at 9:09 pm)Tres Leches Wrote: Can my mobile phone "hear" me? I know it does when I say "ok google". Can it hear me without a prompt? Reason why I ask is occasionally I'll have a voice to voice conversation with someone about a particular topic (like, say, a specific travel destination) and later that topic will appear shortly thereafter in ads or more prominently in websites I visit.
I'm going with "yes, your phone can hear you" because I'm naturally suspicious. But I'm wondering what you have to say about it.
-Teresa
It really depends. For the "OK Google" thing it is of course listening all the time, but it's matching what you say against a voice print on the actual device, i.e. it's not sending everything you say to a server somewhere. Same for Alexa (though once triggered, Alexa *does* send your query and any other background noise to Amazon for processing). Siri is the same way if you have it set to listen all the time.
Now whether your phone can be inadvertently turned into a listening device, I would say it's "technically" possible, but probably not actually doable for most phones. Apple certainly seem to have their user's privacy in mind with certain features they develop and of course the FBI lawsuit from a few years ago. It would be very surprising to me if they had coded a backdoor that allowed them to just turn on the microphone whenever they wanted. The source code for Android is readily available so I can't see Android phones doing it either.
As for the adverts, I would say there's probably a more rational explanation: If you are having these conversations with a friend, you probably have some interest in the subject at hand, and have either visited or searched for the subject at some point as well, or have an email with the subject mentioned. All these things can be scanned and the information sold to advertisers.
