Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard
FWIW - cyber-espionage has been an on-going issue for a very long time now. Wargames was in 1983 and we had issues in NATO in the mid-70s...especially from the various Euro-pacifist groups like the Dutch. Industrial cyber-espionage is a HUGE problem. It can only get worse. 
Richard's $.02  |
I have been out of my lane for 13 years(systems designer) but I'll add a couple points.
1)Richard is very correct, It's not new,, but is changing.
I started looking at security holes in the 80t's. They were all physical at that time. You had to put your hand on the computer to corrupt or steal data. Security was simple,, don't let anyone in that didn't have reason to access.
In the 90t's, as net-works came on line, things could be snatched off un-protected net-works, but that was still physical hands on. You had to cut wire to add your "box" to capture and store the data you stole. Security was physical access and we started adding encryption software to scramble data.
After spending to mush time on the 2000 apocalypse phantom date problem, we jumped into multi-tasking software that we could "send" to another remote computer. This opened Pandora's Box. Now you could spy from afar, but there was still physical tracking of data via the net-works. Although you can and should encrypt data,, when data is being sent there are "tags" put at each end that id who's it from & for, were it's going, how big is it. This is were the current generation of "spy's" have a problem. You can't send/receive without these tags.. and the tags are the key to tracing to the source.
Now we have "firewalls", specific software/hardware that prevents unauthorized access.. BUT to make it work,, someone has the the Keys to the Box..
My point, although the article doesn't specify the "how",, I believe someone is planting the seed(s) physicaly.. and there are bunches of ways to do that.
Open your computer up and look at any of the various chips mounted in the case. Only someone with very special test equipment can verify that any one chip is doing what it design for,, and not something else.
If your curious as to how small computer can get, google "embedded computers" or "pc/104 standards". You can buy off the shelve PC's that are 3.5inch by 3.5 inch by .6 inch.. Want one smaller,, ask..
The newest generation of James Bond has a PHD in computer design and has a grudge about not being picked for the T-ball team, back in grade school and has a autographed collection of Bill Gates posters..
My $00.0002