Defeating the Hackers

Defeating the Hackers

2013, Science  -   27 Comments
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Ratings: 7.54/10 from 206 users.

This is a rather unlikely group of scientists, they're experts in codes and code-breaking... leading researchers in the baffling world of quantum physics. They may have built the most advanced computer in the universe and together they're taking on one common enemy - hackers. The greatest threat today to the world is the keyboard.

In the past, it may have been nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction, but today we see that same level of capability being exercised by lone individuals using keyboards as opposed to bombs. Now, powerful cyber-weapons are being uncovered. In this murky world scientists are trying to harness the laws of physics and mathematics to protect us from the hackers.

Mat Honan considered himself to be pretty savvy when it comes to security and Internet, but last year he discovered just how devious hackers can be. The first clue that something bad was happening came when he tried to charge his phone. The whole hack took less than 45 minutes. Mat thought he was the victim of a classic hack... someone that repeatedly tried to crack his password and eventually succeeded. He went online to write what happened and then, unexpectedly, the hackers got in touch with him.

For Mat it wasn't just personal, he's also a writer for Wired Magazine. His hackers had discovered a series of loopholes in the Internet which taken together left him completely unprotected. The first step was to find a way stealing his identity from one of his many online accounts. Their way in was a simple phone call to the online shopping service Amazon. It was a simple deception, but effective and after a few clicks they destroyed his digital life. These hackers new the security flaws of the net and how to use them... one after another to pull off this con.... and they were just teenagers.

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Sharon
Sharon
2 years ago

Where are the inquiring minds? This is outstanding, taking a complex subject and making it accessible to the average personl (hopefully they're paying attention). This isn't about rich people. We're at war, people. Stuxnet found uranium refining in Iran. The thing can get into machines around the world. Viruses are going to be the ultimate weapon - are the ultimate weapon. Plus, this stuff is just fascinating.

uhsuew
uhsuew
6 years ago

bruh why are they all dead now

Joris Rietveld
Joris Rietveld
9 years ago

Hacking is creative and has a bad name because people don't understand
what hacking is and the media is only negative about hacking.

chase caruso
chase caruso
10 years ago

I hate hackers I play games all the time with hackers and it just upsets me that happening

Daniel Private
Daniel Private
10 years ago

Rich people getting hacked, I dont mind that lol

Franky Frumchuk
Franky Frumchuk
10 years ago

It disgusts me that social engineering is considered "hacking" or that the little kiddies who do it think they're of any sort of greatness. The biggest shame is that they'll never actually learn how to crack anything legitimately.

Philip Fong
Philip Fong
10 years ago

Disturbing background sound at 23min, terrible sound at 36min. This is supposed to be a documentary, not movie.

bringmeredwine
bringmeredwine
10 years ago

Well, this was quite interesting, though difficult to understand at times, because I can barely use my cell phone.
I tried to find out how Barnaby Jack actually died and kept hitting dead ends.
Does any one really know?

dufas_duck
dufas_duck
10 years ago

I read an article where a government 'security' [?] expert believes that approximately 20 percent of the US population cannot be effectively profiled or tracked due to them not using credit cards, no magazine subscriptions, no internet access, no cell phone, etc, etc, and generally, as the government puts it, off the radar. In the past, these low profile individuals were thought of as either eccentric, frugal, social drop outs, homeless, or following an alternative life style....now, as stated by this security expert, the government is wondering what some of these people are trying to hide.

It seems that a lack of info about a person can create as much trouble for that individual as too much data can.... If the population is paranoid about the government snooping, where does this place the government's paranoia ??

Kersh
Kersh
10 years ago

"In the past, it may have been nuclear weapons or weapons of mass
destruction, but today we see that same level of capability being
exercised by lone individuals using keyboards as opposed to bombs."
I'm sorry, what? Hackers have the 'same level of capability' as a nuclear warhead? How much more nonsensical can you get?

CapnCanard
CapnCanard
10 years ago

Meh... the focus of this film seems more interested in protecting centralized source of political power than in protecting individuals. As if all hackers were malicious and highly deviant when the Stuxnet code was presumably a Mossad/CIA/NSA creation used to f*ck up Iran's attempt to get nuclear bomb. My point is that the true bad actors are governments acting on behalf of the most powerful economic forces, like Finance, Oil, Coal, Nuclear etc etc. Among these economic forces, Oil sits in the drivers seat as the value of the American dollar is directly tied to the price of oil. That is a very precarious position for America.

megatron_mcdaniels
megatron_mcdaniels
10 years ago

Don't smell like propaganda at all...

Guest
Guest
10 years ago

by allowing a culture of giving out all our details online, we have given the future corporately run governments all they need to systematically cull our numbers. you don't need to pull a gun anymore, simply lock up their ID code and you will find them either becoming criminals to survive, hence eventually Jail or suicide and nobody will be to blame.) non-government sanctioned media will likely be illegal by then too so we won't hear about the growing number of faulty ID issues, costing people their lives. odd as it seems but the only weapon we will have by that time will be the robin hood hacker.