DarkCyber for August 11, 2020, Now Available
August 11, 2020
DarkCyber is a video news program about the Dark Web, cyber crime, and lesser known Internet services. The program for August 11, 2020, covers four stories. This week’s program is available on YouTube at this link. [Note below]
Stephen E Arnold, the producer of DarkCyber, illustrates how to jam Alexa’s surveillance components. When a white noise is not enough, Arnold points to a Web site which sells a wide array of jamming equipment. The video features a diagram of how a jamming device can disrupt mobile signals, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth from a vehicle. If a basic mobile jammer is not suitable, Arnold provides information about a military-grade detection and jamming device with a comprehensive kill chain subsystem. Arnold reminds the viewer that use of some jamming devices can have unexpected consequences.
The second story addresses the TikTok dust up between the US and China. Arnold focuses on the trivializing of the TikTok threat by pundits. These individuals, in Arnold’s opinion, are not assessing the social engineering risks posed by a TikTok-type service. Data from a consumer app can pinpoint an individual who may be susceptible to cash inducements or threats to compromise the security of a workplace. TikTok videos may be silly, but the operators of the services are unlikely to be blind to the value of the data and its utility.
The third story considers iPhone hacking. Software, available via the regular Web, promises to hack an iPhone. If that approach does not work, there are hackers advertising iPhone hacking on the regular Internet. But what if the hack requires more aggressiveness? Arnold provides a link to a Dark Web site which makes clear that its operator will do anything for money. Can the iPhone be hacked? That depends on one’s willingness to believe information published on the Internet.
The final story focuses on the August 2020 Interpol report about cyber crime in the time of Covid. The report is available without charge, and its findings echo those of speakers at the 2020 National Cyber Crime Conference, held in July 2020. Arnold provides the url from which the new report can be downloaded without charge.
I wanted to point out that we will no longer post a copy of the video on Vimeo. That company sent an email demanding that Stephen E Arnold upgrade to a Pro account. Instead of saying, “We are raising prices,” Vimeo threatened Arnold with termination of his account because the free DarkCyber video is a commercial enterprise. Arnold wrote Vimeo twice pointing out that he retired in 2013, produces the video without financial support or sponsorship, and makes the content available to anyone interested in the Dark Web, cybercrime, and lesser known Internet services. Arnold told me,
“Millennial marketers at Vimeo thinks it is doing its job by making false accusations and then ignoring respectful questions about the fee change. Cancel culture to Vimeo, ‘You are history. This is your termination notice.’
We will give Facebook a whirl and include that url if the service allows easy access with a minimum of invasive surveillance, pop ups, and targeted advertising for WhatsApp.
Kenny Toth, August 11, 2020