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However, if access is gained to a car’s internal controller area network, the danger is much greater \u2013 and in a widely publicized 2015 test, hackers remotely carjacked a vehicle from 10 miles away and drove it into a ditch. Simple examples of risk include a malicious compact disc being used as an attack vector, and the car’s onboard microphones being used for eavesdropping. Examples include the loss of millions of clients’ credit card and financial details by Home Depot, Staples, Target Corporation, and Equifax. The increasing number of home automation devices such as the Nest thermostat are also potential targets. The Internet is a potential attack vector for such machines if connected, but the Stuxnet worm demonstrated that even equipment controlled by computers not connected to the Internet can be vulnerable. Further developments include the Chip Authentication Program where banks give customers hand-held card readers to perform online secure transactions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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With the right software, a hacker can steal all the data on your laptop just by getting you to click a single malware-downloading link. The truth is, a \u201chacker\u201d doesn\u2019t need to know much about technology if they can trick you into giving them what they want. They interrupt your business, take forever to download, and half the time they add new features you don\u2019t want. This will catch any password that\u2019s a real word or common phrase.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Now it\u2019s your turn \u2014 how do you practice data security every day? As always, the biggest weak link is people. Thanks to machine learning, we can anticipate malware attacks before they happen. Instead of remembering 50 strong passwords, you only need to remember the one master password that opens the vault. Every time you read about a big company suffering a ransomware attack, odds are it started with some nitwit whose password was 12345.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Social engineering, in the context of computer security, aims to convince a user to disclose secrets such as passwords, card numbers, etc. or grant physical access by, for example, impersonating a senior executive, bank, a contractor, or a customer. The target information in a side channel can be challenging to detect due to its low amplitude when combined with other signals. For example, a standard computer user may be able to exploit a vulnerability in the system to gain access to restricted data; or even become root and have full unrestricted access to a system.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n