One of the great promises of modern life is the Internet of Things - you know, where all those little gadgets and thingy-dos in your world are connected to the internet, and we can control them and talk to them and interact from everywhere. This is a really slick bunch of stuff and a lot of it is intriguing, and remarkably cheap, all things considered.
One of the prices we're all paying for the cheapness is an appalling lack of security. More and more we not only have to worry about computer security on our computers, but on all those devices around the house. The worst thing is that we all know we need to upgrade our computers, and have security software, blah-blah-blah. But nobody seemingly gives a lot of thought to the security of the network equipment in our houses, or your internet-connected thermostat, Alexa box, refrigerator, or streaming video box.
Turns out this is becoming a huge problem. Many of our home internet network devices are designed to be cheap, and easy to set up, but not necessarily secure. Worse, although the manufacturer of your cute little wireless router may provide security updates for it, let's face it, hardly anyone pays attention to that and upgrades that firmware on a regular basis - do you? This is a particularly vulnerable part of our network infrastructure. And all of those new internet connected devices are a problem too.
Recently the Krebs on Security web site was taken down by a huge denial of service attack on the site. This is a web site run by a renowned security researcher. And it was behind one of the most powerful CDN systems (Akamai) which was intended to protect the site from DDOS attacks. But down it went, receiving attacks from all over the world in a volume that has not really been seen before. Since Akamai had been providing the service to Krebs for free, they made a business decision that they simply could not protect a free customer from an attack of this magnitude, so they let the site die. And it was all launched not from hijacked computers, but by other internet devices, all of which were under the control of a huge botnet. This becomes more of a problem now that so many of us have the luxury of high-speed connections to the internet. With such powerful connections, even a lowly gadget in your house can become part of a network and cause havoc with web sites and other parts of the internet.
The good news is that Google rode in and offerred to protect Krebs, so the site is now back up - but the cost of protection from this level of attack is very high, and is not available to everyone.
Today, the source code for the botnet involved was released - so it seems likely we are going to be seeing many more of these sorts of DDOS attacks against web sites in the near future. Additionally there are other competitor botnets of IOT devices that are even bigger and promise to deliver crippling attacks on sites for a reasonable price. Sadly the cost of launching one of these attacks is much lower than the cost of defending against it.
This is all a fairly new development, and frankly the world is not ready to defend against it. So - next time one of your favorite web sites disappears, expect that the fault may not be the site itself, but is more likely routers, fitbits, thermostats, and refrigerators, all launching an attack at once.
This is not good.
Memberships
More AT&T power grabbing: GOP budget measure threatens major UW-based Internet service
[img_assist|nid=55349|title=Greed not good|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=175|height=131]Months ago I wrote here about how, with newly installed Republican majorities in the legislature and Scott Walker in the governor's chair, AT&T and other telcoms were again pushing yet another, major telecommunications deregulation bill. A bill which in fact has since become law. But highly profitable AT&T and competing private telcoms aren't done grabbing more power for themselves.
First, Scott Walker killed high-speed rail. Now his Republican enablers in the Legislature seem ready to kill affordable high-speed Internet for Wisconsin schools and other public institutions. So much for pushing technological progress, economic development and better schools; we've got corporate mouths to feed!
In the pending state budget bill, private Internet providers including AT&T have managed to get their GOP pals to insert language that would basically destroy WiscNet, one of the state's most technically advanced and useful communications infrastructures. WiscNet is a nonprofit buying cooperative that provides very hgh speed Internet access for researchers and academic staff at University of Wisconsin System campuses as well as for hundreds of Wisconsin schools, libraries and other public institutions.
The National Science Foundation originally funded WiscNet as a powerful and innovative new tool to bring affordable connectivity to the state's education system. Today, 75% of Wisconsin's schools and 95% of its public libraries rely upon WiscNet for Internet access. WiscNet was the model for similar projects in such forward-thinking states as North Carolina. But WiscNet may become smoke, as soon as this week.
The University of Wisconsin System, which developed WiscNet 20 years ago when high-speed Internet didn't even exist as a commercially provided service, recently received tens of millions in federal stimulus grants to expand the network to more state communities, just like the state received federal grants to expand high-speed passenger rail. The WiscNet expansion project is already working to lay some 600 miles of new, high-capacity optical fiber to public locations across the state.
But a new bill in the state legislature would force the UW System to return $39 million in federal broadband stimulus funding, and it would bar UW from future participation in WiscNet. The provision also bans the UW System from providing telecommunications services or collaborating with any providers. WiscNet basically would disappear. UW would be forced to pay over $8 million annually for Internet access — more than four times its current bill.
Some government budget savings there, huh, Guv Scotty?
Critics of the measure say the GOP-based measure also will force other WiscNet members to purchase broadband Internet service from more expensive private companies like AT&T at a total added cost of millions of dollars. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers said the measure will have "a devastating impact on University of Wisconsin System campuses and our schools and public libraries."
School superintendents and public library directors have agreed with Evers in a series of op ed columns in daily papers across the state, saying the move could double or triple their Internet costs, adding tens of thousands of dollars to their budgets at a time when they're already making cuts.
Ronda Puntney, Wisconsin Library Association president, said WiscNet has become the ISP of choice for 450 educational and community institutions: All the state's public institutions of higher education, 95 percent of public libraries and 80 percent of schools use the service.
Attempting to justify the measure, Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), co-chair of the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee, told the Wisconsin State Journal that he was concerned about WiscNet providing unfair competition for BadgerNet, a network that uses AT&T as its primary private vendor.
But Puntney noted that's comparing apples and oranges. BadgerNet is a public-private partnership that provides the wide area network, Internet transport, and network services throughout the state. It is, in other words, merely a pipeline. Puntney said WiscNet is one of the Internet service providers (ISPs) from which BadgerNet customers can choose. It provides Internet content that flows through the pipeline.
In other words, in confusing what BadgerNet and WiscNet do, Vos is merely trying to rationalize his eagerness to please AT&T and the Republican Party's other telcom patrons. And patrons they are. The telecom industry reportedly has donated well over $80 million to Wisconsin lawmakers over the past decade, and many of them have been GOP politicians.
So, do you want your public school, library or college to see increased Internet costs? Want your kid and others to have slower Internet service in the classroom or at the library? Want to ensure that AT&T and its pals make more money from public institutions? Well then, call your state legislator today and demand that they vote for this measure. But if you think, like I do, that killing WiscNet is a huge mistake and a travesty of special-interest legislation, get on the horn -- or on the Internet -- and tell your legislator to knock it off, right now.
What you can do: The Legislature is already deliberating. If you live in Wisconsin, take a moment right now to call or email your senator, representative, and the governor. Ask them to remove sections 23–26 of the Omnibus Motion to the UW System bill.
Want to learn more? There are tons of web-based articles on this important issue. Simply open your search engine and type "WiscNet" for a long list of news articles and other information.
Where Old Computers Go to Die
This is an interesting article in Salon regarding the failures of computer recycling, and how much of our electronic effluent ends up in other countries to be recycled in unfortunate ways.
What's the connection to Wisconsin? One of the computers from the Wauwatosa School District is traced back to its original source from a "recycling" center in Lagos.
Steve is a member of LION Publishers , the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, the Menomonie Area Chamber of Commerce, the Online News Association, and the Local Media Consortium, and is active in Health Dunn Right.
He has been a computer guy most of his life but has published a political blog, a discussion website, and now Eye On Dunn County.
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