Every search you make…is being watched

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Digital InnovationLeave a comment

That moment when we all went out and bought smartphones was a game changer for our personal privacy as Tyler Elliott Bettilyon discusses on Medium.

We never imagined at the time how these expensive gadgets would impact on our lives; all we could see that they made our lives easier, but at what cost?

In China, surveillance apparatus is increasingly sophisticated. There is facial recognition technology connected to CCTV cameras and police officers will soon have cameras inside their sunglasses. There may also be drones disguised as birds. Worse still, Chinese citizens are being asked (demanded) to install software in their phones that tracks their downloads and if you’re Chinese and visit a site banned by the government, you lose points from your “social credit score.”

But that’s China, you’re probably thinking. This is a Communist regime that has always controlled how people act and think. It isn’t like that in more democratic countries. Unfortunately the response to that is, “Don’t be so sure.”

Take a look at the surveillance tools the USA has. The NSA’s PRISMprogramme collects masses of data about internet traffic — including yours! That’s why Edward Snowdon blew the whistle on it and revealed how the NSA might be breaking the rules of privacy.

And Europe is no more private. It also has an array of online surveillance tools that it uses in the name of ‘security’. And if you keep sending out the message that we are all in danger, then the citizens of Europe give governments a free pass to collect whatever data they want. They don’t consciously allow it; they passively accept it.

And, online censorship is on the rise as the world becomes more authoritarian. A 2017 report Freedom on the Net details how our freedoms are being curbed year after year. It says: “Nearly half of the 65 countries assessed in Freedom on the Net 2017 experienced declines during the coverage period, while just 13 made gains, most of them minor. Less than one-quarter of users reside in countries where the internet is designated Free, meaning there are no major obstacles to access, onerous restrictions on content, or serious violations of user rights in the form of unchecked surveillance or unjust repercussions for legitimate speech.”

But it isn’t just governments that are watching you; it’s Facebook, Google and the like who are analysing your every move in order to push adverts at you. The Cambridge Analytica scandal showed us how the data they collect can be ‘weaponised’ for political ends.

Perhaps you are very security conscious about your personal data and take all the recommended steps (and more) to protect yourself. But, the web has many vulnerable points you may pass through without your knowledge and that leaves you exposed. These include your friends keeping texts from you, photos of you taken by friends stored on Facebook and Google keeping track of your search history. Yes, you can turn Google tracking off — if you can actually find where to do that. However, ultimately the only way to stay secure is never to send your data via the internet. Or, get yourself a Tor browser. This is a system that attempts to hide source and destination IP addresses by using several proxies. And even then there are still vulnerabilities.

Finally, personal actions to protect our personal data will never be enough: it will require collective action to overcome the Big Brother machinations of the large agencies like the NSA. Bringing the issues to the attention of more internet users is vital to achieve this, then perhaps we can start to solve the problem and pack up our paranoia.

A tale of two Canadas

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Big Data, Bitcoin, FintechLeave a comment

As someone who grew up and was educated in Canada, even though I no longer live there, I’m always keen to keep up with what’s happening. So, I was fascinated to read this article by Trenton Paul, a tech enthusiast, on the gap between Toronto and Quebec. He describes Toronto as being all set to become the country’s first smart city, while Quebec has been overrun by bitcoin miners, which appears to be to the detriment of the city. He puts forward an interesting theory — that Canada can’t find a balance when it comes to implementing new technology.

In Quebec, he takes us on a brief tour of an old factory that is now owned by Bitfarms, one of North America’s largest cryptocurrency mining operations. Here there are 7,000 machines doing the same repetitious task, and their number is expected to double this summer. Fans whirr everywhere trying to keep the machines cool and he describes the working conditions as akin to “working in an IT sauna.” He points out that maintaining this process uses up more energy than the nearby Montreal Canadiens’ hockey arena. And, the local energy company Hydro-Quebec has been trying to attract more mining operations to the city, and the mining operations have been flocking there.

What’s the problem in Quebec?

Quite simply this: the number of applications from mining firms wanting to set up in Quebec could potentially make the city a global hub for crypto mining, which sounds great, until you realise that if all of them were in full operation they could cause the collapse of the electricity supply to the Quebec region.

Bitcoin miners also prefer to use clean energy, which means they avoid countries like the U.S. and China where fossil fuels are in wider use. Hydro-Quebec promises that mining operations there are fuelled by hydroelectric power and that the power used for the mining companies is “surplus” — an extra 100 terawatts of low-impact energy. The problem is this, as Trenton Paul says: “as demand grows and more energy is needed to power these machines, the power supply available will not be able to sustain much longer.”

Some joined up thinking is needed

Meanwhile in Toronto, city officials are getting ready to promote it as the country’s first smart city, with Alphabet’s subsidiary Sidewalk Labs planning a timeline for building a smart complex.

As we are still in the early days of this technological ‘gold rush’, it is impossible to say how this will all pan out to Canada’s benefit, but what is clearly required is a ‘One Canada’ policy that brings balance to the implementation of new technology and offers some sound, joined up thinking.

Can AI solve cybersecurity issues?

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn AI, FintechLeave a comment

I was very struck by a recent article written by Martin Giles and published on Medium recently. In it he looks at the risks, as well as the apparent benefits, associated with using AI and machine learning in the cybersecurity industry. It’s an interesting conundrum, because on the one hand it seems perfectly logical that AI should play a role in protecting against hacker attacks, so what do we need to be mindful of?

As Martin Giles recounts, he met many companies at a cybersecurity conference who were “boasting about how they are using machine learning and artificial intelligence to help make the world a safer place.” However, as he also points out, others are less convinced. Indeed, he spoke to the head of security firm Forcepoint , who said: “What’s happening is a little concerning, and in some cases even dangerous.” Of course, what we want to know is why he thinks that.

The risks with AI and cybersecurity

There is a huge demand for algorithms that will combat cyber attacks. But, there is also a shortage of skilled cyber security workers at all levels. Using AI and machine learning helps to plug this skill shortage gap. Plus, many firms believe it is a better approach than developing new software.

Giles also reveals that a significant number of firms are launching new AI products for this sector because there is an audience that has “bought into the AI hype.” He goes on to say, “And there’s a danger that they will overlook ways in which the machine-learning algorithms could create a false sense of security.”

And then there are the actions of hackers to consider. What can they do with security that uses AI? According to Giles, an AI algorithm might miss some attacks, because “companies use training information that hasn’t been thoroughly scrubbed of anomalous data points.” And, there’s a problem with “hackers who get access to a security firm’s systems could corrupt data by switching labels so that some malware examples are tagged as clean code.”

There is also the issue with relying one a single master algorithm that can quite easily become compromised without sending out a message that anything untoward has happened. The only way to combat this is to use a series of diverse algorithms. And there are other issues as explained in this MIT Technology Review article.

None of this means that we shouldn’t be using AI at all for security purpose, just that we need to more carefully monitor and minimise the risks that come with using it. The challenge is to find, or train, people in the skills needed to use AI in this increasingly challenging sector of the cyber sphere.

Is the blockchain the new home for messaging apps?

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn BlockchainLeave a comment

Which messaging app do you use? It’s most likely that you use one, whether it is Whatsapp or Facebook messenger, which dominate in Europe, and there are many others geared up to suit other regions of the world. Most of them use the Internet to send messages via smartphones. However, a new breed of messaging app is emerging and these use the blockchain as the their platform.

For example, Origin Protocol is a newcomer in this space and it has launched a peer-to-peer messaging application built on top of ethereum. You can read all about the product here in the statement blog from Origin.

Its aim is to build a decentralised marketplace where participants can communicate with each other. As Origin says: “One of the core features of any marketplace is the ability for participants to communicate with one another. Whether a buyer has questions about a product before committing to a purchase, or a host is delivering sensitive instructions to a home sharing guest, messaging is critical component necessary to facilitate meaningful transactions.”

The Origin Protocol will use users’ ethereum addresses as a public ID for sending and receiving text messages, while the content itself is encrypted via users’ private keys. But, because the data is not being broadcast to the ethereum network, there won’t be any ‘gas’ fees for sending messages. It’s not like making an ethereum transaction.

Origin Protocol also has a dispute resolution mechanism in place to handle any problems between buyers and sellers. To do this it has adopted the ERC-725 standard, which “links identity to a specific ethereum address and also allows a third-party arbitrator to audit conversation histories once granted permission by one of the participants,” as described by Coindesk.

The key characteristics of Origin are that it is open-source, secure (everything is encrypted end-to-end), decentralised (it is built on top of OrbitDB which is a serverless, distributed, peer-to-peer database) and it is fast, auditable, and free. An Origin user will be responsible for keeping only one secret: his or her Ethereum private key.

Origin hopes its messaging protocol will be adopted by other projects and it is entirely possible that in the not too distant future we will see other messaging services use Origin’s standard or yet another new development. It certainly brings more choice to the ‘messaging’ marketplace.