If you’re a techie who has a casual interest in the black hats, the malefactors of the computing world, this video might be of interest. This is of Defcon 21 (2013), of which I’ve never attended but find somewhat interesting. This particular video covers some of the more difficult-to-defend attacks, because the vulnerabilities aren’t so much human errors as nature creeping in on our digital landscape. These are errors caused by heat, radiation, electrical problems, and (my Dad’s old favorite!) cosmic rays.
For example, the speaker notes that the temperatures some server farms operate are going up, and this is causing more environmentally caused errors in the servers. I connect this to our energy usage in terms of air-conditioning – in other words, if we want to reduce energy consumption, it may be necessary to endure a less secure digital world.
Or, like I already do, be more ready to go to a store and pay with cash, rather than sending those credit card codes on the wire.
