In the last decade of the proliferation of the World Wide Web, there has been a shift from normal human combat warfare to electronic warfare, where a person with a computer can do more damage to the infrastructure of a country than thousands of soldiers. The amount of data, intelligence, and damage generated by such warfare is astronomical. This type of warfare requires artificial intelligence and Expert Systems to go to the forefront of the battlefield in order to analyze data and trends to identify potential attacks and provide countermeasures to such attack. AI has put in a new perspective how Decision Support Systems (DSS) improve defense. DSS implemented today are in place to stop and deter in the shortest possible amount of time a cyberattack, and assist cyber defenders in finding the correct response.
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WannaCry or Wanna Decrytor ransomware is an informatic virus that attacks Windows operating system based computers primarily (including servers) by taking advantage of system vulnerabilities exploited by Eternalblue, a tool believed to be developed by the USA National Security Agency. What is the unique effect once infected by the virus? Well, you will notice it fast. The system will show you a Popup window letting you know that your computer is infected, all your files are encrypted, and for you to recover it all, they require a ransom payment using bitcoins. Unless you make the payment, all your files will stay encrypted. The worst thing about this virus is that, if you do not pay in a certain period, the ransom payment will keep rising.
But, wait! The intention of this article is not to create panic. Even though you should panic if your computer got infected and you didn't backed up your files recently (last day or night before the infection). Today more than ever, we are living in the interconnected and social era. Generation X and the famous Millennials, are so connected to the Internet, and spend so much time sharing almost everything about themselves, that they don’t imagine their life could go any other way. This is without online presence, in their social communities and networks, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
As of these days and since a long time ago, many businesses and enterprise know and take for granted that if they wish to be successful or competitive in their respective markets and industries, they should start using information technologies to achieve it. Nothing is farther from reality than this belief. It is a fact that any business or enterprise not using current technologies for its operational processes plans and marketing strategies will find it very difficult to achieve its goals and objectives of conducting business on a highly competitive and technological world as is todays; so a significant share of its yearly budget should be assigned to this item. When it’s time to buy a new smartphone, the majority of consumers do their research by googling through the Internet and reading experts' and tech gurus' recommendations, forums and blogs to make smarter buying decisions. This is not bad, but does it guarantee that you will receive the best advice without any marketing influence from those gigantic smartphones vendors and manufacturers? Maybe yes, maybe not. Technology changes and evolves so fast that we feel we will never be with the hype or the trend. Big tech companies are always improving their software and hardware by adding new features, functionalities and capabilities. These new features, capabilities and functionalities sometimes may be nice to have, sometimes they are really necessary or critical for the entire company business operations and continuity. For example: bugs and security fixes, stability and performance improvements. Others are just pure marketing strategies to induce you to buy their products. They need to generate money and more revenue.
Have you heard about the Zombie generation? It is real and it is here! Have you noticed the number of people texting, browsing, navigating, and talking with their smartphones while walking, shopping, waiting in office lines, malls, streets, or theaters, and even driving? I bet that you can see a lot of them around, like an epidemic. They are everywhere. Some are surfing the web, interacting with their social platforms; while others are sending text messages or talking. Many other are only reading the news or seeing YouTube videos. The thing is that they are not just interacting with their smartphones, the thing is that they are so immersed and occupied that they don’t interact with other people around them. They can even ignore each others like there is no one there. It looks that they are acting like robots, or even worst, like I would call them, acting like Zombies.
Which is the best computer you can buy or have? Well, more than if it is the “Best” computer, you need to ask yourself what are your exact technology needs, and what is the amount of money you are able to expend on a computer. From that point on, you can decide which is the best option for you, among all the varieties you will find when you go looking for a computer. Lets say that you have a good idea of what exactly your needs are (requirements) and you have a good chunk of budget to expend. Now, here are a few hints that could be nice to take into consideration, especially if you want good performance and a fastest processing: Want to be updated with the latest technological secrets and news from the world of computing? I invite you to visit the following links:
As of today, we have many technological gadgets around us. We have them at home, in our offices, automobiles, even as personal dressing accessories. Definitively we live in a technological era in which smart devices allow us to make collaborations, and to share personal or business data on social networks, such as Facebook®, Twitter®, LinkedIn®, Instagram®, and Google® to name a few. We also have the never ending clouds on our environment, such as Dropbox®, Box®, AmazonDrive®, GoogleDrive®, and Microsoft OneDrive®, among others. We have entered into an era in which even baby boomers interact with mobile devices and high-end technologies, not to mention millennials who were born with their genetic codes already programmed for these technologies. Even my niece, less than one year old, uses an iPad. We enjoy technology. Or at least, marketing departments make us believe it is a high-priority need, and convince us to rush and get the latest gadget. |
AuthorDr. Gilberto Crespo is an information security researcher & technology expert. Archives
April 2024
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