Hacking - NOT amateur radio

 At the moment I am watching a drama series on BBC TV in which (I think) state actors take complete control of the UK train network.

The scary thing is that many things could be hacked. Take for example power networks, oil and gas distribution, banking, air traffic control, sewage systems etc.. The threat to undersea cables is real, although thankfully there is a lot of redundancy meaning things are likely to be slower rather than totally non-functional.

I guess all cyber security services have to be mindful of threats and keep "ahead of the game".  Also, any states contemplating such action knows they could suffer the same fate. A bit like the policy of "mutually assured destruction" with nuclear weapons, we hope these threats never come to pass.

In this day and age war could well be in the form of cyber warfare rather than conventional weapons.

Hacked - NOT amateur radio

One of my friends had his PayPal account hacked out of the blue. Luckily, he got his money back. He has no idea how this happened.

It is a good idea to:

• check accounts regularly and often
• use strong passwords
• change passwords often.

He also suggested https://passwordsgenerator.net/ to generate strong passwords

Hacking attempt? - NOT amateur radio

For quite a time now, the hackers seem to have left me alone. When I checked visitor numbers earlier, they had leapt to unheard of numbers. Now I can't believe that my modest comments suddenly captured the imagination of the amateur radio world. Either this is a mistake by Google or a deliberate hacking attempt. I shall have to check my other blogs.

UPDATE 1637z: All blogs are the same! I suspect a Google error.

Hacker will not be sent to the USA - NOT amateur radio

A computer hacker who could have received a 99 year prison sentence in the USA will not be extradited says a UK appeal court. He had Asperger's Syndrome and suffers a depressive condition allegedly. He may still face a UK prison sentence, but personally I think this is a fair and just decision.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-42946540 .

Gone away? - NOT amateur radio

For the first time in a week, a certain eastern European country seems to have lost interest in this blog and gone away. There are visits from there, but I suspect these are real people rather than trawling bots.

Hacking attempts again? - NOT amateur radio

Even though I have posted little today so far, the blog visits are high again, with lots of "interest" from a certain nation in eastern Europe. Genuine visits are welcome, whereas "probes" are not.

Probing still? - NOT amateur radio

Yet again blog visits are exceptionally high this morning and the number of visits coincides with a peak in visits from one Eastern European country.

I am sure most of these visits have little to do with amateur radio. If you are genuinely interested, then welcome. If your intentions are malicious, look elsewhere please.

Yesterday, this blog received four times the average number of visits. I smell a rat.

Probing? - NOT amateur radio

Funny how one of my blogs had exceptional numbers yesterday and this blog exceptional numbers today. The fact these coincide with great interest from a certain Eastern European nation is purely coincidence?

Somehow I think someone is doing a regular probe to see if they are suitable sites to hack. Should my blogs suddenly disappear or behave oddly, you will know why. I try to avoid this, but some very famous sites have been affected in the past.

Blog Hacking - NOT amateur radio

It looks possible that my blogs are being probed by hackers. This seems to have been attempted much of this week.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39401637

Probing again? - NOT amateur radio

Yet again, 3 of my blogs have seen exceptional activity for a third day and yet again this coincides with much increased views from Russia. I have no problem with people from any country who genuinely are interested, but this looks like bots probing. Highly suspicious.

Russian hacking? - NOT amateur radio

It is funny, but the number of visits to my blogs increases a lot on some days. When I check, the visits from Russia also are much greater on those days. I suspect hackers are looking to see if the blogs are worth hacking. Of course I could be entirely wrong.

Any dubious comments are soon deleted and I have little of interest to hackers on my blogs. If you see anything odd, please let me know.

By the way, my Miracle Whip Yahoo group seems to attract Asian women promising much. I wonder why?

Several Russians have been very kind to me. Like Americans, I have found individuals to be warm and kind. In every society there are "rotten eggs" sadly. I am sure the UK has many too.

RFID chips and credit/debit cards

Many credit and debit cards now have embedded RFID chips to allow contactless transactions in cafes. bars etc. Did you realise that your card's RFID chip could be a way of cloning your card's number and expiry date? Neither did I.

Watch this video to see a demonstration of just how easy it can be to someone with the right technology at his disposal.Sounds like a security loop hole that needs fixing fast.

UPDATE: I am reliably informed that this is not an issue in the UK.