BEST OF THE WEB: The vigilante hacker who shames tech giants

Christopher Soghoian is a computer science PhD candidate at Indiana University – and he’s one of the internet’s most prominent hackers.

In what is becoming a popular move for computer hackers, Soghoian takes the time to find security vulnerabilities in large tech companies such as Facebook or Google (and even the Government), and then informs the companies involved.

Whether he funds them by accident, or on purpose, the goal is the same – to make the internet safer. But he’s gained quite a following by demanding companies fix these problems immediately, or he threatens to go public.

He’s done so before, shaming internet companies into coming clean. While this happens from time to time, this new profile on Wired points out why Soghoian is taken so seriously – he’s very, very good.

“If Chris Soghoian points out a technology-related privacy problem, then it should probably be taken seriously,” says Marcia Hofmann, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation said. “Nobody else is doing what Chris does – at least not at his level.”

The profile goes into how Soghoian pressures companies, including Google, into better protecting their data, with the piece even attributing a move by the search giant to encrypt its laptops with better technology.

A former Microsoft executive quoted in the piece says Soghoian is now so well known that “all of the privacy lawyers at the big internet companies now have Chris on their radar”.

But Soghoian isn’t all about giving companies a chance. On his personal blog, he’s taken businesses to task, even revealing how to bypass the Government’s own no-fly list.

“TSA doesn’t have access to the Airline’s computer systems,” he wrote, before alerting various news publications. “Thus, they have no real way of knowing if a boarding pass is real or not.

Since then he’s been recruited as a staff technologist at the Federal Trade Commission, but he even refused to submit to a background check in order to protect his privacy.

This is an in-depth look at one of the greatest hackers in the world. As privacy and online security constantly become more important, Soghoian’s role in society and business will only become more valuable.

The rise of cyber Monday

Cyber Monday is becoming a global phenomenon. Last year, sales on the first Monday after American Thanksgiving topped $US1 billion, and early figures are showing it’s set to break that record this year.

More and more retailers are taking part in a day that has now become the most popular in the online retail calendar. And as this piece in the New York Times shows, it’s indicative of a greater phenomenon as online sales continue to rise.

“On Black Friday, traditionally a bricks-and-mortar shopping day, people spent $816 million online, 26% more than last year, ComScore said.”

“But many shoppers held out for Monday, when they expected deep discounts online. Seventy-eight percent of eCommerce sites offered promotions, according to Shop.org, an industry group. Almost half offered discounts, and a third had free shipping.”

The tradition started when businesses started realising they had a spike in traffic on this particular day, as shoppers begin looking for deals at the start of the Christmas season. But it’s about more than sales, with jewellery retailer Blue Nile chief Mark Vadon saying it’s the first opportunity for retailers to collect sales data.

“Many retailers had such high hopes for the day that they tried to expand it. Toys “R” Us offered Cyber Monday deals on Sunday night and will continue them through the week, as will Target, which went so far as to offer Cyber Monday deals in September.”

Cyber Monday is becoming a global event – and as this article shows, it’s shaping up to grow even bigger next year.

The secrets and failures of Bitcoin

Some entrepreneurs may have heard of Bitcoin, a digital currency designed as an alternative to physical cash. It seems like a simple enough idea, but there’s a disturbing twist – no one knows who even created it.

We have a name – Satoshi Nakamoto. A person using this name posted a huge thesis online in 2008 describing Bitcoin and how it would work, and his philosophy around using a digital currency. No rules, no regulations, and certainly no central bank to control a money supply.

Nakamoto created the first Bitcoins, using an algorithm to slowly pump out more coins over the next 130 years, slowly reducing the amount that are made. Users need to “mine” coins by using special software, restricting supply and thus creating value.

It sounds like a crazy idea, but as this new piece in Wired shows, it worked – for awhile. The value of Bitcoin has actually risen over time, and some users have made hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions in some cases. Some retailers are even accepting Bitcoin as a legitimate form of currency.

“The future of bitcoin seemed to shimmer with possibility. Mark Suppes, an inventor building a fusion reactor in a Brooklyn loft from eBay-sourced parts, got an old ATM and began retrofitting it to dispense cash for bitcoins.”

“On the so-called secret internet (the invisible grid of sites reachable by computers using Tor anonymising software), the black-and-gray-market site Silk Road anointed the bitcoin the coin of the realm; you could use bitcoins to buy everything from Purple Haze pot to Fentanyl lollipops to a kit for converting a rifle into a machine gun.”

Of course, all good things must come to an end. The problem with a digital currency is that it can be hacked, and that’s just what has happened in many instances. Some users have seen thousands of dollars disappear overnight.

And through all of this, there is still no clue as to who Satoshi even is. Investigations carried out by other publications, including the New Yorker, have turned up nothing. Some don’t even believe he’s real.

But as this fascinating, in-depth piece shows, he’s created a phenomenon with a dedicated following that are focused on Bitcoin’s survival.

“I suspect Satoshi is a small team at a financial institution,” hacker Dan Kaminsky told the publication. “I just get that feeling. He’s a quant who may have worked with some of his friends.”

The best Siri hacking attempts

Ever since Apple announced Siri, the personal voice assistant, developers have been figuring out clever ways to hack it. And as this compilation in The Atlantic shows, there have been some pretty clever attempts.

Some of these are incredibly impressive. One hacker uses Siri to open his car, while another uses the technology to adjust his home thermostat. Another uses the tech to change the lights, and even control his television.

These obviously aren’t endorsed by Apple, but it’s a great look at what this tech is able to do, and what the company might introduce one day.