The innovation of "Instagram", the change in the algorithm
Instagram announces major changes to its ranking algor...
A chilling revelation shows just how vulnerable today's digital infrastructure is. This is how the Internet can be protected from malicious attacks, writes The Economist
The Internet has been one of the most important inventions in human history and one of the most misunderstood. It was developed not as a centrally planned system, but as a collection of devices and networks connected by improvised interfaces.
Decentralization made it possible to run such a complex system. But from time to time, chilling incidents occur, reminding us that the whole structure is extremely precarious.
On March 29, a security researcher announced that he had accidentally discovered a hidden "backdoor" in the XZ Utils system. This obscure but vital piece of software is included in the Linux operating systems that control the world's web servers.
If the backdoor hadn't been discovered in time, everything from vital national infrastructure to the website where you post cat pictures would have been vulnerable.
This backdoor was created by an anonymous contributor who had gained the trust of other coders by providing helpful assistance for over two years.
This patience and diligence shows that a state intelligence agency is hiding behind this action. Such large-scale “supply chain” attacks, which do not target individual devices or networks, but the very software and underlying hardware they rely on, are becoming more frequent.
In 2019-2020, the Russian foreign intelligence agency SVR penetrated US government networks, compromising a network management platform called SolarWinds Orion.
Recently, Chinese state-owned hackers modified the firmware of Cisco routers to gain access to American and Japanese economic, commercial and military targets.
The Internet is vulnerable to schemes like the XZ Utils platform backdoor. Like many others, this program is open source, which means its code is publicly available.
As in Wikipedia, changes to it can be advised by anyone. People who maintain open source code often give such advice in their spare time.
After the discovery of a catastrophic vulnerability in OpenSSL, a widely used platform for secure communication that had a budget of just $2,000, a 2014 article headline summed up the absurdity of the situation very well: “The Internet is being protected by two guys called Steve".
It is tempting to think that the solution lies in restoring central control, whether by states or companies. In fact, history shows that closed source software is no more secure than open source.
Just this week, America's Cybersecurity Review Board, a federal body, reprimanded Microsoft for lax security standards that allowed Russia to steal an access key, which in the world of cryptography can be compared to "jewelry." a crown, for a cloud service provider”.
This gave Russia comprehensive access to the data. By comparison, open source software has many advantages because it allows for shared review and accountability.
Therefore, the right path is to make the most of open source, alleviating the huge burden placed on a small number of underpaid and overworked individuals.
Technology can also help. Let's Encrypt, a nonprofit organization, has been making the Internet safer for the past decade by using clever software to make it simple to encrypt users' connections to websites.
As it develops over time, even Artificial Intelligence may be able to spot anomalies in millions of codes, with a single click.
Other corrections should be regulatory in nature. America's cyber strategy, released last year, makes it clear that responsibility for failures should not fall on open source developers, but on "the actors best able to take actions that prevent ill effects."
In practice, this means governments and tech giants, who benefit enormously from free software libraries.
Both should expand funding and collaboration with non-profit institutions, such as the Open Source Initiative and the Linux Foundation, which support the open source ecosystem.
The Foundation for New Responsibility, a German think-tank, says governments could allow employees to contribute to open-source software in their spare time and relax laws that criminalize ethical hacking.
They must act quickly. The backdoor in the XZ Utils platform is believed to be the first publicly disclosed attack against a vital piece of open source software. But that doesn't mean it was the first attempt.
And it is unlikely to be the last./ Monitor.al
Instagram announces major changes to its ranking algor...
In June of this year, a new social network, "Nospace",...
Ofcom has warned that social media sites could be banned f...
In a recent statement, Apple CEO Tim Cook described how Ar...
According to the results of the research by the analyt...
Apple is on track to bring major changes to the iPhone...
Një avion supersonic që mund të transportojë 300 pasagjerë...
Aitana, një model i krijuar nga inteligjenca artificiale (...
Instagram is overhauling its recommendation algorithms in ...
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are prep...
Foreign media reports showing possible images of the iPhon...
An unusual asteroid traveling near Earth is thought to be...
Senati i SHBA-së tashmë ka miratuar legjislacionin, që i k...
NASA ka kapur me detaje "Mjegullnajën e famshme të Kokës s...
Apple phone shipments fell about 10% in the first quarter ...
Përmbajtja politike në rrjetet sociale Instagam dhe Trades...
Satellite Internet is also active in Albania. The news wa...
The widely used messaging application, WhatsApp, has s...
Oftentimes, to avoid paid apps, citizens turn to free apps...
Tim Cook, the chief executive of US tech giant Apple, is f...
The show "Stop" was in Vlora, where the citizen Ferdinand ...
The incinerator that was never built is causing an environ...
The next problem leads us to Administrative Unit 4, since ...
CNA has been denouncing for days the connections of Aj...
The chairman of the KLP, Alfred Balla, will appear tod...
This Monday, the hearing for the head of the KLP, Alfr...
Another prosecutor got stuck in the vetting sieve. ...
The Special Appeals Panel dismissed another prosecutor. T...
A tourist was sent for medical help to the Durrës Regi...
CNA has reported how girls of different ages, with differe...
The police carried out an anti-drug operation in Malësi i ...
The wife of 32-year-old Roan Brahim, who was executed by b...
On Sunday, the weather is expected to be clear and clo...
Saturday is expected to have clear and cloudy weather,...
On Friday, our country will be under the influence of ...
With the emigration of the labor force, especially young p...
The judicial institutions in Montenegro have not yet inves...
After securing approval for a new $60 billion US aid packa...
The economy is among the most important issues for America...
On Monday, the trial of Senator Bob Menendez, former chair...
As soon as I returned from school for lunch, after eating ...
Albania managed to attract a record number of tourists las...
Archaeologists brought new mosaics and frescoes to light d...
-Don't spend this evening with friends. We will go to ...
Young people belonging to Generation Z place more importan...
Today, on May 12, 2024, in the foreign exchange market...
Kredo Finance and ABI Bank successfully completed the proc...
Today, on May 11, 2024, in the foreign exchange market...