DescentBB

In terms of cyber-security and hacking.

You ever wonder why we're so far behind? This guy knows.

http://www.maximumpc.com/john-mcafee-we ... ernardino/

Hasn't McAfee been going a little off the deep end as of late to be considered a knowledgeable source? Google him on youtube. As for Apple, they would neither acknowlege nor deny that they already gave the Chinese government their own back door into the iPhone, so apparently, what's good for the Chinese isn't so good for us. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for protecting our privacy from excessive government intrusion and creating far better security measures to protect us from rampant hacking, but I wonder if Apple isn't just doing this little public fight with the FBI purely for American marketing reasons?

1) McAfee is a known crazy. Used to be widely respected in the security world; now he's not.

2) The FBI is a joke when it comes to cybersecurity. That doesn't mean the entire US government is. Just the FBI. They never made it a budget priority. They haven't hired or trained people who are really good at it. Want something hacked? Ask the Secret Service, the NSA, or the Air Force. They all have very good cyberwarfare divisions.

3) No, Russia and China are not years ahead in hacking. They're in the top tier, along with Israel and the US, but none are particularly leading in an overall sense.

Lothar wrote:Want something hacked? Ask the Secret Service, the NSA, or the Air Force. They all have very good cyberwarfare divisions.

actually, post-sequester, all have let a bunch of top cryptographers go(I fish with two of them, now in private industry).



edit--this said, I don't think we are 20 years behind anyone.

Lothar wrote:1) McAfee is a known crazy. Used to be widely respected in the security world; now he's not.

That may be, but that doesn't really help here.

Lothar wrote:2) The FBI is a joke when it comes to cybersecurity. That doesn't mean the entire US government is. Just the FBI. They never made it a budget priority. They haven't hired or trained people who are really good at it. Want something hacked? Ask the Secret Service, the NSA, or the Air Force. They all have very good cyberwarfare divisions.

The article wrote:And the technology departments are out of date; they do not keep up with changing technology. And they have a life time job so, why should they care? Number two, they will not hire the only people who can help them; that is the hackers of the world. Mohawks a half mile high, pierced ears, face tattoos. And every one of them is going to demand that they smoke weed on the job. Now, the government isn't going to hire those people.

3) No, Russia and China are not years ahead in hacking. They're in the top tier, along with Israel and the US, but none are particularly leading in an overall sense.

Most of the reports that I've seen are usually peppered with chinese or russian hackers. It's been a long long time since I've seen any american hackers as part of a story.