The ransom threat has been given significant attention recently. Schneier is on point when states that this is less about hacking and more about criminal activity. For an overview of threat modeling, there are a number of sources, but I'll skip over those and best practices in threat modeling and expect the reader to do their own research.
Assets
- Personal files with no external value. The party who intends to do harm cannot broker the data to other parties as it has little or no value.
- Personal files with external value. The party who intends to do harm my find value in the information for other parties and is willing to make a market in the information.
- System or applications files.
Ransom Threats
Remote, unauthorized access to a computer is gained through the internet or other means. A cursory search through the file system allows the hacker to find files of any asset type. A simple encryption method is run on the files. The files are left encrypted and in place. A ransom email is sent to the owner of the computer demanding cash for the encryption program and key that will provide for the original file.
Countermeasures
- To protect type 1 assets, just back up your data regularly. You then may restore your data at will. The only data that is vulnerable is data that has been modified since the last backup.
- To protect type 2 assets, move them off of any publicly connected computer. Credit card information and other financial information and other information of value to others should never be kept on a public machine.
- To protect type 3 assets, make certain to build repair disks and have operating systems and applications media available for restoration.
Summary
The countermeasures seem trivial until you have experienced these threats. Coincidentally, the countermeasures for these threats happen to be common sense practices and used in operations for computing environments throughout the world. The practices in the countermeasures should be a common activity, like brushing your teeth, or filling up the gas tank of your car. They don't require a lot of thought, they are easy tasks to perform and there are consequences when you don't perform them both regularly and consistently.
I wrote on Friday that I would unplug this weekend. Try as I might, I only found myself unplugged for only small fragments of the weekend. I guess that this is self-inflicted.
I went to my brother's house for a cookout and a Brewer's game. My brother is a network engineer for a local communications firm. His boys are teenagers and total HALO2 monsters, i.e. it is not uncommon to find ALL (except mom's) TV in use in the house with an XBox attached to a switch, router or wireless device, etc. for tournaments. So as the "old-guy" in these tournaments, I usually apply the "stay out of harm's way; don't get killed" strategy. If I get the incidental kill of an opponent, I'm fine. When I'm on a team that has a "great" player and some "not so great players", I tend to play such that I don't incur the wrath the of the great player. It is, after all, a team sport, isn't it? The "great" players typically argue with the not so great players. I'm usually allowed an alibi by the great player, "Look at him, he's an old guy and this is obviously his first time playing HALO2". Thanks, pal. In the absence of any tournament and because I'm always prepared, I travel with a few books in the car (so I'm never dormant) and brought the treasure into the house for some reading (did I really mean to say unplug).
So I'm expecting a HALO2 tournament at the house and it never happens. We have a great cookout. We go to the Brewer's game (more on this in a moment). I'll quote from the movie "As Good As it Gets". As I already have been called out on this here, and have had some fun with it here and here (I agree with Mr. Ryan that OCD can be a useful disorder), what more harm could I possibly incur? Melvin (Jack Nicholson's character) is riding in a car with two other people played by Greg Kinnear and Helen Hunt. To set the stage for this, both Helen Hunt's and Greg Kinnear's characters have had difficulties in their lives in some ways. After listening to the ramblings of the other two and the sob stories that they have to tell, Melvin throws in this quip: "It's not true. Some have great stories, pretty stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends and noodle salad. Just no one in this car. But, a lot of people, that's their story. Good times, noodle salad. What makes it so hard is not that you had it bad, but that you're that ****** that so many others had it good." So essentially, I have no lakes, no boats and no noodle salad (but good jello) this weekend.
You would think that I would run a model or something on this next tidbit. On Saturday evening, the Milwaukee Brewers played the Houston Astros at Miller Park (yeah, the beer guys have their name on the place). It was a good day for a game, with the Brewers the decided favorites with a 500 record and the Astros with a 350 record. The weather was comfortable, but the roof at Miller Park was closed. After a Friday victory over the Astros, I was looking forward to watching Ben Sheets return to the mound from a 35+ day stay on the DL. My brother, his wife and I arrived at the game a little late and missed the starting lineups and the first four runs scored in the top of the first off of Sheets. Sheets settled down to pitch through the fifth (?) and held the Astros scoreless after their first four runs. The Brewers were 10-7 at home with the roof closed coming into this game. After this game, they are 10-8 because the last place Astros won 9-6. Now for the tidbit: Sheets starting, roof closed, Astros in last place, none of this matters in the game's outcome. My brother was present. Every stinkin' time he's at a game, and it doesn't matter what sport, the home team loses. We go to a Milwaukee Wave game, they lose. Bucks, they lose. I won't let him go to ANY Packer's games. I haven't collected the data on these observations, but I'm guessing that I'd find a high R-squared if my brother's attendance was a dependent variable (I wouldn't even bother with the AIC). My problem is that I would have to book my brother's attendance observation with the corresponding loss in light of the fact that he was not present for the first four runs of the Saturday Brewers game. Is there another variable I must capture, i.e. an anticipation variable that states that my brother will be attending the game and therefore it is acceptable to commence with any activities necessary to lose the game? Come to think of it, the only game that I have attended with my brother where the "home" team won was a New Years Eve Harlem Globetrotters game in Milwaukee some years back. And since my brother was cheering for the Generals . . .
My friend's article on AOP appears to be moving along quite well. He expects to submit for editorial review on Tuesday 5/31/2005. I wish him well on this.
Successes: Fun weekend, helped friend with article, went to ball game, had obligatory time with the kid (obligatory from her perspective, not mine), ate jello, attended cookouts, attended various other social activities where young single women were present. Did significant OTB research (not on the young, single women although any successes here would be OTB as well).
Failures: Still can't unplug entirely.