Deepak Daswani (Tenerife, 1981) His father had a store of goods in the Canary islands, and there grew to fiddle with gadgets. Computer and cyber security expert, “The threat hacker” analyses the risks that beset us and how to avoid them.
What is a hacker? It I ask because according to the Real Academy of the Language, a hacker is a hacker, that is to say, a criminal…Yes, this is the first of its meanings. But fortunately the RAE has heard the request of those of us dedicated to cybersecurity, and earlier this year included a new meaning closer to what really is a hacker. Hacker means etymologically curious, restless. A hacker is someone who does not conform to use the technology, but that is destriparla, to break the limits that it offers, to find security flaws or features that had not been conceived. Why it makes one a hacker?By concern, by passion, by desire of knowledge, to reach beyond, to know how things work on the inside. Be hacker is an attitude. But I insist: the RAE says that a hacker is a hacker.That is not a hacker, that is a crime. It is true that traditionally the media and the society have used the term hacker in the negative sense. But it is an error: basically a hacker is good and a cybercriminal is bad.How old were you the first time he sought to tickle a computer?I have trasteado and experienced with the technology from very little. I have always had concerns about the technology and to find security flaws. Where is where far more has come to?It is difficult to say, there are things that are not very showy and however are complicated, and there are things that are not as complicated, but have impact in the media. I have discovered a security flaw in Whasapp which allowed you to get the numbers of all the contacts of a user who was using a WIFI network. And this year I have discovered several vulnerabilities in the mobile application of 1,600 gyms that add up to 10 million customers in 16 countries. The most serious one: to be able to access the information when someone is weighed on the scale of those gyms, a scale that measures the percentage of muscle mass, fluids, tissue, adipose, and other data that you printed with your name and a graphic.What no system is 100% secure?None. For a reason very simple: the technology is made by humans, and humans make errors. Any thing, by the very taste that is very perfect as it may seem, is susceptible of containing an error. A technology that gives for safe can suddenly reach someone and discover that it has a security flaw. Happened last year when Mathy Vanhoef, a security expert discovered a vulnerability in the WPA2 security standard for WIFI networks that we use from ten years ago and that felt safe. What a hacker could get to trigger the red button on the nuclear weapons program of Washington or of Moscow?By power, I could. Nothing is 100% safe. But this is not to live in paranoia. Most of the systems are reliable, although it is true that there is always a small spectrum of threats that is out there. Tell me some tricks to protect myself from cyber attacks and cybercriminals…first of all, you must upgrade the operating system; the vulnerabilities are fixed with the updates. It is also important to use a commercial anti-virus reputation-proven and recognised prestige update, a antivirus with license, not one of those free which you download by internet. I advise you do not in fact download the software for free, and to distrust everything that comes out of the standard. Use strong passwords and change them frequently. And avoid connecting to WIFI networks in public.Do you purchase Online?Yes.Do not have problems in giving the data of your credit card?The banks have in some cases what is called a cibertarjeta, a virtual card, and if you use one that allows you to not put the numbers of your credit card. I use a cibertarjeta, but in some cases also use the credit card. What I do is not to store ever the information of a credit card. Just in case, and because the reality is that we are all exposed.What do you look for a cybercriminal? The majority of cyber-attacks have as a goal economic profit, cybercrime is the illegal activity more profitable, that is, has an impact annual on the world economy of around 500,000 million dollars, and today moves more money than the drug trade. But there are also cyber-attacks perpetrated by groups activists or by governments, states, and intelligence agencies that what they are looking for generally is the control of information, the power to monitor the communications of its citizens, enemies, hostile states, etc, There are those who say that the past u.s. presidential election that boosted Donald Trump to The White House were manipulated by the Kremlin, there are those who argue that Moscow used the social networks to force the Brexit. What are some such interference in Russian?Interference, Russian or not Russian, they are possible, because in the end it is simply to use the network and the possibilities that gives you to create fake profiles and launch false content on social networks. We are all exposed to false information. But that it is possible to manipulate the intention of citizens to vote, it seems to me that is going too far. In the last american election there was hacking…What happened was that hacked into the account of the Democratic Party and leaked the content of the emails confidential. But it is not hacked into the electoral process, not hacked into the process of counting of votes. But the content of those e-mails did a lot of damage to Hillary Clinton and gave him a lot of wick to Donald Trump to attack it… That was a fact that influenced the political landscape, but I insist that not has been hacked elections. If he won Donald Trump was because the people voted to Donald Trump. It is possible that the hacking of the emails from the Democratic Party to have an influence. Also in Spain, say the political analysts, the bombings of Atocha influenced the elections that were held shortly after.Do the next wars we will fight in cyberspace?There are already wars that are fought in cyberspace. There are already incidents between countries, attacks from one State to another. In 2009, the united States and Israel launched such an attack against a nuclear plant in Iran to curb the iranian nuclear program. Was attack very targeted and sophisticated that he managed to cause serious damage and slow down the nuclear program. And in 2014 there was a cyber attack against Sony Pictures, from the look of North Korea. Obama took it as an attack on the united States and said that the country would respond proportionally and without warning, and the next day the whole North Korea left without Internet. Those things already happen, but for now are isolated incidents. But if you declare an open war sure that they would be more and the impact would be greater.Today it is all computerized. Could a cyber attack leave without electricity or without water to an entire city?The attacks-called critical infrastructure, those that provide essential services to the society, constitute one of the major concerns of the Governments. These structures have special levels of security to prevent someone to be able to sow morning the chaos in Madrid. Although at times to sow chaos in Madrid only needed rain and traffic jams. What the wars in cyberspace will become more frequent, and more bloody?I think that will continue. But like evolve the attacks also evolve security measures and containment. We will see many incidents, but if all goes well I think we will be able to continue living in a civilized society and carrying out our life normally. At least, I hope so.What spain is well armored?Spain has a good level in the field of cybersecurity.
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