Blockchain hacked. Once hailed as unhackable, blockchains are now getting hacked. That was the headline of an article by Mike Orcutt that was published on MIT Technology Review online, on February 19th, 2019. Here is an extract from the article: “Early last month [January – Editor], the security team at Coinbase noticed something strange going on in Ethereum Classic, one of the cryptocurrencies people can buy and sell using Coinbase’s popular exchange platform. Its blockchain, the history of all its transactions, was under attack. An attacker had somehow gained control of more than half of the network’s computing power and was…
Here is how to implement a national cyber defence system
It was reported earlier that USA has accused China of Cyber Stalking, something which China refuted in the strongest terms. How can countries avoid such in future? The extent of cyber challenges are rising every day. The use of cyber intelligence, cyber weaponry and cyber tactics in national security management are top agenda for any government. This is the future of national security. Sophisticated weaponry and defence systems are taking the largest share of the R&D budgets. The battlefield is no longer geographical. It is cyber or cloud based. As such, it causes insecurity to everyone globally. Is Uganda prepared…
Your on-line activity: The emperor has no clothes
A story is told of an Emperor who allowed himself to be dressed in the finest suite of new clothes, which he had been told “had the special capability that it was invisible to anyone who was either stupid or not fit for his position.” In his special suite, he held a procession through town, never admitting that he was too unfit and stupid to see what he was wearing. He was afraid that people would think that he was stupid. The story goes on that “all the townspeople wildly praised the magnificent clothes of the emperor, afraid to admit…
How to avoid being a cyber-crime victim, part 2
One of the cyber crime investigators creeds is that “no cyber criminal is too smart to leave no digital traces.” Smart thieves leave few traces. But there will always be something to link the crime to a suspect. And that is how a cyber-crime investigator established the name and mobile number of the suspect and gave the information to Uganda Police, who then obtained a court order for a call log printout from the telecom company. Together with the email header information, the physical location of the suspect’s office was established. With a search warrant, police visited the suspect’s offices…