I think a big part of the problem is that technologically inept people are running software that defaults to “allow all jerks”. The advice:
There’s an easy way to stop them. Put a password on your meeting, “disable screen sharing, annotation, and whiteboard, and allow only the host to unmute and enable sharing.”
Why doesn’t Zoom have that stuff set up that way in the first place? I first ran into this sort of problem when I was lazily installing some version of Linux way back when. The machine got hacked right away (overnight, would be within minutes these days) with the hacker exploiting an insecure service that was started up by default. It’d be nice for software providers to lock down their software rather than depend on the user (who might not have a clue why it’s such a problem) to do so.
My experience is well over a decade old, but I don’t see much evidence things have changed.
I tried to setup my own internet services. My first mistake was to rely on Open Source software. As you say they are set up by default to be as insecure as possible. Because it was Open Source, the documentation was sketchy to non-existent. (“It’s in the source code, dummy.” was a common response.) So even when you are trying to do the right thing, you have no idea what you’ve done is the right thing, or if it bade things worse, or if it just hid the problems behind pretty error messages.
After the spammers found my mail server the second time, I gave up and started paying. Not using “free” services, but actually sending real money on a monthly or annual basis, because I don’t want to be openly sold to the highest bidder. There are few out there that seem to cater to curmudgeons like me.
It’s too late now, but there should have been a market for “internet appliances” were one could buy a secure server for mail, weblogs, “Internet-of-Things”, chat, videoconferences, etc., and not be dependent on the Evil Inc. who currently monopolize Internet services. I blame Open Source for taking all the monetary incentive out of software services like that.
(The same goes for micro-payments. Why don’t all those newspapers form a consortium where I sign up once and they all share based on my clicks to their articles? No way I’m going to sign up to every Podunk News just to read one article a year, but I would pay for a service where they receive a nominal amount to allow me to be able to see any of their articles when they have something of interest.)
“My first mistake was to rely on Open Source software. As you say they are set up by default to be as insecure as possible.”
Not my experience AT ALL with open source software. The default I see on most open source network software these days is heavily locked down, with only minimal function enabled by default. If applicable, the install scripts involved setting an administrative password for the service.
Documentation quality has gotten a lot better over the last couple decades, though there’s often a problem of finding outdated docs that don’t work with the current version of code.
I am just waiting for a participant at a Zoom meeting to write
mene mene tekel upharsin
on the white board. In ancient Hebrew and from right to left, of course.
But will anyone “get” the reference?
I’m assuming you are referring to a Zoom meeting at NBCNews, CNN, NYT or WaPo?
The writing on the wall, book of Daniel.
Sure, who wouldn’t “get” that reference. Words written by a mysterious hand on the wall of Belshazzar’s palace, and interpreted by Daniel as predicting the doom of the king and his dynasty. The incident is described as follows: Once when King Belshazzar was banqueting with his lords and drinking wine from the golden vessels of the Temple of Yhwh, a man’s hand was seen writing on the wall certain mysterious words. Frightened by the apparition, the king ordered his astrologers to explain the inscription; but they were unable to read it. Daniel was then summoned to the royal palace; and the king promised him costly presents if he would decipher the inscription. Daniel read it “Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin” and explained it to mean that God had “numbered” the kingdom of Belshazzar and brought it to an end; that the king had been weighed and found wanting; and that his kingdom was divided and given to the Medes and Persians (Dan. v. 1-28).
Piece of cake. BTW, that’s an awful lot of information packed into four words…
I think a big part of the problem is that technologically inept people are running software that defaults to “allow all jerks”. The advice:
Why doesn’t Zoom have that stuff set up that way in the first place? I first ran into this sort of problem when I was lazily installing some version of Linux way back when. The machine got hacked right away (overnight, would be within minutes these days) with the hacker exploiting an insecure service that was started up by default. It’d be nice for software providers to lock down their software rather than depend on the user (who might not have a clue why it’s such a problem) to do so.
My experience is well over a decade old, but I don’t see much evidence things have changed.
I tried to setup my own internet services. My first mistake was to rely on Open Source software. As you say they are set up by default to be as insecure as possible. Because it was Open Source, the documentation was sketchy to non-existent. (“It’s in the source code, dummy.” was a common response.) So even when you are trying to do the right thing, you have no idea what you’ve done is the right thing, or if it bade things worse, or if it just hid the problems behind pretty error messages.
After the spammers found my mail server the second time, I gave up and started paying. Not using “free” services, but actually sending real money on a monthly or annual basis, because I don’t want to be openly sold to the highest bidder. There are few out there that seem to cater to curmudgeons like me.
It’s too late now, but there should have been a market for “internet appliances” were one could buy a secure server for mail, weblogs, “Internet-of-Things”, chat, videoconferences, etc., and not be dependent on the Evil Inc. who currently monopolize Internet services. I blame Open Source for taking all the monetary incentive out of software services like that.
(The same goes for micro-payments. Why don’t all those newspapers form a consortium where I sign up once and they all share based on my clicks to their articles? No way I’m going to sign up to every Podunk News just to read one article a year, but I would pay for a service where they receive a nominal amount to allow me to be able to see any of their articles when they have something of interest.)
“My first mistake was to rely on Open Source software. As you say they are set up by default to be as insecure as possible.”
Not my experience AT ALL with open source software. The default I see on most open source network software these days is heavily locked down, with only minimal function enabled by default. If applicable, the install scripts involved setting an administrative password for the service.
Documentation quality has gotten a lot better over the last couple decades, though there’s often a problem of finding outdated docs that don’t work with the current version of code.
I am just waiting for a participant at a Zoom meeting to write
mene mene tekel upharsin
on the white board. In ancient Hebrew and from right to left, of course.
But will anyone “get” the reference?
I’m assuming you are referring to a Zoom meeting at NBCNews, CNN, NYT or WaPo?
The writing on the wall, book of Daniel.
Sure, who wouldn’t “get” that reference. Words written by a mysterious hand on the wall of Belshazzar’s palace, and interpreted by Daniel as predicting the doom of the king and his dynasty. The incident is described as follows: Once when King Belshazzar was banqueting with his lords and drinking wine from the golden vessels of the Temple of Yhwh, a man’s hand was seen writing on the wall certain mysterious words. Frightened by the apparition, the king ordered his astrologers to explain the inscription; but they were unable to read it. Daniel was then summoned to the royal palace; and the king promised him costly presents if he would decipher the inscription. Daniel read it “Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin” and explained it to mean that God had “numbered” the kingdom of Belshazzar and brought it to an end; that the king had been weighed and found wanting; and that his kingdom was divided and given to the Medes and Persians (Dan. v. 1-28).
Piece of cake. BTW, that’s an awful lot of information packed into four words…