psilva's prophecies: The Breach of Things

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

The Breach of Things

Yet another retailer has confessed that their systems were breached and an untold number of victims join the growing list of those who have had their data was stolen. This one could be bigger than the infamous Target breach. I wonder if some day we'll be referring to periods of time by the breach that occurred. 'What? You don't remember the Target breach of '13! Much smaller than the Insert Company Here Breach of 2019!' Or almost like battles of a long war. 'The Breach of 2013 was a turning point in the fight against online crime,' or some other silly notion.

On top of that, a number of celebrity's private photos, stored in the cloud (of course), were privately stolen. I'm sorry but if you are going to take private pictures of yourself with something other than a classic Polaroid, someone else will eventually see them.

Almost everything seems breach'able these days. Last year, the first toilet was breached. The one place you'd think you would have some privacy has also been soiled. Add to that televisions, thermostats, refrigerators and automobiles. And a person's info with a dangerous hug. Companies are sprouting up all over to offer connected homes where owners can control their water, temperature, doors, windows, lights and practically any other item, as long as it has a sensor. Won't be long until we see sensational headlines including 'West Coast Fridges Hacked...Food Spoiling All Over!' or 'All Eastern Televisions Hacked to Broadcast old Gilligan's Island Episodes!'

As more things get connected, the risks of a breach obviously increase. The more I thought about it, I felt it was time to resurrect this dandy from 2012: Radio Killed the Privacy Star for those who may have missed it the first time. Armed with a mic and a midi, I belt out, karaoke style, my music video ‘Radio Killed the Privacy Star.’ Lyrics can be found at Radio Killed the Privacy Star.

Enjoy.