A user (and podcast host) that I follow recently posted a picture of this on his Twitter feed:
Seems a little odd, doesn’t it? Some random person will pay you $50 a month to take this little box, and plug it into your network at home, work, wherever. They will even pay to ship it to you, and even pay for the return shipping.
Wow, awfully generous of them, huh?
Would YOU do it? I hope you would answer, “Oh, HEYLL NAW!”
I hope those of you who follow my blog or social media can practically hear ALL of the alarm bells going off in my head. So many questions come to mind. For starters:
- What exactly does this “very small credit card sized computer” do?
- How long are you supposed to keep it plugged in?
This is one of the times where being a pessimist by nature comes in handy. My mind immediately tells me not to trust this, and is quite likely to do very very bad things. Like what, you ask?
- Search your local network for valuable information, such as financial, personal, or confidential info
- Scan your network for any weak spots that could be exploited
- Quietly install software on computers that record keystrokes, and possibly extract username and password info
Cyber criminals are becoming much bolder lately, and have been enlisting the help of innocent people to help them break into systems and wreak havoc. This is one of the methods they use. I mean, who doesn’t want free money??
What should you do? Keep your guard up, and be especially skeptical of things. Like the saying goes, “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is”. The world of cyberspace is a great place to perhaps develop a pessimistic and skeptical attitude.
Nowadays, it’s not so much a question of IF your information is stolen. Companies and people need to start operating under the premise that they have already had their information stolen, and should work to identify and close any gaps in the armor, so to speak.
Secure, In Style 