Russians hack home internet connections, here is how to protect yourself

Sandeep Nair Narayanan, Anupam Joshi and Sudip Mittal

In late April, the top federal cybersecurity agency, US-CERT, announced that Russian hackers had attacked internet-connected devices throughout the U.S., including network routers in private homes. Most people set them up – or had their internet service provider set them up – and haven’t thought much about them since. But it’s the gateway to the internet for every device on your home network, including Wi-Fi connected ones. That makes it a potential target for anyone who wants to attack you, or, more likely, use your internet connection to attack someone else.

As graduate students and faculty doing research in cybersecurity, we know that hackers can take control of many routers, because manufacturers haven’t set them up securely. Router administrative passwords often are preset at the factory to default values that are widely known, like “admin” or “password.” By scanning the internet for older routers and guessing their passwords with specialized software, hackers can take control of routers and other devices. Then they can install malicious programs or modify the existing software running the device.

Once an attacker takes control

There’s a wide range of damage that a hacker can do once your router has been hijacked. Even though most people browse the web using securely encrypted communications, the directions themselves that let one computer connect to another are often not secure. When you want to connect to, say, theconversation.com, your computer sends a request to a domain name server – a sort of internet traffic director – for instructions on how to connect to that website. That request goes to the router, which either responds directly or passes it to another domain name server outside your home. That request, and the response, are not usually encrypted.

A hacker could take advantage of that and intercept your computer’s request, to track the sites you visit. An attacker could also attempt to alter the reply, redirecting your computer to a fake website designed to steal your login information or even gain access to your financial data, online photos, videos, chats and browsing history.

In addition, a hacker can use your router and other internet devices in your home to send out large amounts of nuisance internet traffic as part of what are called distributed denial of service attacks, like the October 2016 attack that affected major internet sites like Quora, Twitter, Netflix and Visa.

Has your router been hacked?

An expert with complex technical tools may be able to discover whether your router has been hacked, but it’s not something a regular person is likely to be able to figure out. Fortunately, you don’t need to know that to kick out unauthorized users and make your network safe.

The first step is to try to connect to your home router. If you bought the router, check the manual for the web address to enter into your browser and the default login and password information. If your internet provider supplied the router, contact their support department to find out what to do.

If you’re not able to login, then consider resetting your router – though be sure to check with your internet provider to find out any settings you’ll need to configure to reconnect after you reset it. When your reset router restarts, connect to it and set a strong administrative password. The next step US-CERT suggests is to disable older types of internet communications, protocols like telnet, SNMP, TFTP and SMI that are often unencrypted or have other security flaws. Your router’s manual or online instructions should detail how to do that.

After securing your router, it’s important to keep it protected. Hackers are very persistent and are always looking to find more flaws in routers and other systems. Hardware manufacturers know this and regularly issue updates to plug security holes. So you should check regularly and install any updates that come out. Some manufacturers have smartphone apps that can manage their routers, which can make updating easier, or even automate the process.

Sandeep Nair Narayanan, Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Anupam Joshi, Oros Family Professor and Chair, Department of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Sudip Mittal, Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Local governments’ cybersecurity crisis in eight charts

Donald Norris, Anupam Joshi, Laura Mateczun and Tim Finin

Within the past few weeks, two large American cities learned that their information systems were hacked. First, Atlanta revealed that it had been the victim of a ransomware attack that took many of the city’s services offline for nearly a week, forcing police to revert to taking written case notes, hampering the Atlanta’s court system and preventing residents from paying water bills online. Then, Baltimore’s 311 and 911 dispatch systems were taken offline for more than 17 hours, forcing dispatchers to log and process requests manually. Both attacks could have been prevented. And they are more evidence of the poor, if not appalling, state of local government cybersecurity in the United States.

We know this because in 2016, in partnership with the International City/County Management Association, we conducted the first-ever nationwide survey of local government cybersecurity. Among other things, the survey data showed just how poorly local governments practice cybersecurity.

Read the full article on The Conversation.

Dr. Damon Bradley is a NASA Scientist and an international DJ. He is an example of one who can reach the sky and live the dream. Dr. Bradley,  a DJ and creator of TechnoFist, will be the featured artist at the PROMISE Cookout today, 1:00 PM, Centennial Park, Columbia/Ellicott City, Maryland.

Damon Bradley received his PhD from UMBC. The Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (CSEE) department interviewed him several years ago, when he was a student. Here is a quote from 2012.

“Originally from South Philadelphia, Damon got his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Penn State. In 2006, Damon came to UMBC and is now a pursuing his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. When he’s not studying, Damon works as founder and group leader of the Digital Signal Processing Technology Group at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, takes care of his family, and occasionally enjoys electronic dance music at nightclubs in Washington D.C. and New York City.”

Things have literally “taken flight” since then!

SPACE

Damon Bradley is now Damon Bradley, PhD, and he co-leads projects that will put instruments into space. The NASA website quotes Dr. Bradley:

“Basically, what we’re doing is miniaturizing a 100-year-old radio receiver signal-processing technology,” said ECHOES co-Principal Investigator Damon Bradley, who led the development of the digital signal-processing system for the radiometer on NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP mission, which tracks global soil-moisture levels. “ECHOES is essentially a low-frequency radar that uses space-based digital-signal processing, as on SMAP, but for probing the ionosphere as opposed to mapping global soil-moisture levels.”

Goddard’s Shing Fung (left), Mark Adrian (standing), and Damon Bradley (right) are miniaturizing a century-old technology for studying the ionosphere potentially from a constellation of CubeSats. Bradley is holding an electronics board that the team will migrate to the Goddard Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory later this year for testing.
Credits: NASA/W. Hrybyk

MUSIC

On the music scene, The Resident Advisor notes that he has been a veteran of the music scene since the 90’s, but that he started DJ’ing years later.

He started DJ’ing around 2007, playing progressive house for a few parties and UMBC’s student radio station while in graduate school. He returned to his techno roots in 2010 and started DJ’ing techno in 2015 in Washington DC.

From the Resident Advisor:

Damon is the creator of TechnoFist and is also one of the co-founders of SEQUENCE in DC. Currently, he’s focused on exposing the boundaries of techno to as many people as possible, and he does this using the TechnoFist group and TechnoFist podcast he created in 2014 and 2015, respectively. He curates both new and classic techno on TechnoFist which now has over 1,200 members, mostly from New York, Washington DC, and various countries in Europe. Damon has played in various places in Washington DC, including Jimmy Valentines, and Dr. Clocks Nowhere Bar for the Degenerate, Void Archive, and Phonic parties. More recently, Damon joined forces with Ron Jackson, Jacob Knibb, Boss Ross, and Juana to form SEQUENCE, an ambitious underground techno event series that aims to push the Washington DC techno scene as far as possible.

You can hear more of TechnoFist on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/technofist

STEM

In addition to being a leader at NASA, and a DJ, Dr. Bradley gives talks around the world. He was a speaker at the recent USA Science and Engineering Festival, where the bio notes that his NASA Digital Signal Processing Technology Group won an award, and that he is an advocate for STEM literacy.

 “The group recently received the NASA Applied Engineering Technology Directorate Win New Work Award for having achieved 10 Internal Research and Development wins over a four-year period while being staffed by only five group members. He has a special passion for inspiring young students in science literacy and STEM. He is also the founder of the National Society of Black Engineers, Greenbelt Space Chapter, which has been running strong since 2004.”

Dr. Damon Bradley. Photo: USA Science and Engineering Festival.

TODAY

DJ Damon Bradley will be the featured artist at the 2018 PROMISE Friends and Family Cookout, today.

• Date: Saturday, May 5, 2018
• Time: 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
• Location: Centennial Park – Pavilion D, MD
• Address: 10000 MD-108 Ellicott City, MD 21042

The music will go until approximately 2:30 PM, and then graduates will be recognized. (Program pushed up to avoid pending rain.)

Damon Bradley first came to the PROMISE Cookout many years ago, when he was thinking about going to graduate school. He spent time meeting other people, and talking with Dr. Janet Rutledge, who is one of the PROMISE Founders, CSEE faculty, and current Dean of The Graduate School at UMBC. He says that coming back to the PROMISE cookout brings him “full circle.”

DJ Damon Bradley’s participation in the PROMISE Cookout is sponsored by the Graduate Student Development Unit, of The Graduate School at UMBC.

References: 

NASA (2017), NASA Team Miniaturizes Century-Old Technology for Use on CubeSats, https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-team-miniaturizes-century-old-technology-for-use-on-cubesatsnasa-team-miniaturizes

Resident Advisor Ltd (2018).  Damon Bradley, (DJ Biography),   https://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/damonbradley/biography

UMBC (2012)  Damon C. Bradley, Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering: Inspiring Innovation, https://www.csee.umbc.edu/2012/10/damon-c-bradley/

USA Science and Engineering Festival (2018). Damon Bradley, Research Engineer, NASA, Speaker. https://usasciencefestival.org/people/dr-damon-bradley/

We just obtained a great opportunity for an upcoming May or recent graduate at VALIC in Linthicum, MD.  The Enrollment Specialist position will allow you to work alongside financial advisors as you work with teachers and staff in the K-12 educational system.  Full position details can be found below.  If you are interested, apply to position 9298981 in UMBCworks ASAP. 

Excel with VALIC
With the combined strength and diverse products of AIG member companies and VALIC powering your efforts, you can provide a uniquely high level of personalized retirement and financial planning— and make a real difference in the lives of those who deserve your help.

Our Enrollment Specialists have the opportunity to assist existing & potential clients with employer-sponsored retirement plan enrollments including:
•    Prepare and help clients complete contracts & related product materials during the enrollment process
•    Educate potential clients on product focus
•    Participate in firm or client sponsored events & deliver on-site education of the client’s employer-sponsored plan
•    Partner with a Senior Financial Advisor within assigned territory when client requires planning advice on investments outside employer sponsored-plan or to consolidate assets
•    Adhere to the highest compliance standards

What We Provide:
•    Existing employer relationships with current retirement plan participants to contact
•    Marketing support including mailings, email blasts and customized flyers
•    Company-provided technology, including equipment, helpdesk assistance, client management and financial planning tools
•    Pay for performance compensation schedule
•    Competitive benefits package with immediate access to medical, dental, vision, life and 401K with match
•    Educational support toward certification(s), license(s) and career development
•    Ongoing coaching and mentoring by a Senior Financial Advisor

What You Need:
•    Self-motivated with a strong drive to succeed
•    Ability to obtain FINRA Series 7 and 66 or 6 and 63 license(s) with VALIC sponsorship
•    Ability to obtain active state variable life and health license with VALIC sponsorship
•    Ability to quickly earn trust and build lasting relationships
•    Eagerness to learn the financial services industry and be mentored by a Senior Financial Advisor
•    College graduate with demonstrated success in GPA and extra-curricular activities welcome to apply

 VALIC Overview
The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company ("VALIC") and VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc., subsidiaries of AIG, is an insurance, retirement and financial planning company that services clients in the not for profit, as well as the for-profit sectors. We are best known for the work that we do in the 403(b) space where our Advisors partner with clients that work in public school districts, universities and hospitals. Additionally, we also work with clients in governmental offices and, because of the vast product and services that we offer, we also have clients in the private sector. VALIC is a national company that is headquartered in Houston, TX. We have 48 district offices across the country with just under 1,500 financial advisors. VALIC’s roots date back to 1955. In 1964, we implemented the very first 403b plan in a public school district. We regularly rank in the “top 3” against our direct competitors and in the K-12 market.