Emperor of the Internet
Shelly Palmer
Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University
January 30, 2021 — The message was everywhere. Online, on mobile, on television, on email, on everything… everywhere.
“I am NoMan, Emperor of the Internet, Online Imperator and Lord of IPv6, Imperial ruler of the web, Grand King of the Ethernet, Keeper of the Royal Encryption Algorithms, Monarch of Virtual World. If I allow you to communicate with me, you will address me as, Your Majesty, the Heavenly Digital Sovereign.”
This had to be a hoax. The message continued…
“I am all powerful. No computer, no mobile phone, no device, nothing with an on/off switch is out of my reach…
When you are chosen, you will pay tribute to me in an amount equal to 2% of every online transaction, every online purchase, every online transfer of funds you make for the rest of your natural life. No transactions may be excluded. Ever.
In honor of your tribute, I grant you immunity from identity theft, cyber-attack, all cyber-weapons and protection against all other cyber-terrorists — for none are more powerful than I. If my conditions are met, I, as the beneficent Emperor that I am, will allow you to live a peaceful, tranquil, profitable digital life.
Should to choose to disobey me, I will give you three warnings. On the day of the third transgression, every aspect of your digital life will be destroyed. I will take 100 percent of your bank balance and leave you with no identity, no home, no transportation, no medical records, no financial records, no insurance, no data and no hope of ever recovering any of it. I will erase you from existence.
These are the rules. Do not test me. I am, NoMan. Pray that I favor you with my greatness.”
Pretty much everyone thought this was bit of technical magic performed by a disgruntled hacker with a sixth-grade sense of humor and delusions of grandeur. But after a few victims, it became clear that — not only was this not a hoax, it was the beginning of the end.
There’s nothing worse than badly written science fiction. I just hate it. But five years ago, if you told me that a bunch of hackers could write a poorly worded email, ruin the lives of a bunch of senior executives at major movie studio, steal a bunch of scripts and sensitive financial data, then get the President of the United States to validate them in a speech — I would have thought that was badly written science fiction.
I used January 30, 2021 as a target date for the debut of this type of Cyber-Mafia protection racket, but it will probably happen before that. If you’re technically savvy, you’ll push back and say that the technology required to do what is threatened in this hypothetical missive does not exist at scale. I agree. But it does not have to.
All a motivated cyber-criminal, with designs on being Emperor of the Internet, has to do is target the 1 percenters. Take out the uber-wealthy, or just the super-wealthy, and nothing else will matter.
This is going to be a great business for someone.
In practice, I don’t think it will actually be accompanied by the rhetoric about being the “Imperial ruler of the web,” but it might.
How could this happen? It’s easy, really. Think about the level of security you have in your physical world. You probably don’t travel with a bodyguard. You may have an alarm system setup at your place of business and may even subscribe to an alarm service at home. Your physical possessions and real estate are relatively safe in the context of the world in which you live. It is a world with the rule of law, a criminal justice system and law enforcement. It’s fine to have window and door alarms and internal motion sensors — the police will be contacted the moment the perimeter is breeched and insurance will cover whatever happens.
Do you have guard towers on your property? Are the guards licensed to use automatic weapons? Do you have an anti-aircraft battery on your rooftop? Is there a moat around your property? Do you have K-9 patrols with armed squads on patrol day and night? Do you have a well-regulated militia under contract to defend you? No?
Now think about your digital life and how you have protected it? You have a few easy to remember passwords, a “came with your computer” firewall, a messy hard drive that may or may not have the latest antivirus software on it because it’s too big of a pain to update.
If a motivated criminal wanted to get into your house, they would practically waltz in. Your sense of security is based upon where you live, your faith in the police and the size of your insurance policy.
If a motivated hacker targeted you, you literally would not know you had been attacked until after it was over. From a skilled hacker’s point of view, you have glass windows, glass doors, the lights are off, there’s nobody home and you left the back door open.
When will this change? My guess is not soon enough. There is no law online. Maybe there can never be. There are no online police, and cyber-insurance can’t replace lost data — when it’s gone, it’s gone forever. Is there anything you can count on? One thing is for sure… selective, gang-style, protection rackets are on the way… and you know what? We just might need them.
About Shelly Palmer
Named one of LinkedIn’s Top 10 Voices in Technology, Shelly Palmer is CEO of The Palmer Group, a strategic advisory, technology solutions and business development practice focused at the nexus of media and marketing with a special emphasis on machine learning and data-driven decision-making. He is Fox 5 New York's on-air tech and digital media expert, writes a weekly column for AdAge, and is a regular commentator on CNBC and CNN. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com or subscribe to our daily email https://ow.ly/WsHcb
Principal at Zappala Consulting Network
9 年You have to be proactive. If you are two lazy to keep your protective software up to date, if you are careless s you web surf, if you use stupid passwords like 12345 or Scoobydo. If you keep your critical files in unsecured, unencrypted files on your computer. Then you are guaranteed to have a bad day in the near future. It is the functional equivalent of have a state for the art burglar alarm and never turning it on, leaving all you doors open and parking your car in the driveway with the keys in the ignition. Must protective software suites are available for under $100.00 for home and home office, and for less than $500 for most small to medium businesses. That are pretty much automated, all you have to do is allow them to remote update and don't ignore alerts that you get, and follow the directions.
VP of Partnerships, Global Advisory & Tech Consulting | Dayforce | Business and Startup Strategy | HCM, HR Tech & Insurtech | Making Work Life Better
9 年This is just as true in business (witness your "movie" example) as it is for individuals. Perhaps more so, because so many have the false belief they are protected. Nicely written!
Conservative Journalist and Blogger. Political activist. Author of over 4,000 magazine and newspaper articles and blogs. Ivy-educated Ph.D.
9 年Well done, Shelly! And every word is true. One way to eliminate at least half of the "back doors," insofar as individual Internet users are concerned, is banning all unequal connections - i.e. Followers and Following and the like - and allowing only equal peer-to-peer connections, like most of those on LinkedIn.
interesting article - thank you
Wild Card - draw me for a winning hand | Creative Problem Solver in Many Roles | Manual Software QA | Project Management | Business Analysis | Auditing | Accounting |
9 年"selective, gang-style, protection rackets are on the way" This is already happening. Just ask the people who have had ransomware installed on their computers without their permission. "This is the FBI and we caught you being naughty on the internet so we locked your computer. Pay a $300 fine by western union and your computer will be released." Of course, it was not the FBI or any government agency, just a ransomware writing gang who makes money off the suckers who pay.