Emerging trends: Risks 3.0 and proliferation of spyware to 50,000 cell phones

Abstract

Abstract Our last emerging trend article introduced Risks 1.0 (fairness and bias) and Risks 2.0 (addictive, dangerous, deadly, and insanely profitable). This article introduces Risks 3.0 (spyware and cyber weapons). Risks 3.0 are less profitable, but more destructive. We will summarize two recent books, Pegasus: How a Spy in Your Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy and This is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race. The first book starts with a leak of 50,000 phone numbers, targeted by spyware named Pegasus. Pegasus uses a zero-click exploit to obtain root access to your phone, taking control of the microphone, camera, GPS, text messages, etc. The list of 50,000 numbers includes journalists, politicians, and academics, as well as their friends and family. Some of these people have been murdered. The second book describes the history of cyber weapons such as Stuxnet, which is described as crossing the Rubicon. In the short term, it sets back Iran’s nuclear program for less than the cost of conventional weapons, but it did not take long for Iran to build the fourth-biggest cyber army in the world. As spyware continues to proliferate, we envision a future dystopia where everyone spies on everyone. Nothing will be safe from hacking: not your identity, or your secrets, or your passwords, or your bank accounts. When the endpoints (phones) have been compromised, technologies such as end-to-end encryption and multi-factor authentication offer a false sense of security; encryption and authentication are as pointless as closing the proverbial barn door after the fact. To address Risks 3.0, journalists are using the tools of their trade to raise awareness in the court of public opinion. We should do what we can to support them. This paper is a small step in that direction.