How to Hide your Crypto keys inside an image (one of technological tools to fight crime)

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(Edited)

The motivation behind this post

A recent post @hadji here. The author discussed how to fight crime using the technology, it worth reading! And it is on that basis I am proposing and recommending solution to curb the crime rate by using the latest technology to protect our data. Although the author did not specifically mention this but hidden data into an image is one of the latest technology to curb the crime rate in our society.

  • In my previous post, I started with introduction to the image processing, so this post will serve as continuation to our previously discussed topic on the image processing, you can read our introduction here

Overview

Huge amount of data (text, image, audio and video) are flowing through the internet nowadays and it is always increasing. The exact amount of data flowing daily is so huge that we have not experienced such an era like this before. Thanks to father technology anyway.

To protect the status of this data, especially in crypto world where the most sensitive part of it is crypto — key, has called for ways to improve its security against unethical hackers and unauthorized users who may want to intrude and get access to our various accounts.

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Dominic Smith, Flickr

Insight

Of course, encrypting data through cryptography techniques has long been in existence, In fact, I grew up using encrypted data for my password without knowing the technology behind it, yet we have seen the most powerful companies being hacked.

  • Before discussing our intended topic, it is very important to understand the trend in technology in relation to hacking, we will do this together by study how some of giant tech companies, despite their sensitive nature of their businesses, yet have been hacked:

1. eBay

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[Image source: Flickr]

Don't tell me you don't know eBay!

eBay Inc. is an American electronic commerce company located in San Jose city of California, it was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995. The mission of the founder is to aid the transaction of goods and services including payment via its website. Despite the level of protection incorporated into their system, hacker was able to compromised their system around May 2014 and sensitive data like encrypted passwords was compromised. Although data relating to customers financial information was not tampered with because of the high level of security incorporated into the system. However, the information about how the hackers were able to intrude the system revealed that the hackers used the details of three corporate staffs of the company to get access to the system and that gave them an ample time to invade their database and commit the attrocity.

2. Yahoo

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[Image source: Pixabay]

You should know Yahoo now, not Yahoo Yahoo ooo!

The popular Yahoo is also an American company like eBay, It is a web services and email service provider with its base in Sunnyvale, California. Yahoo Inc. encountered its biggest data breach in 2016 when the hackers were able to intrude into the system and compromised almost 500 million users data including users names, dates of birth, email addresses and telephone numbers. Although information revealed that the intruded passwords were hashed which made it too difficult for the hackers to reveal the information within.

3. CISCO

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[Image source: Pixabay]

How about CISCO!

No doubt, CISCO is the world’s powerful and largest producer of networking devices, they also provides the needed software and hardware that can serve as the backbone of the internet technology across the world. The information about how it was hacked revealed that Cisco’s breach of data happened a day after Microsoft Corp affirmed its systems exposure to the malicious update. The attacked was reported to have come from SolarWinds Corp (Texas-based). The hackers was able to penetrate in by inserting a malicious backdoor into SolarWinds’s Orion software which was later used as an avenue for later attacks. This recent attack was reported to have affected a number of computers in their lab. That is CISCO for you, despite their high level of their tech experts.

4. Google

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[Image source:Pixabay]

Unless you don't have an email and you have not browsed before, don't tell me you don't know google!

Google Inc. is the most popular email services provider in the world, comes after Google in email services is Yahoo Inc. Google also offers search engine services like search engine optimization e.t.c.

Despite its high level of tech experts in security, yet there was once a misconception in the public domain which reflects possibility of certain level of compromised in their system. Although, Google did not officially issue a message indicating that their system has been hacked, of course it will take high level of compromise before such a company that is dealing with people's data will issue such a sensitive statement but the apology message sent on company's dashboard status indicates something of such.

5. Costco Wholesale

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[Image source: Flickr]

Costco Wholesale is also an American multinational corporation. It was ranked in 2020, as the 5th largest retailer of goods such as organic foods, choice and prime beef, rotisserie chicken, and wine in the world.

This company’s online photo center with almost 201,500 staffs was hacked between June 2014 and July of 2015 and the customers’ data such as credit card information, emails and password was compromised.

6. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China

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[Image source: Flickr]

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China is one of China’s largest banks with almost 445,106 staffs, it was hacked by two brothers in 1999 and almost $31,000 was carved away before being caught by the police officers.

7. AT&T

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[Image source: Flickr]

AT&T Inc. is also an American company, registered in Delaware but based in Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. with 247,800 total number of employees was hacked through a breach within the communications and entertainment conglomerate which led to the loss of millions.

Having create an awareness about the reasons why there is need to constantly involving in research in data security field, by sighting some of the giant tech companies and how they have been hacked in the past. I will like to pause here for now.

My next post is going to address our intended topic for today which is 'How to Hide your Crypto keys inside an image'.

Thanks for reading through and I do hope to read your beautiful comment.

RESOURCES
Cisco Latest Victim of Russian Cyber-Attack Using SolarWinds
Was Google hacked?
The 15 biggest data breaches of the 21st century
Was Google hacked?
15 Biggest Companies That have been Hacked



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11 comments
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Haha... I was waiting to read a DIY post on how I can hide my keys in images. Anyway, will be waiting for the follow up post. Don't let take too long abeg.

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Me, too. The old bait and switch. lol I'll be waiting for the actual title of the article to be talked about. :-)

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