باسمه تعالی

امروز مقاله ای خواندم درباره اینکه پنج سال پیش که سربازان آمریکایی با هلی کوپتر به پایگاه جدیدی رفته بودند، هنگام پیاده شدن از هلی کوپتر و پایگاه جدید عکس گرفته بودند و در صفحات شخصی خود در اینترنت منتشر کرده بودند. این عکس ها که با دوربین های دارای GPS گرفته شده بود که امکان Geotagging عکس را دارند، بنابراین حاوی مختصات محل عکس بود. مبارزین عراقی با پیدا کردن سریع این عکس ها مختصات عکس ها را استخراج کرده و با خمپاره به آن نقطه حمله کرده بودند و چهار هلی کوپتر آپاچی را منهدم کرده بودند. مختصات محل گرفتن عکس توسط نرم افزارهای open source مثل ExifTool قابل خواندن و نوشتن است. این به این معنی است که از طریق بسیاری از عکس هایی که در صحفات فیس بوک گذاشته میشود، میشود براحتی محل گرفتن عکس را پیدا کرد.

مقاله دیگری نیز خواندم که در آن راجع به اینکه چطور میشود مختصات کسانی را که به عنوان دوست به صفحه فیس بوک خود اضافه کردید، لحظه به لحظه کنترل کنید. قاعدتا تمام سازمان های جاسوسی و گروه های مافیایی میدانند چطور در این صفحات نفوذ کرده و از آن سوء استفاده کنند. هرچند چنین امکاناتی در اصل برای کنترل رفتار جمعیت و تحت نظر قراردادن آنها طراحی شده است، اما به تدریج کنترل آن از دست دولت آمریکا خارج شده و افراد و گروه های بسیاری از این امکانات برای مقاصد خود استفاده میبرند.

پیش بینی شخصی من این است که دولت آمریکا هنوز کفه بهره برداری اطلاعاتی خود را سنگین تر می بیند و هر لحظه که به این جمع بندی برسد که بهره برداری رقبا بیش از حد تحملش است، اینترنت و شبکه موبایل را حتی برای چند ماه تعطیل کرده تا سیستمی قابل کنترل تر جایگزین آن کند.

مقاله دوم در ذیل آورده شده است:

17 November 2011

We know the Internet has dangers. Everything we put onto the information superhighway should be considered chiseled into marble. Meanwhile, those smartphones that so many of us carry are tantamount to carrying hostile spies in our pockets. If the battery is charged and in the phone, the phone is a homing beacon whether it’s on or off. Now add services such as Facebook, and those excellent phone cameras with geotagging, and there is a combination for disaster.

This has relevancy for our troops in Afghanistan. During certain missions, I would not even take my smartphones. On or off, I did not want to take the chance. Probably made no difference, but it’s better safe than to get our people hurt. It is important that troops make sure that journalists and Interpreters do not take smartphones during certain sorts of missions. Also, if you get blown up, that smartphone might go sailing through the air and be found by the enemy. If they crack into it, they might have a treasure chest. The last unit that I had the honor to cover was 4–4 Cav. They were good about reminding about the smartphones but some other units don’t pay attention.

My Facebook has more than 48,000 readers. They come from just about any country imaginable, and many walks of life. A few days ago, I was browsing through the menus trying to learn more about Facebook, which amounts to a passive intelligence agency of sorts. This is especially true if you have Facebook (or other similar services) on your smartphone.

And so, with my iPhone4s using a Facebook app, I touched the tab called “Nearby.” An incredible amount of “actionable intelligence” scrolled on. One friend was at the Sheraton at the Pentagon. Another was at the Pentagon. I emailed to her and she confirmed. Another was at the VA Hospital in Long Beach. Ruby Tuesday. iHop. Starbucks Fort Polk. Times Square. Pacific Grill. Home sweet home. Octapharma Plasma. China Café. FBI Academy. Tahlequah Dialysis Unit. Columbus State University. AJ’s Pizza. Farelli’s Pizza. Palladium Theatre. Home. Crossroads Christian Church. 24 Hour Fitness – Mission Valley California. The Exchange Hotel.

And on and on. With my iPhone, I could track their smartphones in real time.

Some people were also typing entries (just got on the train) and they were being tracked. One young Thai woman was typing entries and finally posted she was home at her condo in Bangkok. At the same time, another was 12 time zones away at X-treme Rockclimbing Gym in Miami, Florida.

Touch one button and GoogleMaps instantly appears showing the precise location. Touch one more button and there is a choice: “Open in Maps,” “Get Directions,” “Cancel.”

I scrolled down the list. Numerous people said they were home. Their locators pinpointed their locations. I touched the buttons and saw their locations on Google Earth. And there was one Afghan friend. I could see exactly where he was in Kabul. He is an avowed enemy of the Taliban. They have threatened to kill him. I emailed at once saying to turn that thing off. I know where you are. If he did not email back very quickly, I was going to call. He emailed back, confirmed his location and turned it off.

It’s not enough that we are careful ourselves. If we are tooling around Afghanistan together, and only one of us has not turned off the location service, we are both trackable by anyone. No special gear or warrant is needed. If someone’s child has this option switched on, the whole family is trackable, not to mention that the child is easily trackable in real time everywhere he or she goes.

Enough said.