Dear all
Please post comments by Friday at 7pm this week (29th) for the 1% - posts after that time won't be credited.
Governments currently see cyber crime as one of the major threats for the future.
For example:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24077094
What are your thoughts on large databases that hold various details about our lives? Are there advantages in Facebook holding highly detailed datasets on our daily lives? What are the disadvantages of these online datasets if we proffer the information willingly? If these datasets are demanded (e.g. the Census), can we trust the data holders and if not, what should we do?!
Your thoughts please.
Paul
With so much personal data stored online, it’s inevitable that people will fall victim to cybercrime. I experienced it myself a few years ago. Someone had got hold of my details including full name, email address, home telephone number and home address, mobile phone number, and had somehow managed to get the password to my email account. They applied to all sorts of loans, signed me up to a load of charities etc, and I was getting loads of strange phonecalls from people trying to get my bank details. I had a phone call from some guy saying I had won a competition and all I needed to do was give him my bank details so they could take out “£20” as a deposit or something… it was all a load of rubbish of course, fortunately I didn’t lose any money out of it, but I did have to open up a new email and change my phone numbers etc. Anyway, my point with all that was that it is SO easy to become a victim to cybercrime, even when you think you are pretty careful with who you give your details out to.
ReplyDeleteI’m not a fan of facebook either (as I was once harassed on it too – don’t know why I’m such a target, I’m nice really!) and keep my security settings to a maximum level. Being so forth coming with your details, e.g. allowing location based services on your mobile devices, plus ‘checking in’ using whatever app you use to do that, in my opinion is just leaving yourself open to all sorts of unwanted attention, by letting people know exactly where you are and what you are doing (who really cares anyway?)
Not sure how relevant my ramblings are on this topic, but also – what about cyber bullying and the number of suicides it may be responsible for. Just google it to get loads of examples…
Of course, I can see the advantages of allowing personal information to be used by third parties, and for your details to be held in large databases; online shopping, online banking, keeping in touch with people, meeting new people, head hunting online… I’ve even tried using LBS for the first time and was amazed to see that my kindle could give me the weather for, not just my town, but my exact part of town! Amazing!
Still I am very wary of trusting who holds my personal data and I just try to be as reserved as I can be about giving out my details.
It is very worrying when you hear about suicides caused by cyber bullying - it just shows that social media sites really need to be monitored and actions taken to prevent lives being ruined.
DeleteGood point, there have been numerous stories recently, and I think something needs to be done ASAP
Deleteand the point with bulling on line is the comments stay there for the victim to read over and over again and the amount of people that can see the comments can make them feel more victimised. the length of time that things can be stored to keep having an impact is increased. This is relevant to all aspects types of databases. insurance, health, ect
DeleteI agree with you there Andrew, once a comment is posted online it is there forever. Shorter time constraints would help in online bullying cases.
DeleteYeah the misuse of personal data is a big disadvantage. Unfortunately thieves will always be able to crack the security systems and gain access to details. Also the fact that a large percentage of the population are not always aware of the risks associated with online data etc is very worrying. As you have said Natale, you were a victim of fraud, I also had my details used fraudulently, lucky enough I realised before too much damage was done. It goes to show that even though we know to be careful with our details, criminals can still get hold of them. Therefore, people who are not technology savvy can be easy targets. Even today I had a look in my spam folder and I had two requests from "RBS" (lol) asking me to confirm my credit card no., my pin, password, contact details and e-mail. Even without the spelling/grammar mistakes I knew it was fraudulent.
DeleteThe point on bullying and harassment you made goes to prove how technology and information in the wrong hands can destroy lives. It is now so easy to create derogatory information
Re suicides, I seriously think schools need to educate the children regarding the potential misuse of their data and the potential vulnerable position they put themselves in while on the internet.
DeleteAbuse of power is a possibility we live with every day. To protect ourselves we build physical constraints on our own behaviour. We use the expectations we have of other people in our community as a framework for our own behaviour. In turn we hope they act appropriately to us and that we would all act collectively if we were provoked to do so. The greater good and all that.
ReplyDeleteSadly, if there is anything the recent glut of zombie apocalypse shows have taught us, it’s that we live in a dog / zombie / vampire eat dog / human world.
For the last twenty years we have revelled in the freedoms the internet has provided and in doing so we have done it without a care in the world for the tracks we have left behind us and the piles of excreted data we thought had no value.
Today we wonder why we’re getting mugged and spied on or that governments are taking advantage of our liberal behaviour. Congratulations, human nature has just caught up with our virtual selves and it’s time to start learning a new set of social does and don’ts.
My hunch is that we will truly face up to our virtual pasts when we walk down the street and somebody looks through their google glass device at us and smirks.
Whether we become as constrained in our virtual lives as we are IRL remains to be seen but the large databases from the past two decades will and must become little more than an archived record of a more decadent time gradually replaced by online societies with rules and purpose. New and interesting communities will mature, stagnate and die and all of it will be recorded. Then some data scientist will crawl through its fossilised remains.
Time team will probably analyse every bit (see what I did there ;-) ) of Myspace.
Jonathan Sloan
This post is quite similar to the research necessary for Sallys essay on GIS and Privacy. I do believe cyber crime to be one of the major threats of the future if not already. Nowadays people live their lives through the internet and with information gathering techniques becoming more sophisticated this creates more opportunities for crime.
ReplyDeleteThe large databases generated through Facebook worry's me very much. I am a regular user and don’t like to give my information to companies, but I find it hard to do much else apart from privately post to friends without doing it. For example, recently my sister used my account to help her try to win a competition. The major company involved asked for access to her information and 3 others to allow entry. The amount of data that company will collect for the sake of giving away a few prizes is amazing… Although of course this is all voluntary..
I personally find it hard to trust anyone with my information whether they are bound by law or not. By giving anyone your information I believe you have lost all form control of what its used for. How can users fight against this idea?? I suppose you would need to stop giving voluntary access to your data in turn losing access to valuable services. Also, truthfully I don’t believe (currently anyway..) any data holder could convince me to fully trust in their data usage.
I 'de-activated' my Facebook account this week. The term 'deleted' didn't seem right, as I saw I can re-open it at the drop of a hat as if nothing happened and all my data, I assumed, stays put for a very long time.
DeleteA quick google shows I'm sort of right, but that the kind of data ID fraudsters like to get hold of are deleted promptly after 14 days. It doesn't seem like all of your data ever goes away, the Facebook spokesman in the article below suggests that the 'bits persist' but your photos are for all intents and purposes gone. I'm sure a police officer specialising in forensic IT would have something to say about that.
(http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/2493/how-long-does-facebook-keep-data-of-a-deleted-account)
Hi Liam, I noticed that about you, the silent type not liking to give away too much information.
DeleteThe example of your sisters fb competition is great, not only are you giving the company your own data but other peoples contact data too. Personally I am really bad for online competitions (distraction from essay/project writing) but I don't usually go for the ones that request friends details. I always like to get permission from people before I share their details, even if it's just passing their contact number onto another friend.
Having information about our lives stored in databases that could potentially be accessed by hackers is a scary thought, and with the ever increasing use of the internet it is not something we can avoid unless we seclude ourselves away. We just have to hope that our details are not accessed by the wrong people and that security for e.g. the Census is secure enough. I am not sure that Facebook really needs to hold highly detailed datasets on our daily lives, however it is up to the user how much detail they are willing to share – the problem is once you have shared your details on the web there is no turning back it will have been viewed by many even if you then decide to remove you details.
ReplyDeleteAll very true. There's a now not-so-strange culture of wanting to share as much as possible, over the internet, about your life...but wanting complete control over who sees it and what happens to the data. A great article here, which also refers to the awareness raising site Please Rob Me(!)
Deletehttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001671851000093X
UK hip-hopper Ironik learned the hard way about broadcasting your location over social media. One location plus another equals a (linear) route to be followed, Ironik ended up getting mugged outside his house. Cyber crime can still be violent!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1327466/DJ-Ironik-stabbed-muggers-tracked-Twitter.html
I think Helen Flanagan got burgled when she posted on twitter being home alone or something like that. I think common sense needs to used a bit more sometimes.
Deletehttp://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/helen-flanagan-burglary-terror-actress-1962625
DeleteAlthough it is valuable to data analysts to be able to view large datasets that display lots of information, it is equally important that this information is secure and only available to those who intend to use it for proper analysis. It is important for analyst to be able to get hold of datasets which give off a lot of information about ones life, but should this be allowed as there if there is a chance of misuse.
ReplyDeleteFacebook is an example of a database that holds numerous information on our personal information, our geographical location in the past, present and future and other endless data which can be used in many different ways. This data of course is voluntarily given and it is not like someone is forcing you to handover personal information about yourself. But looking at it in another way, Facebook uses different techniques to get information out of a person without that person knowing it. For example, when writing a status in the space bar, if asks you "What is on your mind?" and gives you easy access to check yourself in geographically.
The main disadvantage i feel of these online site is that the user once they have written or given over personal information they cannot take it back. The information has been computerised and seen by potentially thousands.
It is hard to know what to do when data is demanded. When people are given it freely over the internet, surely when it is demanded most people are not going to put up a fuss. The main point over the data given is security. People need to do know why the data is needed, what will be done with it and how will it benefit them in the future.
Agree Finbar, really good point there! Once information is given it cannot be taken back, there will always be a trace of it, held by someone, somewhere!
DeleteIt seems that every move, comment and transaction that we make on a daily basis is leaving a digital trail behind, it is nearly impossible to perform any task without having to provide some amount of personal information online. There is also a bigger issue that many people are unaware that this information is be stored in large databases and is beings used to build up a picture of their daily lives, movements, spending habits etc. If people were more aware of where their information was going there would be more of a concern about willingly offering up so much. As Natale mentioned above there is advantages of information being stored for online shopping, banking etc. but there seem to be an indifferent attitude by some to the information provided and the issue of cybercrime.
ReplyDeleteI personally can’t see the advantages of Facebook holding large datasets of information but this is information that is freely offered without a second thought, so why shouldn’t they take advantage of people’s indifference?. As a user I try to be careful about how much personal information I provide but I’m still surprised on occasion by how much information Facebook can gather.
As for datasets that are demanded such as the Census, there seems to be an innate trust in government agencies, that somehow they will be better able to protect our information. After all they hold valuable information about our lives, social insurance numbers, health care details, tax, to name but a few.
I think I order to function in modern society a person has to give up some rights to their personal information. Everything from shopping to banking to health holds information on an individual. It must not be forgotten that this info does assist us as we go about our daily lives. If a bank loan is needed, its nice to be approved base on your credit history, loyalty vouchers for shopping can knock a few euro/pounds off your bill and if the worst happens, your medical history is available to doctors if you were in an accident and unable to communicate. These are obviously useful datasets and in order to protect this information you just have to lay your trust with these organisations.
ReplyDeleteThe problem I see with datasets is that they can be combined for further use, revealing further patterns or information about a person. For example combining the car registration database with details of traffic movements from number plate recognition systems located at most junction’s reveals your exact travel patterns and times. This is a fairly harmless example but the combination possibilities are endless.
These are local examples but privacy is a global problem, one countries privacy laws won’t protect your online data being harvested by a company located on the other side of the globe. Ultimately the best we can do is to be aware that this problem does exist and take the best actions possible to limit our exposure to it.
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ReplyDeleteI agree, but you're not always in control, friends, family and so-called friends can post information about on the net either innocently or not, and you have very little control of that. People now use facebook to share all sorts of news without thinking about who will see it. I for one, have to deal with a younger sister who loves announcing everything on facebook even stuff about me!! she posted about me going on holiday just before I went - something I would never do, cause then people know your house is empty!! Families!!!
DeleteI feel having large databases is a benefit and speeds up the time gathering information, which in turn reduces cost. I think the problem occurs when information is passed around to freely or sold on. Though there is often an option to stop information about oneself being passed on. This seldom works. As individuals we need to make decisions about what info we provide. Of course certain information we have to give. all that we can do is hope that the people managing that information have sufficient protection in place and do not pass it on.
ReplyDeleteWhether we realize it or not, there are numerous companies and organisations that hold databases with personal information on us - be it facebook, Tesco (if you have a clubcard), phone network provider, bank, the government etc.. and we have to be able to trust that the information they hold will be held in confidence and only used when necessary. It is not just private companies and organizations like facebook we have to worry about being hacked and data misused, the government held data is also at risk - shown by the 25million records of child tax claimants lost on a cd in 2007.
ReplyDeleteAgain as I mention in week 2, in theory data sharing and holding information is beneficial and as Timothy mentioned would reduce the time and cost of gathering information however there is a high potential that information can be misused and once we hand over any personal information we are not in control of what happens to it and who uses it.
I think that if the data held about us is held securely, with our consent and is used only for the purpose it is intended then there is no real problem with it.
ReplyDeleteIt is when data is leaked to other companies or people who in turn use it to our detriment or for something that we have no knowledge about that it becomes problematic.
Far too often we have seen our data not being held securely (the BBC article is a typical example) and we have suffered as a result of it. However, we have often seen the benefits of when our data has been held securely and used for our own benefits. To an extent our census information has been used quite well and the government has taken informed decisions for our local areas with the census information as a basis for these decisions.
Facebook is a good example of a company that holds an array of information about us that we don't even really think about or realise. When signing up for Facebook you give all your contact details and personal information and many don't even really think about it. Then when using Facebook everyone can see where you have been, what you have been doing and who you have been doing it with. This is OK if people know that they are sharing this information and Facebook is recording it, but a lot of the time people don't realise this.
Facebook is open to anyone so people can search for you and then view your pictures, where you live, your personal information, your friends etc. I have heard stories of employers looking at their employees Facebook's and people loosing their jobs and burglars looking at where people are and then robbing their houses. This is important to be aware of and to take adequate precautionary measures.
The census is an example where we have to provide our own personal information by law to the government. We have to trust that the government, as the leaders of our country, will be able to keep our information safe and secure and free from any 3rd party intrusion that we have not consented to. There is not a lot we can really do in terms of the census as we are legally obliged to provide the information, but we have to hope that due to the recent rise of data stealing and cybercrime that the government will take the necessary measures to protect our data.
Facebook is an interesting example of how your own information is being used by big businesses on the internet. The increasing use of Facebook ids as log ins for other sites which in turn feed your activity back to Facebook is a quite unpleasant demonstration of how desirable our information is.
DeleteI doubt that any government is prepared to step in and provide an alternative method of brokering our online identity. While they may find it an extremely useful alternative to the census the risk of being accused of having more sinister motives is too great.
A standardised approach to identity management that let us retain our own information and share as much or as little as possible would be great. You could provide an encrypted string which could only be viewed by passing it back through a web service. You would then get to see who wanted to know about you and when.
Jonathan
Cybercrime is something of which can affect everybody, there are endless stories on the news about fraud involving banking details and other personal data. There have been a lot of comments surrounding the use of data from social networking, but I would like to give an example from the marine industry. Piracy against shipping is on the increase, especially in the Gulf of Aden, the Horn of Africa and the African west coast. Pirates use the internet (as well as radar) to track vessels; this data contains data on the cargo the ship is carrying, its destination and previous navigational routes. Legal use of this data is to assist in anti-collision measures and search and rescue operations; however, data intent for good measure has been used for the wrong purpose. Marine navigational data sets can be very large and using analysis functionality this data can be used for the wrong purpose as well as for good intent. It is very difficult to ‘protect’ this data as often some of the source data is ‘open-source’ thus governance process would be difficult to enforce. Social networks I don’t believe need to hold large amounts of personal data; they are a method of commutation. Often it is up to the user what data they enter and a certain amount of personal responsibility has to be taken, thus the solution is to consider why they need the data and how much risk are you prepared to take on entering your personal data.
ReplyDeleteI think the advantage of people holding database are clear in some case (for example allowing the provision of services tailored to the populations needs/demographics, health care, banking, passports and boarder control to name a few. These are generally government organisations which I feel more comfortable with and I would be happy with more integration / interoperability between department’s databases all these departments always ask for you details proof days after you have sent information to another. How even government agencies break out trust and sell off our details (lots of cold phone calls thanks to the DVLA). However with private companies such as Facebook I feel more uncomfortable as they are taking this information against my will and I am unaware what they may use it for. Database have potential to be abused for example profiling areas and people or tracking peoples location could be used to effect people opportunities by making assumptions about health or life style. With government data e.g census data I think there needs to be control on what it can be used for and by whom. However I feel drawing the line is hard as it would need to be appraised on a case by case bases.
ReplyDeleteat the end of the day i think there need to be alot more awarness raising about the abuse of databases so people can take measures to protect them selves. there is alot of young and vulnerable people who give these issues little thought!!
DeleteI think large databases gathering our data are unavoidable. Even without a social media account, your transactions, what you buy and phone GPS if you have it, leaves a trail. The advantage of storing your daily activities on Facebook (imho) swings 90% in favour of Facebook and companies/apps you allow to see your data, and 10% to you if you want to reflect on what you were doing three years ago that week. When I saw Facebook Timeline promoted with that ad where a baby had an account from birth, that's all the evidence you need that they'd ideally have us all 'plugged in' from the beginning. The disadvantage given we are proffering the information willingly at the time is that data, like that held by Adobe this year, is always liable to be hacked into.
ReplyDeleteI am happy, even excited to participate in the national Census. I do wonder what security surrounds Census data. I think if data was demanded but you didn't trust the source, you would be best subtly falsifying the data, within reason. A digit in the phone number changed here, the month of your birth changed there. Could a savvy 'data-pirate' join-and-relate what you've disclosed to another, thieved database and correct falsified data? Shudder to think.
Large databases have advantages and disadvantages. Pros – joined up medical information could lead to new advances in medical science, the more information doctors and scientists have about medical histories they more they can predict outcomes and more they can look at finding cures. Joined up police information could make us safer. Police can use facebook to track the movements of suspects… But if these databases are created there needs to be safe guards in place. Better security, encryption, new technology. As for the census it is an outdated method of data capture and I don’t believe it is of much use these days. Never mind can you trust the dataholders, can you trust the dataproviders (us) to answer honestly when the census forms arrive? The disadvantages as already stated by a number of people above is the that once you have proffered the information on facebook, even “deleting” the information from your account, does not guarantee that facebook have deleted it. If we don’t trust the dataholders we should be lobbying our MLAs for tighter security, start up a petition, join a group who wants to do something about. Can you ever really remove your digital footprint?? Unlikely, but you could shut down email addresses, close your facebook accounts and stop shopping online!!
ReplyDeleteGuess wherever there's an opportunity to take advantage of a situation it's human nature to do so. (Gosh that sounds depressing!) It would be interesting to count how many databases we include ourselves in each year without actually realising or, as I find myself doing quite frequently, just pressing accept, accept, accept and adding my email address in exchange for gaining access to software. In having a Login profile for most online utilities how secure are our details, or is it just the illusion of security which makes us feel more willing to depart our information?
ReplyDeleteAs many people have already mentioned the geospatial aspect to all this seems to be gaining momentum. Earlier in the year I was lucky enough to be Buenos Aires so thought I'd check in on facebook (showing off basically :-) ) but then I couldn't help but feel I was basically advertising the fact my house was completely unattended 7000 miles away from me. Thankfully I returned to find everything intact, but now still recieve adverts on my newsfeed relating to offers at department stores on the other side of the world...
When however it comes to important information such as medical details I'd still like to hope that the major pros of quickly accessing the data by those who need it is still in a stable and safe place.
I think that there are many advantages and disadvantages to information being held online. With Facebook I am a user I a very cautious to what I post and I would normally contact my friends privately. The main disadvantage of having these online data sets is privacy. I do believe as some of you do that once you give the information you have lost control of what it done with the information. I do believe that there needs to be more laws to protect the information that is put online. However, as Duckham (2007) said “information is only worth protecting if it is also worth attacking”
ReplyDeleteNews agencies have reported stolen databases over the last few years. such include laptops. Having an encrypted,such as bit-locker, database will deter the thieves.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there are any advantages of having Facebook hold our personalized data. I believe the advantage is for them i.e. advertising purposes.
We shouldn't release information so freely as it can be used for marketing purposes.
The uncomfortable feeling that Google knows about you and your life is quite unsettling. If you have a YouTube account, gmail, a page in Google circles and Google+ and an Android phone with an account to the Playstore, Google can quickly record the trends and offer you some relevant suggestions for you. e.g. if you open Google maps, if will suggest places you may wish to visit. this is based on your past locational history and searches. The power of Google knowing this information is quite unsettling and it is up to the end-user to limit the data sent to Google.
Currently there are advertisements on the TV where Microsoft Outlook are promoting their email service and they say something to this effect: 'we don't read your emails unlike gmail.'
Like most things, laws will be passed and servers / equipment made more secure when something drastric happens.
Due to the general availability of social media in the form of websites such as facebook and myspace, it is inevitable that personal data is gathered. While we can limit the amount of data transferred on these websites (by private messaging) we are never entirely sure of what information is actually being collected on a day to day basis. Having said that, data must be collected in this fashion for research purposes. As there are pros and cons to online data collection, I would say that I lean slightly in favour of data collection as it is the best possible tool for assessing the views of the masses.
ReplyDeleteThere are both advantages and disadvantages to databases holding personal details. The most obvious advantage is that without databases, you would be hard-pressed to find a decent system of keeping and managing information. As mentioned before the more medical information shared the more likely it is to evolve and could result in more vaccinations and cures. However there are disadvantages, for example Facebook holds very detailed information about each person, which has resulted in numerous occasions where people have been targeted as a result of their information. Some would argue though that Facebook does not publish any information unwillingly, therefore it is the person who supplies this information responsibility.
ReplyDeleteEven if information is given willingly, there is no guarantee that this information is safe and one major downfall of the internet is that once it is on the internet it is nearly impossible to remove, once its done its done.
I already fills me with fear that information about me is already out there and being used by insurance and claims companies to bombard my mobile with messages.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the question is more about the ability to protect that data, if we consider the amount of data that has been lost by various government agencies over the last few years it frightening.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_government_data_losses
But maybe more worrying is the thought that the information that may be stored on these data bases may be incorrect or inaccurate; Imagine your credit status being affected by an incorrect numeric figure being entered.
There are obvious benefits, this may be a rudimentary example but I like the fact that when I shop on Amazon the information is stored in a database and is used to provide recommendations.
The Facebook issue is an interesting one because it has highlighted the fact that many people don't understand the type of things Facebook can store as information and are perhaps are naïve.
Do the benefits of having large amounts of data to create statistic that can be used enable us to target treatment in medicine out weight the worries of it being compromised, I think it does. When we consider that the Census is used to work out the creation of roads, schools, hospitals etc, the accuracy of the data and peoples willingness to put provide that data is extremely important
I think the collection of data on our everyday lives is just a fact of the world we live in. Although i think there is a difference between what we are knowingly divulging and to whom compared with other aspects of life we maybe unwittingly 'over-share' without realizing. This second aspect is particularly in that because we may not be aware we are doing and also do not know who may be making use of such information.
ReplyDeleteSocial media/internet users need to appreciate that every correspondence or action that is taken on line is digitally registered for eternity, leaving a trail of all activity. I genuinely believe this concept is almost too much for some people and I am not convinced they fully understand that the delete key works in the way they think it does.
However reputable collection f information has vast benefits and is not immune to leaks or misuse by any means. Work I have done in the past has really relied on census data for customer profiling for businesses and it was a real asset given it is freely available and allows much better indications of potential target markets than going 'blind'. Comparing to the cost of CACI Acorn profiling data sets and software it is a great resource for initial high level analysis.
People need to realize that the advice we got as children of not talking to strangers is as relevant today as ever especially when social media users are 'broadcasting' information about themselves to potentially millions of strangers perhaps who may not have the best intentions.
Mike
Found a list on wiki of UK gov data losses/leaks
DeleteI am sure there are more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_government_data_losses
I was a graduate at EDS - that was my first job. One of their big contracts was with the Inland Revenue, and although they took pretty serious steps to reduce the chances of loosing or compromising things, they are the same as any other company - i.e. not perfect, therefore mistakes will be made. Any data that is on a database, especially being transported around on a USB flash drive, will eventually get lost.
DeleteIt is unsettling to think that our data is being harvested, stockpiled and used by both legal and illegal networks. I suppose it is up to us as individuals to attempt to limit the amount and types of date we publish either accidentally or by design. However, I feel that large companies should be more culpable in the case of data loss and that people should be compensated, I wonder if there may also be scope for some manner or crisis management in the case of data loss or identity theft, whereby an individual is able to mitigate the potential harm done by groups when this happens.
ReplyDeleteA KVM is usually a simple device extensively used to control racks of servers (especially as a backup to software control). They are cheap and readily available. I'm surprised a bank wouldn't be using non-standard connectors on their PC's to guard against this kind of thing.
ReplyDelete