FBI

It's remarkably easy to spoof telephone numbers i.e. to make any number one chooses to show up in the caller ID of the recipient's phone. So if a criminal is going to do that, why not choose someone special?

It's almost too convenient: as the USA tries to find support for its push against Iran, the USA has managed to find two men it says were behind major ransomware attacks ranging from 2015 until September 2018. They are Iranian.

Even more bizarre is that some nit at the FBI thinks that a US assistant Attorney General is being original, perhaps even clever, by calling ransomware attacks "21st Century Blackmail." There are some who will be delighted at the news: US President Trump and his pro-Israeli groups have been angling for any persuasion they can to encourage action against Iran by other countries, almost all of which do not line up with the USA. Others will stand back and say "Really?"

Last week, the USA's FBI "unsealed" an indictment against a North Korean who they say was involved in the hacking organisation "Lazarus" which has been responsible for, amongst other things, the WannaCry virus that brought government, corporate and personal computers running Microsoft Windows software, or Linux machines running Windows emulation software, to their knees.

Only a few days ago, the internet was abuzz with news that John McAfee had taken to Russian TV to explain the ease with which the FBI could break into a phone (or any other device) they wanted. Now he's saying it was all a hoax.

This might just be the most subversive interview ever given on TV. For sure, it's the video the FBI, DoJ and Manhattan DA don't want you to see. But more than that: for all phone and computer users, it's a massive wake-up call. Good morning, John MacAfee, and thank you. We think.