Communication's Silver Lining: The Swarm Reacts!
When bad things happen, sometimes good things come from it.
It would have been better if the bad thing had never of happened in the first place, but we can't turn back time. All we can do is move forward and try to learn from our mistakes.
There seems to be a trend here.
Belemo gets his Metamask hacked and already I've seen like a dozen people be like:
Oh shit that could have EASILY happened to me.
The Hive has been poked.
Do we think that if someone gets hacked on Bitcoin or Litecoin or Dogecoin or Shiba Inu or Chainlink or Uniswap or... do we actually think that these networks are communicating with each other in any kind of meaningful way? Spoiler alert: they aren't
Sure we've got crypto Twitter, a handful of Reddits, Discord, Telegram, and insert_web2_social_media_here, but we must admit that most crypto networks are grossly disconnected from their underlying communities. Talking to other people who hold the same tokens as us on centralized social media is a tiny subset of the actual users on that crypto network.
The Swarm has been activated.
Meanwhile, here on Hive, one person gets hacked and EVERYONE can see it. It's at the tippy top of the trending tab. One of our own was gutted in the streets and anyone who clicks on the trending tab is gonna be like:
Oh shit that sucks...
I hope that doesn't happen to me...
In fact there are a lot of emotions at play including shock, denial, rage, fear, acceptance, and perhaps even indifference. Everyone will have their own separate response to things like this, but the point is that they will have a response.
Meanwhile on a network like Bitcoin... someone gets hacked... and no one will ever know about it. Meh, people get hacked all the time. Total indifference and ignorance. The fact that Hive has communication built into the core layer, and that communication has a literal monetary value is something that most people take for granted (especially Hive users themselves).
Can we see what's happening here?
As much as is sucks that Belemo got hacked, I'm quite confident that this event has triggered a domino effect within the Hive Swarm. Dozens of accounts will shore up their defenses and get that hardware wallet.
At this point there is no doubt in my mind that this hack and the way it was presented and broadcast on Hive is essentially going to save this community millions of dollars in the long run. Millions. That's not even an exaggeration. $10k lost in exchange for millions saved. Think about how crazy that is. You don't get that on other networks.
Simply put this is a more connected network than most. Exponentially more because we have communication built straight into the mainline. Even Dan in all his greatness didn't do that with EOS. Hive is still an undiscovered Diamond in the rough.
Speaking of diamonds...
How bout that dip though? The entire market crashes 10% but the 80 cent support line on Hive stays strong. Traditionally when the market dips Hive usually gets hit extra hard. I always take note when crypto crashes and Hive doesn't. It's always quite significant.
In my last post I talked about the importance of volatility trading and balancing portfolios, but honestly after witnessing Hive hold strong like that I can't really justify selling any of my coins at 80 cents. 80 cents is the new floor now. That sure did escalate quickly.
That one time I went camping
Way back in the day (over a decade ago) I was camping and had my BB-gun with me. I was testing out those pointed lead pellets that have much higher accuracy than the spherical and harder steel ones. I was a surprisingly good shot for someone who doesn't shoot "guns" very often.
In any case, I saw a bird. Don't know what kind, but it was blue. Looking at Google right now I'd guess it was a California Scrub-Jay. What better target practice than a bird, amirite?
And you know, to be honest, I did not think I would even be able to hit the thing with a BB-gun. One pellet to strike a little target 20 or 30 yards away? It was a challenge, and I expected to miss. So I pumped my gun one time (out of 20 max), and fired. The bird flew away. I wasn't even sure if I had hit it or not.
Ah, well, that was anti-climatic.
So I pumped my gun up like 10 pumps. At that level the pellet would be even more accurate and basically guaranteed to be lethal for our poor little bird friend, but I'd probably miss anyway, right? I fired at the next bird that came down from the tree. Hit it perfectly center mass. It twitched for a few seconds, and was gone; totally lifeless.
You... disgusting... ape.
Yeah so I wasn't feeling so great about that. Plus it's obviously totally illegal to kill birds at a campground. And then, the squawking started; oh the terrible squawking. All the Scrub-Jays on the tree above were not too happy about what I had done. They made sure to voice their opinion and warn everything within a mile radius about what a piece of shit I was.
Once the squawking subsided, I was ready to move on with this shitty experience and perhaps be a bit nicer to innocent animals that are just trying to live their lives within this gross concrete slab we call America. Ah, but the Scrub-Jays weren't done with me yet, because then there was another dead bird on the ground.
Two dead birds... wtf?
Yep, the first one I hit that had flown back into the tree... that one pump wasn't enough to kill it instantly. It died slow. I guess I actually did hit it then... super cool. The outright cacophony of screeching started once again. That dirty monkey down below was not to be trusted.
I have never told anyone this story.
Somehow even the people I was camping with didn't notice what I had done. It's just one of those things I've kept to myself; A random milestone marker in the back of my head that reminds me I should respect nature more and just try to be nicer in general; Another Silver Lining.
What can we learn from this?
In this analogy I would be the hacker. I'm on the attack, and I'm looking for weak targets. There is nothing my targets can do to attack me. I am too strong. But my targets can defend themselves, keep themselves out of harms way, and warn each other to stem the bleeding of tragedy.
This is what I see happening here with Belemo's hack. There's nothing we can do about the hacker. He will not be brought to justice. All we can do is warn everyone so they can defend themselves and prevent it from happening to them. We are just helpless little birds flying around, trying not to get merked by the savage hackers of the metaverse.
Conclusion
Hive has these warning systems in place. Hive has the communication and the "squawking" embedded directly into layer one. Other networks don't have this, and it is a way bigger deal than 99.9% of the space realizes.
We honestly haven't even come close to seeing what happens when governments start cracking down on crypto. What's going to happen when everyone heavily involved within Bitcoin and Ethereum just get blanket banned from all social media platforms? They are literally testing this strategy right now on anyone who opposes the current authoritarian narratives. It's only a matter of time before this failing system starts blaming crypto for their own incompetence and greed. Just look at Nigeria. Just look at what the Federal Reserve says the biggest threats to the economy are (China and crypto top the list).
The ability to communicate is the NUMBER ONE asset of humanity in general. It is the only thing that elevates us above other animals of this planet. It is the only reason we know anything. It is the only reason education and technology exists. It is the only reason we can build atop the backs of our ancestors and push forward. Our layer 1 network with built-in communication is going to go a long way in the future. I guarantee it. There is no other outcome. There is no competition here.
In fact, I think it is Hive's job to bridge the gap of our uncensorable platform directly into the WEB2 APIs. Using Hive, we could allow users to log in to WEB2 communication channels even if their account is suspended on the given social-media site. For example, even if an account was banned on Twitter they'd be able to log in to an encrypted Hive backchannel using the Twitter API. There are a lot of networked connections we could be making but simply don't have the workforce yet to build out the infrastructure. We likely need to give these things time and demand to materialize.
When I see a Bitcoin Core dev begging pretty pretty please can I have my Twitter account back, it just makes me realize how early in the game we are. We do not ask Big Tech for favors. We need to cut them down at the knees and gut them. That is the entire point of this movement: to make centralized Goliaths completely antiquated and irrelevant. It all starts with uninhibited lines of communication.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
IMHO 2FA should be built into the the blockchain. dont ask me how but it should be like that.
when getting new address, seed is generated and presented to you. if you lose it say bye bye to monies.
then everytime you want to do something you have to enter the current number
ta da! I solved the hacking problem!😉
2FA does exist in the form of account recovery.
Your recovery account is the second factor.
Spot on!
I've been working on it for 3.5 years and we are just weeks away from the first major blow. This is not a BB gun. This is a nuclear torpedo hitting them midships from their undefended rear.
Honestly it had to happen for people to realize they are vulnerable. It's unfortunate and I hate that someone had to lose a fat stack... If that's what it takes to get people to take a step back and realize that soft wallets aren't the safest then so be it. My only question here is, why not get the Nano X? I have both an S and an X and I literally don't touch the S anymore. I also have a KeepKey and an old Hw.1 from Ledger... Maybe I could do giveaways or something to help spread the importance of holding your own keys...
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
So in theory we could actually access aa frozen twitter or facebook account??? Fascinating :) ....
I have a question about the hack, by the way. Did logging into Splinterlands put the account at risk?
I'm not quite sure how Splinterlands works but it seems like the real point of vulnerability is the Active Key on Hive Keychain browser extension.
That makes sense. I've never used Splinterlands but am curious about it... I want to be safe though.
Yep, I am pretty sure I am one of those people who needs to get my hardware wallet hooked to my account. The only thing I don't understand is then do I need the hardware wallet with me every time I want to make a transaction? I want to be able to make moves on the fly and I don't like the idea of carrying my lifeline along with me every where I go. Shouldn't I be keeping the ledger somewhere safe?
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
Yeah you'd need it every time.
Sounds like you need two hardware wallets.
One for Metamask and one for everything else.
It's also important to note that smartphones are much more secure than Windows OS.
I'd be worried about losing it somewhere and then I am completely locked out of my funds which really is almost as bad as someone taking them. Knowing they are there but not able to access them. Carrying it around all the time doesn't seem very viable. I guess that is the price you pay for security though.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
Even if you lose the hardware device your funds are still safe via backup by your 24 word recovery phrase. Just order another hardware device and restore your access on the new device.
I guess things need to be put in place to avoid the hackers as well
Twitter just keeps feeling like the King, well, in terms of crypto content, it tends to control the masses.
All what you've written down here boils down to the "community" it forever is the greatest asset, with it, any body can scale through...
Don’t trust..verify. Wash…rinse and repeat.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
a Ledger nano x or something else can be also compromised if you buy that for example second-hand or from a non-trustful source.
I remember the hack with data and name leaks.
Everything is a 2 edge sword.
Even if you buy directly from the company you still have to trust the company, and you have to trust the shipping company. This is why I want to build an airgapped hardware wallet on Raspberry-Pi that anyone can set up.
Even if the software got hacked it would be very difficult to transfer hazardous information across the air-gap.
That's cool. Make a guide if you buildL one. I play with my pi from time to time too :D
Not sure if I understood correctly what you mean by Hive's system. better than other systems But the hacking system may come in other forms as well. I'm also afraid.
Mostly just the fact that we can talk to each other on-chain like this is kind of a big deal.
It's a utility that is quite heavily downplayed for the most part.
If you are concerned about security powering up on Hive is very secure,
and so is getting a Trezor or Ledger hardware wallet.
I read somewhere about the number of birds killed annually by domestic cats in America. Can’t remember what the number was, but it was big. I think our cat might be responsible for about 1% of the total. He’s a psychopath.
Please consider also the Bitbox 02 instead of the Leder Nano S. It is more state-of-the-art, is made in Switzerland, and can harbor multiple assets.
Never heard of it.
Sounds legit though.
Unfortunately I'd have no reason to get one until they can connect it to Metamask.
https://shiftcrypto.support/help/en-us/6-third-party-wallets/70-does-metamask-support-the-bitbox02
What is actually worse is than most people could already be hack and the hacker is just waiting for the best moment to strike...
ha yeah I was thinking that in terms of my own assets.
well with a powerdown of 10k of hive per week, im sure that striking you on week 11 or 12 is just about a perfect move. at that point your guard would be a lot lower and you would be relaxed xD
This assumes that I'm going to let my powerdown continue for that long on top of assuming that I'm not going to transfer liquid coins to an exchange. Quite the gamble. I'm guessing the vast majority of thieves would not risk it.
You are probably right. Still im quite sure that the best moment to strike is when you least expect it.
True, but how would a hacker know when I was least expecting it?
In your defense the wLEO hacker did wait for quite some time before draining the ETH from our LP pool.
But that's a little different.
Do you not see your active hours?
Glad that I moved my major assets to my Ledger a year and a half ago! It was a huge relief, honestly. Now that wallet is just sitting, cold and off the network entirely. Still have some important assets to me personally like Hive that are online but thankfully as you've said before there are multiple ways for people to recover their accounts in the situation of a disaster like that.
I think that the community and social aspect of this place is such a huge driver. Some keep trying to say that the social aspect of it shouldn't be what people focus on but I absolutely think it should be. We need to have direct lines of communication and being able to visit your page here, drop a comment or see what you are doing instead of trying to decipher some twitter horse shit that's limited to 160 characters or whatever shit they do, or find you in the mass of Discord isn't very helpful.
One thing that I don't particularly care for is the downvote trails that get abused if someone doesn't like what someone says so they eviscerate the rewards that members of a community tried to give the poster. The dive community is a prime example of this. Leave your politics out of this and let a community reward its members. As long as it's not condoning murder or some other highly illegal crime, mind your own business.
It is true that accounts have always been hacked and that is reoccupying because it calls into question the security of the platform and that can affect the price of the token or cryptocurrency, hopefully the issue can be solved, I think that hackers are using very advanced or we are in the presence of information leakage, on the other hand it is good that the HIV remains stable, however I have noticed the fall in the price of several hive-engine tokens.
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The "jungle drums" going off on any kind of shady event is definitely one of the upsides of a community-based venture like Hive.
As far as hardware wallets go, the seem almost essential for assets you're basically storing/HODLing but a bit cumbersome for anything else. If you actually have tokens staked in a project (like Hive Power, for simplicity's sake) you're working with a different risk profile, yes? If I pull my HBD in savings out to a hardware wallet, my 10% interest goes away... similarly, de-fi pools require it to be... there, if I understand how this works, correctly.
I Guess we all have to find what works for the level of risk we're comfortable with... having assets "just sitting" in exchange or online wallets is pretty risky, no matter how you turn it...
=^..^=