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Bundles of currency on display at the Federal Reserve Bank's Money Museum, 230 S. LaSalle St. |
Everyone has a morning routine. With me, I open my eyes, muse darkly upon my life, then flee upstairs to my office — even before coffee is made or the dog walked — blast out the day's blog post to my hearty band of followers, then ritualistically log into a financial service company to check on my 401(k). A moment emotionally somewhere between Scrooge McDuck going down into his vault to roll around on his piles of gold and a castaway in a rubber raft checking the amount of water left in the jug. It takes a minute.
Except one Sunday morning a few weeks ago. I plug in my username and password. Nothing. A second, more careful try. It warns me, in red letters, that a few more such attempts and I will be locked out.
Not wanting that, I hit "Forgot password." It asks for my birthday, my email and the last four digits of my Social Security number. Normally, you never share that information. But this wasn't something over the transom; I'd logged into my 401(k) site. I plug in the info.
No account associated with me. I try again. Nothing.
A few more attempts, with growing alarm, that I'll spare you. In brief, my 401(k) account, with my entire nest egg needed for looming retirement, built over decades, the provisions that must sustain us on our one way journey into the dark woods of decline, had simply vanished.
Money, as you know, is no longer bullion slumbering in vaults or even stacks of fresh currency, but mostly bundles of electrons flitting through systems of unfathomable complexity. You buy a pack of gum, tap your phone to a contactless payment terminal, and great institutions briefly kiss. Visa slips Walmart $3 and debits your account. You get a pack of Hubba Bubba Sour Blue Raspberry.
We hardly even think about it. But maybe we should. While we're used to the idea of endless legions of scammers assailing us through every mode of communications short of semaphore flag, the latest and most ominous twist is coming from a new weapon of immense power that is already derailing modern life: artificial intelligence.
Yes, AI. The thing that keeps trying to summarize your email. That your kid uses to write his report on Cotton Mather instead of actually doing the work and learning something. AI is so incredibly powerful, not only does it produce videos of obese porch pirates getting their faces painted with blue dye, but it can code/write computer programs.
Or crack them. A story that might have gotten lost in the whirl of general disaster is that on April 7, Anthropic, an AI company that started five years ago and is now worth $380 billion, provided a preview of its Mythos AI model to 40 Big tech giants — Apple, Google, Microsoft, JPMorganChase. The reason for this effort, dubbed Project Glasswing, is because AI can cut through cybersecurity like a hot knife through butter, thwarting encryption, discovering hidden vulnerabilities that escaped notice for years.
So Anthropic is giving the biggest players a chance to fix their heretofore undetected flaws before Mythos is available to the general public, one of whom might decide to type, "Drain Neil Steinberg's 401(k) and transfer the contents to my Apple Wallet."
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There's no sensible reason for any water filtration plant to be even connected to the internet! It should be 100% air gapped & no computers there should have any available optical drives, USB ports or any other way to input outside info, except one that is securely locked up & takes at least two separate people with two different keys to open it up to do so!
ReplyDeleteA place a gigantic as the Jardine Plant has so many employees, working at all times, again, zero reasons to need outside access to it!
The whole point of connecting things to the internet is so that you can reduce force to nothing, and consume the profits as if you were an AI data center drinking water... and jobs.
DeleteIt was never about security. it's about money and power and the literal rape of the American worker.
Says you. Who are you and how do you speak with such confidence and certainty?
DeleteWe have a world of anonymous experts and you know the weird thing is people believe this crap.
How about the nuclear power plants is there no reason for them to be connected to the internet either?
I remember after 9/11 in my kids were driving up to Wisconsin and we went past Zion and they had put large rocks I guess boulders around it because somehow this was going to protect it from an airplane attack?
Sleeper cells on foot.
I am not completely insane but definitely partially.
I never had a retirement account 401K IRA hell i didn't have any money in the bank.
A few years ago my mother died and I inherited all of her stuff and I went to the investment counselor advisor and told him that I wanted to take out half of it.
He tried to explain to me for about an hour while that was a bad idea
Well I paid the taxes went to the bank opened up a new account.
One that could not be accessed in any way except at the counter the wire transfers no debit card no checks the only way to take money out of that account was with a withdrawal slip.
It drove the tellers crazy they couldn't find the account I couldn't prove I was myself because I didn't have a debit card to put into the reader.
Eventually I took all the cash out which was drawing next to no interest and put it in a safe set into the concrete floor of a sprinkler building waterproof and fireproof.
Maybe I am completely insane the gold's in there the silver's in there.
I've had my regular checking account hacked two or three times or somebody was taking money out of it and it wasn't me the bank gave it all back to me but Jesus the level of trust that we operate on unfounded unfounded trust.
Checking your account over Wi-Fi on a unsecured device is how the hackers get your password.
When's the last time you changed the password Mr s it's recommended to it in every couple months and not to use one you make up oy madana
Franco, I hope you get what you're looking for. I hope you are happy and safe and of sound mind. I hope your family loves you and that nothing ever gets in your way.
DeleteBut I don't think there is anything that's going to change your mind about anything.
But even you mention it, you took your money out of the bank where it was drawing next to no interest and put it into a safe in a concrete floor. You went from your money making money, to your money loosing spending power.
I don't blame Franco. I think you could put money into CD's pretty safely. It's not best way to earn money. But I don't think CD's are hackable. It's scary to think what could happen if some one hacks your account and takes everything.
DeleteHoly crap
ReplyDeleteSadly way too many devices are connected to the Internet that have zero ability to defend against hacking. Think smart (?) TV’s, refrigerators, security cameras, baby monitors, thermostats and more.
ReplyDeleteMy latest scary point is a smart ceiling fan that can be controlled via an app on a cell phone. Maybe not too scary until you realize the fan controller has to be connected to the Internet in order to download a software update (the company called it a firmware update) and there is nothing that prevents a piece of rogue software being installed on it that then leaps on to your home network infecting other devices behind your firewall.
I’m an IT retiree who has spent nearly 55+ years with computers of all types. I can tell you stories that would give you heart palpitations.
No I didn’t update the software so the phone app doesn’t work. My wife is frustrated with me because wants to control the fan with her phone while she’s in the bed.
I’m watching the fan to make sure it doesn’t start spinning in the opposite direction and then burst into flames ultimately burning down our home.
As the great philosopher Already E. Neumann would say, “What, me worry?”
That would be Alfred
DeleteA common retort I have heard quite often regarding the current regime has been "institutions and law only survive if they are trusted." It was something talked a lot about in high school when were all struggling with the concept of money. How on earth could a dollar be worth what it is if it was only backed by an idea? At least in the old days it was backed by gold.
ReplyDeleteA lot of our world seems to be teetering on the edge of doom these days. Between the coming AI apocalypse that despite James Cameron's best attempt to warn us about via the Terminator movies and the republican parties abdication of their constitutional duties (and let's be frank, their active sabotage of our democratic institutions), it's easy to question things.
I've always believed that the goal of democracy and the united states of America was to protect its people from the abuse of tyrants and the powerful. Since Ronald Reagan -- under republican control -- the US government has done the opposite. I have read a lot of accounts that are comparing our current existence to that of the robber Barron days, or of the roaring 20s and gilded 30s. Every day it seems to me that this may be the case.
What will it take to change our situation? Will our 401(k)s need to be "lost" for ever? Will we need yet another cratering of the world economy? Do we need a let them eat cake moment? or does our future desperately cling to the hope of the midterm elections... if we can make it that far.
I keep hoping that something will happen to the propaganda machines. I keep expecting those who disseminate the lies and hate to be muted. I keep hoping that we can start to see the fruits of fights against this hate and misinformation, but it seems each day we see more consolidation brought on by the right.
I don't worry so much when i can't "access" my money. The fear for me is when i can't access a human who can...
If you’re actually on your financial provider’s website, and your password doesn’t work after two tries, the sensible conclusion is that they are having technical problems, not you. Go have breakfast and try again an hour later after they’ve had a chance to reboot. Or Google “Fideliguard (or whatever) outage” and see what pops up.
ReplyDeleteRickW- I agree that login problems often originate on the other end, causing users' logins to fail. But why can't the Website operator post a notice for anyone attempting to log in to see? If the server goes down, or they're doing maintenance, their IT folks are aware of it. How hard can it be? Technology keeps getting "smarter" but the genius programmers don't seem to be addressing basic issues that their advancing technology creates. My latest rant is about batteries.... we have smart cars that tell us when oil level drops but no advanced warning for a failing battery. why is that?
DeleteAs for vulnerabilities with card swiping... a few years ago I was on a family vacation in a national park in UT and tried to pay for breakfast for the extended family. My card was denied. I had to call and verify that it was me. It was initially embarrassing, but i was also relieved for the built-in protection. The transaction got flagged because it was atypical compared to my usual usage. Both in terms of location and in the amount for a meal. Once I was able to assure the credit card company that I really was in UT and footing the bill for a large family gathering, the charge went through. As did the subsequent charges on that vacation. That kind of thing probably gives me a false sense of security, though. .
I had that problem as well. I live in Wisconsin. I forget what the situation was maybe just to pay for gas. It was here in the state and both my our cards where denied. I was told it was a good idea to tell the bank when you traveled out of state in order for that not to happen. I think we have done it once. We go to Minneapolis and use the credit card and never have a problem.
DeleteEvery goddamn time I read your column & at no other time-so far, Norton begins a scan of my device & detects red alert, very high threat. RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION NOW!!???
ReplyDeleteHmmm ... I never see that. Are you saying some Norton pop-up is pushing subscriptions? Or perhaps you are confused.
DeleteHi Neil, yes, just that, as soon as I move over to continue on the Sun Times page, runs the scan I am unable to stop and gives me the bad news & my price to fix it? By the way, I don't know if we ever met, certainly heard lots of nice things about you, I'm Roger Carlson's daughter Leslie. I enjoy your column very much indeed but not these threats from Norton. I hope you are well? Regards, Leslie
DeleteJust to make it clear, I'm confused about much, but this seems clear sales bait. I do not pay for any protection but perhaps I now need to?
DeleteThose Norton pop-ups are scams; ignore them, remove your cookies and they should vanish.
DeleteLeslie: I adored your father. He had such a sweet and gentle nature. And his bookstore was such a paradise for me, starting as a student. He was the last man I routinely called "Mr." I think he found me amusing: he always had this sparkle.
DeleteVery sweet of you to say. It was a refuge for me as well. I live above a bookstore in Granville Ohio & I almost never go in, pales in comparison. I snagged the copy of your book " Drunkard which you had inscribed for Greg when the house was sold. I'd come into the shop & found my severely hung over son reading it. It had what I assume was your desired effect, so I thank you! Be well, or as well as one can be these days? If Dad didn't find you amusing, trust me, I would not have heard anything about you- well, unless you were dull enough to make rank!
DeleteAnd thanks for the Norton reassurance!
DeleteHe threw a big book signing for my other recovery book, "Out of the Wreck I Rise." The place was jammed. It was a special evening.
DeleteMaybe I'll have the seller downstairs order that one, I could use an uplift! Thanks Neil.
DeleteIt's designed to be exactly that — to argue that recovery is the path of the hero.
DeleteIt's not always about the moolah. Sometimes, it's about priceless data. Almost fifteen years ago, my wife and were assisting in the writing of the memoir a WWII combat veteran who landed with the Marines at Iwo Jima.
ReplyDeleteOur system was hacked and the hard drive was rendered inoperable, just as the project was nearing its end. Hundreds of pages were no longer accessible. To put it bluntly: We were screwed, blewed, and tattooed.
Fortunately, the writer also spent a few years as an FBI agent after the war, and was with the CIA in Southeast Asia before becoming a history professor and a college administrator. He knew what to do. He directed us to an outfit that recovered data for those two government agencies. It wasn't cheap, but they did the job.
We put a finished copy into the author's shaky hands. He was pushing 90, and had terminal cancer. He died soon afterward. We were just in time. And very lucky.
I would suggest anyone reading this use the 3 2 1 backup method. 3 copies of your data. (not counting the original) 2 different types of media. 1 stored off site. I would add that with a book print out a hardcopy of the work you do every day and put it somewhere safe in case everything digital goes to hell.
DeleteNS you should have waited till the office opened. Some of those can be scams to get your bdate, ss, etc. They can replicate to look just like the Banks or Credit card companies, etc, etc.
ReplyDeleteFranco, get some help and invest in mutual funds. Your paranoia is losing you $.
ReplyDeleteMr. S:
ReplyDeletePerhaps don't check your accts on the weekend but only when you can get a live person.
Bravo, thanks and Amen to those who have posted their various experiences in response to Neil's scary experience. We have all, at one time or another, experienced something similar. What AI does is on another level. That is what NS was writing about. It is way over my head and, I venture to say, over yours. Today's technology is more invasive than anything we have ever known. Used for good, it is like a miracle. When used for malevolent purpose, it threatens our whole civilization. Are there any safeguards against the latter? That is the question we are all anxious to know the answer to. My fingers are crossed, but with the corruption that surrounds us in our government and corporations, I am not optimistic. And I am an optimist.
ReplyDeleteI never want to ride in an airplane designed by AI. Same for an elevator or escalator. Guess I’ll be staying home trying to figure out how to watch TV that has turned into a crazy mess of streaming and channels that are informercials. At least we still have physical books to read. Well, for now. Those will probably disappear soon too. Yikes!!!
ReplyDelete