Any 3G Usb Stick Software Piracy' title='Any 3G Usb Stick Software Piracy' />Every Voting Machine at This Hacking Conference Got Totally Pwned. A noisy cheer went up from the crowd of hackers clustered around the voting machine tucked into the back corner of a casino conference roomtheyd just managed to load Rick Astleys Never Gonna Give You Up onto the Win. Vote, effectively rickrolling democracy. The hack was easy to execute. Two of the hackers working on the touchscreen voting machine, who identified only by their first names, Nick and Josh, had managed to install Windows Media Player on the machine and use it to play Astleys classic turned trolling track. The rickroll stunt was just one hack at the security conference DEF CON, which ran a three day Voting Machine Hacking Village to test the security of various machines and networks used in US elections. By the end of the weekend, every one of the roughly 3. Even though several of the exploits ended up paying tribute to Astley, theyre not jokesthey also present a serious lesson about the security vulnerabilities in voting machines that leave them open to tampering and manipulation. And the more vulnerable our voting infrastructure is shown to be, the less confidence voters may feel. The real takeaway is that you can install any software on this, Nick told Gizmodo. Theres no control. Nick had simply connected a keyboard to an exposed USB port at the back of the Win. Vote, which was used in elections as recently as 2. The voting village is the brainchild of a whos who list of security experts DEF CON founder Jeff Moss, cryptographer Matt Blaze, computer programmer Harri Hursti whose hack of Diebold voting machines in 2. DSCF2490.jpg' alt='Any 3G Usb Stick Software Piracy' title='Any 3G Usb Stick Software Piracy' />Hursti Hack, and others. Researchers have been uncovering problems with voting systems for more than a decade, but the 2. Now the entire country, and maybe the world, is paying attention. But poll workers and former campaign officials say that their primary security concerns still arent with voting machines themselves but with protecting voter registration systems and defending against basic phishing attacks like the ones used to gain entry to the Democratic National Committees network. Meet the machinesThis is the great Satan, said Joseph Lorenzo Hall, the chief technologist at the Center for Democracy Technology, gesturing dismissively at the Win. Vote. The machine contains a cellular modem chip that allows its software to be updated remotely. Unfortunately, it also means that you can log into the damn thing from across the street if you know the right credentials, Hall explained. Whats hundreds of miles between networked friends The Win. Vote was the first machine to fall, with a hacker achieving remote code execution on the machine within the first hours of the village. Win. Votes were decertified by Virginias election board in 2. American voting systems are largely cobbled together with antiquated technology. Voting machines can vary by state and county, and have to be certified by the Election Assistance Commission. But other devices, like the electronic poll books used in some jurisdictions to check in voters at their polling stations, arent subject to the certification process. Add in the voter registration databases themselveswhich were reportedly breached in 3. The machines are mostly new to the hackers at DEF CON. Theyre not very much fun, theyre like very boring ATMs, Hall joked. Its obvious that election systems arent very secure, but its important to understand why the security problems exist in the first place, and why theyre so hard to fix. The security industry encourages regular software updates to patch bugs and keep machines as impenetrable as possible. But updating the machines used in voting systems isnt as easy as installing a patch because the machines are subject to strict certification rules. Any major software update would require the state to redo its certification process. It costs over 1 million to get certified, Joshua Franklin, a security specialist with the National Institute of Standards and Technologys cybersecurity and privacy application unit, explained to attendees. Franklin said that even though the Election Assistance Commissions most recent election security standards were released in 2. You cant start a podcast without equipment, and good equipment will go a long way. Heres what youll need Microphones Any microphone will work for. The best graphics card November 2017. By Jarred Walton. Choose Wisely Your graphics card is the most important component of any gaming PC. Make sure you get the. The cost breaks down to about 3. Tom Stanionis, an IT manager for a county election agency in California who attended the village in his personal capacity. Most states just dont have the money. Whats hundreds of miles between networked friendsThe reality is, weve known about issues with voting machines for a long time, Stanionis told Gizmodo. Since purchasing brand new systems is out of the question, Stanionis said most states do their best to protect the systems they have, walling them off from the internet and storing them securely when theyre not being used. The rat king of decentralized state vendors and machines might actually be a good defense during a general electionit would force hackers to successfully target many disparate systems. It would be really hard in most jurisdictions to do anything to affect the voting machines, Stanionis said. Difficult doesnt mean impossible, though, and thats what DEF CONs hackers have set out to prove. If a hacker tucked away in a corner of a Las Vegas casino can alter a vote count, then surely a nation state attacker can too. The thing you have to ask about any new technology is, compared with the technology that proceeded it, does this make that threat easier or harder Does it make us better off or worse off Blaze told attendees. Does whatever the technology were using make this threat an easier threat or a tougher threat Thats the question we havent really been sharply asking for very long. Email security and beyond. Robby Mook, the former manager of Hillary Clintons presidential campaign, is at DEF CON for the first time, and you can kind of tellhe looks a bit too clean cut for a conference often filled with hoodie wearing hackers. But hes got experience being targeted by nation state hackers that few other attendees can claim. Although hackers were hard at work down the hall figuring out how to alter vote tallies, Mook said he was still mostly worried about getting campaign workers to secure their email accounts with two factor authentication and stop retaining data for longer than necessary. Its much more a matter of culture and education than it is of spending enormous resources, Mook told Gizmodo. People in the security community know a lot of things instinctually that a campaign professional has never had exposure to, ever. Public confidence in elections is what gives government legitimacy. Mook, along with former Mitt Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Eric Rosenbach, launched an initiative at Harvard University earlier this summer focused on providing security resources to campaigns and election officials. The Defending Digital Democracy project received a founding investment from Facebook, and executives from the social network as well as Google and Crowd. Strike are helping establish an information sharing organization that will give political committees and campaigns quick access to threat intelligence. If you pull aside any campaign manager and say, Do you want to get hacked theyd say no, Mook told DEF CON attendees. How to Start Your Own Podcast. The podcast craze of the past several years shows no signs of slowing down, and while every armchair broadcaster with a voice recorder app is eager to get in the game, creating a professional sounding podcast isnt as simple as it might seem. Heres how to create, record, and publish your own basic podcastand get people to listen. This story originally ran in June 2. August 2. 01. 7 with additional reporting from Patrick Austin. You Start, Be Ready to Commit. Before you rush into things, its important to keep in mind that podcasts take a lot of effort to get going. Theyre not just recordings of people talking not the good ones, anyway. Pat Flynn, host of the Smart Passive Income podcast, recommends you treat podcasting the same way you would any other big project Podcasting is extremely fun and exciting, but there is one thing you must do before you start podcasting Commit. You must internally commit to podcasting, as you must do with anything that is potentially beneficial but takes some time and effort to do. Its easy to assume that podcasts are easy to produce because theyre audio only, but dont be fooled. They can take up a lot of time to put together, especially at first. Also, podcasts do best when theyre released consistently. If youre interested in developing any kind of listener base, you have to be ready to release episodes on a regular basis. All in all, podcasting can be fun work, but its still work and should be treated as such. You also shouldnt expect to get rich from podcasting either. Its certainly possible to generate income from podcasting, but that usually requires advertisements and sponsorshipsboth of which youll get after youve built up a listenership big enough to make it worthwhile to advertisers. If youre not interested in starting a podcast for the fun of it or to have your voice heard, you might not get much out of it unless you already have an audience. What Youll Need. You cant start a podcast without equipment, and good equipment will go a long way. Heres what youll need Microphones Any microphone will work for recording your podcast, but listeners can usually tell the difference between low and high quality microphones. If youre not sure what to look for, our list of the five best desktop microphones is a great place to start I use four analog Audio Technica AT2. As you shop around, youll also need to decide whether you want to use a USB or analog XLR microphone. USB mics convert analog sound into digital so you can plug a USB mic directly into any computer and start recording without much hassle, but you could potentially get lower audio quality compared to analog. Considering you dont need any extra tools or devices to record with a USB mic, they can be a little cheaper in the long run. Analog microphones use XLR connectors, which means you need another device to get your audio onto your computer, but you can get higher audio quality and can use them with other sound equipment if you had a PA system or wanted to play live music, for example. Of course, if you have a gaming headset or other basic microphone around, you can easily use that too. Portable XLR Recorder optional If you plan on using analog microphones for your podcast, youll need something that captures your analog audio and converts it to digital. Portable XLR recorders can capture multiple microphone channels and allow you to do basic sound level adjusting and muting on the fly. Audio files automatically get organized and stored on a memory card that you can insert into a card reader or slot in your computer. These are amazing tools, but they can be expensive. You can find them for anywhere between 1. I use a 4. 00 Zoom H6 Handy Recorder with four available analog channels. Audio Interface optional If you want to record directly to your computer with your analog microphones, youll need an audio interface. These devices allow you to plug in one or more analog microphones and will convert the analog audio to digital. Most audio interfaces will connect to your computer via USB or Firewire. Audio interfaces can cost as little as 3. You can see why a USB microphone is a cheaper option. A Computer Any Windows computer or Mac should work fine to record, edit, and upload your podcast. Thankfully, editing audio doesnt take a ton of computing power. Additionally, depending on how you choose to recorddirectly to the computer or onto a dedicated recording deviceyour computer will also need the right ports. USB microphones, for example, will obviously need an open USB port. If youre using analog microphones with a portable XLR recorder or audio interface device, youll need either a 3. USB port, or in some cases, a Firewire port. So before you spend any money on equipment, make sure you have a computer that can support it. Audio Editing Software For the actual recording and editing, youll need a Digital Audio Workstation or DAW, there are a lot of good options out there, but the licenses for some of them can cost a pretty penny, though. Licenses for professional level DAWs like Reason or Pro Tools can cost anywhere between 3. Apps like Hindenburg offer simpler audio editing software for under 1. Reaper is a fully loaded audio production app for 6. Adobes audio editing software Audition CC is available with a 1. Because of that, most people will recommend free open source programs like Audacity when youre just getting started, and thats what well use an example throughout this how to guide. Pop Filters optional The clearer your audio can sound, the better. Pop filters, while not required, are fairly cheap and can keep your plosives from making a nasty sound on your recording. If you dont want to buy any, though, you can make some of your own. You might be thinking that all this equipment is pretty expensive, and youre not wrong. However keep in mind that decent audio equipment will last forever if you take care of it. It may be expensive to get started, but after the initial purchase, youre set. Step One Narrow Your Topic and Find Your Niche. Just like blogs, there are a ton of podcasts out there. That means that you can probably find a podcast about everything under the sun already. Dont get discouraged While just about every broad topic is already covered, you just have to find your spin on things to make an old idea something new. Dear Lifehacker, As a side projectexperiment, Ive started my own blog. The problem is, now that I Read more Read. For example, if you wanted to make a podcast about music, ask yourself if theres an audience out there for what you want to talk about. Maybe you narrow your idea down from music in general to bluegrass specifically. Now your coverage is specific the music, people, and culture of bluegrass. Once you have your topic narrowed down, it helps to add a spin to it. Maybe you talk about bluegrass music and culture while sipping moonshine with your co hosts. Windows Ce 6 0 Wm8650 Tablet. Its kind of true that everything has been done before, but it hasnt all been done the way you would do it. So find an angle thats personally interesting and youll be better off. Step Two Download, Install, and Set Up Audacity. As mentioned earlier, Audacity is a great DAW for podcasting beginners. Its open source, free to use as long as you like, and is available for Windows, OS X, and Linux. Before you can jump into recording, however, there are a few tricks to getting it all set up properly Download Audacity 2.