This is a Working EMP Device

Photo: eV2

EMP – ElectroMagnetic Pulse

EMPs (electromagnetic pulses) are often featured in movies – characters in The Matrix: Revolutions used them to defend against the sentinels, and do you remember Ocean’s Eleven? In that movie, a character is seen pulling into a parking lot in a white panel van that’s holding a giant machine, which he powers up and uses to knock out the power to the casino a block away. That’s an EMP attack.

Very basically, the targeted car is blasted with high-power radio frequencies and microwave waves, confusing the electronics system until the engine just gives up and shuts down. – Autonet.ca

That’s newspaper writing, in blog writing:

Radio Frequencies (RF) are pulsed at the car, which just melts the electronics like, you don’t bounce right back from an EMP attack.

Neat eh, movie-kinda stuff indeed.

Until UK company eV2 built the one above, and demonstrated its device to the BBC on an unused airport runway.

It was touted in the press as:
the device that would end car chases

Wrote about it at work, here.

A QR Code Attack

The Attack

A flyer is posted, it says, “scan this QR code, and a really great thing will happen to you!”

The code is scanned > which tells your phone to open a browser > and go to a URL, Whatever.com > where there is a virus / malware / etc >  ready to be installed onto your phone.

The Defence

In the settings of the scanning app, choose to allow / deny an action, before it executes.

In the above scenario, the URL might have looked off, and you decided not to click it, not to visit the webpage.

A Better Defence

Just don’t scan any, ever.

Stay sharp out there.

 

 

Until You Run it Through the Shredder…

… it’s just a handy pile for an intruder.

“Hi hi, anything that may be of interest, I’ve stacked for you, right here.”

I am bad for this. Don’t be like me.

Okay? Okay.

(there’s 3 types of shredders, get the 3rd type)

 

 

A Brief History of my Days as a Security Guard

When I first moved to Toronto years ago, I used to work as a security guard at different downtown venues.

This is BMO field, where the TFC soccer team plays. Season’s ticket holders enter the stadium at the green *

If you were a 2009 season’s ticket holder,
I probably checked your bag.

And probably commented on its contents.

To the mothers, sorry I had to take away your kid’s food, they made me. Not sorry for all the water bottle caps I unscrewed, that’s a no every time.

One night, across the way at the Ricoh Coliseum, I was on search at the door, for a Slipknot concert, and I’d forgotten my gloves :S

Gwen Stefani smiled at me once, and it’s amazing how pumped people get for Nickelback. Saw Adele before she was Adele, the former head coach of the Raptors gave me a locker room coke, and I once escorted ACDC to their van without realizing it.

When Elton John was here, that was me, in the centre of the arena, sitting on a speaker guarding the sound mixer. David Furnish sat beside me for a bit, he has a nice air about him.  Britney Spears was the only shift I ever requested.

Three days at the Royal Agricultural Fair feels like forever, this job really slowed down time.

And no, I don’t want your guitar pick.

The perks of this job were lost on me, since I rarely listen to music.  Mostly I’d ask to be assigned to the quietest, remote corner, and read.

About my over-the-top 5.11 pants I got for my uniform.

(top photo – taken during a backstage tour of the Honda Indy)