by Tarah Benner
But I believe a devastating cyberattack on our nuclear systems is inevitable. In our day-to-day lives, hacks have become almost commonplace. 2017 was the year of the data breach, and 2018 was the year of data exposure. (Data exposure occurs when cloud users misconfigure a database where information is stored, allowing it to be exposed to anyone who knows where to look.)
In November, Amazon revealed that it had inadvertently exposed customers’ names and email addresses due to a “technical error.” USPS exposed the data of 60 million users in an API vulnerability for InformedDelivery. The service allows users to view mail before it arrives, but the breach told hackers when important documents and checks would be arriving in the mail.
Marketing and data firm Exactis left 340 million records out on the web for anyone to see — most likely data on every American. Not only did Exactis expose these users’ physical addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers, but the database also contained highly personal information, including children’s genders and ages.
As I was writing this, I heard on the radio about the Marriott breach that exposed the data of 500 million Starwood hotel customers — the largest ever. According to Marriott, the names, phone numbers, email addresses, birthdays, and passport data of 327 million customers were exposed, and 100 million additional customers had their credit-card numbers compromised.
What’s most troubling about this cyberattack is that the Chinese hackers believed to be responsible were also behind the Anthem hack and the hacking of the Office of Personnel Management. The latter hack included poorly guarded data on Americans’ finances, family members, and romantic relationships — information that, once paired with travel data, could have far-reaching consequences.
This data could be used to identify spies and government officials, dig up information on their finances and relationships, and potentially blackmail them into giving up state secrets or even becoming informants for China. The possibilities are endless.
It seems to be only a matter of time before all our information becomes public record. The data exposed in even the worst attacks pales in comparison to the data many people willingly share, but I still find this loss of control disconcerting.
I choose not to own a smart-home speaker like the Echo or install cameras around my house because I find the mere possibility of mass surveillance creepy. I avoid giving out my personal information whenever I can avoid it, but still more of my data is out in the world than I would like.
Now more than ever, we must get comfortable with the idea that our information and attention are the products being bought and sold.
I don’t wish to leave you with a bleak outlook, so I’ll share one more fun thing that I stumbled upon during my research for this book: If you want to become a space tourist like the patrons of Maverick Enterprises, you may soon have your chance.
While Virgin Galactic has been selling tickets to space for a decade, Blue Origin will begin selling tickets for commercial suborbital flights in 2019. If you don’t have $250,000 lying around for a space vacation, you might be able to go to space for your final vacation.
The “space burial” that Maggie and Jonah describe in Colony Assassin is not pure fiction. There is a company called Celestis that specializes in memorial spaceflights. The company’s “Earth Rise” service starts just under $1,900. You can send your ashes or DNA to orbit the earth for $5,000, create a permanent memorial on the moon for $12,500, or take a never-ending journey into deep space for $14,000.
Considering what funerals cost these days, I’d say a space burial is a bargain. Certainly it’s more accessible to the masses than a space flight for the living. When writing the book, I envisioned that anyone who died in service to the Space Force or Maverick Enterprises would receive a space burial — one last flight through the cosmos.
I hope you enjoyed this installment in The Elderon Chronicles. I had a good time writing it, and I hope that you will stick around for the rest of the journey. I have big things in store for Maggie and Jonah. You’re going to love book four.
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Until next time, take care. And stay human, my friends. Stay human.
Looking for your next great read?
Check out more books by Tarah Benner:
Colony One
Colony War
Recon
Exposure
Outbreak
Lockdown
Annihilation
Lawless
Lifeless
Ruthless
Dauntless
Bound in Blood
The Defectors
Enemy Inside
The Last Uprising
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Connect at www.tarahbenner.com.
