10 Crazy Christmas Robots

Christmas is here with us, and there is no better time than now to spend time with loved ones. It is also a great time to explore fun things that trigger those childhood emotions, like the crazy Christmas robots. Speaking about robots, here are the 10 crazy Christmas robots.

An evil Christmas robot from the TV show Futurama

If you've watched Futurama, you are no stranger to the four-ton antagonist Robot Santa Clause. You probably even recall some of his crazy lines, "You DARE bribe Santa, I'm gonna shove coal so far up your stocking, you'll be coughing up diamonds."

Initially, the robot version of Santa was designed to judge whether people were nice or naughty and sort out presents accordingly. But a programming error set its morality standards too high. So, the Robot Santa sees everyone as naughty, save for Zoidberg.

So, every Christmas Eve, Evil Santa rides his robot-reindeer-sleigh to Earth to judge the naughty. And that scares everyone. Like when Fry, a character in the movie, tries to find a perfect gift for Leela, he has to hurry before the robotic, homicidal Santa finds him, chops his head off, and fills his neck with toys from his sack of horror.

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Santa Suit from Invader Zim

Zim, a character in the Christmas series, Invader Zim, creates a robot Santa Suit, an elaborate disguise to make himself look like Santa Clause. He uses sophisticated technology to make the suit, and hopes to control the Earth's population. But Zim ends up losing control as the Santa Suit grows a conscience and believes itself to be the real Santa. So it goes around the Earth and comes back every Christmas to destroy cities – and people try to keep him out using various creative methods.

Buddy 3000 from Netflix's Jingle Jangle

Everyone is obsessed with Buddy 3000, the Christmas robot from holiday musical Jingle Jangle. Buddy, a charming little robot, plays a crucial part in the film’s storyline, and fans cannot get enough of its magical charm. It has quickly become a huge fan-favorite because of how adorable it is and how it provides answers to Jeronicus's money worries.

One subscriber took to Twitter, saying that Netflix should to send all Jingle Jangle fans their very own Buddy for Christmas. Another one said that they better make a Buddy doll. And another added, “I have five siblings asking for the robot. Do something about it, please.”

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Sadly, no Jingle Jangle robot is currently available at the time of writing. But there's a Buddy in the market – an emotionally intelligent robot that can serve as a personal assistant and playmate. It can even sing jingle bells and other Christmas songs.

Toy Santa from the Santa Clause 2

The toy Santa is the main antagonist of Santa Clause 2. Curtis, the Keeper of the Book Elf, created it to replace Scott while he was away against Bernard's wishes. At first, the Toy Santa did his work pretty well. But as he understood everything about being Santa from the handbook, he went a little too far with the rules.

After confirming the nice-naughty list, he ruled that all children around the globe were naughty for one reason or the other. So he went all-out, building an army of toy soldiers and made it known that he would give all children a lump of coal.

When Scott came back to stop him, the Toy Santa flew in his sleigh. Scott followed him on Chet the Reindeer. The elves caught him and turned him into a small toy.

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Dancing Santa

Dancing Santa robots come in different shapes, sizes, and heights. They can sing, dance, and even offer holiday greetings. Unlike most of the Christmas robots listed above, the dancing Santa is friendly and is sure to make you smile.

Big Tex

Big Tex, a Texas State Fair icon, is one of the most iconic Christmas robot Santas of all time. But it met its untimely death after six decades of entertaining the locals and foreigners alike. Big Tex was a 52-ft-tall Santa made out of iron and paper-mache meant to attract shoppers and tourists to Kerens, TX. But it was destroyed after a purported electrical fire.

Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands is all about the power of Christmas. Edward, an artificial humanoid, is an unfinished creation with scissor blades instead of hands.

Turbo-Man from Jingle All the Way

Turbo Man, a red-and-gold rocker-powered robot, is the new and hottest toy in the US. Every father worth his son's adoration secured it early before it's sold out. But one workaholic dad forgot. So he tries to do everything within his power – beg, borrow, buy, or even steal one to make his 7-year-old Christmas dream come true. In the end, he turns himself into a Turbo Man – and the special effects are shockingly cheesy.

Turbo Man is a fictional superhero character, toy, and franchise within the Christmas film Jingle All the Way. It is one of the most sought-after toys that kids wanted under their Christmas tree.

Robots in WALL.E

WALL.E is the last robot left on the planet, programed to clean the Earth, one trash cube at a time. But he later grows conscience and becomes highly curious and inquisitive, and somewhat lonely. Along with WALL.E, there's also EVE the probe-doid, M-O the cleaner bot, and Auto. While not a movie centered on Christmas, the robots are sure to breathe the fresh air you need this holiday season.

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Aeolus robotics

Last but not least is the Aeolus robot. This is not a Christmas robot per se, but one that you can get for Christmas. It is an adorable, intelligent robot that can do a little bit of everything around the house. It can deliver food or even find lost items within the house. It uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to learn from people and their surroundings. It is designed to help enhance home safety and help move furniture, clean the house, and even mop floors. Imagine how handy this robot can be this Christmas – delivering presents around the house and cleaning after people. Besides, you could use some entertainment – much of which robots offer.

 

 

 

What is Social Engineering? Can it Bypass Great Security

Social engineering scams revolve around the hacker’s use of manipulation and confidence. These techniques tend to make victims act in ways that they otherwise wouldn’t. Usually, victims act the way they do because of heightened emotions, a sense of urgency, and trust.  

Today’s cyber attackers are smart. They know that companies invest millions of dollars in corporate security features. They also know that every organization has the weakest link – human error. That’s why they keep devising clever ways to manipulate people to give up confidential information. Social engineering is one technique that hackers use to fool unsuspecting users into handing over sensitive information, like passwords, banking information and personal information.

What is social engineering?

It is a form of cyber-attack that exploits people through deception and trickery. It taps into human vulnerabilities like trust, emotions, or habits to gain access to networks, systems, and physical locations. Usually, the attackers intend to trick users into providing details like bank account details, social security numbers, or login credentials. But they may also want to access a computer and secretly install malicious software that gives them control over the computer.

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Attackers use social engineering techniques to hide their real identities and motives. They pose as trusted individuals or experts, but their only intention is to influence, manipulate, or trick users into giving up access or confidential data. A majority of social engineering attacks are based on the way people act and think. As such, these scams are particularly useful in exploiting a user’s actions. Once the hacker understands the reasons behind a target’s actions, he or she can effectively manipulate and deceive them.

How social engineering works

Social engineering attacks happen in one or more steps. First, the hackers run background checks to gather as much information about the target as possible. Then they’ll try to win over the target’s trust and persuade them to reveal confidential information. As opposed to violent methods, fraudsters use persuasion and confidence to prompt the victims into taking actions.

In a nutshell, social engineers:

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What social engineering attacks look like?

Social engineering attacks appear as an ordinary text message, email, phone call, or voice call from a seemingly safe source. Ultimately, it ends with the victim’s action, like exposing themselves to malware or sharing sensitive data.

Many people assume that they can tell scams right off the bat, but today’s attackers are much more advanced. They know how to disguise themselves. And, with a couple of details here and there, they can easily gain access to your organization’s various accounts and networks.

As Kevin Mitnick, a former hacker and social engineering expert, once said, “There isn’t a technology today that can’t be overcome through social engineering.” 

Attackers are using social engineering to attack even the most sophisticated systems. In 2016, for instance, the United States Department of Justice fell for social engineering bait that saw a leak of personal information of 9,000 DHS and 20,000 FBI employees. In the same year, the Democratic National Convention lost over 150,000 emails, thanks to a spear-phishing email that appeared to be a legitimate email from Google. Other famous attacks include Ubiquiti Networks BEC, in 2015, Yahoo hack in 2014, Sony Pictures Hack in 2014, and US Department of Labor Watering Hole in 2013.

Types of social engineering attacks

1.     Email from a trusted source (phishing emails)

Hackers use psychological manipulation to get victims to take different actions. For instance, they may send out an urgent message like this one:

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Most employees will jump into action when they receive such an urgent email from their “boss.” They will even prioritize it over anything else. What’s more, some will proceed with the instructions without asking any questions. Emails may also come from another trusted source – like a friend, industry expert, and so on.

Phishing scams deliberately take advantage of the trust that individuals have in legitimate email owners. Attackers use different phishing methods and platforms, including:

2.     Baiting

In baiting, an attacker leaves malware-infected device where a target can find it. Sometimes, they label it in an appealing way to make it even more luring. When a person picks and plugs it into their machine, they unknowingly infect their computer with malware.

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3.     Tailgating

Also known as piggybacking, tailgating is where a disguised attacker follows an authenticated staff into a restricted area. He or she then asks the employee to hold the door for them, thereby gaining access to the building.

4.     Pretexting

Pretexting involves hackers creating an excellent ploy to try and steal their target’s data. In pretexting, the fraudsters may say that they need some information from their victims to confirm their identity – but they use the information to stage secondary attacks or identity theft. In some cases, the attackers manipulate their victims into doing something that abuses the company’s physical and digital weaknesses.

Unlike in phishing where scammers capitalize on the victim’s urgency and fear, pretexting depends on creating a false sense of trust with the victim. Meaning, the hacker has to build a good story that victims believe.

Social engineering prevention

Security awareness training is the best way to prevent social engineering. Companies should sensitize their teams about social engineering as well as the tactics that attackers use. Employees should know well to delete any requests for passwords or secure financial data. They should also reject requests or offers of help. It’s equally important for companies to update their operating systems and also install firewalls, anti-virus software and email filters.

Be Protected Online: 6 Tips to Protect Cybersecurity For Healthcare Staff

Cybercrime continues to be a significant concern across many industries, and healthcare is among its biggest targets. A 2018 State of Cybersecurity in Healthcare study by Horizon revealed that 100% of web applications linked to critical health details are vulnerable to attacks. Network penetration results also pointed out that cyber-attackers could easily access domain-level admin privileges of most healthcare applications.

The chronic underinvestment in advanced cybersecurity technologies has left many health care facilities so exposed that they cannot even detect cyberattacks when they happen. Since hackers may attack in a matter of seconds, it sometimes takes facilities weeks or even months to detect a breach, contain it and deploy resources to prevent the same attack from happening.

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Online data security is paramount in the healthcare and senior care industry.

Cybercriminals target health facilities for a range of reasons, but the main ones include:

Verizon’s 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report revealed that most attacks are about money, and cyber attackers often take the easiest route to assess the data they need. Sensitive data, like medical records are highly valued by identity thieves looking to sell identities on the black market. And since health care facilities are easy target, it explains why they account for 25% of all data breaches annually.

Facilities – including those that specialize in senior care – continue to face threats like:

Although cyber attackers are smart and fly under the radar, healthcare facilities can increase their security fast. Here are some cybersecurity tips for outsmarting attackers:

Install a firewall

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A firewall can protect your facility's network from outside attacks.

A firewall is a firmware or software that prevents unauthorized access to a network – think of it as a gatekeeper. It is the first line of defense against unauthorized access and malicious attacks as it inspects incoming and outgoing traffic to detect and block threats. Senior care facilities can install a firewall at their network perimeter to safeguard against threats and record events to identify patterns and improve rule sets. Firewalls protect networks from worms and viruses along with rootkits and phishing tools.

Update operating systems and software

Most impactful cyber-attacks have one thing in common – they target vulnerabilities in outdated operating systems and software. The Equifax and BA hacks are good examples of successful attacks on unpatched systems. Both these cases were easily preventable. They had access to software updates but neglected to download and install them.

Cybersecurity is only as strong as its weakest link. If a senior care facility uses outdated software or systems, endpoints become susceptible to attacks even from the most unskilled hackers. Luckily, facilities can prevent attacks with regular system and software updates.

Create a strong username and passwords

Strong usernames and passwords are essential to keep the facility’s devices safe. These devices hold information about patients and their prescription drugs, histories, billing, etc., which hackers’ favor.

Senior living facilities need to set solid passwords – those that are free of any identifying information. A strong password should leave out addresses, phone numbers, family names, first names, and real words as attackers easily deduce them. Instead, it should possess a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters, random symbols and numbers.

Those who have a hard time coming up with hard-to-crack login information can use online tools that generate strong passwords. Once a password is created, it should not be shared with anyone. It could easily land in the wrong hands, especially since 53% of cyber-attacks are from within. Experts also recommend using a password manager to store all passwords instead of writing them in books.

Use a VPN

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A virtual private network, or VPN can mask your identity online and protect private information.

Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a network built by use of public wires – often the internet – to connect regional offices or remote users to a facility’s private, internal network. It is used by facilities to secure their digital information and internet activity. A VPN can help boost cybersecurity by:

Protect mobile devices

Senior living facilities can monitor and protect facility phones. But it can be a little bit challenging when it comes to individual phones. Older adults who have their smartphones may want to access social media or download stuff, which may expose them to attacks. The same applies to when they need financial assistance from staff members or even strangers. Therefore, it is good to train them on cybersecurity matters to avoid a breach. It also pays to control in-person access so that only trusted members can visit the elderly.

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Mobile devices are popular targets of hackers. Understanding how cybercriminals access your network is crucial.

Maintain good computer habits

Facilities should maintain all IT systems, including the EHR systems, to function correctly and reliably. Maintenance includes things like configuration management, operation system (OS) maintenance, and software maintenance. These involve a range of things, like

Create and maintain backups

Backups are more like the last line of defense – should everything else fail. If the attackers manage to penetrate through all the tight security features, the backup will come in handy. Malware attacks are known to delete or even corrupt files. But backup ensures that information is readily available. However, facilities should check and test the backup device regularly to make sure everything is working correctly. The last thing they’d want to deal with after an attack is to realize the previous backup was months ago.

These are a just few of our suggestions for protecting your data security at your healthcare facility. It may be a good idea to speak with your IT specialist about the steps they are taking to protect your facility's private health information from cybercrime attacks.