Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution states that an organism will evolve and develop desirable variations and characteristics to ensure its survival. Disease-causing organisms like viruses and bacteria are living true to this theory by evolving and mutating to resist our drugs, vaccines, treatments, and immune systems.

Of course, their quest for survival isn’t in our best interests. But to them, they’re only trying to exist, nothing personal. We would have done the same if we were in their shoes.

10 HIV

There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is the most common and is further classified into four groups: M, N, O, and P. Group M is the most common of all HIV strains and is further classified into subtypes A, B, C, D, F, G, H, J, and K. All these subtypes are genetically different and will readily merge to form new hybrids called circulating recombinant forms (CRFs). Eighty-nine of these CRFs have been identified so far.

This means that people already infected with HIV are still at risk of reinfection, either at the type, group, or subtype level. When they get reinfected, the two strains of HIV merge and create a new strain that could develop drug resistance. This is called dual infection, although coinfection or superinfection could be used, depending on the means of transmission. However, they all mean the same thing.

As if things couldn’t get worse, these hybrid CRFs are still capable of merging with other strains of HIV to create newer and more dangerous hybrids. One of these identified CRFs (called CRF19) is rampant in Cuba, where it was formed by the combination of the A, D, and G subtypes of HIV-1 Group M. CRF19 becomes AIDS within three years as compared to the 10–15 years it would normally take.^[1]

9 Guinea Worm

Since 1986, former US President Jimmy Carter has been on a mission to eradicate guinea worm, a terrible ailment that always ends with a worm of over 1 meter (3.3 ft) in length slowly leaving the body within a torturous span of one month. Only 11 cases of guinea worm infection were reported in 2016, a far cry from the over 3.5 million cases reported in 1986 when Carter began his anti–guinea worm campaign.

If Carter is successful, guinea worm would be the second disease to be eradicated by humans (after smallpox) and the first to be eradicated without vaccines. However, guinea worms are not giving up without a fight.

How? They’re finding new hosts: dogs.

In Chad, one of the last countries still battling guinea worm, incidences of guinea worm infection in dogs have been documented since 2012. About 600 dogs were known to be infected in 2016, although the real figure will definitely be higher. It is difficult to monitor these dogs because they are allowed to roam freely. This unlimited freedom also makes it difficult to keep them away from water, which is what guinea worms need to reproduce.

Adult guinea worms create a burning sensation in infected people, which forces them to seek a source of water to “cool” the pain. The worm then lays its larvae in this water. The larvae are swallowed by small aquatic organisms, which themselves are swallowed by humans who drink this contaminated water.

These larvae grow into adults in the human body, and the cycle continues. No one knows how these dogs are getting these guinea worms, but it has been proposed that it might be from contaminated fish.^[2]

8 Bubonic Plague

The Black Death was a pandemic that spread through Europe in the 14th century, killing about 25 million people or up to one-third of the total European population. It was caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium that is transmitted from infected rodents to humans by fleas. The Yersinia pestis bacterium causes any of the bubonic, pneumonic, or septicemic plague in humans.^[3]

As scary as it sounds, Yersinia pestis is still very much around. It is currently present in 25 countries, including Madagascar (which faced a mild epidemic between August 1 and November 22, 2017).

The scarier part of the plague is that it is becoming drug resistant. As of 2017, at least 10 common antibiotics are no longer effective in treating the disease. The resistance is believed to have been caused by the exchange of genes between Yersinia pestis and other bacteria like E. coli, Klebsiella, and Salmonella, which are all found in food.

7 Polio

Polio used to be one of the biggest killers of young children. When it does not kill, it causes lifelong paralysis. However, it has suffered severe blows in recent years, thanks to vaccination. Normally, young children are given oral doses of a weakened strain of the polio virus which allows their bodies to build immunity against the stronger and natural polio.

Now it has been observed that this weakened polio, which usually leaves the bodies of children through their excrement, can regain its potency, mutate, and infect children. This mutated polio is deadlier than the natural polio. Worse yet, vaccination does not work against this type of polio.

As a result, children already vaccinated against polio are not immune to this new mutated polio, which is caused by the same vaccine used to immunize them. During one outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 47 percent of the infected 445 children died even though they had already been vaccinated.^[4]

6 Ebola

Most people heard of Ebola for the first time between 2014 and 2016 when it swept through West Africa. This period—which lasted from March 23, 2014, to January 13, 2016—remains Ebola’s deadliest run ever. It killed at least 11,315 people, five times more than the casualties in all its epidemics since it was discovered in 1976. This figure is even on the low side and is believed to be considerably higher.

The 2014 Ebola outbreak actually started in December 2013 when it claimed the life of a two-year-old child in Guinea.^[5] By March 2014, it was already in Liberia. From there, it spread to Sierra Leone and a few other neighboring countries. During this period, it infected over 28,000 people, which is 100 times more than the number of people infected in earlier Ebola epidemics.

According to two different teams of virologists who studied the epidemic, it was deadlier because it involved a mutant strain of the original Ebola virus. The mutant is called A82V and was recorded as the virus responsible for over 90 percent of all infections.

Researchers believe that the A82V mutant was destroyed with the epidemic because it was poor at jumping to nonhuman hosts like the fruit bats believed to transmit Ebola to humans.

5 Gonorrhea

Data released from 77 countries shows that gonorrhea is rapidly becoming 100 percent resistant to drugs. These days, azithromycin, the major drug used in gonorrhea treatment, fails 81 percent of the time. Other drugs like the extended-spectrum cephalosporins (ESCs), which are the orally ingested cefixime or the injected ceftriaxone, fail 66 percent of the time.

The United Kingdom is one country facing a drug-resistant gonorrhea epidemic.^[6] This mutated strain of gonorrhea, which they call “super gonorrhea,” is totally resistant to azithromycin and could soon be to ceftriaxone as well. Investigations by the BBC revealed that gonorrhea may have become resistant to azithromycin because infected people were taking it alone rather than in combination with ceftriaxone as per UK healthcare guidelines.

4 Cholera

Cholera is caused by the consumption of food or water contaminated with the Vibrio cholerae bacterium. In most cases, it causes mild diarrhea and an infected person might not even know he has it. In the most serious cases, the disease causes severe dehydration, vomiting, and diarrhea that could kill the infected person within hours.

Haiti suffered a devastating cholera epidemic 10 months after the catastrophic January 2010 earthquake. The epidemic killed 9,200 people. However, some international organizations like Doctors Without Borders believe that this figure should be considerably higher because most cholera-related deaths went unreported. In some regions, only 10 percent of deaths were reported.

The Haiti cholera outbreak was caused by a mutated strain called “altered El Tor.”^[7] It is deadlier than regular cholera and has been likened to the deadly cholera of the 1800s. Altered El Tor underwent three mutations that allowed it to bypass the body’s early warning system. It was first observed in 2000 and has been traced to Nepal.

3 Syphilis

Syphilis is also called the “great imitator” because its symptoms often resemble those of other diseases. It is spread through sexual contact, although it can also be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy.

Researchers have discovered that Nichols and Street Strain 14 (SS14), the two main strains of syphilis, are mutating. As a result, they are developing resistance to common antibiotics like penicillin and macrolides that are often used for treatment.

The mutation is more prevalent in SS14. In one analysis, about 90 percent of SS14 samples were drug resistant versus 25 percent for the Nichols strain. This newfound resistance is allowing syphilis to make a comeback.^[8]

Since 2013, there has been a 15 percent increase in syphilis cases. The good news is that syphilis can still be treated by most antibiotics, although the disease could become resistant to these drugs over time.

2 Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is one ailment that is undergoing a serious mutation. Two new forms of tuberculosis have been identified: multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB).

MDR-TB is resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most powerful drugs used in the treatment of tuberculosis. Meanwhile, XDR-TB, a more potent version of MDR-TB, is resistant to isoniazid, rifampicin, and several other drugs.

About 580,000 cases of MDR-TB were reported in 2015. Of this figure, 55,100 (9.5 percent) were XDR-TB cases. XDR-TB has been reported in 117 countries, which means that it’s slowly becoming a global problem.

It is speculated that tuberculosis became drug resistant because infected people were not storing or taking their drugs properly. Tuberculosis is treated with a six-month regimen that must not be interrupted. Any form of interruption allows the ailment to develop a resistance to drugs.^[9]

1 Cancer

Cancer has been known to evolve and mutate since the 1970s. This mutation allows cancer to become drug resistant, to expel drugs from the body, and to repair cells already damaged by these drugs. Researchers believe that this mutation is caused by cancer cells that are not destroyed during treatment.

One form of cancer known to mutate is prostate cancer, which requires testosterone (the male hormone) for development. One method of treatment is to starve the body of testosterone, but this stopped working when prostate cancer cells learned to use other molecules in place of testosterone. When this happens, it becomes castrate-resistant prostate cancer, which is often fatal.

Lung and colorectal cancers are also capable of mutating. Their cells become resistant to radiation and chemotherapy regimens, leaving them untreatable.

One proposed method of curing these mutant cancers is by “individual specific therapy,” which is a treatment unique to an individual. However, this method is not foolproof.

One of the first drugs created for “individual specific therapy” was Herceptin, which sticks to the HER2 protein to destroy breast cancer cells.^[10] However, the cancer mutated and started destroying the parts of the HER2 protein that Herceptin stuck to. Most of the time, the body responds by creating HER3 cells. This compounded the problem because Herceptin could not stick to HER3.

Brute forcing used to be easier and there were once a lot more backdoors. However, while the hacking game may have become harder for the hacker, that doesn’t mean they haven’t continued to evolve and find ingenious new ways to gain access. In both the cases of malicious hacking, and just hacking to get control of our own property, the world of cyber security is a many headed hydra that grows two heads for every one you cut off. 

10. Phone Phreaking May Mostly Be Over, But There Are Still A Number Of Tricks 

Back in the day of pay phones and analog landlines, there were quite a number of incredible tricks people could do using the phone system. These were basically the original hackers and they were often known as phone phreakers. Among their many tricks, they could use certain frequencies to get themselves free long distance calls from any pay phone, and could hack into elevator phones to troll people in real time. While these sorts of tricks have been phased out of existence, there are still some useful little tricks you can do with phone codes. 

There are quite a number of useful star codes, although many of them no longer require the star based on what type of mobile phone program you are using. If you use the 67 code you can hide your identity, and with the 69 code you can call back any number that just called you, although this doesn’t always work if their number is hidden. However, one of the most useful tricks that many people don’t know about is that you can often bypass the phone’s transfer system and dial an extension directly. On Android, you need to select the three dots when dialing the number and then add a 2 second pause before the extension. On Ios, you should be able to create this pause by holding the star key. 

9. Hackers Are Looking For Unsecured Wifi Enabled Baby Monitors For Some Devilish Fun

Baby monitors today are often wifi connected and some even have cameras. They also often boast smartphone apps and other remote ways of viewing your baby from literally anywhere. This convenience is great, but it presents some risks. Unfortunately, there are malicious people out there who don’t consider even babies to be sacred from nasty trolling. These trolls are hacking into baby monitors and using voice changers to creep out the babies they manage to find vulnerable. Now, some may assume this is because people are not changing their passwords, but this is not always the case.

According to Chuck Beardsley from the cyber security company Rapid7, who did a study on baby monitors in 2015, they are woefully unprotected. Possibly because manufacturers just didn’t imagine people being so evil, they lack many of the common security features you see in modern computers. This means that even updating your firmware and changing your password may not always be enough. His recommendation is to go old school and get a baby monitor that is not connected to the internet. 

8. Many Farmers Are Becoming Amateur Hackers So They Can Repair Their Own Equipment 

When you think of hackers, you probably think of young people dressed up in crazy getups hiding in a dark room somewhere clacking away at a keyboard while muttering about how they just “got in”. What you usually don’t think of, is the average American farmer, out somewhere miles from any city. Unfortunately, due to a trend in the tech and automotive industry, farmers are now turning to hacking in order to repair and maintain their own equipment that they bought with their own money. 

Companies like John Deer are notorious especially for locking down their firmware and having contracts that only allow repair and maintenance at specified dealerships.  Farmers find this unacceptable because many of the dealerships are quite a distance from their farm, and the mechanics who are needed sometimes take too long to reach the dealership. This can cause serious crop losses, which John Deer will not compensate the farmers for, and according to the contracts they sign they can’t sue over it either. John Deer argues these rules are necessary to make sure John Deer products are kept safe and well maintained. However, the problem with this argument is that they are the ones who designed them to be this way in the first place, so this may not be the best line of defense for them to take. 

7. A Computer With An Allegedly Unhackable Prototype Chip Has Held Up Well So Far In Testing 

Many of us have been told that there basically is no such thing as an unhackable computer system. Common wisdom holds that given enough time, especially without constant counter defense, anything could be broken into. For the longest time this was true, but researchers at the University of Michigan have been working to end that by creating what they hope is a truly unhackable computer chip. 

Dubbed “Morpheus” by its creators, the chip was attacked last year over a three month event by a team of 500 white hat hackers. No one was able to break through, and thus far the chip still remains unhacked. Now, this does not mean it will remain unhackable forever, as the creators have certainly thrown down the gauntlet to every hacker in the world who wants to make a name for themselves, but it is holding up remarkably well so far. The lead researcher, Todd Austin, explains that in less complicated terms, the reason it is so hard to hack is constantly altering. The metaphor he uses is that trying to hack Morpheus is like trying to solve a rubix cube that completely rearranges itself every time you blink. 

6. Tesla Owners Have Also Found Themselves Hacking To Avoid Ridiculous Maintenance Fees

Tesla has become a very popular company lately as their electric cars are very high quality, and they have put together a very slick campaign over the years headed by their charismatic founder. The problem is that as cars become more and more computerized, especially electric cars on the cutting edge, they become more complex to fix and easier for companies to lock down. Tesla is very strict about locking down their systems to make it hard for amateurs or third party mechanics to repair them, but due to the incredibly high cost of some repairs at official sites, many are hacking the system and repairing their own Tesla anyways, or taking it to shops that will. 

One man had his battery ruined by road debris and Tesla quoted him a bill of $16,000. A mechanic named Richard Benoit who fixes Teslas outside the system did it for $700. In another case, the same mechanic fixed a Tesla for $5,000 when Tesla had quoted the customer over $20,000 for the repair. When fans of Tesla and other groups asked Tesla for confirmation of these prices for repair, they refused  to confirm or deny. 

5. Some Scammers Now Call You First And Get You To Let Them In 

As security for computers becomes increasingly harder to get into, many  hackers are now looking for other ways to get in. A lot of hackers have decided that the easiest way to get into your computer is to just straight up ask you to let them in, and then do whatever they want once they are inside. Imagine a burglar who decides that instead of breaking into your home in the dead of night, he is going to convince you that he is a man coming to test your water supply, and then steal the electronics in your living room while you go to get him a glass of water from the kitchen. 

This is basically the mindset behind one of the most popular new scams among hackers and thieves looking to get their hands on your information. They will call you up and claim you have a virus, or some special offer, or that they owe you money. In order to get rid of the virus or get the special offer, you need to connect with them using a program called teamViewer, which is sometimes used legitimately to remote connect and fix computer problems. The scam has become so prevalent that TeamViewer has official warnings about it on their website, and official police forces have handed out warnings to their citizens. 

4. Password Reuse Is A Serious Security Vulnerability Many Don’t Think Of

Between streaming services, social media accounts, email, food apps, and every other service we encounter on the internet that wants us to sign up,  it has become exhausting to keep making passwords for all of them. Many people these days do make complex passwords, but the problem is that a lot of people, out of sheer memory fatigue, often reuse their passwords across multiple accounts. 

This is understandably tempting, but it can make you vulnerable to attack. Recently the cyber security firm TrustWatt found a cache located in the Netherlands of more than two million usernames and passwords across various sites, along with all sorts of other data they shouldn’t have on those people’s accounts. Unfortunately, 30% of these people were reusing passwords, which can make them very vulnerable to hackers who will just attempt your password and email across multiple sites you might use and see what happens. It might seem like an almost insurmountable problem to keep up a different and complex password for every single site, but there is a way. There are now multiple companies that make password managers that require you only to keep track of one master password, and they take care of the rest. 

3. Ransomware Has Become A Serious Threat, And Cryptocurrency Helps Them Hide 

Ransomware is a term used for a situation where hackers will lock you out of your own system, usually when your system is extremely critical. They will then demand a huge amount of payment as ransom in order to get control back. While these attacks have always existed, they used to be more focused on small fry. However, in recent years, it seems large hacker groups have decided that with mostly untraceable currencies like bitcoin, they might have a chance at going for the really big fish. 

In particular, 2021 was a banner year for ransomware attacks on infrastructure though, and experts are hoping the companies will greatly increase their security due to the threat. In 2021 the Colonial oil pipeline that supplies half the gas to the East Coast was disrupted by a ransomware attack. A little further down geographically in Brazil in the same year, a ransomware attack disrupted service at two of the country’s largest power plants. And in Norway, an attack on water infrastructure caused a temporary disruption that affected 85% of the country’s water supply. Unfortunately, these were just the highlights from a very bad year for ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure. 

2. Social Engineering Has Become Huge, So Keeping Your Social Media Private Is Important

Big social media companies, government websites, banks, and other juicy targets are becoming harder and harder to brute force or find a backdoor way through. Unfortunately, hackers have ingeniously found one easy way around this particular impediment. With more locked down systems, locked out users still need a way in, and that is where those security questions come in — and the hackers along with them. 

The security questions give you a way to prove that you are you by answering questions only you could answer, especially if you get locked out of the email and can’t remember your password as well. Hackers, realizing this means with security questions they can trick their way into almost anything, have designed cute little Facebook quizzes and instagram memes to get people to divulge this information willingly. The Better Business Bureau has a warning not to answer these quizzes as people can use the information against you. As for further steps, if you are worried about attackers figuring it out through cleverly looking at your old posts, security expert Adam K. Levin suggests you could lie on your security questions — he just cautions keeping the lie consistent as forgetting your fake security question answer could cause a lot of problems.    

1. The Right To Repair Movement Wants To Be Able To Hack And Fix Their Own Property 

Easily the biggest evolution in hacking is that more and more these days, hacking has become a game to fix or modify items that we legally own. Out of this mess, the Right to Repair movement was born: a group of lawyers, enthusiasts, and lobbyists who are trying to get people proper rights to fix their own stuff. 

Some people are confused about the need because in most cases we really do have the right to repair anywhere we want, and those warranty void stickers likely wouldn’t hold up under any real legal scrutiny. However, having the right to legally repair doesn’t necessarily give you the full right to repair. Many of these companies like John Deere have locked up their systems making it hard for an amateur to get in. And it affects more than farmers or Tesla owners — after so many people unlock their phones, telecoms started encrypting the bootloader to make it all but impossible to properly install custom roms.

Right to Repair is quite simple; it’s the idea that companies should not be legally allowed to make it unduly difficult for an amateur or third party mechanic with the right tools to fix or modify an item that you already own. President Biden recently signed an executive order telling the FTC to work on making it easier to fix electronics using a third party, but it is just a start.