Here is Trend Micros Future report 2010! Didn't someone make a movie about this?
Trend Micro 2010 Future Threat Report: Virtualization, Cloud-Computing and a Shifting Internet Infrastructure Will Widen the Scope of Cybercrime - Dec 09, 2009
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Ah yes! The obligatory Year in Review!
Here is CNN's Year in Review! break out the Billy Joel songs!
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/year.in.review/
Here is a better one from our sanity checkers JibJab!
http://sendables.jibjab.com/originals/never_a_year_like_09
Have a happy new Year!
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/year.in.review/
Here is a better one from our sanity checkers JibJab!
http://sendables.jibjab.com/originals/never_a_year_like_09
Have a happy new Year!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Cool! "Maximum Overdrive" Coming to a freeway near you!
Ford brings Wi-Fi to the highway
Hears a near term new Years blog for ya!
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/26/wired.ford.wi.fi/index.html
Hears a near term new Years blog for ya!
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/26/wired.ford.wi.fi/index.html
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Just in Time for Christmas!
I am kind of partial to this as I served 8 years in the Air Force.
Just in time for Christmas it the NORAD Santa Tracker!
Let a Four Star General tell your kids just where Santa is !
http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html
Oh Ya! Merry Christmas All!
Al
Just in time for Christmas it the NORAD Santa Tracker!
Let a Four Star General tell your kids just where Santa is !
http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html
Oh Ya! Merry Christmas All!
Al
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The danger of a single story!
Here is an article that has a lot of relevance today!
The Danger of a single story is one from Africa and as that is the cradle of civilization it is fitting!
From the CNN article: Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie believes in the power of stories, and warns that hearing only one about a people or nation leads to ignorance. She says the truth is revealed by many tales
Read more here:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/12/21/ted.talk.adichie.excerpt/index.html
One of the things that piqued my interest in this article is that Chimamanda was spot on in many ways towards modern communications. The America press is an example of where the funnel effect of shrinking news outlets and polarized opinion as news does not serve us.
I for one believe that the polarization of the news as either too liberal or too Conservative is a powerful statement on the shape of our government. How can we know where we truly stand as a people if we do not trust what we see and hear?
What would you say
The Danger of a single story is one from Africa and as that is the cradle of civilization it is fitting!
From the CNN article: Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie believes in the power of stories, and warns that hearing only one about a people or nation leads to ignorance. She says the truth is revealed by many tales
Read more here:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/12/21/ted.talk.adichie.excerpt/index.html
One of the things that piqued my interest in this article is that Chimamanda was spot on in many ways towards modern communications. The America press is an example of where the funnel effect of shrinking news outlets and polarized opinion as news does not serve us.
I for one believe that the polarization of the news as either too liberal or too Conservative is a powerful statement on the shape of our government. How can we know where we truly stand as a people if we do not trust what we see and hear?
What would you say
The yin and yang of cybersecurity
From CNN: "On the Internet, the good guys and the bad guys are inextricably connected. But what happens when one side gets the upper hand?"
Read on here:
http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/12/21/the-yin-and-yang-of-cybersecurity/
Read on here:
http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/12/21/the-yin-and-yang-of-cybersecurity/
Saturday, December 19, 2009
SAINTS, I BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF LOVE!!!
Well here is one for the record books!
Here in St. Charles Parish we are drying out yet once again!
Roughly 22 inches of rain in 72 hours!
For those of you not from here you may ask yourself what makes them stay there!
Well here's an answer to that, if there can be one!
The SAINTS are 13-0 and we believe!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u05qJxWqQw&feature=related
Here in St. Charles Parish we are drying out yet once again!
Roughly 22 inches of rain in 72 hours!
For those of you not from here you may ask yourself what makes them stay there!
Well here's an answer to that, if there can be one!
The SAINTS are 13-0 and we believe!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u05qJxWqQw&feature=related
Friday, December 18, 2009
Watch out for the 12 monkeys effect on the Great Experiment!
Think that twitter and social networking are just for Air Heads called Biff and Buffy! Think again! While B&B can make up a large percentage of these new sites base, the impact these sites can have on every one's security is huge and getting larger by the day.
Here is an article that can illuminate the possibilities for anyone who has read my blog.
"Twitter hacked by 'Iranian Cyber Army'"
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/18/twitter.hacked/index.html
The "Army" may not even be real, but that they shut down a large online corporation is disturbing when you think that similar people have hacked into the U.S. Army Drones video feeds and other vulnerable infrastructure like you local power plant!
Stay vigilant folks!
Here is an article that can illuminate the possibilities for anyone who has read my blog.
"Twitter hacked by 'Iranian Cyber Army'"
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/18/twitter.hacked/index.html
The "Army" may not even be real, but that they shut down a large online corporation is disturbing when you think that similar people have hacked into the U.S. Army Drones video feeds and other vulnerable infrastructure like you local power plant!
Stay vigilant folks!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
There's tonage to be glum over, but Faith walks!
With all that has happened over the past year it's really easy to be cynical and depressed around here. Watching the the barely affordable Christmas presents be swept down the street with the new flooring I think is an especially poignant cherry on top by the Grinch! At least there's a new chance to replace the Chinese Drywall!
Well with all that is glummy and wet, I thought a nice picker up would do! It seems a little dog called faith with no front legs since birth is getting everyone in the military in the mood to celebrate the season. Wounds and all! So just as the house is floating away for Christmas eve, remember that its not the situation but how you live through it that counts!
Read on here for some Christmas cheer from Faith! http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091216/ap_on_fe_st/us_fea_pets_two_legged_dog
OH ya the SAINTS are 13-0, it can't be all that bad!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
More tips for online security and Privacy
Just look at the Will Smith movie "Enemy of the State" to go paranoid over your privacy and security and what a heavy handed socialist government might do to them. In the mean time here are some more personalized tips from yesterdays CNN article two postings ago on web security.
Have antivirus software, anti-spyware and firewall --
Better still, make sure its updated and working! Most products renew in a year from purchase date, so if you got it for Christmas a year ago, start to look to renew.
Another big point is that Internet Security suites are not fire and forget weapons! Learn what they do and how they update so you don't have to with your wallet or life!
Never respond to spam --
Make sure you know how to delete spam without opening it. In Outlook make sure your preview pane is turned off for that folder so that the mail is not auto opened when you highlight it to delete. Do not delete the Spam folder by accident as well.
Don't open suspicious emails or attachments --
Sorry folks but big attachments for the human body are still a ways away medically speaking. So don't fall for the junk, just trash it. Oh ya and Uncle Nigeria doesn't have any real money for you either!
Never provide passwords or personal information to unsolicited emails or Web sites --
This one is VERY important! Your bank will never ask for any personal information over the phone or Internet when they call or send mail to you. A key question to ask yourself in these situations is "how do I know they are who they say they are?" If you can not immediately answer that; you called a known number, you initiated a conversation or e-mail, DO NOT give out any information. Real people and sites know this as well and would never ask by phone or in an email. Thieves and Fraud's hope you don't ask and try real hard to make it so you don't. Going to a web page link from an unsolicited mailing is also a big No No and one of the ways they try to get you.
When asked to 'allow' or 'deny' an application access to the Internet, choose deny unless you are confident in the safety of the site you are accessing --
This can be tricky and why I implore people constantly to read up on how their software works. Update software can often times trip up security software into saying that an unknown program is trying to gain access. In fact most false hits are important and "well known" programs like JAVA or Acrobat Reader that need security updates to stay safe while you surf. So just don't auto click deny! Look at the issue. False positives as they are know will be relatively self evident. An example is "Java updater needs access to Java.com/update". True problems are "bugger134waa needs access to 3895*W*$.com" these are very suspicious and need to be denied. You then can look up "bugger134waa" in google to see if it is indeed a really program.
When shopping or banking online, make sure website contains an "s" after http (as in https) . Look for the 'lock' icon in lower right corner --
This is very important but again you can get tripped up here so be aware. Some sites do not have this on there order page and that is ok, it the page where you input the actual card information that must have at least the lock on it, that is important. That is the vendors banks page and it needs to be secure. Online banking pages should always be secured after you log in.
be very suspicious of pages that are not after you have logged in and call the bank if you find one. This can be whats known as a man in the middle attack!
You can read the original article below at:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/13/cybercrime.2009.review/index.html
Have antivirus software, anti-spyware and firewall --
Better still, make sure its updated and working! Most products renew in a year from purchase date, so if you got it for Christmas a year ago, start to look to renew.
Another big point is that Internet Security suites are not fire and forget weapons! Learn what they do and how they update so you don't have to with your wallet or life!
Never respond to spam --
Make sure you know how to delete spam without opening it. In Outlook make sure your preview pane is turned off for that folder so that the mail is not auto opened when you highlight it to delete. Do not delete the Spam folder by accident as well.
Don't open suspicious emails or attachments --
Sorry folks but big attachments for the human body are still a ways away medically speaking. So don't fall for the junk, just trash it. Oh ya and Uncle Nigeria doesn't have any real money for you either!
Never provide passwords or personal information to unsolicited emails or Web sites --
This one is VERY important! Your bank will never ask for any personal information over the phone or Internet when they call or send mail to you. A key question to ask yourself in these situations is "how do I know they are who they say they are?" If you can not immediately answer that; you called a known number, you initiated a conversation or e-mail, DO NOT give out any information. Real people and sites know this as well and would never ask by phone or in an email. Thieves and Fraud's hope you don't ask and try real hard to make it so you don't. Going to a web page link from an unsolicited mailing is also a big No No and one of the ways they try to get you.
When asked to 'allow' or 'deny' an application access to the Internet, choose deny unless you are confident in the safety of the site you are accessing --
This can be tricky and why I implore people constantly to read up on how their software works. Update software can often times trip up security software into saying that an unknown program is trying to gain access. In fact most false hits are important and "well known" programs like JAVA or Acrobat Reader that need security updates to stay safe while you surf. So just don't auto click deny! Look at the issue. False positives as they are know will be relatively self evident. An example is "Java updater needs access to Java.com/update". True problems are "bugger134waa needs access to 3895*W*$.com" these are very suspicious and need to be denied. You then can look up "bugger134waa" in google to see if it is indeed a really program.
When shopping or banking online, make sure website contains an "s" after http (as in https) . Look for the 'lock' icon in lower right corner --
This is very important but again you can get tripped up here so be aware. Some sites do not have this on there order page and that is ok, it the page where you input the actual card information that must have at least the lock on it, that is important. That is the vendors banks page and it needs to be secure. Online banking pages should always be secured after you log in.
be very suspicious of pages that are not after you have logged in and call the bank if you find one. This can be whats known as a man in the middle attack!
You can read the original article below at:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/13/cybercrime.2009.review/index.html
The Supreme's to hear your plea for privacy
Ok, Ok, the Supreme court is to hear if employers have the right to snoop on those racy tweets to your mistress with the company cell phone.
On the surface this would seem ok but a large amount of our national wire taping laws will be affected by this ruling. To what degree can someone expect their, tweets, email and text messages to be private on public networks is a big decision.
Consider that many of these messages do not just go away, they can linger in cyberspace and come back to haunt you. Just look at Tiger Woods and others who have been turned down for employment because the HR department did a cyber review and found those racy pics you took for your then boyfriend when you were 20. So much for the high paying internship after collage. The flip side is terrorist using secure Internet connections to turn out your lights and water without any worry of getting caught in the act. So stay tuned to this one on the web.
Here is the CNN article for more background.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/14/scotus.messaging/index.html
On the surface this would seem ok but a large amount of our national wire taping laws will be affected by this ruling. To what degree can someone expect their, tweets, email and text messages to be private on public networks is a big decision.
Consider that many of these messages do not just go away, they can linger in cyberspace and come back to haunt you. Just look at Tiger Woods and others who have been turned down for employment because the HR department did a cyber review and found those racy pics you took for your then boyfriend when you were 20. So much for the high paying internship after collage. The flip side is terrorist using secure Internet connections to turn out your lights and water without any worry of getting caught in the act. So stay tuned to this one on the web.
Here is the CNN article for more background.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/14/scotus.messaging/index.html
Monday, December 14, 2009
Cyber Security Tips
Well folks here are some tips to make the new year brighter and a bit safer.
From CNN: "The past year has seen the rise of "scareware" -- malware that parrots a legitimate antivirus software program and then infects the computer with "the very malware it purports to protect against," a Symantec report said. For a 12-month period ending June 30, Symantec received 43 million reports of scareware installation attempts."
So be vigilant of those pop up adds! This is a leading area of cyber crime at the moment due to the revenue it generates. 3 billion worth in 2008 alone.
From the same article, here are some common sense tips on how to prevent these problems:
Have antivirus software, anti-spyware and firewall --
Never respond to spam --
Don't open suspicious emails or attachments --
Never provide passwords or personal information to unsolicited emails or Web sites --
When asked to 'allow' or 'deny' an application access to the Internet, choose deny unless you are confident in the safety of the site you are accessing --
When shopping or banking online, make sure website contains an "s" after http (as in https) . Look for the 'lock' icon in lower right corner --
Sources: Symantec and Trend Micro
Check out the original article at :
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/13/cybercrime.2009.review/index.html
From CNN: "The past year has seen the rise of "scareware" -- malware that parrots a legitimate antivirus software program and then infects the computer with "the very malware it purports to protect against," a Symantec report said. For a 12-month period ending June 30, Symantec received 43 million reports of scareware installation attempts."
So be vigilant of those pop up adds! This is a leading area of cyber crime at the moment due to the revenue it generates. 3 billion worth in 2008 alone.
From the same article, here are some common sense tips on how to prevent these problems:
Have antivirus software, anti-spyware and firewall --
Never respond to spam --
Don't open suspicious emails or attachments --
Never provide passwords or personal information to unsolicited emails or Web sites --
When asked to 'allow' or 'deny' an application access to the Internet, choose deny unless you are confident in the safety of the site you are accessing --
When shopping or banking online, make sure website contains an "s" after http (as in https) . Look for the 'lock' icon in lower right corner --
Sources: Symantec and Trend Micro
Check out the original article at :
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/13/cybercrime.2009.review/index.html
Thursday, December 10, 2009
A mugging in cyber space, When your life gets unlocked! Must Read!
Whoo ee! here is a big must read.
According to a class action lawsuit, seems that Lifelocks locks are a bit flimsier than what you thought they were.
This backs up what I have been saying for some months now. We left easy street a long time ago when it comes to living in a digital age. People must realize we live in a digital age with digital criminals and digital crime just like real life. Now you can be mugged in cyberspace and not even know it!
Vigilance and continual education is the only way to combat some of these evolving crimes.
This is what makes the lawsuit against Lifelock so disappointing. One of the first products to help protect people on the digital frontier and now it seems to be a fraud.
Read here for more information:
http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2008/03/27/20080327biz-lifelock0328.html
Here is one of the main attorney sites concerning the class action.
http://lifelockclassaction.com/
According to a class action lawsuit, seems that Lifelocks locks are a bit flimsier than what you thought they were.
This backs up what I have been saying for some months now. We left easy street a long time ago when it comes to living in a digital age. People must realize we live in a digital age with digital criminals and digital crime just like real life. Now you can be mugged in cyberspace and not even know it!
Vigilance and continual education is the only way to combat some of these evolving crimes.
This is what makes the lawsuit against Lifelock so disappointing. One of the first products to help protect people on the digital frontier and now it seems to be a fraud.
Read here for more information:
http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2008/03/27/20080327biz-lifelock0328.html
Here is one of the main attorney sites concerning the class action.
http://lifelockclassaction.com/
Rotten Apples soil Valhalla!
Ooops the Chinese did it again! Reminds me of another Britney lyric, "Hit me baby one more time"!
Read here about how "Apple expels 1,000 apps after store scam"
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/09/wired.apple.apps/index.html
Evidently one of the elves at the app store was just a little too like the others!
We won't mention the killer sheet rock from China either! OOOOoops!
Read here about how "Apple expels 1,000 apps after store scam"
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/09/wired.apple.apps/index.html
Evidently one of the elves at the app store was just a little too like the others!
We won't mention the killer sheet rock from China either! OOOOoops!
Monday, December 7, 2009
The hidden costs of identity theft
Here is a good CNN article about the hidden costs that can be associated with Identity theft.
The chilling part of the article is the revelation of the emotion toil it takes on the victims and the revelation that most Identity thieves don't think its a crime or that they hurt anyone.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/07/identity.theft.costs/index.html
The chilling part of the article is the revelation of the emotion toil it takes on the victims and the revelation that most Identity thieves don't think its a crime or that they hurt anyone.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/07/identity.theft.costs/index.html
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Unfortunate Favorites from the past! Must reads!
Here are two articles I wrote a while ago and find unfortunately for my customers quite relevant today!
Here is one on the Fake Antivirus plague going around PC's
http://www.getgogator.com/_private/Articles/Malware/Fake%20AV%20and%20Social%20Engineering%20brief.pdf
Here is why my favorite music download site is Amazon.com and not sLimewire.
Read here if you like to have money in your pocket to buy things with. If not, by all means slime away!
http://www.getgogator.com/_private/Articles/Malware/LimeWire%20Perils.pdf
Here is one on the Fake Antivirus plague going around PC's
http://www.getgogator.com/_private/Articles/Malware/Fake%20AV%20and%20Social%20Engineering%20brief.pdf
Here is why my favorite music download site is Amazon.com and not sLimewire.
Read here if you like to have money in your pocket to buy things with. If not, by all means slime away!
http://www.getgogator.com/_private/Articles/Malware/LimeWire%20Perils.pdf
Are you willing to Pay to Play for Tiger's tresspasses?
Big news on the Internet these days. Microsoft and News Corp eye web pact to have Microsoft pay for listing News Corp news items on there Bing search engine.
Just another step in trying to charge for content on the web and I am very conflicted on this issue.
On the one point I believe that the news purveyors and Artist's have a right to charge for their news and content as news papers have always been at least a quarter in my lifetime and ripping off songs is just plain wrong.
On the other I feel this type of revenue on the Internet can be a slippery slope of extortion and fake news. For example, look what happened to virus's and malicious code once advertisement agencies got involved. Symantec went from successfully stopping most of Johnny Snotwad's basement viral creations to battling a 3 billion dollar malware monster from Snotwad and Associates Engineering.
There is also that little annoying fact about the quality and ethics of content in a global setting. What happens when Ronald Reagan's "we bomb in five minutes" radio gaff gets a modern makeover and slipped in some official Iranian news website? Does Tel Aviv get wiped off the map because some "Snotwad" wanted to make a funny? An exaggeration of the facts for sure, but serious stuff to think about folks!
Just another step in trying to charge for content on the web and I am very conflicted on this issue.
On the one point I believe that the news purveyors and Artist's have a right to charge for their news and content as news papers have always been at least a quarter in my lifetime and ripping off songs is just plain wrong.
On the other I feel this type of revenue on the Internet can be a slippery slope of extortion and fake news. For example, look what happened to virus's and malicious code once advertisement agencies got involved. Symantec went from successfully stopping most of Johnny Snotwad's basement viral creations to battling a 3 billion dollar malware monster from Snotwad and Associates Engineering.
There is also that little annoying fact about the quality and ethics of content in a global setting. What happens when Ronald Reagan's "we bomb in five minutes" radio gaff gets a modern makeover and slipped in some official Iranian news website? Does Tel Aviv get wiped off the map because some "Snotwad" wanted to make a funny? An exaggeration of the facts for sure, but serious stuff to think about folks!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Be watchful for Windows "Black Screen of Death"
A new problem has apparently developed with Windows in which the latest security patches have given some PC's a Black screen of death in which all else is not available.
Read here: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/01/cnet.microsoft.black.screen/index.html
From the article"The problem has been dubbed the "black screen of death" because those affected are left with a black desktop and little else on their screen".
Microsoft is investigating as normal channels have not picked up the issue. If you have this issue after downloading the security patches, please call Microsoft and let them investigate it for you.
On a more important aspect, do not allow this glitch to empower the idea that all security patches are bad and to never do it again. Many viral and malware purveyors are counting on this. With all the money floating around for these developers, everyone must keep up their defenses.
Read here: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/01/cnet.microsoft.black.screen/index.html
From the article"The problem has been dubbed the "black screen of death" because those affected are left with a black desktop and little else on their screen".
Microsoft is investigating as normal channels have not picked up the issue. If you have this issue after downloading the security patches, please call Microsoft and let them investigate it for you.
On a more important aspect, do not allow this glitch to empower the idea that all security patches are bad and to never do it again. Many viral and malware purveyors are counting on this. With all the money floating around for these developers, everyone must keep up their defenses.
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