Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Safety & Security”
As much as we would like to think that mankind will 100 percent rally around each other in the face of COVID-19, a virus which cares little about your nationality or socio-economic status, it wants us all, thinking such would be folly. Criminals are reaching out to us at our most vulnerable. They are using the telephone and robocalls; they …
It was 0730 in the morning and my wife, Kathy, calls down from her office and asks what the $200 charge was on her credit card to the Washington Secretary of State. She had seen the charge come through on 09 November for a billing on 08 November. I told her I would check, but that it might be an …
So you wanna be a mystery shopper? Meet, Timeiki Hedspeth, age 39, from Houston, Texas. She may have reached out to you, via email, to recruit you to be a part of her “Mystery Shopper” team. She recruited throughout the United States. What fun you might think, especially given how little one has to do, to earn a little pin …
Did you get your call from the Social Security Administration (SSA)? The one where they told you that your benefits would be turned off unless you bring your profile up-to-date by providing some personal information or paying a fine. If you did, you are not alone. The SSA put out a PSA within their blog today warning people of the …
Today, I wrote in Senior Online Safety about how the US Department of Homeland Security’s CERT issued a warning: WiFi encryption compromised! Update devices now! Is it fluff or is it real? It’s real. You should make sure to accept any security updates to your software or firmware for your routers, phones, or computers which address the vulnerability identified affecting …
The Daily Mail recently shared symbols or codes used by pedophiles to communicate with each other within social networks. The Daily Mail, says it best, “The seemingly innocuous pastel-colored scrawls feature butterflies, love hearts, and spirals. These are the symbols pedophiles use to signal their sordid sexual preferences.” The five symbols originally released to law enforcement nationwide by the FBI …
On 18 January 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a public service announcement (PSA), in which they described a scam which is specifically targeting college students who are looking for work. While the mechanics of the scam are not new, the successful targeting of college students looking for employment warranted the FBI’s advisory. According to the FBI, the …
This is Ashley. she was a victim of sextortion. Her predator was 26-year-old Lucas Michael Chansler, who last year pled guilty to multiple counts of child pornography production and was sent to prison for 105 years—but not before he used the Internet to victimize nearly 350 teenage girls. The majority of those youngsters have not yet been identified. [ctt template=”12″ …
Updated 14 January 2017 ———————– Today the Guardian reported that the Facebook owned application, WhatsApp contains a backdoor into its cryptographic end-to-end protocol. What this means, if true, is that your private conversations, may be encrypted as they pass through the internet, but not within the Facebook infrastructure. When I saw Guardian’s tweet on the topic, I immediately requested they …
The Chinese hacking group, Guardians of Peace (GOP) are believed to have links to North Korea according to press reports from the region describing a technology hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment. At first blush one must ask, ‘why North Korea.” First stop would be, is Sony Pictures Entertainment releasing any films which may have a North Korean angle. And indeed …
It is often times hard to absorb all of the avenues by which we interconnect online and how those connections create opportunity. Opportunity for good, and the not so good behaviors. Take for example, the many networks that have evolved whose soul purpose is to allow individuals to anonymously make derogatory comments about another. Similarly, the number of times on …
Today marks the first anniversary of the horrific murder of the children and adults at Sandy Hook elementary and 26 new souls entered heaven via a highway of our tears. The families have had a year to process the loss of their loved ones, and their pain endures, one year is never enough to swallow the grief. Time, however, will …
Today is international Safer Internet Day 2013. Take a few moments and think about the online safety and security of you and your family.
Nine tips to help you get started:
Tip #1 – Know who:
Tip #2 – Security Software:
Tip #3 – Passwords:
Tip #4 – Guidance & Direction:
Tip #5 – Browser Settings:
Tip #6 – Tagging:
Tip #7 – E-mail:
Tip #8 – Computer Settings:
Tip #9 – Public Computers:
This morning, I, like so many others across the globe, sit with tears streaming down my face and into my lap as I think about the 26 souls who are now in Heaven on a direct path from the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. I can not possibly imagine the angst the families of the 20 children and …
On the 18th of October, the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media announced the publication of “Bringing the Social Media #Revolution to Health Care” (Mayo Clinic) – for those involved in the health care vertical and with social media responsibilities you owe it to yourself to get this book. More than 20 individual contributors made this book possible, with the …
The stalker, may he burn in hell, a male predator on-line convinced a 12-yr-old Amanda whom he befriended in a chat room to flash her breasts over an internet connect and did a screen grab of the event. For the next few years, he continually threatened and then followed up those threats with action sharing the photos of Amanda within her peer population when she declined to do whatever he was demanding of her – via Facebook where he had set up alias accounts and assimilated himself into Amanda’s new circle of friends.
Where could Amanda and her mother taken some direct action?
Safer Internet Day 2012 (SID2012) serves as great opportunity to remind ourselves of the need to exercise a bit of caution as we traverse the wired side of life. What impresses me the most is the multi-lingual, multi-topic approach taken to spread the message of how to stay safe online.
On 2 November, I gave a talk, “Unintended Consequences” at Gnomedex. I spoke to the need to recognize that “always-on” isn’t necessarily always good. I went on to describe the train-wrecks which occur when technology which is created for good, is used in a manner, unintended. I then shared the stories of 36 young people who we lost in 2010 due to being overwhelmed, both online and off.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Chris Pirillo pre-Gnomedex about a variety of subjects, some light, some humorous and one very serious – the topic of bullying and the attendant suicides. During this discussion, I also shared my thoughts on how we as a collective society need to step up and accomplish in the immediate future. I do hope you will come and listen to my talk on the Gnomedex stage at Seattle Interactive conference on 2 November 2011 at 1400 hours (2:00pm).
The presentation is titled: “Unintended Consequences”
17 October 2011 (#NCSAM – National Cyber Security Awareness Month) Encryption: To encrypt or not encrypt, that is the question (a hat tip to the Bard of Avon). In this day and age of digital data thefts, careless loss of hardware and infusion of crimeware / malware, in my opinion it pays to encrypt. When and what should be encrypted? …