Privacy and Security

The infamous hacker group Anonymous is calling on all hackers to help them put an end to Facebook. In a video that was uploaded to YouTube last month, but is going viral today, a computerized voice calls for action. Operation Facebook goes down on November 5.

The New York Police Department is taking advantage of social media information even though the platforms offer privacy settings. NYPD is perusing Facebook, Twitter and MySpace to track criminals who have committed or are planning to commit crimes.

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All due respect, parents need to take the time to communicate to their children about social network’s shortcomings. They need to have some familiarity on how to use the different social networks. Using a social network essentially requires the use of your real name and identity; many people often post excessive amounts of personal data including their daily habits and locations.

The infamous hacker group Anonymous is calling on all hackers to help them put an end to Facebook. In a video that was uploaded to YouTube last month, but is going viral today, a computerized voice calls for action. Operation Facebook goes down on November 5.

In light of the discovery that thousands of voice mail accounts were broken into in England, voice mail system security has been in the limelight. What is shocking is how mobile phone operators haven’t required passwords to access voice mail systems. Last week AT&T announced that passwords will be turned on by default for their [...]

Recent articles published on the web about smartphone security have focused on malicious software that users could inadvertently install on their phones. The reasons why smartphones are increasingly coming under attack is because more and more people are using them, and the information being stored on them is of value. Given the possibility of their [...]

The 12-page strategy delineates procedures and tactical measures to respond to violent extremism, promises stating, “We will continue to closely monitor the important role the Internet and social-networking sites play in advancing violent extremist narratives.”

The threats are documented in Sophos Security Threat Report Mid-Year 2011. Detailing new threats such as search engine poisoning called Black Hat SEO, threatening business of all sizes. Cybercriminals manipulate search results on Google and Yahoo! to redirect web searchers and fool them to malicious pages.

The bombing and shootings in Norway is a fine example that scammers will use any means to take advantage of a tragic situation. The same day of the tragedy, a scammer posted a claim linking victims to a video from an Oslo security camera showing a car bomb blast near a Norwegian government building showing at least 10 people killed.

For some reason it seems to be the week to pile on Android over security concerns. Earlier in the week we saw a report about a trojan that captures phone conversations, and that was followed by a report of a growing trend of Android malware, and finally came a report suggesting that Android users are [...]

The Government Accountability Office submitted the report, which found that nearly all — 23 of 24 — major federal agencies are now using Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The applications of the social media provide information about agency activities and interact with the public. Disappointingly, only seven agencies have identified and documented security risks. Those seven agencies have also taken procedures to prohibit hackers from exploiting those sites to obtain access to federal information systems.

Interestingly, the State Department told investigators they had no immediate plans to measure the agency’s social media security due to the fact that internal policies did not expect it.