Personal-Safety GPS Device is a Security Risk |
05/01/2011
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After thieves tried several
times to steal a friend's car, Don A. Bailey bought a Zoombak personal
GPS Locator device so that if the thieves ever succeeded, the cars owner
would be able to track its whereabouts and get it back.
He never got to try it out on a theft, but Bailey hacked the device and
learned that by exploiting security weaknesses in it, he could monitor
the movements of a known device, impersonate it to the Zoombak tracking
system, and even look for devices in his immediate vicinity to target.
The potential for abuse is not insignificant given that the device is
marketed as a safety device--a way to keep track of the whereabouts of
things that people might steal or harm, like cars, bikes, pets, and even
children.
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Russian Cyber Security Moguls Son Kidnapped |
04/30/2011
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The son of the founder of one of
the worlds largest cyber security firms, Russias Kaspersky Lab, has
been kidnapped, according to a Russian news report.
The original report, published by the Russian language website Life
News, said the 20-year-old Moscow University student and son of
multi-millionaire software developer Evgeny Kaspersky was abducted
Tuesday and kidnappers were demanding 3 million Euros for his release.
In a statement on the company website, Kaspersky Lab did not deny
reports of Ivan Kaspersky's kidnapping, but asked the media not to
speculate on the case.
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Russian Big Brother Rocked By Explosion |
04/29/2011
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A mysterious explosion rocked
the location for filming of the hugely-popular Russian equivalent of
reality television show Big Brother.
The explosion wounded one security guard, local reports said.
Security guards uncovered a suspicious backpack placed just inside the
perimeter fence during their morning round, and the blast went off when
they tried to move it, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.
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iPhone Tracking Only Tip Of Security Iceberg |
04/28/2011
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Revelations that the iPhone
stores data about where users have been on the device and on the
computer used to sync the iPhone turn out to be less revelatory than
claimed.
Alex Levinson, a senior engineer at Katana Forensics and the developer
of a leading iOS forensics application, says that the purported
discovery put forward at the Where 2.0 conference on Wednesday has been
known for months. Levinson himself contributed to a book--iOS Forensic
Analysis for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, published in December,
2010--that details the database used to store location data on the
iPhone and in iTunes.
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Gmail Security Tips: 5 Ways To Backup, Secure And Recover Your Account |
04/27/2011
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Quick searches of Twitter and
Google reveal a flurry of recent Gmail hackings, and the Guardian
reports that they might be rooted in the Gawker database breach last
December.
Once hacked, victims' accounts send out spam e-mails that make it appear
that the sender has been mugged. If you try to respond to one of these,
your message will go to a dummy address. The spam message are tweaked
so that the victim will not get your response if you hit reply all.
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Data-security and
compliance-management company Trustwave Holdings Inc. said it plans to
sell up to an estimated $100 million of stock in an initial public
offering.
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Online Gambling Shutdown |
04/25/2011
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Gambling online just got
significantly less convenient Friday when the U.S. Government shut down
the three largest Internet gambling sites operating in the United
States. Now it is time for a precedent-setting showdown, where courts
will determine if this kind of gambling is legal or not.
Federal prosecutors accused the three founders of the gambling sites and
eight others with illegal gambling, bank fraud and money laundering,
according to the Financial Times
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Question and Answer Websites |
04/24/2011
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Question and answer websites
have popped up all over the Internet. These interactive sites are
designed to connect individuals, and help them get answers to questions.
We have compiled a list of some of the more popular Question &
Answers websites...
Question and Answer Websites
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Skype for Android Security Flaw |
04/23/2011
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A recently-discovered
vulnerability in Skypes Android app could allow malicious apps access to
your personal data. Here is what you need to know about this flaw and
how to protect yourself.
What is the Problem?
The problem with Skype for Android, as was discovered by
AndroidPolice.com, is the way that the app stores your personal data.
That data includes everything from your Skype username, contacts,
profile, and instant message logs to far more sensitive information,
such as your account balance, full name, date of birth, address, phone
numbers, e-mail address, your biography, and more. Also at risk is
similar data about your contacts.
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A plan to get airline crew
members through airport security quicker is in the works and could lead
to somewhat faster lines for passengers.
The Transportation Security Administration recently announced plans to
begin testing an identity-verification program to let airline crews
bypass the controversial full-body scanners and extra-thorough pat-down
searches at airports.
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LNG Tanker Security |
04/21/2011
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The important role of natural
gas as the bridge fuel to a low-carbon economy and more-sustainable
energy system raises concern about security of LNG delivery
infrastructure. Although forecasts of LNG gas imports have shrunk with
the surge in production from unconventional reservoirs, LNG will remain
an important link in the transportation chain as consumption of gas
grows.
Natural gas emits half as much carbon dioxide as coal and is the
preferred backup generation source required for wind and solar energy.
In fact, some policymakers are calling for natural gas to supplant
coal-fired power generation, which represents half of all US
electricity. In a 2010 study, The Future of Natural Gas, the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that federal policies aimed
at cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 50% below 2005 levels by
2050 would extend US reliance on gas-fired electricity from
20% to 40%.1 When coupled with the push for more natural gas vehicles to
reduce risky dependence on foreign oil, US gas consumption is likely to
soar.
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Online Security Strategy |
04/20/2011
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The White House has issued a
strategy for authenticating and protecting individual identities online,
warning that mounting fraud and privacy concerns will otherwise blunt
one of the major drivers of economic growth.
President Barack Obama endorsed the plan, which calls for the Commerce
Department. to set standards for voluntary trusted procedures that would
be implemented by private companies.
By making online transactions more trustworthy and better protecting
privacy, we will prevent costly crime, we will give businesses and
consumers new confidence, and we will foster growth and untold
innovation, Mr Obama said.
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Federal Homeland Security Audit |
04/19/2011
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A police chiefs group in Ohio
mishandled nearly $5 million in federal anti-terrorism grants, according
to an audit by the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys internal
watchdog. The state hopes to recoup some but not all the money.
The Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police received more than half the
money allocated to the state through a local police terrorism prevention
program.
Homeland Securitys Inspector General said $4.8 million spent by the
association was not allowed under the grant, misclassified, handled
outside the grants timelines or not properly documented, according to
the audit released earlier this week.
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Credit Card Security Boost |
04/18/2011
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Two of Americas largest banks
have announced that they are to finally trial chip-embedded bank cards
in the U.S. - technology that has long been used and proven in Europe
and many other countries around the world.
JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo will experiment with the 'chip-and-pin'
cards - initially offering them to larger business customers and
frequent travellers who have had problems using U.S. cards abroad.
Magnetic strip technology, used by the estimated 1.7 billion credit
cards in the U.S., has been targeted by foreign criminals because of its
relative ease to clone and defraud.
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Two local Arizona sheriffs –
Cochise Co. Sheriff Larry Dever and Pinal Co. Sheriff Paul Babeu –
said they heard that Border Patrol agents in Arizona have been
instructed not to arrest all illegal border crossers to keep
apprehension numbers down, but the Chief of U.S. Customs and Border
Patrol said there is no truth to their accounts.
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Tweet If You See Osama |
04/14/2011
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Two years ago it was an April Fools joke. Now it is apparently come true.
According to a report from the Associated Press, the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security will soon start issuing terror alerts using Twitter
and Facebook. The AP reporter apparently got a peek at a 19-page
internal DHS document discussing the change.
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Stolen Emails through Epsilon |
04/13/2011
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On March 30th, Epsilon an email
marketing management firm suffered a data breach. It serves
as the email management firm for some of the nations best known brands
including: Target, Capital One, Disney Destinations, Home Shopping
Network, Marriot Rewards, Hilton Honors, and some 44 other major names
and someone was able to obtain their customers' email addresses and
names. CBS news reported that the Secret Service is
investigating.
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Dangers of Blogging |
04/12/2011
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I have heard many a blogger say
that blogging fills a need. While blogging provides a humanizing effect
on news and journaling, it also opens a window into personal lives. The
details shared in blogs were once only available to a select group of
friends, and while blogging has become common place, it has risks that
should not be ignored.
Cyberstalking is a new phenomenon that allows anonymous online stalkers
to prowl for victims. Online bloggers traditionally provide personal
details about their lives. As a result, many women that blog are
becoming victims. Most people are concerned about children on the
Internet and set up rigorous posting guidelines for children,
adolescents, and teenagers, but few adults heed the warnings and often
do not consider that they too can be targeted.
Dangers of Blogging
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Why Should I Send SMS Mesages? |
04/11/2011
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Free Webinar - Session 1: Why would I need to send SMS? - April 27, 2011
In this session, we will go over the different reasons that SMS can
add extra efficiency to almost any business model and provide examples
of different implementations of SMS messaging with a healthy amount of
time for Q&A at the end of the session.
Why Should I Send SMS Webinar
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Great PowerPoint Presentation Tips |
04/10/2011
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When speaking at a conference or
a seminar, it is important that your presentation convey
professionalism. A PowerPoint presentation can be used to visually
represent your material. The presentation should be polished and
consistent throughout. The visual presentation should supplement your
speech, not distract or detract from your oral presentation. Rarely
should PowerPoint be used without an accompanying explanation of the
slides. Here are a few tips for making your PowerPoint presentation
better and more professional...
Great PowerPoint Presentation Tips
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Child Identity Theft |
04/09/2011
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Identity theft has saddled
thousands of children with debt, sometimes for years before they ever
discover their personal information has been stolen, a study says.
Within a database of 42,232 children that was compiled by an
identity-protection business, 4,311 -- 10.2% -- had someone else using
their Social Security numbers, according to Child Identity Theft, a
report by Richard Power, a distinguished fellow at Carnegie Mellon
Cylab.
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Security is No Excuse |
04/09/2011
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Sorry to break this to you, but
if you are looking to use security as the reason to keep consumer
technologies out of your company, you will have quite an uphill battle.
Not because the security risks are not real they are, and not because
you can guarantee the data security on the devices you can not.
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Google Security Plans |
04/08/2011
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As the security industry
attempts to move on from the Comodo security breach, Google is shedding
light on its plans for securing secure socket layer (SSL) certificates.
In a posting to the Google Online Security blog, security team engineer
Ben Laurie outlined plans for a pair of projects which the company hopes
will help to prevent future security incidents and restore user trust
in online certificates.
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Security Threats There is an App for That |
04/07/2011
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Gene Kiser, director of the
Kentucky Office of Homeland Security, said the iPhone application is the
latest step to protect the state. Kiser told the Associated Press putting
the technology in people’s hands will allow the homeland security
office to receive the most current information on threats.
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In the United States, 63,000
tons of nuclear waste, the sum total of all the waste generated by
decades of nuclear power, sits right where it was created -- at the
power plants themselves.
Often, these power plants are very close to major population centers --
Washington, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Chicago have
reactors within the 50-mile fallout zone.
If the waste catches fire, a situation Japanese officials are racing to
prevent at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant, critics say it could
effectively render an area the size of half of New Jersey permanently
uninhabitable.
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Many Jobs Fall Short in Providing Economic Security |
04/05/2011
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For those who are unemployed and
struggling to make ends meet, the obvious solution to their problem
would be finding a job. While it certainly helps, those with a job know
that it can still be tough to have basic economic security.
Though an estimated 190,000 jobs were added in March, according to the
Labor Department, many of those jobs were created in retail, hospitality
and home health care, which often do not pay enough to cover all basic
needs such as housing, utilities, health care and transportation,
reports The New York Times.
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Pros and Cons for Web Templates |
04/04/2011
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Small retail businesses who are
making the move to an online presence may feel overwhelmed by the
process of creating a website. Web templates can often help make the
process less painful for a small business. To assist webmasters in the
template vs custom design decision, we have outlined the pros and cons
to each...
Pros and Cons for Web Templates
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Fake Security Certificates |
04/03/2011
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Several security certificates
used to authenticate and encrypt Web sessions have been found to be
fraudulent, and could be deployed to trick users out of personal
information on high-profile websites including Google, Yahoo and Skype.
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Cybersecurity Growth |
04/02/2011
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The cybersecurity industry is
projected to grow 41 percent in the next eight years, and Maryland is
preparing for thousands of those new jobs by using a new federal grant
to train people.
The state received a $5 million grant for a program called Pathways to
Cyber Security Careers Consortium that gives people new skills in
cybersecurity areas.
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TSA Considers Religious Expression |
04/01/2011
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Air travelers want to feel safe,
and federal security officials want to make sure they actually are
safe. If only it were that simple.
Misunderstandings over religious expression have led to recent incidents
that prompted apologies from airlines. On March 13, agents with the
Transportation Security Administration removed a Muslim woman in a
headscarf from a Southwest Airlines flight after airline staff
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Napolitano: Border Security Better |
03/31/2011
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Homeland Security Chief Janet
Napolitano visited the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday to ensure
Americans that it is safe to travel and conduct business across the
border, but Republicans from the Southwest suggested the Obama
administration is not doing enough to keep the region secure.
The perception that violent crime in Mexico is spilling across the
border is false, Napolitano and other leaders said. Violent crime rates
have remained flat or decreased in Southwest border communities, she
said.
El Paso has been ranked the safest U.S. city of its size, even though it
sits across from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, which is plagued by drug cartel
violence, Mayor John Cook said.
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Better Security is Needed |
03/30/2011
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In two recent hacking cases the targets held secrets for many firms and individuals
There have been a couple of serious attacks in recent months on key
pieces of modern computer security infrastructure. These go to highlight
the challenges of having third parties in charge of key elements of
other people’s business and personal security systems, and show we
have a long way to go before we can really guarantee the integrity of
digital communication.
The first was reported by RSA, perhaps the most respected computer
security company in the world, on March 17th. The company announced
there had been a successful attack on its computers which it believed
could potentially weaken the security of its SecurID system.
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