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.
// 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. ...
Information Security, News, Online Safety, Safety & SecurityThose who have followed my writing on the subject of Wi-Fi security know my passion for taking seemingly basic steps to keep one’s wireless activity safe and secure. In a recent survey conducted by the Wi-Fi Alliance 86% of all respondents had taken the appropriate steps to secure their routers, but only 56% had taken the step to create a “hard” password, thus making themselves vulnerable to dictionary attacks or the like. So take three basic steps to keep yourself Wi-Fi secure:
News, Online Safety, Safety & SecurityWhat’s SMISH? SMISH is Short Message Service (SMS) Phish or in the lexicon of the day, Text Message Phishing. What’s phishing? Phishing is a criminal action where you are engaged by a third-party with the specific goal of you providing private and sensitive information for nefarious purposes. The difference between SMISH (SMS Phish) and Email Phish (Phish) is only the avenue by which you are engaged by the criminal. How does it work?
News, Online Safety, Safety & SecurityIf you don’t maintain the health of your device then you should expect that your device will at some point in the future become compromised in some way, shape or form. What type of compromises may occur? How often? What can you do? Let’s answer these in order…
News, Online Safety, Safety & SecurityDo you or your children participate in online gaming, using your PC, smart phone or game box? Then you need to make sure you understand what’s going on, especially behind the curtain, when you configure your “game” settings. Here are eight online security tips to keep you safe and secure.
News, Online Safety, Safety & SecurityLocation based services are here to stay, have great viability and absolutely increase the interaction between individuals and merchants, as well as serve to identify individuals with similar interest. Know that well intentioned services have a positive side, but also may also be used to your detriment. If you are satisfied with the answers to the questions in today’s post, then make your decision to share or not to share.
News, Online Safety, Safety & SecurityToday marks the start of National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) in the United States. If you’re reading this piece you are on a social network and have a modicum of interest in your online security. Throughout the month (as I have for the past few years) I will be publishing snack size tips that you may wish to share (family, friends, colleagues, or whomever) so that all have a leg-up on keeping their online activities enjoyable, but also safe and secure.
News, Online Safety, Safety & SecurityYesterday I had a an interesting sequence of events happen within my Twitter footprint that I had not seen previously. I had 11+ new followers, all who had over 100, some over 1000 followers. These new followers all arrived in my follower list in sequence over the course of the early morning. Each of these *individuals* had sent between 2-10 tweets, none of which were original content – all of them being RT (re-tweets) of pieces from trusted sources such as Mashable. The Twitter handle/name had the format of “given name” + “3 to 5 random characters”. Click on the Figure-1 o the left to see all of these names which arrived in my follower list and you’ll understand the naming convention. Every single one of these names is a “bot” generated name. read more…
News, Online Safety, Safety & SecurityPlease make sure you are connecting via HTTPS (S=secure) and much better for YOU than the HTTP connection
News, Online Safety, Safety & Security
In David Schwimmer’s TRUST, the teenage character Annie finds herself the subject of great deal of unwanted and undeserved attention by her high school classmates in a manner in which constituted to all would be unacceptable and falls within the realm of cyberbullying (as the bullying occurred using online media). We all have encountered instances where those who did not conform or who had experienced something not of the ordinary come under undo scrutiny and are isolated for the experience by their peers. The scrutiny often times manifests itself into ridicule, sarcasm or insults as those who are observing from afar attempt to differentiate and exclude themselves from the experience.
In David Schwimmer’s TRUST, bad things happen to Annie, a good child. She is by all appearances a typical teenager – totally wired, online and available, 24/7/365. In the physical world, parents see with whom their child interacts. As the parents witness this interaction they are able to help guide and influence their child’s choices. The number one rule for every family: “The child must not engage in any personal meetings with an individual whom they have only met online without explicit parental permission.”
In my research, I found it interesting that, with the ubiquitous nature of wireless connectivity within our homes and businesses, I was unable to find an example of where a Neighborhood Watch had integrated the identification of insecure wireless access points within their neighborhoods. I advocate including a wireless scan capability into Neighborhood Watch programs. Most people who have a wireless access point do nothing more than simply pull it out of the box, and plug it into the wall and their broadband service provider. Neighbors can help neighbors stay safe by letting them know when their wireless access point is in an open or insecure state.
Exposed is a 10 minute drama about a 15 year old girl called Dee, who makes a very common mistake of sending via (SMS – text messaging) five photos of herself to her boyfriend, nude photos. This is called “Sexting”
Today, February 8, 2011 is Safer Internet Day. It’s more than a game, its your life. One can’t over emphasize how important it is to pay attention when you and your family are online. The internet is integral to our daily lives. Online is where we live and we need to stay safe online. Here are a eleven tips to achieve that goal:
A question which every parent should be asking themselves, “How does my child access the internet?” “With whom is my child engaging?” The array of answers may startle you. So make no assumptions. Why does it matter? Knowing how your child accesses the internet and with whom they are engaging are the first steps in crafting an online safety plan for your child. I have said it before and will repeat, our family is our responsibility.
Do you use a password? The evolution of online crime is as much about your password strength as it is about your password usage. If you use your strong password for shopping site A and then reuse the password for shopping sites B, C, D, E, F then you are basically saying to yourself – “I trust each of these sites to have the same robust level of security”
Today marks the beginning of National Cyber Security Awareness Month in the United States. I urge you to take a moment each day to educate yourself, your family, your colleagues on the need to be vigilant, proactive and engaged with respect to protecting your online persona and also your business. Your personal data and privacy ...
I recently spoke at an event in Seattle on the security aspects of Social Media, both from the business and personal perspective. One question which I fielded surrounded whether or not there is risk to children via the various social media networks (i.e., Facebook) or should one accept that if someone really wants to hurt ...
News, Online Safety, Safety & SecurityAuthor, Speaker, Humanitarian, Leader, Senior Security Advisor
My focus is on Safety, Security, Intelligence, Intellectual Property and Humanitarian issues.
I place particular emphasis on the protection of both the young and the elderly of our society.
You may contact me directly via:
Christopher@BurgessCT.com
