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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:
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.
Those 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.
Kudos to the American Bar Association (ABA) for amending and adopting their resolution 107A which urges “… federal, state, tribal, territorial, and local officials, to prevent and remediate the existence and dangers of bullying, including cyberbullying and youth-to-youth sexual and physical harassment.” In my view this is very much a step in the right direction…
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:
… in 2010, by my count, 30 children ranging in age from 9-19 took their own lives as they were unable to cope with the bullying which they were being subjected. These families who lost their child …
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”
The following appeared in the Canadian online magazine Security Matters: Location Based Services: Do you know where your data is? Do you know where your data is? By Christopher Burgess Everywhere you look, retailers and other entities are offering to collect your data using one of the many location-based services available to collate your whereabouts ...
Author, 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
