A cybercriminal going by the name “Dr. Smurf was taken down by the FBI for selling stolen credit card information on the underground “Dark Market” in 2008. What Dr. Smurf didn’t know id that the FBI had infiltrated the DarkMarket in 2006 and was using it to learn how the world of cybercrime really worked, and to find and apprehend the malefactors that buy and sell credit card information, malware, and ...
Continue Reading →The unconstitutional and oxymoronic Department of Homeland Security made a $1000 bet with researchers at the University of Texas at Austin that the security for flying drones was “unhackable” – and lost! Full article on Sophos. They took control of the drone with a homemade spoofer that cost $100 to build. Fortunately, this puts a crimp in the plans of DHS to fly drones over American soil, since this technology would allow a drone to be turned into ...
Continue Reading →There are basically two ways to read and store your emails, and the way you choose will tend to lock you into a method over a long stretch of time. The main difference between web mail and software clients is where the mail is read and stored. Web mail is read using a web browser such as Internet Explorer or Chrome. Software or “client-based” email is read using an email reading program such as Windows Live Mail, Microsoft Outlook, or ...
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Have you ever reported content on Facebook as “abusive?” Have you ever wondered just what happens. Facebook has opened the door a bit to let users see inside, in a report they issued on June 19th.
Basically, there are four abuse teams working different issues. The Safety Team focuses on violent and harmful behavior by it’s members. The Hate and Harassment Team specialize in dealing with abusive speech. The ...
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This story is interesting because it shows just how powerful a Trojan Horse program can be. Trojans make up over two-thirds of all malware infections, and the reason is that Trojan Horse programs are small, easy to conceal in another program like a game, or easy to install using a drive-by download from a compromised web site. These programs allow the attacker to remotely access and control the computer at a later date, and install other malware applications such as ...
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Ah…those daffy folks at the Googleplex really know how to keep my life interesting. One of my clients was trying to install Carbonite, the online backup product, and got an error message saying that the download might be potentially dangerous, which is not all that unusual. It sometimes happens with certain legitimate products that have components that are similar to certain malware exploits. The client clicked on the “Download Anyway” button, and the following error message popped up. “Confirm Download: ...
Continue Reading →Good news Boomers – this is something you are better at than your younger, more technically savvy friends, family and coworkers. This information came from the ZoneAlarm blog. Basically, the study shows that as you get older and more experienced, you tend to place a higher priority on computer and network security issues. This makes a certain amount of sense, since the older you are the more likely you are to have sustained some sort of loss, and ...
Continue Reading →Have you ever wondered what happens to credit card information that is stolen online? Sure the card numbers get resold on cyber-crime web sites and discussion boards, but a recent FBI sting operation has resulting in the arrest of 24 “carders” from the US and elsewhere, and provides a detailed look at the financial endgame of these cyber crooks. You can read the entire story on Sophos, but I am quoting pieces of the article below.
Continue Reading →“Charges against a ...
In discussions with students in the computer classes that I teach for the seven Community Education programs that I am involved with, the subject comes up all the time whether copying content from the web isn’t “stealing.” This is a long discussion, but my point always is this: the Internet changes everything. The Internet levels the playing field so anyone can be a published author, musician, or artist, or own a software company, or a birdhouse factory, or whatever. The ...
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We support the principles of the recently launched Declaration of Internet Freedom. A large number of companies and organizations have joined together to support and promote the principles of an open Internet. The Internet has been under attack from our own government, other governments, and entrenched interests of old line companies who have paid for the kinds of political access that the average internet user can never afford. We believe the Internet is an incredible force driving the ...
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