Friday, February 22, 2013

Mac Attack!

Webnotes by: Theresa Payton, Fortalice, LLC.
Burger King's Twitter account was hacked on Monday for roughly an hour.

While the hackers had control they:
1.  Announced that BK had sold themselves to McDonalds
2.  Added the McDonald's logo to the account
3.  Added a picture of McDonald's food to the cover page
4.  55 tweets also went out 

Burger King contacted Twitter to suspend the tweets which included some obscene messages and threats.
Some of the tweets contained racial epithets.  
One tweet said, "if I catch you at a wendys, we're fightin!"

The social media teams for rivals, Wendy's and McDonald's were sympathetic.  The Wendy's social media spokesperson even noted that "My real life nightmare is playing out".

Although Burger King has no idea how the hack happened you wonder if it might be related to the announcement by Twitter on 2/1 that account ids and passwords were stolen.

In the meantime, Burger King is restoring their account.

Recent Cyber News...with Theresa Payton

Webnotes by: Theresa Payton, Fortalice, LLC. Content covered on WBT 1110 AM with Bo Thompson.
 
On the Facebook hack...
1.  Did you know they have a "bug bounty" program where they encourage ethical, or white hat hackers, to hack Facebook?
They pay them $ for hacks.

2.  FB was attacked roughly a month ago after some of their developers visited an infected website, had their laptops infected, and then the infection hit Facebook

3.  FB says no user data was compromised and that other companies were hacked and they were helping them

Kids and Parents on Facebook
1.  Kids know their parents are on Facebook so they look for other places to have conversations without the "rents" - Skype, Tumblr, 4chan, Google+

2.  30% would unfriend their parents if they could

3.  1 in 3 are embarrassed by their parents' posts especially those involving the terms "all grown", "baby", and "beautiful"

4.  7.5 million FB users are predicted to be 13 or younger

5.  1 in 2 parents joined Facebook to keep tabs on their kids
a.  43% check their kids' accounts daily
b.  mostly interested in status updates, posts on their kids' walls, and photos

6.  Of all parents on social media, 92% are Facebook friends with their kids

7.  So where are teens when they are not on Facebook?  What's the next "hot" place parents should be?
Instagram
Pinterest
Tumblr -  half the traffic is under 25; this is a microblogging platform and social networking site; it recently beat FB as #1 destination site for teens in a survey
Twitter
Video chat - not just Skype and Facetime but social video chat sites like OoVoo and Tango
SnapChat - a newcomer with lots of appeal to kids, this app encourages your kids to text messages, photos and videos to each other that are "deleted within 90 seconds"

We cover a lot of tips for parenting in the digital age in Chapter 9 of our book "Protecting Your Internet Identity:  Are you Naked Online?" on sale locally at Park Road Books and online at EVERY online bookstore and the Apple store.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Now everyone’s a spy

Webnotes by: Theresa Payton, Fortalice, LLC. Content also covered on WBTV's "Protecting Your Cyberturf" segment featuring Theresa Payton and Kristen Miranda.


Many of you have heeded our advice about the internet and you are using it in ways that are positive and protect your safety.  But what happens when you think you are offline and random parts of your every day life at home and at the office are equipped to spy on you?  Sounds a little like James Bond?  Well, it’s real, it’s affordable, and we want you to be aware of it so you can protect yourself.  

Most of you know that phones tell your secrets, emails tell secrets, and some of you even have stopped posting all photos online to maintain a sense of security and privacy.  But many don’t realize just how pervasive digital devices are in our lives and how they are recording everything we say and do - so make sure you live the Golden rule at all times because it might end up on YouTube!  Cyber expert, Theresa Payton, talks to us today about easy it is to be a spy.

How does it work?
1.  You can program your phone, laptop or tablet to spy using simple apps that will record pictures, videos, audio all silently and hard to detect

2.  You can buy what looks like a toy airplane or helicopter and launch it like a personal drone recording hours of video and audio

3.  Every day items such as stuffed animals, plug outlets in a wall, thumb drives, clocks, calculators, pens, and glasses can now be equipped with chips that can record images, text, photos and videos

Why this technology could be helpful:
1.  It could be a way to double check on things at home while your kids are there and you are not
2.  It might be helpful if you are worried about theft of property

How can you protect yourself?
1.  In home settings:  
keep video cameras on phones and tablets disabled when not actively in use
keep social networking platforms turned off from video or voice mode when not using those features

2.  At work or in other places:
pay attention to devices, sometimes they may have a strange red or green blinking light that may indicate a wireless connection or that they are recording

3.  Legal protections or issues:
Before becoming a “spy”, remember to check state and federal laws.  Often you must notify that an area is under surveillance or ask permission for recordings.

4.  Still uneasy?  You have tech to help you with that.
a.  RF bug detector - these devices can scan a room looking for the frequencies that a video camera would emit.    It may also pick up a WiFi network so be sure before you point the finger at someone that you verify what the RF bug detector found.
b.  Spy camera detectors - These look for cameras that might not transmit a frequency.  They actually look for the small glass viewfinder of a camera and alert you.

5.  If you are a victim:  
If something has happened to you and you have been recorded without your knowledge, talk to local law enforcement about your legal options.

WORD OF THE WEEK:
SOCIAL BOOKMARKING:  Most of you know what it means to “bookmark”  a webpage you like so you can easily get to it again.  Well, now there are sites specifically designed to help you socially bookmark and share those bookmarks with others - Social Bookmarking.  Examples of social bookmarking include:  Deli.cio.us and Stumble Upon.

WEB RESOURCES:
Want to try some social bookmarking?  Just remember to take good care of your privacy and safety when you share.  Try out 2 very popular sites:  Deli.cio.us  or Stumble Upon.

Before you set up any kind of digital surveillance at home or in the workplace, you should familiarize yourself with the laws governing this activity.  A good place to start is:  http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/telecom/electronic-surveillance-laws.aspx


UR steamy sext is safe 40% of the time



Webnotes by: Theresa Payton, Fortalice, LLC. Content also covered in WBTV's "Protecting Your Cyberturf" featuring Theresa Payton and Kristen Miranda.
When you are in love with someone, you trust that person and they trust you.  In this digital age, sometimes we profess our love digitally when we’re apart.  But you need to be very careful, even with those you trust, when you send digital messages.  Just assume they may be seen again by anyone.  
In the privacy of the moment, when you are typing that text, you feel as if it’s just you and the other person you love.  And most of the time, that’s a good thing.  94% of people in a recent study said they trust their partner implicitly with the intimate details and photos they may share digitally.  But that same study warns that if your text becomes a steamy message or sext message, you can count on that message staying private, just between the 2 of you, only 40% of the time. Cyber Expert, Thersea Payton, has a warning for teens and adults that want to send sexy messages digitally.
Warning!  Why your digital messages, especially sext messages, are at risk: 1.  While 50% of people admit to sending steamy or personal messages and photos, only 40% have password protection on their devices 2.  Accidental oversharing - the person receiving the steamy message may send that message onto “1 person” and then the message gets passed along 3.  10% of people have been threatened by an ex that those private photos would be released online 4.  More than 50% of people share their password with their partner at some point in time 5.  50% of people check the social accounts of their “ex” more than they do their current partner 6.  28% of those that sent a steamy message to an ex, had their messages exposed
Why your messages get shared with others. 1.  Many hackers that get into emails or phones, look through pictures and messages first.  They will share it if they find it. 2.  45% of those surveyed said they would share that private and intimate photo or text that you sent if they caught you lying  or cheating on them 3.  For anyone thinking of calling off a wedding, you have a 14% possibility that those private moments shared digitally will be posted by your ex soul mate.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF: 1.  Always password protect your phone 2.  Be wary of sharing passwords 3.  Trust is hard to come by in the digital world - even if you trust the love of your life, you can’t trust hackers 4.  Delete, delete, delete:  if you have sent something intimate in the past, get out there now and clean out those messages with the delete button 5.  Keep your love offline other than notes of sweet nothings and encouragement
WORD OF THE WEEK: BUMP:  It’s a sharing app that works on iPhones and Droid phones.  You “bump” the phones to share photos and files between phones.  They have a new version to transfer from computers to phones.  As always, watch the privacy and security settings, so you are not accidentally “bumping” out your personal information.

Word of the week, Bump, can be found here: http://bu.mp/company/ See the McAfee stats:  https://blogs.mcafee.com/consumer/do-you-share-passwords-with-your-partner/attachment/12-3353_lrt-infographic_1601
Protect Your Phone with password settings: If you don’t see your phone type here, go to your manufacturer’s website and search for “help setting a password”
Apple:  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4113?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
Droid:  http://www.androidcentral.com/password-protect-your-phone
Blackberry:  http://helpblog.blackberry.com/2012/08/set-blackberry-password/