Scanning Twitter feeds this week, I saw several posts that talked about what was going on Egypt with the caveat that they were posting for someone in Egypt. This is because the government of Egypt allegedy blocked Facebook and Twitter after a series of anti-government protests. Facebook was aware of disruptions in service but said it did not experience a major change in traffic.
In the CNET News article the had a quote from Jim Cowie from the internet monitoring firm, Renesys: "at approximately 2:34pm PST, his company 'observed the virtually simultaneous withdrawal of all routes to Egyptian networks in the internet's global routing table'. "
@Scobleizer posted: Egypt "Let's turn off the one thing keeping young people inside so they will stop protesting." Um, yeah, that really will work.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Egypt to unblock social networking sites, she asked them "not to prevent peaceful protests or block communications, including on social media".
Sources:
"US Tells Egypt to unblock Facebook, Twitter", TodayOnline, January 28, 2011.
"Twitter Reacts To Protests In Egypt", Liz McLellan, Huffington Post, January 28, 2011.
"Egypt internet outages hit Facebook and Twitter", Elinor Mills, CNET News, January 28, 2011.
Online safety. Online security. Protecting Yourself Online. Protecting Kids Online. Keeping the U.S. Safe from Cybercreeps. Cybercrime. Protecting Against Fraud.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Expanding Internet Access in the U.S.
"Within the next five years, we will make it possible for business to deploy the next generation of high-speed wireless coverage to 98% of all Americans."
Could interconnecting rural areas via an internet highway fuel existing economies and create new business models? It could be part of the equation but just adding internet access is not the final solution.
At a minimum, to make this happen, we will probably need to:
1. To encourage the television industry to give up some of their bandwidth to make it available for wireless.
2. Provide incentives, read your tax dollars, would need to be teed up to encourage firms to lay more cable for landline access to the internet.
3. Update the policies and inventory of the airwaves, who gets to use them, and what they get used for.
4. Discuss policy questions such as: If the Government drives the build out, does that mean they control and manage the newly built internet access?
Sources:
State of the Union Speech, President Obama, January 25, 2011.
"Obama Aims to Boost Infrastructure Spending", Josh Mitchell, Wall Street Journal, January 26, 2011.
"Obama Pushes Expanding High - Speed Wireless Service", Reuters, New York Times, January 26, 2011.
Could interconnecting rural areas via an internet highway fuel existing economies and create new business models? It could be part of the equation but just adding internet access is not the final solution.
At a minimum, to make this happen, we will probably need to:
1. To encourage the television industry to give up some of their bandwidth to make it available for wireless.
2. Provide incentives, read your tax dollars, would need to be teed up to encourage firms to lay more cable for landline access to the internet.
3. Update the policies and inventory of the airwaves, who gets to use them, and what they get used for.
4. Discuss policy questions such as: If the Government drives the build out, does that mean they control and manage the newly built internet access?
Sources:
State of the Union Speech, President Obama, January 25, 2011.
"Obama Aims to Boost Infrastructure Spending", Josh Mitchell, Wall Street Journal, January 26, 2011.
"Obama Pushes Expanding High - Speed Wireless Service", Reuters, New York Times, January 26, 2011.
Do you use the Facebook "Like" Button? You Might Become Part of an Ad.
Many of us use the "like" button on our friend's posts and even when visiting company sites.
If you click on a "like" button for a store or brand, Facebook plans to incorporate your "like" into generating a "Sponsored Story" for advertisers that want to pay for it.
Once you "like" something, Facebook does not offer a way for you to opt out of your "like" being featured in an ad.
The one limit is does have is if you have set your privacy settings for your posts and limit who can see them, when the company buys a sponsored ad, only the people you authorized to see that original post can see it.
Sources:
"Facebook to let advertisers republish user posts", Barbara Ortutay, Associated Press, January 26, 2011.
If you click on a "like" button for a store or brand, Facebook plans to incorporate your "like" into generating a "Sponsored Story" for advertisers that want to pay for it.
Once you "like" something, Facebook does not offer a way for you to opt out of your "like" being featured in an ad.
The one limit is does have is if you have set your privacy settings for your posts and limit who can see them, when the company buys a sponsored ad, only the people you authorized to see that original post can see it.
Sources:
"Facebook to let advertisers republish user posts", Barbara Ortutay, Associated Press, January 26, 2011.
Did Someone Hack Into Microsoft to Release Earnings Early?
Brian Caulfield found that a company called Selerity got Microsoft's earnings early, before they were officially announced. But they did not hack their way in or steal them, they just guess the name of webpage, or URL, that had the earnings posted on them.
There is a fairly common practice to create web pages that are published and live, just not yet linked to main pages. The pages exist, you just have to know how to find them.
The Selerity company actually searches for earnings releases using technology to try to guess the earnings webpage name.
Selerity reported Microsoft's earnings at 2:50 EST. Microsoft usually reports them at the close of the stock market.
Sources:
"How Selerity Got Microsoft’s Earnings Early", Brian Caulfield, Shiny Objects on Blogs.Forbes.com, January 27, 2011.
There is a fairly common practice to create web pages that are published and live, just not yet linked to main pages. The pages exist, you just have to know how to find them.
The Selerity company actually searches for earnings releases using technology to try to guess the earnings webpage name.
Selerity reported Microsoft's earnings at 2:50 EST. Microsoft usually reports them at the close of the stock market.
Sources:
"How Selerity Got Microsoft’s Earnings Early", Brian Caulfield, Shiny Objects on Blogs.Forbes.com, January 27, 2011.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is
Emails from McDonald's are making the rounds and it's very exciting. Take a McDonald's survey and get $250 for participating. The problem is, the email is not legitimate. It was generated by cybercreeps who want to steal your information.
How it works:
1. Take a 5 question survey
2. To "win" your $250, provide your personal information AND your credit card so they will "credit" your account (warning! warning!)
Tips to spot and avoid scams:
1. Most surveys, if they offer everyone something, usually give you a nominal amount on a gift card or coupons for a free item
2. If a company asks for your personal information along with credit card or bank account to "give" you money, it's most likely a scam
3. Pay attention to the language used - does it sound like the company? In this case, the message mentions that you are taking a "public opinion poll conducted by McDonald's, a non-partisan polling organization." I appreciate the fact that the Golden Arches feels food should transcend political parties but that statement does not make sense.
Many thanks to Tony Bradley for highlighting this phishing scam!
Sources:
"McDonald's Phishing Scam: I'm Not Lovin' It", Tony Bradley, PCWorld, January 21, 2011.
How it works:
1. Take a 5 question survey
2. To "win" your $250, provide your personal information AND your credit card so they will "credit" your account (warning! warning!)
Tips to spot and avoid scams:
1. Most surveys, if they offer everyone something, usually give you a nominal amount on a gift card or coupons for a free item
2. If a company asks for your personal information along with credit card or bank account to "give" you money, it's most likely a scam
3. Pay attention to the language used - does it sound like the company? In this case, the message mentions that you are taking a "public opinion poll conducted by McDonald's, a non-partisan polling organization." I appreciate the fact that the Golden Arches feels food should transcend political parties but that statement does not make sense.
Many thanks to Tony Bradley for highlighting this phishing scam!
Sources:
"McDonald's Phishing Scam: I'm Not Lovin' It", Tony Bradley, PCWorld, January 21, 2011.
Do You Ever Get The Feeling Like Somebody Is Watching You?
Do you think that R&B singers, Rockwell, Michael and Jermaine Jackson could have predicted that Geico commercials and today's surveillance age would make their song, "Somebody's Watching Me" such a popular ditty well after it's release in 1984?
If you went to the airport, bank, or a store today, you probably expected to be watched and maybe even tracked, while on premises.
But those are the old school ways of being watched. Now, the smartphone in your pocket could watch you or your laptop webcam can watch you.
Having an emotional reaction? There's a wristband monitor for that.
Have a lot of old photos that you need to categorize? Google and Picassa offer a helpful feature, photo tagging, where they auto suggest who your friends might be and potential names of people in photos based on previously tagged photos. Helpful? Yes, and a little spooky too.
At the Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft and Intel showed attendees an in-store digital billboard that memorizes faces. The memorization helps track products you like. That is quite a step up from my grocery store loyalty program.
What happens when technology advances fuse the photos your friends tagged you in, with the grocery store digital billboard, and other information?
All of this data collection can be helpful and put to very good use. Monitors can alert law enforcement of a potential bad guy's whereabouts. Monitors could help avert a major health issue for example.
However, there are concerns about privacy:
1. Who is allowed to collect data via sensors?
2. Should they have permission first or do they need to disclose that sensors are in use?
3. Are they allowed to bundle that with other information to create individual profiles?
4. If you are tagged in a photo by a friend, who else can use that tag? Is that available for searching by anyone that takes a photo of you and wants to profile and track you?
5. Employers use Facebook and other online searches now to look up candidates - this will transform information available about you
Sources:
"Hello, Big Brother: Digital sensors are watching us", USA Today, January 27, 2011.
If you went to the airport, bank, or a store today, you probably expected to be watched and maybe even tracked, while on premises.
But those are the old school ways of being watched. Now, the smartphone in your pocket could watch you or your laptop webcam can watch you.
Having an emotional reaction? There's a wristband monitor for that.
Have a lot of old photos that you need to categorize? Google and Picassa offer a helpful feature, photo tagging, where they auto suggest who your friends might be and potential names of people in photos based on previously tagged photos. Helpful? Yes, and a little spooky too.
At the Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft and Intel showed attendees an in-store digital billboard that memorizes faces. The memorization helps track products you like. That is quite a step up from my grocery store loyalty program.
What happens when technology advances fuse the photos your friends tagged you in, with the grocery store digital billboard, and other information?
All of this data collection can be helpful and put to very good use. Monitors can alert law enforcement of a potential bad guy's whereabouts. Monitors could help avert a major health issue for example.
However, there are concerns about privacy:
1. Who is allowed to collect data via sensors?
2. Should they have permission first or do they need to disclose that sensors are in use?
3. Are they allowed to bundle that with other information to create individual profiles?
4. If you are tagged in a photo by a friend, who else can use that tag? Is that available for searching by anyone that takes a photo of you and wants to profile and track you?
5. Employers use Facebook and other online searches now to look up candidates - this will transform information available about you
Sources:
"Hello, Big Brother: Digital sensors are watching us", USA Today, January 27, 2011.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Founder Facebook Account Hacked - Security Measures Get Stacked
Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg had his Official Mark Zuckerberg fan page allegedly hacked (Has anyone seen Facebook confirm or comment?).
The post read:
"Let the hacking begin: If facebook needs money, instead of going to the banks, why doesn't Facebook let its users invest in Facebook in a social way? Why not transform Facebook into a ‘social business' the way Nobel Price winner Muhammad Yunus described it? http://bit.ly/fs6rT3 What do you think? #hackercup2011"
A day later after the alleged, but not confirmed, hacking occurred, two security measures were announced on the Facebook blog:
1. Secure use while on public networks:
The Facebook Blog announced this week that HTTPS (S for secure) will be available throughout your session of Facebook and not just during logon.
Usually new options on Facebook are set to "automatically opt in" unless you turn the feature off. In this case, you have to go to the effort to turn the security features on. This approach seems counter-culture and has left security and privacy experts a little confused as to why it did not follow the "automatically opted in" approach.
2. Social Authentication:
If Facebook spots activity that seems fraudulent it may prompt the user to identify one of their friend's photos. Hmmm...make sure you are look at your friend's photo albums so you are up to speed on their latest look and sense of fashion.
Sources:
"Facebook unveils new security measures", Josh Smith, National Journal, January 26, 2011.
"Mark Zuckerberg Facebook account hacked", Matthew Shaer, The Christian Science Monitor, January 26, 2011.
The post read:
"Let the hacking begin: If facebook needs money, instead of going to the banks, why doesn't Facebook let its users invest in Facebook in a social way? Why not transform Facebook into a ‘social business' the way Nobel Price winner Muhammad Yunus described it? http://bit.ly/fs6rT3 What do you think? #hackercup2011"
A day later after the alleged, but not confirmed, hacking occurred, two security measures were announced on the Facebook blog:
1. Secure use while on public networks:
The Facebook Blog announced this week that HTTPS (S for secure) will be available throughout your session of Facebook and not just during logon.
Usually new options on Facebook are set to "automatically opt in" unless you turn the feature off. In this case, you have to go to the effort to turn the security features on. This approach seems counter-culture and has left security and privacy experts a little confused as to why it did not follow the "automatically opted in" approach.
2. Social Authentication:
If Facebook spots activity that seems fraudulent it may prompt the user to identify one of their friend's photos. Hmmm...make sure you are look at your friend's photo albums so you are up to speed on their latest look and sense of fashion.
Sources:
"Facebook unveils new security measures", Josh Smith, National Journal, January 26, 2011.
"Mark Zuckerberg Facebook account hacked", Matthew Shaer, The Christian Science Monitor, January 26, 2011.
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