What to Do with That Old Phone

Notes by: Theresa Payton, Fortalice, LLC.
Also covered in WBTV's segment, Protecting Your Cyberturf

Thinking about getting a new phone? It’s always fun get a new phone with new features. But what do you do with your old phone? Many people like to recycle or resell their old phones but are you doing everything to protect your personal information when you hand that phone off to someone else?

This could be a real problem. It’s so easy to sell stuff you don’t need anymore on places like craigslist, ebay or amazon.com. You clear out the clutter and earn back a few bucks. But when you sell your old cell phones, you need to be extra careful. A recent study found that roughly 54 percent of used phones sold online still housed sensitive data on them. WBTV’s Cyber Expert, Theresa Payton, tells you what you need to watch out for and how to protect yourself.

A recent experiment involved purchasing used phones to see what could be recovered on them. The researcher found credit and debit card details, PINs, passwords, phone numbers, logins to sites such as Facebook, Twitter and even email were just a few clicks away with data restore tools.

Interestingly enough, the experiment asked people that were reselling their phones if they cleaned their phone before selling it and 81% of people said they wiped their phone. The data was still recoverable because they only deleted the data and did not take the extra steps to remove the data so it could not be recovered. The best way to avoid this from happening is to contact your carrier for specific instructions on how to permanently – and “permanent” is key – wipe the data. Just because you delete it does not mean someone cannot recover it.

STEPS TO TAKE ON YOUR CELL PHONE:

1. Log out of all applications and then delete.

2. Deleting is not enough – there are tools as low as $99 that can “un-delete” those messages

3. Use the wipe function provided to you by your manufacturer and reset the phone to factory settings

4. If possible, remove the SIM chip

5. If you are unsure whether or not you have successfully wiped the cell phone clean, contact your service provider for assistance

WEB RESOURCE:

To read more about the study, see the findings at:

http://blog.cpp.co.uk/index.php/articles/view/poll-results-of-mobiles-that-contain-personal-data

XXX Coming to the Internet Screen Near You...and Your Kid

Notes by: Theresa Payton, Fortalice, LLC.
Also covered in WBTV's segment, Protecting Your Cyberturf

A recent study said that nearly 80% of kids under the age of 5 use the internet on a weekly basis. Many of you might think that the internet is better, or safer, than the television because you can load a kid-friendly, educational site and tell them to watch or play there. However, a potential internet naming change might actually put pornography and disturbing graphical images only one mouse click away from those kid-friendly sites.

There is an organization that manages the internet called ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). This organization created the extensions you use today on the internet such as .com, .biz, .net, and .org. They are close to approving a new extension, this time it is .XXX. On the surface, this sounds like a great idea, move all that porn off of .com and segregate it under .XXX but WBTV’s Cyber Expert, Theresa Payton, explains why it might not exactly work this way and what you need to do to protect your kids.

THE PROPOSAL:

A recommendation is under review at ICANN, to move all pornographic images over to one domain name, .XXX.

WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT:

1. There is time to voice your opinion, ICANN will vote on this in their June meeting.

a. You can contact your elected officials with your concerns, or let them know you like the idea.

b. You can write to ICANN to register your comments and concerns. There will be a report written and posted on the internet for a 45 day public comment period

WHY THIS MIGHT BE A BAD IDEA:

1. Porn is out there now but not aggregated under .XXX which consolidates porn and almost creates almost a sense of legitimacy.

2. Most of the popular online sites are for kids. Internet savvy surfers and child safety advocates are concerned that the porn industry will link their .XXX sites to popular .com site names or popular searches to gain traffic and advertising revenue. This is a practice done today but might increase once they are segregated out to .XXX as they try to increase number of visitors.

· Example: One of the top 10 searches currently is a kid favorite, singer Justin Bieber. Do a search and you get a lot more than just the actual Justin Bieber including adult content not appropriate for kids.

5 FAST TIPS TO PROTECT YOUR KIDS:

1. Talk to your kids and give them a safe zone – let them know that if they tell you they accidentally see porn, you will not get angry with them.

2. Use your internet browser filters to help filter out graphic or adult content. Most browsers offer this under their Tools section.

3. Keep the computer in a public space in the house, not the bedroom.

4. Consider screening or computer monitoring services such as Norton Online Family or McAfee Family Protection.

5. If the .XXX extension is approved later this year, block .XXX access using your browser security settings.

WEB RESOURCES:

To follow the latest developments or to post comments on the .XXX extension proposal you can visit ICANN at http://www.icann.org/en/public-comment

To see the traffic that Rustock used to create on the internet, visit M86 Security Labs at http://labs.m86security.com/2011/03/rustock-down

A recent report that reviews the digital media habits of young kids, called “Always Connected: The new digital media habits of young children” can be found at http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/reports-28.html

News Travels Fast On the Internet

Notes by: Theresa Payton, Fortalice, LLC.

Also covered in WBTV's segment, Protecting Your Cyberturf

What has the ability to travel faster than the speed of light? A rumor sent via text or posted on the internet. It’s summer time and young adults and kids have more time on their hands which usually leads to more time online. We want to talk to you tonight about how quickly rumors can travel in the digital world so you can be aware and protect your kids.

It happens scary fast! When a recent news network had their Twitter feed hacked the hackers tried to spread a rumor that the President was dead on the 4^th of July. What about rumors? Well they travel just as fast and you need to warn your kids about the consequences. WBTV’s Cyber Expert, Theresa Payton, is with us tonight to explain the problem.

We teach our kids not to pass along rumors and hopefully they do not. But on the internet, things are in writing and because they are in writing, people tend to believe it is more factual. Spreading tales and rumors on the internet is not funny and the results can have disastrous consequences. The person or people the rumor is about could be devastated by something that is essentially just not true!

Theresa has 3 tips to help you avoid your kid being part of the rumor chain

TIPS:

1. Be an example: don’t repeat or spread rumors

2. Talk to your kids about how to be savvy about rumors so they don’t fall for one by teaching them about rumor busting sites like Snopes or Urban Legend

3. Golden Rule: if the rumor is about someone they know, do not pass it along and encourage others to do the same

If you want to know if a rumor is true or not, check out sites such as:

www.snopes.com

www.truthorfiction.com

www.urbanlegend.com

For kids and teens, have them visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/help/web/staysafe for tips on staying safe online, including how to avoid spreading rumors.

You can actually look up the timeline of a rumor by typing into Google: “Timeline of a rumor on the internet” and it will show you rumors, by year, and the timeline and iteration for each rumor.

What Will Happen on November 5th to Facebook?

Notes by: Theresa Payton, Fortalice, LLC.

Also covered in WBTV's segment, Protecting Your Cyberturf

We have told you before about the good and the dark side of social networking sites like Facebook. We have warned you that cybercreeps like to lurk behind Facebook to attack you. But what happens if Facebook itself is attacked? Why would someone want to attack them.

November 5^th could either be the day Facebook goes down or just a big bust. The cyber activist group known as Anonymous has declared they will destroy Facebook on November 5^th. They say they are doing it to protect you because they say that Facebook sells your data to the government. What does this mean and do we need to freak out? WBTV’s cyber expert, Theresa Payton, is with us tonight to explain what you need to know.

Right now, security experts believe the threat might actually be a hoax or a small segment of anonymous but not the entire collective. One account attributed to Anonymous said they will do it and another says they do not condone the threat.

However, it does not hurt to prepare now. 3 tips:

1. PASSWORD: Just in case the site is compromised, make sure your Facebook password is different from all other passwords

2. PREPARE: If you use Facebook to message people and track birthdays and anniversaries consider setting up something similar on an alternate social networking site such as Twitter, MySpace or Google+

3. EXTRA CAREFUL: If you see links to sites or videos talking about this, think twice before you click to make sure you do not get lured into clicking on a malicious link

RESOURCES:

The video posted by an account that calls itself a site of Anonymous: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWQTS8zqYXU

To watch the video from Anonymous or those that claim to be them about the future attack on Facebook, go to:

http://mashable.com/2011/08/10/anonymous-facebook/

Keep up with Facebook security tips at: https://www.facebook.com/security?ref=ts

The New 911: SOCIAL MEDIA

Notes by: Theresa Payton, Fortalice, LLC.

Also covered in WBTV's segment, Protecting Your Cyberturf

You teach your kids to call 911 in an emergency and this is a great practice. Now there’s something else you might want to add to your list, it could make the difference in a crisis, believe it or not it is digital tools like smart phones, texting, Twitter and Facebook. We saw how helpful those tools were in alerting law enforcement during the recent deadly shootings in Norway.

It’s a Mother’s worst nightmare your daughter calls from camp and says, “Mom, don't panic, but there's a gunman going loose here …” . For roughly 2 hours the daughter hid in the water under a rock overhang and texted her mother updates

Well hands down, 911 is still the best option to get help. But we’re learning every day that digital devices and the internet can prove a valuable tool to warn, inform, and ask for help. WBTV’s cyber expert, Theresa Payton, is with us tonight to share some tips.

Theresa says we often warn you about the dangers of oversharing online, but in the case of a crisis, using text messages and social networks could be your best bet of getting back to safety. She suggests three tips to teach your kids.

TIPS TO TEACH YOUR KIDS:

1. Dial 911 first and make sure that help is on the way

2. Text crisis information such as issue, current location, what you need to family and friends

3. If you can safely alert your network of friends that you are in a crisis situation, use networks such as Facebook and Twitter to get the word out