Are We Doomed?

It seems like identity theft and cybercrime are always looming. My local police department, yet again, devoted their entire newsletter this week to the subject, and it is a topic that is always there in the background every time I sign up for anything online. But if you really want to be shocked into starting to think more about this issue, read Shelly Palmer’s column on Cyberwar 1.0: China vs The USA … We’re in trouble! As Palmer points out, China is home to some of the most dangerous hackers in the world, some of whom may be government recruited or sponsored, and while America’s high tech community is one of the best in the world, that group is not in charge of cybersecurity. Instead it is American civil servants, whose digital skill sets perfectly positioned them for government work versus Chinese hackers, who are government-sponsored, highly paid (in relative terms) and fully incentivized. Is Palmer being an alarmist? Not really. Cybersecurity is something that everyone talks about, but not much is done in a collective fashion.

The Future of Money in a Mobile Age

When I use the Starbucks app on my smart phone to pay for a cup of tea in the morning, I often think how convenient it is and wonder when our wallets will become unnecessary as long as we have our phones. Now, the folks at the Pew Internet and American Life Project have done a survey on just that subject and their findings are fairly predictable. Many people (65%) surveyed said that the security, convenience, and other benefits of “mobile wallet” systems will lead to widespread adoption of these technologies for everyday purchases by 2020.  Others—including some who are generally positive about the future of mobile payments—expect this process to unfold relatively slowly due to a combination of privacy fears, a desire for anonymous payments, demographic inertia, a lack of infrastructure to support widespread adoption, and resistance from those with a financial stake in the existing payment structure.

Intellectual Property Law Still Alive and Well in the Social Media

Intellectual property law is still alive and well in the social media age despite the free-for-all attitude that many people have about what is available online. Experts at the recent South by Southwest Interactive Festival had a panel discussion about it and explained three important tips for anyone who uses media derived from online sources – even Twitter!

• Be careful with any picture, video or other media, even those that have been widely circulated through Twitter or Facebook.  If you use a photo, the best practice is to obtain express permission to use it, and at the very least do not use photos without proper attribution and links at a minimum. Items like this may be covered under Fair Use to be used in school assignments, but even they need to be attributed.
  
  
• Don’t just “scrape” content off of online sources. To claim a Fair Use exemption, even for a school assignment, you need to transform most content with your own unique creativity, and thereby avoid unfair competition or copyright violation claims.
  
  
• Social media has often been used as a vehicle to make fun of certain people or criticize them. The Fake Steve Jobs blog is a good example of this. Obvious parodies probably are still safe, within reason and good taste, BUT – and kids should know this as this is often a favorite way to get back at a teacher or school administrator – several states, and others have similar laws in the works that have made e-personation , or impersonating another person online, a crime. So, when dealing with criticism or parody of individuals online using the word “Fake” over and over again is one way to keep yourself from getting into trouble.

Beware of Poison Text Messages and Bad Apps

It seems that nearly one in five mobile phone users has had problems with some kind of security threat on their device according to a new survey by Cloudmark. And here is another term to add to your tech jargon – poison text messages. Those are the odd text messages you get on your phone offering you services or to take a survey to win something when all they are really doing is fishing for your payment  info. Bad apps, particularly on the Android platform, are also on the rise by a staggering 86%. Many of these are disguised as free apps to be downloaded from web sites and target stealing credentials from e-mail and mobile banking applications.

Facebook and Scams – More Needs to Be Done

Anti-scam websites have been begging Facebook to pay more attention to fighting against a very viral type of Facebook hoax that exploits pictures of sick babies. While Facebook has responded, even they conceded that their “Report This Photo” feature isn’t working as well as it should be. The company is thus looking to improve its automatic system for detecting malicious activity on the social network by scanning for hoax images that are constantly being shared again and again. In the meantime, be careful not to be taken in by scams online particularly people asking you for money.

Dislike Facebook’s Timeline? Don’t Get Scammed

The new Facebook Timeline feature is mandatory. There is no getting around that, but many people are not very pleased about it and scam artists are taking advantage of that fact by offering, for a “small fee” (read, your credit card details) to disable the feature for you. They offer a plug-in for your browser that will "disable" the new Timeline functionality. The developers even add helpful hints advising users to ignore software warnings that extensions, plug-ins, and other apps "can harm your computer." The developers also suggest that you should "allow up to 24 hours for the changes to take effect," which is a cute way of covering up the fact that absolutely nothing will happen.

There isn’t much you can do if you get taken in by this scam. To keep track of scams like this take a look at the Facebook Security page and click the Like button. While the page hasn't been updated to include information on this latest scam, it's still a great spot to find out what's happening on the site. Live chats with staff, security hints and tips, and information about new features — it's a great resource.

Avoiding Spammy Links

Now that Twitter, with its 140 character message limit, has transformed the practice of using shortened URLs (web addresses) into common use, people are quite comfortable clicking through, even though shortened web addresses were first invented by spammers to disguise malicious links often set up to invade your computer. So what can you do if you encounter a shortened web address? Try a URL checker to find out just where that link is taking you before you click with abandon. Five free URL expansion services are pictured here. Try one for some peace of mind.

Illinois Law Lets School Expel Students Making Internet Threats

A new law recently went into effect in Illinois that allows school boards and administrators to suspend or expel a student if that student threatens a school employee, another student or any school-related personnel on the Internet or any social networking websites. "Bullying no longer takes place only at school," said bill sponsor, state Rep. Dwight Kay, R-Glen Carbon. "Bullies use the Internet to follow their victim home and harass them through social networking. This bill gives school boards and administrators a way to deal with online threats from students towards other students, faculty or anyone else."

The Spy in Your Phone

Software that tracks each key you press on your smartphone is installed on millions of mobile devices including Android, Nokia, Blackberry and older Apple Devices. The software, called Carrier IQ, records everything from keystrokes, web history and text messages then sends the information back to your carrier. It cannot be uninstalled and may very well be in violation of Federal wiretap laws. The information gathered is presumably anonymous and is used to determine when and where calls drop, when programs crash and how we use our phones. Carrier IQ is considered a diagnostic tool for companies to figure out how to make your phone better, but many consider it a breach of privacy.

Sounds pretty ominous. Is it? According to InformationWeek.com, Carrier IQ has responded to the accusations saying: “Our software is embedded by device manufacturers along with other diagnostic tools and software prior to shipment. While we look at many aspects of a device’s performance, we are counting and summarizing performance, not recording keystrokes or providing tracking tools.”

Contrary to Carrier IQ’s assertion, a video by IT systems administrator Trevor Eckhart shows how the software tracks your usage. It quickly made its way around the Internet, reigniting privacy concerns about Carrier IQ. 

So, it should be no surprise that the U.S. Senate is demanding answers from Carrier IQ. Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) has asked the company to explain exactly what they record, who they give the information to, and how consumers can stop it. When asked, Apple responded by saying that it has abandoned using Carrier IQ with the upgrade to the iOS 5 operating system. The company also plans on releasing a software update that will remove Carrier IQ from all of its mobile devices.

What’s the bottom line? Ultimately, Carrier IQ is diagnostic software used by many companies to track how their phones and networks perform. While customers don’t have many options to stop the data collection from happening, chances are that it isn’t being used perniciously. But, in our sensationalistic, sound bite, social mediated world … you’ll have to judge for yourself.

NYPD To Track Criminals via Social Networking

And now for yet ANOTHER reason to watch what you post online… the New York Police Department will be checking it out, too. NYPD announced recently it has formed a new unit to track people who discuss their crimes on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. The unit will “mine social media, looking for info about troublesome house parties, gang showdowns and other potential mayhem.”