March 2010
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Adding secret passages and hidden rooms to a house →
How cool would it be to have a secret passage or a secret room in your house? This video shows you several different options:
There are several ways for you to do something like this:
1) Design in the passageway or the room when building a new house
2) Find a void in your existing house and convert it (many existing homes have voids under staircases, next to fireplaces, etc.)
3)...
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Privacy nightmare: Geotagging in Twitter goes live →
Initially available only to US users, geotagging is a new opt-in Twitter feature that lets you tag select tweets with your geographical location. Other folks see a user-friendly location name next to your tweet and can click it to reveal the location in Google Maps.
For privacy reasons, this feature needs to be turned on from your account settings in Twitter’s web interface. Once it’s on,...
February 2010
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Wireless Key Grabber →
Hm2075 released the Wireless Key Grabber for the Backtrack 4 pre final on Remote-Exploit forums. The code for the tool with an explanation of how it works is available here. This video is showing how to use Wireless Key Grabber. It requires lighttpd and it runs a fake wireless access point to grab wireless keys.whenever a user tries to connect to any website after connecting to this fake...
January 2010
13 posts
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How To Hide From Google →
Google offers Web users a simple trade-off: Let the search giant track a substantial portion of your comings and goings around the Web, and it will offer you a free, superior online experience.
Now an independent security researcher who goes by the name Moxie Marlinspike is making Web users a counter-offer: Take Google’s giveaways and keep your privacy too.
On Tuesday, Marlinspike launched...
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Hundreds of Network Solutions Sites Hacked →
Web site domain registrar and hosting provider Network Solutions acknowledged Tuesday that hackers had broken into its servers and defaced hundreds of customer Web sites.
The hackers appear to have replaced each site’s home page with anti-Israeli sentiments and pictures of masked militants and armed with rocket launchers and rifles, along with the message “HaCKed by CWkomando.”
According to...
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Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg says privacy is dead.... →
It’s one law for the rich and another for the rest of us as our secrets are paraded online
Let’s pick a person pretty much at random: Dan Braden of Austin, Texas. I do not know Braden at all, but I can tell you that in the past few days he has spent $373.46 on Louis Vuitton goods, $162.47 at a local grocery store, $20 at a fitness centre and $3.23 on iTunes.
He is also a regular at Starbucks,...
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The 50 Best Privacy Blogs →
In today’s world of Internet interconnectedness, guarding your privacy can become a full-time job. Whether you are worried about your personal privacy, government interference, national security, identity theft, or the laws and policies surrounding privacy, these blogs will help you stay vigilant against any breaches in your privacy rights.
Privacy, Communications, and Censorship Blogs
These...
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Facebook Fights Social Spam with “Mark You Don’t... →
With more than 350 million monthly active users around the world, Facebook has a lot of users who want to make new friends. And now the company is testing out a feature to make friending a little more meaningful. Once you mark “ignore” on a friend request, you’ll see a new option in addition to being able to report the person for abuse or spam: “Mark that you don’t know” them.
Facebook has...
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“Google has been toiling in this so-called cloud computing paradigm for a few...”
– Bradley Horowitz - Google Has Big Plans for Google Voice, Cloud Computing in 2010
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December 2009
5 posts
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“After being informed of the breach, RockYou admitted that customer data had been...”
– RockYou sued over data breach
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Cellphone Search Without Warrant Declared Illegal →
Score for privacy rights: In a 4-to-3 vote, the Supreme Court of Ohio has ruled that police has no right to search your phone without a search warrant, overruling previous lower court decisions on the matter. This is great news.
In the State of Ohio vs Antwaun Smith, the Supreme Court has declared the search of Smith’s cellphone—who was arrested at the time on drug charges—to be...
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How To Avoid A Facebook Photo Tagging Disaster →
How can you enable your friends to see your tagged photos while at the same time preventing news feed stories which alert your friends to compromising photos before you’ve deleted them? In our new Facebook privacy guide published earlier this week, we suggested that users block tagged photos completely as to avoid the accidental photo tag disaster. There is an alternative setting however that will...
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Microsoft Let NSA Spooks 'Enhance' Windows 7 →
We’re the NSA. And Windows 7 was our idea.
The reasons behind why the NSA would want what I’m immediately interpreting as “backdoor access” to Windows 7 are too numerous to count here. Could it be a generous move by the NSA to help Windows 7 enhance security? I guess it’s theoretically possible. Could it be a much darker motivation for the most secretive spy agency on the planet?...
November 2009
4 posts
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New Flash Attack Has No Real 'Fix' →
Researchers have discovered a new attack that exploits the way browsers operate with Adobe Flash — and there’s no simple patch for it.
The attack can occur on Websites that accept user-generated content — anything from Webmail to social networking sites. An attacker basically takes advantage of the fact that a Flash object can be loaded as content onto a site and then can...
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Justice Dept. Asked for News Site's Visitor Lists →
ledgergermane:
In a case that raises questions about online journalism and privacy rights, the U.S. Department of Justice sent a formal request to an independent news site ordering it to provide details of all reader visits on a certain day.
The grand jury subpoena also required the Philadelphia-based Indymedia.us Web site “not to disclose the existence of this request” unless authorized by...
October 2009
3 posts
Use a Linux Live CD/USB for Online Banking →
After reporting on how thieves used Windows malware to steal sizable sums from small banks and businesses, a Washington Post reporter recommends a fairly air-tight solution for net banking: boot up Linux from a live CD or USB drive.
Brian Krebs notes that loading an OS like Ubuntu onto a USB drive or live CD isn’t just his unique solution—the Financial Services Information Sharing and...
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5 Ways You're Secretly Being Monitored →
It’s so easy to tune out the crazy bloggers and Alex Jones types, screaming that the NWO is watching your every move. After all, these guys are paranoid about everything, all the time, so there’s probably nothing to it. Right?
Well, whether or not there is actually a massive room full of government operatives monitoring everything you say or type, you are being tracked. Whether...
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20,000+ Gmail, Yahoo, AOL Accounts Compromised... →
Yesterday, it was revealed that 10,000+ Hotmail accounts were compromised and all of the usernames and passwords of these accounts were posted online. It was a major security and scam issue, but it was thought to only affect Hotmail users.
Unfortunately, Hotmail was only the beginning. Google has now confirmed that thousands of Gmail accounts were compromised by an “industry-wide phishing...
September 2009
5 posts
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How technology is enhancing the scope of video... →
Any way you look at it, video surveillance technology is becoming more sophisticated.
A recent report by ABI Research projects that revenue generated from surveillance software will more than triple from $245 million this year to $900 million-plus in 2013. Technological breakthroughs have added several more capabilities to surveillance cameras in recent years, from face-recognition software to...
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Protect Your Privacy on Facebook and Twitter →
Protect Your Privacy on Twitter – Just read an interesting article on PCWorld which identifies some of the key dangers of social networking.
The article offers a few practical and easy steps that you can take to stay safe online and safeguard your identity and your personal data in the age of the social Web.
For your ready reference, I have summarised the tips to Protect Your Privacy on...
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FCC Eyes Getting into the National Cyber-security... →
The Federal Communications Commission, the same people who brought you “the seven words you can’t say on television” and massive fines for celebrity “wardrobe malfunctions,” are now getting into the national cyber-security business.
Not to be outdone by the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, FBI, NSA, Department of Energy, Health and Human Services, the White House or Congress, the FCC...
College Stars Run for Cover From Fans’ Hidden... →
While shopping recently at RadioShack, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was approached by a woman with a seemingly innocuous request to take a picture with him. But an instant before her mother snapped the photo with a cellphone camera, the woman tried to take off her shirt.
“It’s happened four or five times,” Tebow said with a sigh. “Most of the time I just dive out of the picture. Some people...
August 2009
10 posts
New attack cracks common Wi-Fi encryption in a... →
Computer scientists in Japan say they’ve developed a way to break the WPA encryption system used in wireless routers in about one minute.
The attack gives hackers a way to read encrypted traffic sent between computers and certain types of routers that use the WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption system. The attack was developed by Toshihiro Ohigashi of Hiroshima University and ...
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Mind Games: How Social Engineers Win Your... →
Brian Brushwood, founder of Scam School, demonstrates the four simple psychological mechanisms underlying social engineering mind games.
Social engineering and mind games expert Brian Brushwood has not come by his knowledge in the traditional manner of school or business training. Brushwood is the host of the Internet video series Scam School, a show he describes as dedicated to social...
Does 'Minority Report' Portray a Scary Future? →
Seeing the new Steven Spielberg flick “Minority Report” got me thinking about the difference between mass marketing and personalized marketing.
I attended a matinee on Sunday because several people have told me about its futuristic visions of brand, interactive, and direct marketing. They told me it explores a lot of ideas surrounding personalization, and it raises a lot of concerns...
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Social Engineering Threat Still a Concern →
Whether it is dumpster diving, pod slurping, or impersonating someone else, hackers know that social engineering is still a good way to penetrate our security. See, social engineering hits directly at our weak spot, people. People are still the weakest link in the security chain and it is difficult to fix because it means changing behavior.
I recently had the opportunity to talk about social...
ALCU Warns of Privacy Concerns about Facebook Apps →
As it turns out, taking Facebook quizzes and posting for the world (or at least your network of friends) to see exactly “What Sex and the City Character Are You?” or “What is Your Vampire Power” isn’t just incredibly lame, it’s also pretty risky, suggests the Northern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ALCU), who warns of privacy...
Just an innocuous click away →
Even as the economic recession forced tens of thousands out of jobs this year, attractive job offers, collateral-free loans and over-the-top business opportunities persistently landed in our email inboxes.
Obviously these gloomy times held a silver lining for spammers who, in the guise of solving our financial woes, entered email inboxes, stole private data and installed malware on our hard disks...
VoIP Caller ID Spoofing - Still Dangerous →
Many in the VoIP service industry have known for years that caller ID can be spoofed (that is, misrepresented) relatively easily. In fact, one need not be an expert at using Asterix’s Linux VoIP PBX software or know the other tricks of the trade - he can simply pay a few dollars for an Internet telephone caller ID spoofing service. (We’re not going to provide free advertising for these...
Officials warn of jury duty scam →
The South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs is warning residents to beware of a jury scam that seeks to obtain sensitive personal information.
Officials said scammers call pretending to be an officer of the court. He or she claims that person has failed to report for jury duty and that a bench warrant has been issued for their arrest.
When victims protest that they have not received a...
Oh, By the way: The Palm Pre phones home with your... →
This is going to end well, and no one will be upset about this. Also, everything I said in that last sentence is probably wrong.
When Debian developer Joey Hess started tinkering with webOS, he noticed that it was sending something to Palm once a day. Surely, Palm wasn’t sending anything too potentially incriminating without making it blatantly obvious to the user, right? Wrong.
Joey tore apart...
July 2009
13 posts
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Researchers predict SSNs, crack algorithm putting... →
Social Security numbers have a predictable pattern, according to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, who have developed a reliable method of cracking a person’s SSN based on data gleaned from multiple sources, including profiles on social networking sites.
The researchers cracked the algorithm, guessing the first five digits of a SSN on the first try for 44% of people born after...
Hacking VoIP: Protocols, Attacks, and... →
Hacking VoIP: Protocols, Attacks, and Countermeasures Publisher: No Starch Press | Pages: 220 | 2008-03-21 | ISBN 1593271638 | CHM | 8 MB
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) networks have freed users from the tyranny of big telecom, allowing people to make phone calls over the Internet at very low or no cost. But while VoIP is easy and cheap, it’s notoriously lacking in security. With...
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Australian Police To Go Wardriving →
Some Australians who haven’t secured their wireless networks may soon be getting a (relatively friendly) visit from the police. It seems that a few officers intend to do a little wardriving in order to find unsecured networks and warn the owners of possible problems.
Detective Superintendent Brian Hay of the Queensland Police explained to Brett Winterford the thought process behind the...
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Hid.im Converts Torrents into PNG Images →
Hid.im is a new web-based service that allows users to hide .torrent files inside PNG images. This means that users can easily upload hidden torrent files to their favorite image hosting service and forums, or use it as an avatar on social networking sites without being censored.
Are you one of those people who has always wanted to hide a torrent inside an image? Wait no longer, with Hid.im it...
Google Online Security Blog: Password strength and... →
There’s been some discussion today about the security of online accounts, so we wanted to share our perspective. These are topics that we take very seriously because we know how important they are to our users. We run our own business on Google Apps, and we’re highly invested in providing a high level of security in our products. While we can’t discuss individual user or customer...
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Confidential Twitter Documents →
Here’s a dilemma: The guy (”Hacker Croll”) who claims to have accessed hundreds of confidential corporate and personal documents of Twitter and Twitter employees, is releasing those documents publicly and sent them to us earlier today. The zip file contained 310 documents, ranging from executive meeting notes, partner agreements and financial projections to the meal preferences, calendars and...
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Real Hustle - The pros of cons take on NYC →
Think you could never be duped into falling for a con? Think again. On The Real Hustle, see how an expert trio of scam artists can deftly steal your money, possessions and even your identity. This trickster trio takes on savvy New Yorkers and shows how even the most sophisticated city-slickers can be duped at an ATM, a restaurant or on the street. Featuring: Scratch ticket scams, café capers,...