Cyber Security Month
Posted by LS on October 17th, 2011. Category: Consumer Security
Since its inception in 2004, Cyber Security Month raises awareness of online security challenges, and provides countless references to help educate the mass public on ways to keep themselves safe while online.
On October 3rd, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety announced the launch of “Get Cyber Safe”, the Government of Canada’s national public awareness campaign on cyber security.
Get Cyber Safe will reach out to Canadians across the country throughout October and beyond through GetCyberSafe.ca, a single-window source of information to help Canadians stay safe online.
Internationally, people, organizations and governments are recognizing the elevating fears and challenges with cyber threats.
“The most serious economic and national security challenges we face are cyber threats. America’s economic prosperity and competitiveness in the 21st Century depends on effective cybersecurity. Every Internet user has a role to play in securing cyberspace and ensuring the safety of themselves and their families online.” http://1.usa.gov/bzOYP
With the ongoing threats and attacks by hackers and hacker groups like Luzsec and Anonymous, now more than ever the topic of privacy and security is a popular topic and the threat of insecurity is a dark cloud. During the month of October, take some time to sift through the tips, play’s of the weeks and resourceful information we provide on our blog, but also on the numerous outlets staying in trend during Cyber Security Month.
Keep yourself informed and keep yourself protected.
Week in Review
Posted by LS on October 3rd, 2011. Category: Blog
Hello again Cyber world and Happy National Cyber Security Month! What does that mean? Well, nothing other than you will have a lot of trending on twitter related to this topic and probably learn quite a bit on how to change your routine an ensure you are doing the best you can to stay protected online.
You can be involved and reach out to the community on a wide variety of topics: http://bit.ly/qkun1L.
The University of Minnesota will host its for its first-ever Cyber Security Summit on Oct. 4, with experts flooding their campus with valuable info for us to learn from, and a ton of lectures on hackers so we can all brush up on our keen eye for trouble. For more: http://bit.ly/pLgyec
It is definitely an issue that most people are not educated on how to keep themselves protected online. The Vancouver Sun shines a light on how Canadians, and express that the Conference Board of Canada is urging Canadians to “up their game” in this area before we so blindly post something that could damage our identity long term.
“As individuals, we fail to make good cyber-risk decisions because we lack a thorough understanding of how we are vulnerable and what could happen as a result,” said John Neily, director of the board’s centre for national security, in a statement.
“We therefore do not participate effectively in what should be a ‘whole-of-nation effort’ to counter threats to people, organizations and the country.”
To read more: http://bit.ly/pa7aeQ
At least they haven’t targeted the power plants, but the top CyberSecurity Officials note that if they haven’t yet, we need to call attention to how to keep this protected before a bad problem becomes catastrophic. To read more: http://buswk.co/nBrxEN
Lulzsec, what would a weekly roundup be with out at least one mention? A student was arrested in Pheonix last week, claiming he was responsible for the Sony Pictures hacking had over 1 million victims. For more: http://bit.ly/n7dkLa
Expect some insightful and interesting posts and tweets this month! And Happy Cyber Security Month, take this opportunity to strategize your… Play of the Week.
Play of the Week
Posted by LS on September 27th, 2011. Category: Consumer Security
How can you keep yourself safe out there, while we work on tweaking our product so it is perfect for the upcoming weeks?
Suggested play of the week: Always keep your login passwords private, sign out of online profiles before rushing out the door, be mindful of the work you put out into the cyber world, and always check the privacy updates on your online social platforms. Privacy settings seem to change at the drop of a hat, so be aware of this, and check weekly that you have yourself covered.
Week in Review
Posted by LS on September 26th, 2011. Category: Blog
Well, another day, and another Facebook configuration. As Facebook tries to beef up its security, the every day user can continue to get more and more confused in the convoluted backend- causing more harm then good for at least a few weeks until we get comfortable again, and all the setting change.
The BBC posted an interesting article on Facebook and Security, but no new information here. Unless you are an alien who didn’t know that posting information on Facebook could be accessed by criminals. If you are one of those people who don’t believe your identity can be stolen, then enjoy the ignorant bliss- it might come to a screeching halt, but enjoy it thus far nevertheless. To read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-14988579
So, remember when we used SSL to keep us secure against online banking/transaction crimes, stolen identities and money fraud? Well, rest assured I will continue to refer to this in past tense. Hackers recently broke the SSL encryption used by millions of sites. Woah. This attack shows serious deep rooted problems with the system and puts you at risk for some serious problems. To read more: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/19/beast_exploits_paypal_ssl/ and http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2110508/ssl-tls-attack-secure-communications-risk.
Other then this latest and craziest discovery, there has been no ground breaking criminal attacks or breaking news, however, it is a more and more common thread amongst articles, posts, interviews everywhere dictating the fear and insecurity on social media platforms. With new sites bubbling up everyday, and your eHarmony profile exploding with pokes and potential dates, do not forget the importance of taking the necessary precautions in safety.
Check out tomorrows’ Defense play of the week- and stay informed!
Every Monday you can expect to find out Week in Review summarizing the weeks headlines, relevant information and any details we want to reiterate than may be of educational value to you as you journey through the social online world.
The Week in Review
Posted by LS on September 14th, 2011. Category: Blog
Summer’s over, kids are back in school, boots are back in fashion and TIFF has hit Toronto again. That’s the fun news.
In other news, cyber security Sony has hired new exec, Philip Reitinger, former director of US homeland security, to help beef up cyber-defense. Read more: http://bit.ly/n8i5Xm
Facebook for iPhone gets a major privacy overhaul (What about online? Federated Networks is still the only solution). Read more: http://on.mash.to/no3Naa
As of last Thursday, Facebook updated their privacy settings to, let’s just say, act like Google+. Hidden privacy settings are not brought to the forefront (I haven’t found them yet) . They have included what is called an “inline audience selector” feature, which like Google+, allows for you to pick and choose who gets to view your posts. You also can now manage how your tags look, by having more control on who can see these tagged drunken photos of you from last year’s Christmas party (probably should have kept the cowboy hat at home, eh?). Basically, the changes are not noticeable and/or strong enough to seal your page from offenders. Read more: http://on.mash.to/ro2Kgq
US Attorney Jenny Durkan gets her bank account hacked. See, you aren’t the only one! And she is the chair of the Justice Department’s Cybercrime Subcommittee… ouch. Read more: http://on.msnbc.com/nNY0Jp
Scotland Yard makes some arrests this past week, focusing on suspects involved with hacker mega group Anonymous. Both men were early 20’s and suspected of “computer intrusions”… early 20’s… Read more: http://bit.ly/pQFIVA
So there you have it folks. On the bright side, there are solutions, Enter: Federated Network. With our product set to launch in the coming weeks, we intend to lay out for you the fundamentals, the details and let you know how to protect yourself from the prying eyes of the unknown.
Stay tuned.