Have an iPhone? Or maybe you have another smartphone. Personally, I am setting my eyes on the Google Nexus One. It’s just as pretty and from most accounts, it is even more functional than the Apple iPhone.

In any case, most everyone has a smartphone now and that means that their children are getting exposed to mobile computing as well. If you think that it’s such a headache to ensure that children are protected when they go online on laptops and home computers, then think again. It’s even more of a hassle to make sure they are safe on mobile platforms!

One thing you can do about the iPhone is to use the built-in parental control. More than that, however, you can check out Safe Eyes Mobile, a web browser made specially for the iPhone. It gives you additional control on top of the parental controls that the iPhone has.

Forrest Collier, CEO of InternetSafety.com endorses this mobile web browser:

“Apple has gone a long way toward child-proofing the iPhone with the new parental controls in the iPhone 3.0 software, but those controls apply only to content that Apple itself distributes through iTunes and the App Store. They don’t address the #1 source of objectionable material: the Internet. If you combine Apple’s parental controls with a browser that blocks pornography and other offensive websites, however, you can completely protect your child from harmful content both online and off.”

At the end of the day, these are excellent tools but I believe that your parenting skills will still emerge as the most important factor.

Tags: internet-security, iphone, mobile web browser, Safe Eyes Mobile

Categories: Real-World Issues, Web browsers

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Early this week, Obama once again made a move that set certain circles a-buzzing. You might have heard of it already – he appointed a cybersecurity chief. President Obama picked Howard Schmidt, who already has a reputation for being good at what he does. He has vast experience both with the government and the IT industry.

This move is no less controversial than others. I guess it’s always like that when you’re a public figure. You can’t please everyone, and you’ll always have various opinions about what you do. According to Richard Waters of Financial Times, the news was welcomed by security experts. He writes:

The appointment of Howard Schmidt, an internet security veteran with experience in both industry and government, was greeted with relief among security experts, where the move was seen as a welcome outcome after a seven-month delay in filling the role.

Like other security industry experts, Mr Silva said that Mr Schmidt’s broad experience and personal contacts in both the public and private sectors would put him in a good position to make the most of the role.
The Computer and Communications Industry Association added that the new official will also be in a position to represent the administration’s position as momentum builds on Capitol Hill for legislation on cybersecurity.

Of course, there remains some skepticism as to just how effective the role will be. It’s not even the person that some are questioning – it is the office and the powers that are associated with it. What do you think?

Tags: Barack Obama, cybersecurity, Howard Schmidt, News

Categories: News, Real-World Issues

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Viruses and malware issues are far from being a thing of the past. On the contrary, they seem to grow large by numbers as each day passes. Thus the works of security software companies have their work cut out for them. There is not definite date to which such threats and intrusions would wholly be resolved.

For the time being, it would be advisable for people to scan third party storage devices such as diskettes, USB drives and mobile storages to be safe and sound. These wandering viruses can attack at any time and this is a fact anywhere computer related materials are concerned.

Files can go as far as infecting the executable files, hence document, excel and compiled scripts are baits for immediate infection and malicious intrusions. Software applications also have their limits as their development teams cater only to a specific genre for known harmful files. But it is better to lower the risk of intrusion than not having protection at all.

[tags]scan, spyware, virus, infections, spyware, malware, trojans[/tags]

Tags: infections, Malware, scan, Spyware, trojans, virus

Categories: Backups, IT Security Basics, Malware, Network Security, Operating Systems, Programming, Real-World Issues, Security Policies, Spyware, Storage, Tips, Wireless Security

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To date, Facebook is perhaps the most successful and widespread social networking site. It has transcended age and race, and practically everyone I know has an account. It has so much to offer, hence the amount of time that the average person spends on Facebook has skyrocketed in the past months. Even businesses and employers use Facebook to make their presence felt online!

But in spite of the allure and usefulness of Facebook, it does have some security issues. All the information that one enters can be accessed by the site AND its third party partners. With each application a user “allows,” his information is accessed, probably even shared with others. Unless a user changes the default privacy settings, practically anyone can access his information. This is something that not everyone really thinks about.

But the Canadian government found these issues important. In fact, the pressured Facebook to create some changes with regard to security. Thanks to them, several tweaks have been enacted. PCWorld featured this move and outlined the fixes.

One, Facebook had to fix the way applications access users data:

Apps will have to tell the user what information it wants and get express consent from the user beforehand. Information will be split into categories, which the user can check off before installing. Developers will also have to explain how that personal data will be used.

Two, what happens to a user’s information if he deactivates his account?

Users will be given an option to either deactivate or delete their accounts. Upon deactivation, they’ll be notified of the option to delete, and can elect to do so should they want all their data gone for good.

Three, what will happen to your account if you die?

Facebook will explain in its privacy policy what happens to an account after its owner passes away.

My thoughts – one and two are quite valid. Three, I am not so sure. You’ll be dead, why would you care? In any case, I wonder if Facebook will apply these fixes to the whole system or just for their Canadian users?

Tags: facebook, privacy settings, security, Social Networking, web sites

Categories: News, Privacy & Anonymity, Real-World Issues

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The world of cyber-crime has grown so much in these past few years due to the explosion of growth with respect to the number of internet users the world over. It has not only expanded on the side of normal people but on the side of cyber-criminals who now operate on their own networks, spanning the globe and ready to spread their products, malicious code that first scans the globe for weak points in the security net that we all put up to somewhat give us a sense of security from the ever-growing threat which is actually futile to some extent. Read the rest of this entry »

Categories: General, IT Security Basics, Malware, Network Security, News, Real-World Issues, Security Policies

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What in the world is an acai berry? If you are into fad diets, then you probably have heard of the acai berry. It is purported to be the next wonder drug, which is all natural by the way. It is supposed to make you lose weight like no other substance in existence. It is also supposed to make you feel better and younger because of its curative properties.

Anyhow, I have nothing against the acai berry fad per se. I mean, these fads come and do and it’s up to you if you want to try them or not. What is happening to me is another story, however. You see, I have somehow been victimized by the acai berry virus (or so I’d like to call it) on Yahoo messenger.

I didn’t have any inkling as to what was happening until I suddenly got this slew of offline messages last week. People on my contact list – even those with whom I had not spoken for months and months – suddenly started sending me offline messages. Their messages seemed to be in reply to something I had sent.

Yesterday, an old friend sent me an SMS saying that I might have a virus. He said that I kept sending him messages on Yahoo Messenger about this acai berry thing. Obviously, it was not me.

I am pretty sure that I am not alone in this thing. I have scoured the web for similar reports and have found a lot of other people complaining of the same thing! The solution? I scanned my laptop for malware using Spybot last night. I am about to scan again using Avast. Then I am changing my passwords. Let’s see if I can get rid of this thing.

Any suggestions?

Categories: IM, Instant Messaging, Malware, Real-World Issues

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Phishing scams have been around for the longest time now, and it still surprises me how creative and imaginative the people behind these scams can be. It used to be that they relied solely on scams revolving around lotteries and stuff. A lot of people have wised up to that tactic, however, and I do not know if there are still those who fall prey to such scams.

This new scam is quite interesting, however, as it is not the usual scheme that phishers employ. They actually have pulled McDonald’s into it – at least by name. What has been reported so far is that an e-mail has been going around, and it contains information about a survey for McDonald’s. Here is the sample e-mail, courtesy of Hoax-Slayer:

Subject: Receive $50 Bonus To Participate In Our Customer Satisfaction Survey Dear McDonald’s Customer,
We are planning big changes for 2009 at McDonalds AU chain of restaurants and because your oppinion is very important to us, we invite you to take a short Customer Satisfaction Survey that will help us improve the quality of our food and services.
We know your time is valuable, so we will give you a $50 bonus just for taking our quick 7 question survey. The entire process will take no more than 5 minutes.

Take the survey (link to bogus website removed)

You can participate in this survey only once.

According to the same web site, the e-mail circulated in Australia. Again, it is FALSE; a scheme to steal financial information from you. Even if you are not in Australia, you might do well to look out for this kind of e-mail.

Categories: E-mail, Real-World Issues

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And the joke will be on whom? It is not a good joke, actually. In fact, if it indeed happens, it will be one of the worst jokes in cyber security. The Conficker worm has been the subject of many discussions and the target of many security experts’ attention; and rightly so. This worm has infected millions and millions of machines worldwide and has proved to be a headache.

Now, the rumor is that on April’s Fools Day of this year, the third version of the worm will be activated. Those behind the worm designed the first two versions to spread like wildfire. According to experts, those two versions are nothing compared to the third one, 32.Downadup.C, which is supposed to “solidify its position.”

The good news is that the first two versions of the Conficker worm have been thoroughly scrutinized and reverse engineered by security experts. These activities have given them an understanding of how the worm works. The bad news is that the creators of the virus know this, and they will definitely work on creating a “better” version this time around.

Experts say that while the first two versions are able to contact 32 web addresses out of 250 per attempt, the third version could probably generate about 500 domains. More so, the activation of the third version will mean that computers that are already infected can connect to each other AND receive updates of the worm. Worse, the third version will probably be able to fight off security bots. This is more than enough reason to be ultra careful come April 1.

Photo from http://nuevayolblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/conficker.png

Categories: Malware, Real-World Issues, Tips

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Two posts ago, I wrote something about British people NOT paying much attention to security on their mobile phones. If the results of the Pwn2Own smartphone hacking contest are to be relied on, then there might not be much too worry about – unless someone physically steals your phone.

According to a story ran by Apple 2.0, hackers were kind of stymied during the contest. Here is a snippet of the feature:

The contest, sponsored by 3Com’s (COMS) TippingPoint computer security division, pitted some of the world’s sharpest hackers and computer security experts against five smartphones: an Apple (AAPL) iPhone, a Research in Motion (RIMM) BlackBerry and phones running on Google’s (GOOG) Android, Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows Mobile and Nokia’s (NOK) Symbian operating systems.

Although the rules were relaxed each day to make hacking easier, the phones managed to withstand the few attempts that were made to “pwn” them — Internet-gamer slang meaning to conquer or gain ownership.

I believe this was the same convention where the Safari was hacked by Miller. Luckily for the smartphones, though, none were cracked by the time the contest ended. This spells good news to smartphone owners like me and you. I was just thinking about searching for more security applications for my Nokia smartphone but perhaps it is not that urgent.

So are the phones just that good? Perhaps. Or maybe, they are still new and they have not really been the focus of hackers. While this is good news, I am thinking that pretty soon, they will become the targets. What do you think?

Photo from 3g

Categories: Real-World Issues, Wireless Security

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The average person spends a lot of time and money on making sure that his personal laptop or desktop computer is secure. From firewalls to anti-virus software to spyware removers – all these kinds of software are installed onto computers to make sure that any kind of malware is kept out. But do you pay as much attention to security on your mobile phone?

According to a recent survey conducted in the UK, mobile phone users do not really pay that much attention to security. IT Pro has this story:

Results from a survey of UK mobile phone users has found too many of us are playing fast and loose with sensitive data stored on our mobile phones.

More alarmingly though, it also found that the majority (99 per cent) of those questioned also used their mobiles for business use, creating a potentially weak security link to their employers’ corporate systems.

So what kind of sensitive data is stored in mobile phones? I think that you can answer this yourself but let’s take a look at some of them:

• Bank account details
• PINs
• Passwords
• Social security numbers

More than these things, mobile phone users also admitted to accessing and storing business data on their phones. This includes downloading spreadsheets and other business documents.

The worst part is that despite the fact that this information is stored in mobile phones, the units themselves do not have passwords and other forms of security measures.

The bottom line? At the very least, we have to put passwords on our mobile phones. Even better, enable encryption.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/osde-info/763025492/sizes/s/

Categories: Real-World Issues, Tips, Wireless Security

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