Privacy is the right to decide who has access to your personal information and how that information should be used.
Think carefully about the information you share online and understand how social networking sites work to use them responsibly and safely.
1. Know your potential audience.
Be aware that anyone, including site operators, advertisers, colleges, potential employers, friends and parents, as well as dangerous people or sexual predators may access, use, and forward the information you share online.
2. Use privacy settings to control who has access to information you put online, including your profile page, your photos, your “wall,” and your online journals. Do not share your phone numbers, home address, date of birth, school or team name, travel plans, social security number or other national ID numbers, family financial information, bank or credit card numbers. Don’t share your passwords with anyone.
3. Don’t accept “friends” you do not know in the real world.
Never agree to meet anyone in person you have only “met” online.
4. Think before you post.
If you would not want a college or a prospective employer to see it, or if you wouldn’t share it with your parents, don’t post it. Once you put something online, it is difficult if not impossible to take it back. Respect the privacy of others. Don’t identify others on your page in a way they
would not identify themselves or post photos they would not post. Protect yourself. Ask friends to take down content about you that you would not post yourself, and un-tag photos that you may find embarrassing in the future.
5. You are your own best protector online.
Online conduct has consequences. Make smart choices.
(print version courtesy of Intel)
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
SpyCam Story #514 - The Electrician Guy
David Mitchell Clark, an electrician from Rancho Cucamonga has pleaded guilty to burglary for installing spy cameras in the bathrooms of homes.
Prosecutor Jason Anderson says investigators found 18 DVDs in Clark's house with hours of surveillance of women and families in various states of undress. Sheriff's investigators eventually tied him to nine installed cameras.
Investigators say the 35-year-old Clark told them last year he had installed one hidden camera in a Rancho Cucamonga home "because the wife was hot." (more) (more)
Prosecutor Jason Anderson says investigators found 18 DVDs in Clark's house with hours of surveillance of women and families in various states of undress. Sheriff's investigators eventually tied him to nine installed cameras.
Investigators say the 35-year-old Clark told them last year he had installed one hidden camera in a Rancho Cucamonga home "because the wife was hot." (more) (more)
Skype vs. Eavesdropping
Mike Chapple handles a Skype question...
Q: Can an attacker gain important and private information from my phone through a peer-to-peer network?
A: Peer-to-peer telephone services such as Skype offer a way to save significant money on telephone services. By leveraging peer-to-peer networks to route calls around the world, every call becomes a local one. Peer-to-peer services allow telephone calls to be routed through the privately owned equipment of one or more unknown individuals. This raises a number of confidentiality, integrity and availability concerns, and little information is available about what, if any, security controls these services have put in place to protect your telephone calls.
While this is an interesting technology, I would not recommend that it be used for any private communications. (more)
Additional considerations...
• Skype says their communications is encrypted.
• Some say Skype encryption can be bypassed.
Q: Can an attacker gain important and private information from my phone through a peer-to-peer network?
A: Peer-to-peer telephone services such as Skype offer a way to save significant money on telephone services. By leveraging peer-to-peer networks to route calls around the world, every call becomes a local one. Peer-to-peer services allow telephone calls to be routed through the privately owned equipment of one or more unknown individuals. This raises a number of confidentiality, integrity and availability concerns, and little information is available about what, if any, security controls these services have put in place to protect your telephone calls.
While this is an interesting technology, I would not recommend that it be used for any private communications. (more)
Additional considerations...
• Skype says their communications is encrypted.
• Some say Skype encryption can be bypassed.
64% of women under 35 spy on partners
More than quarter of women use the internet to secretly spy on their partners, a survey has revealed... The research, by Virgin Media, showed that an astonishing 88 per cent of the population use the internet every day and that women are more that twice as likely to spy on their partners than men are... The under 35s are most paranoid, with 64 per cent of all interviewed admitting they have snooped at a partner's online communication or internet history. (more)
X-Ray Vision - Coming to a Wall Near You
prism 200 is a handheld through-wall radar, which has been designed to be used by police, special forces or the emergency services. It provides quick and covert intelligence on the movement and location of people in a room or building - without the need for invasive sensors.prism 200 has been designed for situations where a high degree of insight is essential for success. This compact, portable and durable product uses advanced signal processing to highlight moving people and objects in cluttered environments, through doors or brick, block and concrete walls. (more & videos) (brochure)
"Hey, kids! Just like the police drones."
Nitrotek, a seller of radio controlled helicopters and cars, announced that they are now offering a large scale, outdoor spy copter with a built in video camera and receiver. They claim this is the first fully functional dual rotor radio controlled helicopter with a camera built in offered in the world. ≈$206.00 (more)
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Pocket Gadgets & Bugs Rejoice - Mini Fuel Cells
The world's smallest working fuel cell has been created by US chemical engineers, at just 3 millimetres across. Future versions of the tiny hydrogen-fuelled power pack could replace batteries in portable gadgets.While batteries are used to do that today, fuel cells are able to store more energy in the same space. Even the most advanced batteries have an energy density an order of magnitude smaller than that of a hydrogen fuel tank.
Yet batteries are much easier to make at the small scale than the pumps and control electronics of a fuel cell. And small pumps can use more energy than they generate. (more)
SpyCam Story #513 - Another Dip in the Pool
A Connecticut man was arrested Sunday accused of videotaping guests at a Cape Cod resort.
Alan Gillette, 50, of Winsted, Conn., was also in possession of a stun gun, pepper spray and drugs when he was arrested...
Gillette was seen at the Cape Codder Resort and Spa videotaping guests at the pool and in the sauna... Witnesses said the man had a camera hidden under a towel. The hotel has a policy banning video cameras in the pool area.
Police were able to hear conversations taking place in the pool and sauna area on the video... There was also footage from inside the men's locker room and audio recording of muffled conversations while the showers were running, police said.
Gillette pleaded not guilty... to charges of possession of chemical mace without an FID card, selling or possessing an electric stun gun and unlawful wiretapping. He was ordered to stay away from the Cape Codder. (more)
Alan Gillette, 50, of Winsted, Conn., was also in possession of a stun gun, pepper spray and drugs when he was arrested...
Gillette was seen at the Cape Codder Resort and Spa videotaping guests at the pool and in the sauna... Witnesses said the man had a camera hidden under a towel. The hotel has a policy banning video cameras in the pool area.
Police were able to hear conversations taking place in the pool and sauna area on the video... There was also footage from inside the men's locker room and audio recording of muffled conversations while the showers were running, police said.
Gillette pleaded not guilty... to charges of possession of chemical mace without an FID card, selling or possessing an electric stun gun and unlawful wiretapping. He was ordered to stay away from the Cape Codder. (more)
Sour RazzBerry?
Obama’s spy-proof BlackBerry still a security risk, claims Microsoft...
"You would be sending your data outside the country," Fox News quoted Randy Siegel, a Microsoft enterprise mobile strategist... He stressed that even if RIM routed information through a U.S. data center, the devices aren't built to NSA's security specs. (more)
"You would be sending your data outside the country," Fox News quoted Randy Siegel, a Microsoft enterprise mobile strategist... He stressed that even if RIM routed information through a U.S. data center, the devices aren't built to NSA's security specs. (more)
US Military Files on $15. Thrift Shop MP3 Player
A New Zealand man has found confidential US military files on an MP3 player he bought in an Oklahoma thrift shop.
Chris Ogle, 29, paid $15 for the player and when he plugged it into his computer he found 60 pages of military data. The files contained the names and personal details of US soldiers, including some who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as information about equipment deployed to bases and a mission briefing. (more)
Chris Ogle, 29, paid $15 for the player and when he plugged it into his computer he found 60 pages of military data. The files contained the names and personal details of US soldiers, including some who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as information about equipment deployed to bases and a mission briefing. (more)
Other Countries' Illegal Surveillance Problems
Lebanon - Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat accused Minister of Telecommunications Jebran Bassil of illegally allowing bugging of communications. Jumblat, in an article published by the PSP's weekly al-Anbaa on Tuesday, said Bassil is hosting a colonel from the General Security Directorate at the ministry where he runs a network of employees "specialized in bugging calls." (more)
How to Beat a Keystroke Logger
Need password privacy when using un-secure computers?
Afraid your significant other placed a keystroke logger?
Want to keep your net surfing URLs private?
While no solution provides 100% security, but bypassing the traditional keyboard will help...
My-T-Soft Virtual Onscreen Keyboards
I-Tech Virtual Laser Keyboard (bluetooth)
Click-N-Type Virtual Keyboard
MountFocus Virtual Keyboard
FREE Virtual Keyboard by MiloSoft
For the more technically advanced...
Virtual Keyboard Interface - Adds a virtual keyboard to text fields, password fields and text areas allowing keyboard-less input of text and special characters. Install the script and double-click on one of the form element types above to display the keyboard. This is a Greasemonkey script and will work wherever Greasemonkey works. (download page)
Afraid your significant other placed a keystroke logger?
Want to keep your net surfing URLs private?
While no solution provides 100% security, but bypassing the traditional keyboard will help...
My-T-Soft Virtual Onscreen Keyboards
I-Tech Virtual Laser Keyboard (bluetooth)
Click-N-Type Virtual Keyboard
MountFocus Virtual Keyboard
FREE Virtual Keyboard by MiloSoft
For the more technically advanced...
Virtual Keyboard Interface - Adds a virtual keyboard to text fields, password fields and text areas allowing keyboard-less input of text and special characters. Install the script and double-click on one of the form element types above to display the keyboard. This is a Greasemonkey script and will work wherever Greasemonkey works. (download page)
Airport Security / Airport Insecurity - Games
Airport Security offers a satirical critique of airport security practices circa early fall 2006, when security agencies in the US and abroad changed their policies to prohibit common items like toothpaste and hair gel. Do knee-jerk reactions that limit our freedom of expression and travel make us safer? In Airport Security you inspect each passenger and his luggage and remove the forbidden items before allowing the passenger to go through -- but the list of forbidden items changes on a moment-to-moment basis. Prohibited items may include pants, mouthwash, and hummus. (more) (play it now)
Airport Insecurity - a game about inconvenience and the trade-offs between security and rights in American airports. While the government wants you to believe that increased protection and reduced rights are necessary to protect you from terrorism, the effectiveness of airport security practices is uncertain.
Airport Insecurity allows you to explore these issues in context: the game's rules are based on government reports about airport security practices since 2002. To consider the game's implications fully, players are encouraged to play the game while waiting in line at airport security. (more)
Sunday, January 25, 2009
"Attention, nanny's union. Attention nanny's..."
WA - Everett lawmaker, Mike Sells, has filed a bill in the state legislature to make it illegal to videotape teachers without their knowledge. The bill is in response to the Everett School District's use of hidden cameras when it was investigating a teacher in 2007...
The bill currently in the state legislature would require that all staff must be notified in writing in advance before video surveillance is used. Schools would also be required to post written notices outside any rooms that may have hidden cameras. Current law allows for hidden cameras as long as no audio is recorded. (more)
The bill currently in the state legislature would require that all staff must be notified in writing in advance before video surveillance is used. Schools would also be required to post written notices outside any rooms that may have hidden cameras. Current law allows for hidden cameras as long as no audio is recorded. (more)
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