Internet Security Freeware and Resources

Why You Should Care About CISPA

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 08:46:33 +0000

CISPA is the latest in controversial bills affecting everyday average Joes. CISPA – Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act – will allow private firms to send forth data on cyber threats to government agencies, and allow government agencies to send the same information back to private firms. On the surface everything sounds good and dandy but many are comparing the CISPA to the SOPA and PIPA which allow far too much control in the hands of the government.

CISPA and civil rights

The information exchange in terms of cyber threats between private firms and the government is a step forward in eradicating cyber threat – till you come to the part about how it’s mandatory for firms to report all instances of cyber threats. Private firms have the liberty to make use of whatever information they have to keep themselves secure, however, the information doesn’t have to be made public (if they choose not to, that to). The problem with CISPA is that it’s too vague in defining what it aims to do. Civil rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and EFF are attacking the bill for its capacity to induce mayhem. Is it possible that next time you take pictures where you and your friends are pretending you’re the power rangers you’ll end up in a government office explaining how you’re not really a threat? We don’t know yet, but you can’t rule out the possibility. But let’s consider the power rangers scenario for a second – if this happens to you, you can’t turn around and sue the government or the private firm that landed you in the trouble, you just have to live with it. Firms incur no cost at sharing data, and have no legal costs attached to their actions.

Sharing isn’t always good

Private firms can use the CISPA bill as a reference while blocking access to different sites, sifting through content that they like and getting rid of content that they don’t like, monitoring their employees, customers and even innocent bystanders in the name of data extraction for cyber crimes. The problem with SOPA and PIPA was the aspect of censorship that it brought to the table – that aspect is reinforced by the CISPA bill which takes theft of intellectual property as a cyber crime and can result in censorship of sites that take share, reproduce, adapt, anything and everything that’s ever been created before. The CISPA also fails to outline just what constitute “Data” and “Information” that is required by the private firms and the government agencies. Information that invades one’s privacy or tracks their activities can be exchanged which in the past used to be illegal. The data exchange is also conveniently being exempted from the Freedom of Information Act. The CISPA could be translated into a solution to the thorn that’s been in the US government’s side since sites like Wiki leaks made life an unpleasant experience, if not hell.

Shocking support

Surprisingly, around 800 companies are siding with the bill, including Intel, Microsoft, AT&T and most notoriously Facebook. The trouble with this support is that these companies are only involved till the point they hand over data to the government, they have no power over what the government does with the information. Another problem is the freedom that the bill gives private firms when invading someone’s privacy with the words cyber crime on their lips. Large firms may develop a code to follow but smaller and newer firms with no proper structure can do whatever they please with in the name of CISPA. CISPA will be decided on in the U.S. House of Representatives during the last week of April.

Author Bio

Jane Andrew is the author of PC monitoring software and cell phone spy technology. She provides tips, tricks and news about computer and internet security. You can also follow her on Twitter @janeandrew01 to get the latest tips about computer security.

SpywareBlaster

admin — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 03:50:53 +0000

Spyware, adware, browser hijackers, and dialers are some of the most annoying and pervasive threats on the Internet today. By simply browsing a web page, you could find your computer to be the brand-new host of one of these unwanted fiends! Multi-Angle Protection Prevent the installation of ActiveX-based spyware and other potentially unwanted programs. Block spying / tracking via cookies. Restrict the actions of potentially unwanted or dangerous web sites. No-Nonsense Security SpywareBlaster can help keep your system secure, without interfering with the “good side” of the web. And unlike other programs, SpywareBlaster does not have to remain running in the background. It works alongside the programs you have to help secure your system. Download Here

Malwarebytes

admin — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 03:47:37 +0000

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is an easy-to-use anti-malware application available in both a Free and PRO version. With over 100 million downloads, the Free version is well-known for its detection and removal capabilities, and the PRO version uses advanced protection technologies to proactively stop malware infections. Additionally, Malwarebytes offers a host of extra utilities as well as an approachable forum community to help you combat any piece of malware that exists in the wild. Download Here

Spam: An Endangered Species?

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:57:31 +0000

With an 82% decline in the past year, it seems the reign of spam may be at an end—or at least a pause. Or that it may be ‘ending’ or ‘on its way out.’ Or in a lull of some kind. Spam originated on a small scale, but it has grown to become endemic in the online world, with entire companies established to profit from it. The decline in the bulk of malicious emails is certainly a boon, but it remains to be seen what spammers will do next and how it will continue to interfere with legitimate marketing messages.

The Source

The first spam email was sent in 1978 to 600 addresses on ARPANET, an early precursor to the Internet. It was essentially an unsolicited, impersonal advertisement and, though it did help Gary Thuerk sell a few units, it set the stage for the trend that would see almost 97% of total email become spam by July 2010. Email spam quickly switched from being sent via individuals to being perpetuated through botnets, decentralized networks of computers infected with viruses. The viruses allow spammers to take control of the computer, sending as many emails as they wish without alerting the user. Malicious emails aren’t just used for advertising shady products, however; they are mostly used to spread malware that will allow the spammer access to sensitive data and therefore present a serious security risk for many individuals and institutions.

The Decline

The percentage of total emails identified as junk in the US declined from the all-time high in mid-2010 to around 69.9% according to Symantec. There was a sharp decline in 2010 after Russian authorities began a criminal investigation into Igor Gusev, one of the leaders of the Spamit organization. Gusev fled due to the investigation, causing his company to reduce their messages by around 50 billion per day, or 20% of the world’s total spam volume. In April the Rustock botnet was shut down by authorities, reducing total malicious Internet activities around the world, though virus and phishing levels remained steady. It would be nice if the declines were the result of advances in spam filtering, but while it works to curtail current spam techniques, spammers are continuously innovating and finding workarounds for every filter, creating a ceaseless game of cat and mouse as filters attempt to keep up with the constant onslaught of spam messages.

Spam vs. Targeted Emails

Spamming campaigns, which make use of illicit botnets to spread their vile filth, differ wildly from legitimate mass email campaigns managed through legitimate email marketing software. Spam is, by definition, nearly identical unsolicited emails sent to numerous recipients. When a user receives a message they never intended to receive and has not given out their information in order to subscribe to a list, that is spam. It does not apply, however, when a user gives out their email on a web form, even if they haven’t read the agreement posted on the website. Legitimate targeted emails are the result of a user expressing interest in a subject or company and subscribing to an email list in order to receive updates about that company. Targeted email advertising often includes personalized information, such as links to articles pertaining to the customer’s past purchases or a list of recently viewed or purchased items.

New Facebook: how to take control of your privacy

admin — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:43:23 +0000

Facebook took a huge step toward ubiquitous sharing with its new timeline and sharing features. And it rightfully creeps some people out. Not everybody wants to share their life story on their profile, see their friends’ activities in real time or have their preferences in music, movies and reading shared as they’re consuming media. Advertisement: Story continues below But to Facebook’s credit, it has tread into a new level of sharing with some caution. In many ways, its privacy settings are more accessible. A new private activity log, for instance, allows you to review all past activity in one place to easily hide it from your Facebook Timeline, change the privacy setting on individual stories or delete posts altogether. If you’re bothered by some new features, however, it might take a couple of clicks that are less than intuitive to opt out of them. Here’s how to avoid three of the new Facebook’s potential privacy concerns. Read More

Mozilla gets tough after digital certificates hack

admin — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 17:42:51 +0000

Firefox browser distributor Mozilla today gave companies that sell digital certificates a week to take actions to improve their security after a certificate authority (CA) was hacked and Gmail users in Iran were targeted in a recent attack. When a Web surfer visits a site over a protected SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) connection, the browser provides a visual indication that the site is trusted–a green URL bar or padlock, usually–based on the digital certificate for the site. If the digital certificate, which is used to authenticate a site as legitimate, is revoked or h Read full article.

McAfee says Android plagued by the most malware

admin — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 19:38:07 +0000

While the momentum of Google’s Android platform has drawn new partners and customers, it has also attracted new threats. Security software provider McAfee said today that the amount of malware, or malicious software, targeting Androids phones jumped 76 percent since the last quarter, making it the most heavily attacked mobile operating system. In addition, the company has found 12 million unique types of malware in the first half of the year, a 22 percent increase from a year ago, and expects to end the year with a database of 75 million samples of malware. McAfee today released its threats report for the second quarter… Read Full Article

Site ranks hackers

admin — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 19:36:44 +0000

An online service has cropped up in the past month that enables people to earn points by hacking Web sites. Dubbed Rank My Hack, the hacker community site assigns point values to hacks. “Welcome to RankMyHack.Com,” the site reads. “The worlds first elite hacker ranking system. Submit proof of your website hacks in exchange for Ranking Points that earn you a place on the leaderboard of legends. The bigger the site, the bigger the points.” According to The New York Times, Rank My Hack was started by a computer science student in Great Britain, going by the name of “Solar.” The Times said he “acknowledged hacking illegally ‘in the past’ to develop his skills, but said he had never engaged in criminal acts like fraud.” Read Full Article

Facial Recognition in iPhone 5 – privacy concerns

admin — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:50:13 +0000

Currently there has been a fair bit of discussion on privacy concerns surrounding the implementation of facial recognition software to several apps. The technology is already available and if used in conjunction with an extensive database which can be yielded from social networks such as facebook or the new google+ network and implemented into youtube, google+ photo sharing, google image search etc can have huge potential to breach our privacy. This hasn’t stopped Apple from recently acquiring Polar Rose, a company that co-developed the facial recognition app Recognizr. This software has not been used in Apple’s proprietary iOS apps to date though it has already been implemented in Photo Booth for the X Lion OS. Apple has also allowed 3rd party developers to integrate facial recognition algorithms into their own apps. Examples of these include the CIFaceFeature API which analyzes a picture to determine the relative location of a person’s eyes and mouth and CIDetector which processes those images for recognition… Read More

Mobile phones, privacy, and user consent – Apple, google, facebook

admin — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 06:56:59 +0000

Apple and Google returned to Capitol Hill this morning to defend themselves against accusations from U.S. politicians who claim that the companies aren’t doing enough to protect their customers’ location privacy. Today’s Senate subcommittee hearing, which Facebook also joined, came only a week after a different Senate subcommittee convened nearly the identical hearing on the identical topic: mobile phones, privacy, and user consent. “I think anyone who uses a mobile device has an expectation of privacy, and sadly that expectation is not always being met,” said Sen. John Rockefeller IV (D-W.V.), chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. A mother posting a smartphone photograph of her child online, he suggested, may not realize that “geotagged” location data may be embedded in the image file. Read More