Archive for the ‘Privacy’ Category
Wednesday, October 26th, 2011
Almost everyone knows about the attorney client privilege and what transpires between a lawyer and client is confidential. But when technology comes into play, all that is said may go beyond the ears of the lawyer and client.
Very recently I had a person visit the office of our IT company in Clifton Park. The salesperson was trying to sell marketing services to me and was from one of the major phone book providers.
During the conversation, this person mentioned that for companies who used their designated phone numbers for tracking, they (the phone book company) has the ability to dial in and listen to calls, and then went on to mention how this person has done just that.
While I kept a poker face, I was outraged by this. While many companies have phone systems which allow the conversation to be taped, I have yet to run across one in an attorney’s office. And the companies always make an announcement that the conversation will may be recorded. But to have an outside person listen in on a conversation which one of the parties (or maybe both) believe the information will be kept confidential, yet is not, is simply unbelievable.
Moral of the story; if you’re making a call to a doctor or lawyer and you want your information to be kept private, you may not want to use the number published in any of the phone books. And if you do, you might want to ask the person if the conversation is being recorded.
If you’re serious about keeping your data safe, visit www.HITmanSafe.com.
This article was written by The Boss of HITman Services, a computer and IT company, based in Clifton Park and serving the Albany, Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Counties of New York.
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- clifton park computer repair
- attorney client privilege and technology
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Tags: attorney, Clifton Park, Clifton Park computer repair, confidential information, law firm, laywer, Privacy, Security
Posted in Privacy, Security | Comments Off
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
It always amazes me how willing people are to give out confidential information. And I’m not talking about the younger generation who have grown up with computers. Your data is yours; and the businesses and organizations you entrust with it may not really care for it as much as you do.
While some states have very strict guidelines, such as Massachusetts; imposing additional regulations only serves to increase the cost of doing business which typically gets passed on to consumers. While regulations have their place, they are not a panacea.
Case in point: yesterday I visited a business establishment which falls under several federal laws regarding data security. Their security measures consisted of one paper sign taped on a wall and a plastic sign on a door, they both read “Secure Room Authorized Personnel Only”. If this works as well as the no gun signs on bank doors and drug free zone signs, the data must be secure! The door was next to a sliding glass window and the lock on the door was cheap and had a twist button to unlock it. A person reaching an arm through the window could unlock the door, but that would be unnecessary as the door was wide open and only one person in the building.
Earlier this month one of our lead application developers and I had a meeting with a fairly large business organization. The organization kept very confidential records regarding its membership, which if it fell into the wrong hands could cost the business member thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, or perhaps even worse. We drew up a proposal for the organization based upon the criteria we received from their staff. During a phone call with the director of the organization, I was told that security really wasn’t that important to them; driving home my point.
Before giving control of your information to another person, company, or organization, you just might want to have them show you how they protect your information. As with almost everything, it is our responsibility to take the proper precautions with our information, as we will be the ones cleaning up the mess.
This article was written by The Boss of HITman Services, a computer and IT company, based in Clifton Park and serving the Albany, Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Counties of New York.
Tags: Anti-Virus, AntiVirus, Business, Clifton Park, Malicious Software, malware, Security, Virus
Posted in Business, Privacy, Security | No Comments »
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
Many people don’t think twice about what they send in an email. Some of the issues can be chalked up to blind ignorance and others to just not caring. But email safety and security should be taken seriously.
Last year a hacker was prosecuted for breaking into Sarah Palin’s email box. Recently officials from the U.S. Government had their email accounts hacked. Additionally there have been numerous accounts of women who had their email accounts hacked. The perpetrator was looking for nude and erotic photos the woman may have sent to their spouses and boyfriends. In a similar case earlier this year over three thousand woman’s email accounts were broken into for the same purposes.
There are many methods hackers or others with ill-intent use to break into email accounts. If the person is know, they can watch over the shoulder as the email password is being typed in. Keystroke loggers can be used. Brute force and dictionary attacks can be attempted. There are many methods which can be used to access a person’s email account.
So what can be done to make email safer? The first rule of thumb should be to not send any pictures in compromising situations. Imagine applying for a teaching position and a nude photo gets sent to the board of education. This also holds true of making any statements which could come back and bite you. The second precaution is to not use the same password for email as ones which are used for website accounts. The password should also be fairly long and complex and changed regularly.
Email is here to stay, at least in the foreseeable future. Hackers and others who look to financial gain or retaliation for something they perceive as done to them, are not going away. Therefore is up to us to try and keep our information safe. I say try because if there’s a will, there’s a way.
This article was written by The Boss of HITman Services, a computer and IT company, based in Clifton Park and serving the Albany, Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Counties of New York.
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Tags: Alaska, BioWare, Dictionary attack, Email address, Exchange, Federal government of the United States, Gmail, Outlook, Password, Politics, Republican, Sarah Palin, User (computing), Webmail
Posted in Privacy, Security, email | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011
In early June, Facebook faced an attempt for a hacker to break into the social networking site. As of this writing, the authorities in the United States and United Kingdom are looking into the matter.
According to Facebook there was no compromise of its system and no user data was stolen. Facebook is a major target as they have a very large user base of over 500 million people, people post personal information and many users trust what they receive while in Facebook.
The first item, Facebook being so large is just a fact of life. One has to hope that Facebook starts to take very seriously the trust which people give them.
The second item, posting personal information is something each user has some control over. Facebook does incorporate many security options to restrict access to personal data; most people however don’t enable them. The reason I said each user has some control over data is because a family member or friend can write about them or post pictures of them on Facebook.
The third issue, people trusting friends within Facebook, requires a change in behavioral habits. You may do a very good job of securing the information you have posted to Facebook, but what happens if you add an app you thought was suggested to you by a friend or click on an link which you also believe they sent? If their account is compromised, by automatically trusting them, you too could be compromised and could infect your friends.
Having personal information such as birth dates, address or phone number may not be a good idea. Home addresses and phone number can always be sent to people once you verify who they are.
This article was written by The Boss of HITman Services, a computer and IT company, based in Clifton Park and serving the Albany, Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Counties of New York.
Tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, New York, Online Communities, Personally identifiable information, Social network, Social network service, United States, User (computing)
Posted in Privacy, Security | No Comments »
Thursday, April 14th, 2011
Ok, so you play by the rules. You don’t surf porn sites, you don’t gamble online, you even make sure your anti-virus software is up-to-date. So how is it you’ve been targeted for identity theft? You can thank Epsilon for that.
In last week’s Wise Guy Wednesday column, we wrote about the security breach at Epsilon. To bring those of you who have yet to read last week’s article “Privacy on the Internet? Fuhgeddaboutdit!”, here is a brief review. Epsilon is a marketing company focusing on Internet technologies such as social media and captures information such as email addresses. Large corporations such as Disney, American Express, Target, Citibank, Chase, TD Ameritrade and hundreds of others are all clients of Epsilon.
In the old days (before last week), most email based attacks were very generic, the email tried to get you to enter specific information or go to an embedded link. But because the contents could apply to anyone, like a good boy, you ignored it.
Now because of the Epsilon breach, hundreds of thousands of people are susceptible to very targeted email attacks. As Epsilon knows that you shop at Target or maybe you vacation at one of the Disney properties. You receive an email from Target describing a great new barbecue grill and the special low pricing. By clicking the link you are assured to reserve on in your name. Or perhaps you get an invitation from Disney and they would like to offer you two nights free if you stay for three nights at one of their resorts at Walt Disney World. All you need to do is click the link and login. In both of these scenarios, you click the link, enter your information, and game’s on!
If your like many people, at this point you just want to hire a HITman to take care of the genius who let the breach happen in the first place.
This article was written by The Boss of HITman Services, a computer and IT company, based in Clifton Park and serving the Albany, Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Counties of New York.
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Tags: American Express, Anti-Virus, Best Buy, Citibank, Clifton Park computer repair, Disney, Hyperlink, Identity theft, Security, Target, Target Corporation, TD Ameritrade, The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney World
Posted in Privacy, Security | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011
Privacy on the Internet? Are you kidding me? We know who you are. We know where you live. We know where you go. In fact, we know everything about you; and there’s not much you can do abodit!
Most everyone has their shorts in a bunch over the latest security breach by Epsilon. Epsilon is a marketing company focusing on Internet technologies such as social media and captures information such as email addresses. Large corporations such as Disney, American Express, Target, Citibank, Chase, TD Ameritrade and hundreds of others are all clients of Epsilon.
Epsilon’s email system was breached and as a result, possibly millions of email addresses have been stolen. While Epsilon states that no personally identifiable information has been given out, this opens up the very strong possibility of computers being compromised; and massive identity theft as unsuspecting people click embedded links in fraudulent emails they receive.
As hard as one might try to retain some form of anonymity or privacy, if you use Google or make any online purchases, you can fuhgeddaboutdit. Google keeps from months to years of everything you search for and as has been shown by the latest security breach, companies such as Epsilon store millions of pieces of information from thousands of its corporate clients on what you buy.
Other than taking a baseball bat to your computer or moving to a secure family compound with no connection to the outside world, this is one of the unintended consequences of today’s technology.
This article was written by The Boss of HITman Services, a computer and IT company, based in Clifton Park and serving the Albany, Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Counties of New York.
Tags: American Express, BestBuy, Business, Citibank, Clifton Park computer repair, Data breach, Email address, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Marketing and Advertising, Personally identifiable information, Privacy, Security, TD Ameritrade, TiVo
Posted in Privacy, Web | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011
Recently Toyota has been cleared of any wrong doing for their cars unintended acceleration. It seems the unintended acceleration was caused by the operator, not the car.
If we take this scenario though, extrapolate it out and consider where the auto industry is going, it isn’t entirely out of the realm that an epidemic of unintended acceleration could happen.
Cars are increasingly becoming more dependent on computers. First it was remote door locking and unlocking; then memory retention for settings was added. Now we have cars which can communicate with Google and cars which don’t need a physical key inserted into the ignition to run.
Many years ago, before hacking computers became a lucrative business, it was exploited as a way to wreak havoc. For people who do not care about the property of others, what better way for them to have what they consider fun then by having cars run into each other. Or perhaps instead of accelerating, when a driver applies the brake or turns the steering wheel, the car just dies. No power means no brakes and no steering.
Will car hacking replace car jacking? At least there wouldn’t be the need for violence. Will insurance rates skyrocket because of the increase in thefts? Will we be downloading the latest in firewalls and virus protection to our cars in the future or will the manufacturers invest in and design their systems with high security in mind from the outset?
At the moment, who knows?
This article was written by The Boss of HITman Services, a computer and IT company, based in Clifton Park and serving the Albany, Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Counties of New York.
Tags: Acceleration, Automobile, Computers, Electronic throttle control, Google, hacking, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Sudden unintended acceleration, Toyota
Posted in Life Management, Privacy, Security | No Comments »
Monday, December 27th, 2010
Many businesses are starting to look into utilizing the cloud and many companies are getting into the business. This past week, there was a data breach for people using Microsoft Business Productivity Online.
The security flaw opens up a users offline address book to others, allowing it to be download by people other than the owner. As I have a lot of confidential information stored in my address book, had I been using this system, it would have posed a serious issue. Fortunately I don’t use the Microsoft Business Productivity Online service.
Many smart business people don’t put a high enough value on security until something bad happens. There is a reason why some cloud service providers charge more than others. While many are looking to keep a tight handle on expenses, skimping on IT services could lead to much higher costs and severe penalties if the business is found to be neglectful in their security proceedures.
This article was written by The Boss of HITman Services, a computer and IT company serving the Albany, Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Counties of New York.
Tags: BPOS, Business, Cloud computing, cloud computing security, Cloud service, Data breach, Microsoft, Microsoft BPOS, Microsoft Online Services, Microsoft SharePoint, New York, Security
Posted in Privacy, Security | No Comments »
Friday, August 20th, 2010
Recently, a researcher demonstrated how he could impersonate a GSM cell tower at the Def Con Convention in Las Vegas. Chris Paget, a security professional created a device which impersonates GSM cell phone towers for about $1,500.00. Note: cell phone snooping is illegal and Chris took many precautions not to break the law.
The device impersonates AT&T cell phone towers, making Android and iPhones think they are connecting to a legitimate phone tower. The system can be configured enabling the call to be listened to. The device could also be configured to intercept calls.
As Verizon Wireless and Sprint use CDMA technology, their systems would not be affected by this vulnerability. While the hack will not work with 3G, it is possible to knock the 3G offline and then the hacking device would take over. The cost to build the equipment to knock 3G offline would be less than $1,000.00.
Even if a phone has the voice mode set for encryption, the hacking device could just turn it off. And depending on the phone, there may be no notice that encryption has been disabled.
Information provided by: HITman Services, a computer and IT services company located in Clifton Park, New York.
Tags: 3G, AT&T, cellphones, Clifton Park, Clifton Park computer repair, Clifton Park New York, GSM, iPhone, Las Vegas Nevada, mobile phone, Science and Technology, Verizon
Posted in Privacy, Security, Smartphones, cell phone | No Comments »
Monday, August 9th, 2010
How many people download software such as tip calculators? How many of these people are aware that simply by downloading that program, they may have been compromised?
With the proliferation of texting as a primary method of communication, software writers have developed programs which can look like harmless games or utilities such as tip calculators, yet are devious. Once loaded, these programs send out copies of all SMS text messages to another person.
Many are offered as a means to track a spouse or significant other who may not be faithful. Some are promoted to track what children are doing. One partner or the other involved in a divorce could load the software on their unsuspecting soon-to-be ex-partner.
One of the safest preventative measures is to create a password and always keep your phone locked when it is not in your possession. While some may see this as an inconvenience, what would the cost be if the wrong person or people had access to your personal information?
Tags: Business and Economy, Mobile, Mobile Computing, Network Specific, Short Messaging Service, SMS, Telecommunications, Wireless Data
Posted in BlackBerry, Life Management, Privacy, Smartphones, Software, cell phone, email | No Comments »
