Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Anti-Social Networking

Anti-social networking
The more we tell the world, the easier it is for crooks to use information in ways we never intended.

    Published: 8/06/2011 at 12:00 AM
    Newspaper section: Business

Have you ever received an intriguing message posted on your Facebook wall - presumably from one of your friends - asking you to click the link provided? Or an advertising testimonial on Twitter from your favourite football player?

Perhaps you have found a fake Facebook account with your name and profile picture. That happened to a Thai university professor shortly after the Japanese earthquake and visitors were tricked into believing that she was raising money for disaster relief.

Everyone these days enjoys using social networks, but the more we tell our friends - and the world - the more vulnerable we become to cybercrooks and scam artists. And now that businesses are increasingly using the likes of Facebook and Twitter for marketing, they too are becoming highly vulnerable to having their entire online presence compromised.

Identity theft is becoming a major danger for social network users, according to Kaspersky Lab, a Russian-based IT security and threat management company. For one thing, people don't always know their online friends in real life, and social networks do not usually verify the identities of users creating accounts.

Security experts say that "identity hijacking" involves a profile being created using the victim's real name, and then that person's real friends are infiltrated. The identity thieves cultivate their contacts and then threaten victims with the publication of embarrassing pictures or compromising comments. The only thing that will save their victims' virtual reputations is money.

A general user's information and picture offer a cybercriminal an easy point of entry to steal an identity and create a fake account, says Nakrop Niamnamtham, managing director of nForce Security Systems AP, an information security solution distributor.

"Social networks are a double-edged sword. In my own experience, I received negative reactions from my friends and later found that those friends had formed a bad impression based on messages and activities on my fake Facebook account," Mr Nakrop recalled.

In some cases criminals use the real name and photo of an attractive woman to create a fake account and lure men to transfer money. The real person has no idea what's going on.

Social networks are also becoming key distribution points for malware or malicious software, the recent Koobface worm that affected Facebook being a prime example, according to Kaspersky Lab.

This secretive worm sent several waves of private messages to Facebook users, announcing that new photos featuring them had been published online. Clicking on the link in the message infected the user's PC, enabling it to be controlled remotely by hackers.

The PC then becomes part of what's known as a botnet, a network of computers that is used to attack other networks or for sending spam. Koobface distributes itself via existing user accounts and their friend lists on social networks.

It does so by sending comments and messages that contain, for example, links to fake YouTube pages, inviting users to download the current version of Flash Player to view the video. Instead of adding video or Flash to their systems, however, the worm infects them.

Nopchai Tangthritham, a technical director of Symantec, the US-based security software vendor, says that the inherent trust we place in social networks, especially of messages coming from friends, makes it easy for attacks to succeed.

He said his company also found that hackers were using shortened web links to hide malware, especially on Twitter.

Mr Nakrob noted that most social networks allow a user to set different privacy settings for confirmed friends in contrast to public strangers. Facebook distinguishes three groups of visitors - direct friends, friends of friends, or everyone - which helps classify the level of information and photos to share with others.

But how many users are aware of and know how to adjust their privacy settings? Despite repeated warnings and heavy media coverage, most people never touch their Facebook settings after initially making a few clicks on the day they set up their accounts.

Third-party applications such as games and horoscopes will ask users' permission to access their detailed information, so before using any third-party app via a social network, one needs to check its authenticity.

"Even for such a little piece of information such as a birthday that you share on your social networking site, a bad guy can use this basic information for an answer to a security question to verify your credit card identity," Mr Nakrob said.

Because so many people now use social network sites at work, threats to corporate IT networks are growing.

While some companies have IT policies that explicitly regulate the use of sites such as Facebook or Twitter, few block employee access to social networking sites because some departments have legitimate needs to use those sites for marketing, sales and customer service.

Mr Nakrob suggested that all companies should set security policies for social networks. For instance, if an employee posts photos or information related to customers on a personal Facebook account, that information could be leaked to rivals or have even worse consequences.

Meanwhile, existing security firewalls are not keeping up with new types of applications, particularly those related to social networks, YouTube or Skype. This is leading to increased demand for next-generation firewalls to use in organisational security.

Some security vendors, including Palo Alto Networks Thailand, are providing next-generation firewalls that allow businesses to set controls on the use of social networking or limit it to authorised employees. For instance, they may allow viewing and replying but not posting video or documents on a wall. This could prevent the posting of inappropriate content that violates the law or risks leaks of trade secrets.

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SOCIAL MEDIA ATTACKS

FACEBOOK

Likejacking Cybercriminals create intriguing posts that exploit interest in seasonal events, celebrity news and even disasters.

Users who click the links inadvertently act as accomplices to the attacker because the malicious scripts automatically repost the links, images or videos on their contacts' walls. Popular version of this attack causes user profiles to "Like" a Facebook page without their consent

Rogue applications Cybercriminals use Facebook's open platform to applications for spam posts or phishing attacks

Attacks via chat Facebook's built-in chat feature makes cybercriminals spread malware and to promote phishing applications

TWITTER

Spammed Tweets Cybercriminals create compelling posts with links. Examples include promotions for free vouchers, job advertisements or testimonials for weight-loss products

Malware downloads Most popular tactic is the use of video-related posts, which lead create users to a fake YouTube page where they could download a malicious file

Twitter bots Use of Twitter to manage and control botnet zombies

MY THOUGHTS

This is getting scarier and scarier.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

HOW NOT TO GET HACKED ON FACEBOOK

HOW NOT TO GET HACKED ON FACEBOOK

from the article 'Facebook Users: How Not to Get Hacked'
By Kimberly Weisul | May 10, 2011

There are plenty of things Facebook users, and others, can do to protect their personal information online. Consumer Reports recommends:

    Keep tabs on your kids’ accounts. Some kids won’t ‘friend’ their parents, of course, but they just might  fork over their user name and password. Other parents can keep up on their children’s online activities via siblings or other friends.

    Use privacy controls.  Consumer Reports found that one in five adult Facebook users don’t use privacy controls. Whenever Facebook gives you a choice, set the information to be visible only to your friends. Otherwise your profile picture, friends list, activities, and other info can be seen by anyone who does a public search on your name.

    Turn off Instant Personalization. Instant personalization shares your location information with sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor (and the list is growing). The default setting for “instant personalization” is “on,” but you can turn it off.

    Be careful with apps. In most cases, you can decide which information an app can see. Facebook says it doesn’t share identifiable information with advertisers, but using an app does make general information available.

    Set a PIN number for your phone. Most smartphones allow you to set a four-digit PIN for your phone, but only about 20 percent of people-even those who store sensitive information on their phones-actually do this.

    Protect your phone. The PIN is just the start. Many manufacturers offer over-the-air backup, remote phone locating, remote phone locking, and erasing of data and account info. You can also get software to lock your phone or erase data remotely. Turn off the phone’s GPS feature if you don’t need it.

MY THOUGHTS

I never liked the apps.

Monday, April 11, 2011

SOCIAL NETWORKING "FRENEMIES"

Social Networking Leads to "Frenemies" For Women
Author: Ayra Moore
Published: March 31, 2011 at 6:47 pm

So,you hear time and time again how “great” the social network is, right? Well, for some, it is.

A majority of women, however, have become quite disgusted with the “friends” they have collected on Facebook, finding them very bothersome at times.

According to an article posted on Networkworld.com, Eversave, a company dealing in coupons, recently conducted a survey centered on how social networking influences shopping and the use of deals. They got a lot more info than they expected apparently.

Woman, who still admit they communicate more frequently and readily thanks to social networking, are also complaining about their Facebook pals. The women are getting tired of seeing status updates from their newfound “frenemies” regarding personal complaints, praise for their children, grandchildren, political views and bragging about their lives in general.

The result, in my opinion, to these,very amusing, recent findings is simple: No matter what outlet women use to attempt to communicate, we will always find that the company of other women will grow annoying and tiresome if it lasts too long. What is the saying regarding “too much of a good thing”? It may very well do you harm. Women and their “frenemies” should take note.


Read more: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/social-networking-leads-to-frenemies-for/#ixzz1INa62MAn

MY THOUGHTS

What bothers me about Facebook is that you are 'friends' with people who are not really your friends.  If you are, why would status updates about family annoy you?  Why would you consider 'happy news' as 'bragging'?  Why won't you want to know more about your 'friend' through their 'political views'?

My biggest question is - why are you on Facebook if things like these annoy you? 

Thursday, April 7, 2011

SOCIAL NETWORKS FOR KIDS

Top 3 Kid-safe Social Networks
By helle Hainer
Every Day Connected

When Rachel Sarah of Oakland, Calif., first heard about Club Penguin, a social networking site for kids, she had no idea what it was. "My daughter kept asking me if she could use it," recalls Sarah. Not sure whether her daughter, who's under 13, was too young to be on the Web, Sarah decided to check it out herself. "There aren't any ads, and the site seems really fun and innocent," says Sarah.

But how can you be sure a site is really what it seems? We’ve done the legwork for you and found the top three social networks for kids. Here’s how they keep kids entertained while making their safety a top priority:

CLUB PENGUIN
Kids are given a penguin avatar that can interact with the other penguins on the site, play games and earn coins to buy accessories for their penguin or furniture for their igloo. Membership is $5.95 per month for premium access, which allows kids to customize their penguins.

    Age group: 8 to 14, although older kids can join too. Parents register kids who are under 13.

    What kids love: The penguins are simple and cute. Kids can get creative when customizing the look of their penguin and igloo, and meet other penguin friends for coffee or tea.

    Privacy and safety features: Parents can choose between the Standard Safe-Chat, which allows kids to type their own chat messages, or Ultimate Safe-Chat, which restricts them to prewritten words or phrases, like "Hello" or "What's up?" "Club Penguin has really strong filters, so you won't need to worry about kids swearing or going crazy," says Anastasia Goodstein, author of Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens Are Really Doing Online.

MY THOUGHTS

I hope moms and dads with kids under 13 would check out these sites. 

Saturday, April 2, 2011

CAN YOU SAVE THROUGH FACEBOOK?

Can Facebook Help You Spend Less?

How to use social networking to find great fashion and beauty deals

Lynn Strong ON Mar 17, 2011 at 11:52PM
www.ivillage.com

It's wild how social media sites like Facebook have taken over the world, isn't it? Everybody's online these days, and companies everywhere are figuring out how they can use Facebook to promote their businesses and make more money. That makes it high time to follow their lead and start using Facebook to your own advantage to actually save money on what you buy. It can be done!

Now that more and more fashion brands are creating Facebook pages, all you really have to do is “Like” a brand's page and you'll have instant access to special sale alerts, coupon codes, insider deals, and more. You'll also be the first to learn about new products or special store-only events. Liking a page is like gaining access to a special members-only fan club for a particular clothing or beauty line. What could be better?

If you're not convinced, check out a few Facebook promotions I came across this week:

Sample Saturdays: Simply by Liking Nordstrom Beauty's page, you'll be part of Sample Saturdays. Each Friday one product sample is revealed and the sample is available in the cosmetics and fragrance departments in all Nordstrom stores the following day, exclusive to Facebook (and Twitter) followers.

Drugstore.com: I was surprised to learn that Drugstore.com is on Facebook offering specials to shoppers -- everything from free shipping (no matter how much you ordered) to discounts on gift cards and more -- just for Liking the page.

For Shoe Lovers: You'll also have access to flash sales and limited-time-only offers. Via Spiga (amazing shoes!), which posts different contests and deals on Facebook frequently, this week posted a special spring sale coupon code for 20 percent off all purchases. Only Facebook fans got the memo!

It takes just a few seconds to find your favorite brands on Facebook and become a fan of their pages -- and the savings will really add up. Give it a try!

MY THOUGHTS

Worth a try? Maybe. Maybe not.  What have you got to lose?

Sunday, February 27, 2011

FACEBOOK AT WORK

Facebook and the Law: The NLRB Got It Right
By Suzanne Lucas | February 10, 2011

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a press release about the much talked about Facebook Case.  The press release states:

    Under the terms of the settlement approved today by Hartford Regional Director Jonathan Kreisberg, the company agreed to revise its overly-broad rules to ensure that they do not improperly restrict employees from discussing their wages, hours and working conditions with co-workers and others while not at work, and that they would not discipline or discharge employees for engaging in such discussions.  (Emphasis is mine.)

You know what this is?  Nothing new and nothing exciting.  This is right in line with previous decisions regarding the rights of employee to talk about their salaries, hours and working conditions.  It makes perfect sense to consider Facebook and other social media as talking.  Because that is precisely what it is.

Now, this does not mean that the internet becomes a free-for-all.  If you could be fired for talking about it before, you can still be fired now for posting about it.  (And remember this is a union case, and doesn’t necessarily apply to the majority of American workers.)

This will not be the last we hear of Facebook and the law.  Other Facebook related cases are pending. You would be smart to be cautious about what you say and post on the internet, because unless you are saying something that is explicitly protected, your boss can still fire you.

UPDATE:  I got an e-mail from Nancy Cleeland, NLRB’s Director of Public Affairs.  She gave me permission to post her e-mail for further clarification:

    Thanks for your post on the Facebook settlement, which someone just forwarded to me. I just wanted to point out that even though the employee was represented by a union, our concerns related to the company’s social media policies and her postings were not union-related and would apply to any private-sector workplace that is under the NLRB’s jurisdiction.

So, this is farther reaching than I originally said.  I’ll be keeping my eye on any Facebook (and other social media) cases, and now I have a contact at the NLRB.

MY THOUGHTS

this is not local news and i have not heard of any local case like this one.  but i'm pretty sure this subject has caused companies (and individuals) headaches.  a lot of people are not mature enough to handle the freedom. 

i had a short project with a company whose employees are spending so much time on FB and youtube and all those internet sites.  we had to hire someone to block certain sites.  of course it caused some uproar. and i did not totally agree with the way it was handled. but it had to be done.

i think companies should immediately draw up internal policies on social networking while at work.  don't wait for it to fester. and come-up with some way for people to still do social networking during break time.  a kiosk would work.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES FOR PARENTS

Social Networks For Parents: Some of the best
January 21, 2011 | Debbie Turner

The world of social networking is increasingly commonplace and although it has great benefits it’s fair to say some negative points have also been made. For example recently we were told how it’s now natural for many parents and their teens to extend their relationship on Facebook and it can be a valuable line of communication.

Earlier today though, we also told of a Facebook scam that targets children. As a parent, it can sometimes seem like a minefield to negotiate the right path to bring up our children but online resources can be extremely useful and there are some great social networks, specifically for parents. Sarah Kessler over on Mashable has been doing some research into parenting social networks and has 6 suggestions of valuable sites.

It’s fair to say that no matter how good the advice, a good site should also have an active community and CafĂ©mom  received particular praise for this. Users can make journal entries and blog posts and the discussion isn’t always based around parenting but forums cover other topics too. You can also introduce yourself to other moms and of course find the usual advice on potty training, relationships, baby names and much, much more.

For those who wonder where the parenting sites are that don’t revolve around moms you might like Minti, which has a vast amount of information but not so much in the way of an active community. However there’s plenty of archived advice from other parents and users are encouraged to write blog posts. Take a look at the Mashable link above to see all the other ideas suggested.

You may also be interested in an article on The Merrimack Journal by Wendy Thomas that tells of one parent group that uses Facebook as a tool to provide local parents with information, advice and resources in an attempt to assist them to be a positive influence for their kids.

Have you tried any of the Mashable suggestions for social networks for parents or have you any others that you’d like to suggest to our readers? Why not send us your comments to let us know.

MY THOUGHTS

moms, check out the Cafemom site. don't bother about Minti. not available in our country.