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Cyber Insecurity vs Internet Security

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:23:26 +0000

Pandora’s box has been opened and the explosion of information both personal and non-personal seems to be limitless and increases exponentially. And according to the National Opinion Poll taken in January of 2007 half the UK harbors a “deep mistrust” due to security concerns. Not only is there a deep public mistrust but, the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology are inquiring into the need for personal Internet Security because of the growing use of home computers, expansion of broadband, internet banking and commerce (Brent MacLean “A new look at Internet Security” Monday September 10, 2007).
Every one is talking extensively ( ISP Associations, Richard Clayton of the Cambridge Security Lab, John Carr of the Children’s Charities Coalition on Internet Safety, as well as Johnathan Zittrain of the Oxford Internet Institute and many others), gathering evidence of information and compiling it all for what? Sadly, most businesses and citizens still do not take the threat posed by cyber-insecurity seriously.
You would think with dependency of economies relying on certain infrastructures involving the Internet and information exchange between key service providers, that a disruption would certainly result in loss of lives, loss of property, and the collapse of public confidence globablly. Today simple domestic hacking is not the issue that will bring on devastating destruction like those designed by terrorist activities directed at nuclear plants, banking systems, hospitals, air traffic control as well as domain name servers, the possibilities are limitless. However, it is imperative to remove these personal and public computers from the arsenal of cyber terrorists as well as cybercriminals. With 225 million Internet users in North America (Nielson-Netratings), the personal computer dominates the Internet and at the same time is the most vulnerable. Millions of PCs are under the control of “zombie masters”. Red Herring, the technical business journal, estimated that in 2005 a 172,000 computers were hijacked and taken over each day and became “zombies” and under the control of a hacker. By 2007, Secure Computing, which tracks the Internet landscape, identified more than 500,000 new zombies per day that were hijacked and under the control of “bot” herders. Triple the level only two years earlier. The FBI says that because of their wideley distributed capabilities, botnets are a growing threat to national security, the national information infrastructure, and the economy.
The total number of compromised computers on the Internet is not known; however, Vince Cerf, Father of the Internet, estimates that about 150 million PCs currently connected to the Internet and are part of botnets. Based on FBI reports and other independent researchers the aforementioned number may be significantly higher. The typical home computer is attached to “always on” broadband facilities, severely compromised with malware (viruses, spyware, Trojans, keyloggers, etc.), usually without degradation of their ordinary capabilities and doing the bidding of their “zombie master”. Hacking, virus dissemination, denial od service (DoS), theft of personal data, ID fraud, keyloggers, spamming, distribution of pornography, spying through webcams, click fraud and many other cyber exploits are all now almost wholly orchestrated via zombie networks.
Computers weren’t designed for security; they were designed to perform complex work. As complex as computers are, each computer has 65,000 open ports (doorways) to the Internet; a simple element that leaves them vulnerable. You might wonder why an individual would want control of a herd of zombies, there are several reasons. For exploits whether it’s a denial of service, to bring down the servers of banks, major corporations, or a competitor. Inherently, whenever a computer says “hello” to another computer, that computer must respond with a “hello” back. A “bot herder” with tens of thousands of computers under their control has all of them say hello at the same time to your computer or a network of computers, what do think happens. Most likely the responding PC or server is overwhelmed and crashes, it simply can’t respond to that many hellos. A botnet can be purchased on the black market to carry out attacks. Zombie-making virus kits can be purchased on the net, requiring little or no technical knowledge and which provides the breeding ground for future international cybercriminals and the training ground for cybergangs (terrorists).
What are we to do? Implementing new laws when it’s already difficult to pursue and in some cases unenforceable and with cross-border criminal investigations not to mention the resources needed are vast and costly with little results.
How do we secure the Internet now? One idea is to improve administrative, regulatory, and technical solutions to produce a safer Net and then apply resources to fortify banks, airports, power plants from the insecure internet we have allowed to develop. It begins with securing the end-user and creating an awareness that we are all responsible for the safety of the Internet and we all need to “Become Responsible Cybercitizens”.
We the people have to make an effort to make sure our machines run clean and free of malware (viruses, spyware, trojans, etc.). That involves current patches, updates, upgrades, and professional software technologies. It also obligates everyone of us to make sure that we have not been compromised by having our computers serviced by a security technician and assured that there is no malware present. There is a service, the Invisus PC security service, that will provide a fully managed computer security service including unlimited security technical support plus several additional benefits that will earn you the title of a “Responsible Cybercitizen”.
Requiring ISPs to scan data traffic going to and from computers attached to their networks for unusual patterns of traffic and then deny them Internet access until it has been determined they are not zombies. We can also ask the ISP to provide remote patches, updates and software updates. However, the ISPs will bulk at the cost, liability, autonomy, support, and delivery. Or have our ISPs provide a value-added service similar to subscription-based services offered by the Invisus PC security service which not only provides for a hassle-free computing experience but, is a total security package locking down the end-users computer for a minimum monthly fee.
In order to succeed we must meld security and convenience. The consumer doesn’t want to be responsible for their security. All they want to know is how to turn their computer on and off. Unfortunately, we can’t have our cake and eat it too. The time has come to learn how to maintain a safe and healthy computer (saving the consumer both time and money) void of infections that keep spreading and infecting other computers. It’s not necessary to be technically savvy to operate a computer, like your automobile there’s no need to be a technically savvy mechanic but, it is important to make sure your car is in good operating condition not only for its performance but, for the safety of others. We have laws to assure us the security of cars and their owners are safe. Those who are ignorant of how to maintain the safety of an automobile are required to perform certain responsibilities to insure the safety of their vehicle for others as well as the owner of the car. To insure the safety of others we require a certain level of education and knowledge of the rules of the road. You can’t drive without insurance or a drivers license, which means that you have undertaken and understand some level of instructions.
You may disagree but, unfortunately as impossible as it may be practically, politically, and ethically, to require every consumer… including the ignorant, the poor, and even the wealthy, to be legally responsible for keeping their computer in a state of reasonable security, the fact is you are guilty until proven innocent. So, the next best approach might be to offer to try and educate them but we probably cannot impose a “computer-driving license”. Again, we may be able to offer an alternative by requiring the consumer to take necessary steps to assure that their computers are serviced and up-to-date with professional security software and that they are checked and given a clean bill of health; free of malware.

Bill Wardell the Senior Editor, Creator and Developer of Online Security Authority, the Author of “Don’t Take Candy From Strangers” NSM Director, ASC Certified Coach. Speaker and Radio Show Host, Publisher, Researcher and National Radio Guest! The CyberHood Watch

What are a couple of characteristics of cyber identity theft?

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 02:01:59 +0000

I have look across google and other sources, however, I cannot find information on the characteristics of cyber identity theft. All I find is cyber terrorism which is different from identity theft. Can someone help me find some creditable information on the characteristic of cyber identity theft please?

Domain Name Extensions to Notch Up Cyber Crime

admin — Sat, 29 May 2010 03:20:57 +0000

According to the experts’ words of warning, the beginning of the Internet addresses could offer some fresh conclusions towards Cyber Safety. It could present several new opportunities to the cyber-criminals. These addresses are compiled in the non-Roman draft format.

From this year onwards all the scripts composed in the non-Roman language will be accepted in the Internet domain names. For the Internet Corporation Assigned Names and Number, they will accept this domain names for the first time.

The Internet will be poured out by all the new-fangled internationalized domain names to the users. These domain names will be offered to those users who do not use Roman alphabet as their native language.

According to an intellectual property official Cyber Safety could be at high risk. The non-Roman Internet address composed in Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean can now spread like hydra. From now onwards it will be the toughest job to cut-off cyber criminals.

The Western users of Internet can now be in a serious trouble of using the Internet address. Even a lot of recognized companies such as Apple, Google, Pay Pal and Yahoo can render the same interface in all the Cyrillic scripts like the Russian script. For a Roman user the interface could appear to be more authentic whereas the Russian eye will read ‘Paypal’, for example, as ‘Raural’. Created by all the deceitful thieves a link of an e-mail could show you the way to a site which is a clone o the original one. This cloned site can later be used to harvest all the financial or personal details of the user or even can be used for stealing cash. Such continued process is known as ‘Phishing’.

According to a high official of Intellectual Property it has been known that Internet Corporation Assigned Names and Number have initialized the procedure of allowing people to register the names of the domain. But the entrance of the non-Roman domain names does not consist anything that puts obligations to any registry so as to put a trademark for safeguard rights. It even does not put obstruction to any legitimate business rights that use the similar names. It is also confirmed that people can find a lot more scope which can offer them many more advantages and Internet Corporation Assigned Names and Number has no idea on that. With this, the word Cyber Safety will no more exist in the web world.

When he was asked that whether the consumers and the companies can any more police all the mishandling of the trademark names, he replied that it will be obvious. A new level will be opened with it as the companies will no more put the same level of caution as they used to do before.

According to the officials of Mark Monitor, they agreed that the hazard for all the wide-ranging brand violence is going to boost up exponentially. The reason will be its language as it is going to be difficult in English.

The user, therefore, have to be more cautious towards Cyber Safety while browsing a site or using a domain name.

Susan Brown, Seattle, is thoroughly equipped with latest technological development. Her articles are attuned to technological development and modern solutions to age old computer-related problems. She talks about remote assistance and its benefits. She is working with Online PC 24×7 for more than a decade as an expert technical writer.

Cyberbullying Research: All the Important Facts That You Require to Know About Cyber Bullying

admin — Tue, 25 May 2010 18:00:31 +0000

Today, the Internet plays a very important role in our day to day life. With the help of the Internet one can get an instant access to any of the information, send and respond to electronic messages and conclude online transactions very easily. Although, there are numerous advantages of making a use of Internet but there are some dark corners of it as well. Dark in the sense, there are several adverse effects of Internet as well. One of such demerits is Cyberbullying.

The process of cyber bullying comprises the use of communication methods and details that assist frequent aggressive behavior by a person or a group of persons in order to harm the interests of others. The main source to express this kind of behavior is electronic text. In recent times, the problem is not limited to text only but it also includes videos as well. In short the electronic devices like cell phones and computers are the harmful source for this kind of problem.

If there is a problem then certainly the remedy is also essential. When we discuss about the organizations that are fighting against such kind of problems then the name of Cyberbullying Research and Resources foremostly comes to our mind.

If you ask regarding the objective of this organization then it is quite simple. It is operating with a mission to inform the people regarding the threats of cyber bullying. Here you can find all the necessary tips and guidelines with the help of which you can maintain your Internet security, safety and privacy to a very extent.

This organization has given a very good definition to this problem. According to this organization, it is a kind of harm done willfully on a continuous basis with the help of cell phones, computers and other electronic gadgets. It is noteworthy that this problem is not only termed as Cyberbullying. There are some other names available for this as well. Some of the names include “e-bullying,” “electronic bullying,” “mobile bullying,” “sms bullying,” “digital bullying,” “Internet bullying,” and “online bullying”. Obviously, people to suggest name according to the trouble they are suffering from.

You can have all the required information about cyber bullying from this organization. This is the reason why for the convenience of people the renowned researchers of this organization, Dr. Patchin and Dr. Hinduja have published an innovative book on the prevention of Cyberbullying. The name given to this book is “Bullying beyond the Schoolyard – Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying.” Not a single part is left untouched in this book. Not a single query is left unanswered. You can have a review of this book from the official website of Cyberbullying. Have an original copy of it from Amazon.

It is a genuine fact that in most of the cases, children and teenagers become the victim of such kind of harassment and humiliation. Regardless of this fact there is no lesser number of adults who are trapped under cyber bullying due to degraded nature of other adults.

The sequence of such harassment occurs after the declaration by a particular person that he or she does not want to keep any further relation with the sender of the text message. Some of the content that are included in Cyberbullying are sexual remarks, threats, hate speech, gossiping with fake statements, etc.

If you are suffering from such kinds of problems then you can surely share your views with Cyberbullying Research and Resources. They will show you the ways by which you can handle the situation in the best possible way. The name, designation and the address of the residence and workplace of the victim will be concealed to prevent any kind of unnecessary trouble in future.

Cyberbullying is not a problem that cannot be solved, however it is important that all the hands should work together to make a difference! You can have all the required information about cyber bullying from this organization.

Cyber bullies becoming a more common problem

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 20:31:05 +0000

Cyber bullies becoming a more common problem
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. –When we were kids, we knew who the bullies were, but today your kids face a different kind of bully. It’s hidden in a maze of technology.

Cyber Safety for the Whole Family: How to Protect Yourself and Your Children Online, Second Edition

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:16:04 +0000

Product Description
Cyber Safety for the Whole Family, Second Edition is an updated practical, step-by-step instruction guide for supervising and protecting your children in their online and computer experiences. The book talks about online safety both for kids and for adults. This edition has the latest information on MSN, AOL and all of the other major ISPs…. More >>

Have you say on cyber safety: Parliamentary enquiry gets underway

admin — Sun, 23 May 2010 05:21:19 +0000

Have you say on cyber safety: Parliamentary enquiry gets underway
The Federal Parliament’s new Joint Select Committee on Cyber Safety has launched its inquiry into the safety of children and young people on the Internet. The Committee wants to hear from young people, parents, schools, industry representatives and experts in the field, as well as federal, state and territory governments. Submissions on all the terms of reference are welcome, but the initial …

Some Tips About Cyber Bullying

admin — Thu, 20 May 2010 05:05:43 +0000

May be you are quite aware of the term ‘Cyber bullying’. The reason is Cyber bullying quite commonly happens in your everyday lives. It is totally a new form of bullying others using your Cyber Space.

Do not you think it is horrible? Talking about bullying innocent people with your kids is just similar as talking about sex with them. As parents it should be our prime responsibility to get more engrossed in our children’s future. Therefore we should be aware about Cyber Safety.

To make this process easier, check the set of instructions and get to know how you can help your kids from staying away from such criminal offences.

Instructions

Step 1

Know what Cyber Bullying exactly is? This often takes place through instant messaging Email, through the Cyber chat rooms and certain other electronic gadgets that includes cell phones of camera. These cyber bullies continue their process of bullying others by forwarding and spreading certain hurtful images which may or may not include messages. These technologies are used for harassing the victims of the bullies.

Step 2

We should take care that our kids should freely reach school and feel safe. Being parents we should have an active role in our youngsters’ lives. We should make their future secure by discussing with them about the possibilities of getting harassed by the Cyber Bullies. We should be aware of the facts that what are going on in their personal lives.

Step 3

If you are seeing your child spending a lot of time on the Internet, you should monitor the topics on what they are busy with. You should also restrict their time of using the Internet and also limit their access of websites by installing certain cyber safe softwares. Whatever may be your operating system, the only thing you do is to check the installation processes of a Cyber Safety software and stop your child from accessing the risky sites.

Step 4

While browsing the Internet, if you find your child being entrapped by a Cyber Bully, try to contact the people. But if such bullying process continues after informing them try to take legal aid.

Step 5

The top signs which shows whether your child gets bullied include:

Kids making excuses for not going to school.
They can show you sign of getting bullied by their erratic behavior. They may remain sad or frustrated at times even when nothing has happened.
Often it is seen that kids could not share everything with their parents but they can share it with their friends. But if they stop sharing with their closest pals you should give attention towards your children.
Sometimes your child’s belongings gets stolen.

Step 6

Being a parent if you are required to receive further advices you can contact the local school PTA. If your state does not have laws for these troubles you can contact your local senator and wait to view the procedures with which your kids’ life can get safe.

Cyber Bullying majorly happens through Email. Just regularly monitor your kids Email box and keep them away from this. Happy Emailing.

what is cyber safety?

admin — Mon, 17 May 2010 04:32:35 +0000

i want to learn how to be a little more safer on the internet

Cyber Safety: Worldwide Exposure and Growing Implication’s

admin — Sun, 16 May 2010 04:30:26 +0000

Corporations are waging a campaign on multiple theaters as they look to ward off new, rising breaches in the cyber security and abide by growing worldwide rules.

Virus, Spy ware and Ad ware are constantly evolving and are being implemented by disgruntled employees, fearing loss of employment due to the current economy, groups and individual malcontents, who are well versed in the use of evolving illicit technology, to hack or other break into companies networks.

Complying with new worldwide regulations, is of critical interestÂ for most companies both global and local, as they try to maneuver through the myriad of newly devised international rules and regulationsÂ relating to Internet securityÂ

New rules and regulations going beyond the borders of the USA and extending to their overseas operations are causing companies of all shapes and sizes to take extraordinary measures to insure their organizations are complying and are well protected.

Internet Criminal Activity an Increasing Threat

Criminal activity on the WWW is here to stay. The Internet is intertwining everything and everyone. Desktops, smart phones, laptops, handheld devices are dependent on various types of computer networks.Â The circumstances

for devious Internet crime is an ever-increasing threat. More personal information like credit card numbers, social security numbers, drivers license numbers are being stored on company computers and networks. This information is lucrative information for Internet interlopers, who hack your system and download this personal information of customers for resale to criminals or for personal use to obtain tangible goods and credit lines.Â

The number of breaches in networks is increasing on a daily basis, the numbers are frightening. The sources keeping records on identity theft are showing an alarming increase in this criminal activity. Reliable sources state that this activity is up 47% over the prior year. Reports of Internet crime have jumped a third in 2008 and show no signs of it decreasing. Estimates over $ 265 million has been lost to this heinousÂ activity up considerably from 2007. Crimes like on line fraud, computer network invasion, identity theft, spying for research and economic information is rising constantly.

These statistics are US Based, however cyber crime happens all over our world. It can be perpetrated from anywhere there is an Internet provider and persons or groups have gleaned the necessary criminal skills to carry out these heinous acts. Careless acts like forgetting or leaving a laptop, flash drive , portable hard drive or hand held device can give a cyber criminal the opportunity to obtain valuable personal information contained on private of corporate databases and disseminate this information for ill-gotten gains.

Developing Internet Dangers

Theft by company insiders is a growing concern. These people have made an increase in data base piracy of 16% over 2008. Company insiders include present and past employees that have a working knowledge of your networks security and the knowledge to breach the security systems that you have in place without you finding out until itâs too late.

Outside of the company is the criminal who constantly attempts to find ways to circumvent your security measures and defenses. They useÂ tactics like spear phishing which is phishing attack that is directly aimed at your company . They take data collected from your websites, face book or otherÂ types of blog spots or social networking pages and send a legitimate looking email to people within your company or consultants of your company that appear to be authentic and attempt to trick them into giving critical information or clicking a link that can give them access to your network data.

Virus & Spy Ware is another bone of contention that can infect or cause damage to a companyâs networkÂ withoutÂ the company âs knowledge.. Destructive software action has increased at record-breaking numbers in the last year. mostly seeking proprietary info of the computers users according to computer securityÂ industryÂ officials

Conforming with Regulations

Keeping data stored on networks ,workstations, laptops, portable data storage systems are only one of the trails facing your company. Keeping current with the numerous new rules and regulations germane to the security of data on your workstations, networks, laptops and portable data storage systems is something else.

A leading big four accounting and consulting firm with their recent Global Security Survey ofÂ Pecuniary institutions noted correspondentsÂ recognizedÂ compiling withÂ new regulations as a primaryÂ precedence, emulating their attempt to take care of the many legal requirements and laws, pertaining to breaks in security to websites and stored data , quickly increase, often commanding, monetary penalties, civil tort action and negative press . That is why it is of primary concern to companies who have participated in the survey.

Companies doing business in the United States must handle all the changing rules and notifications. During 2008 alone 44 states , and the republic of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, have brought about rules and standards needing declaration of breaches of their data that contains personal and financial information to all customers that could be involved. Costs involvedÂ with notification can be a real financial burden upon these companiesÂ who have suffered such breaches in security. Cost ofÂ $ 200.00 or more per record is not uncommon. according to many recentÂ Data Breach Surveyâs.

In the U.S particular types of companies are required to comply with rules and regulations such asÂ the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountably Act. These acts require that companies protect such personal information.

There is a growing worldwide movement for enacting inclusive policies of data and privacy cyber protection. At least 40 countries have or areÂ enacting these types of standardized laws.

The European Union Data Protection Directive is in place for companies doing business in the European Union. The Cyber Security Act of 2009 has been introduced in the US Congress.Â This Bill would make the National Institute of Standards and Technology toÂ develop calculable and auditable Internet securityÂ principle that would be enforceable forÂ business and government alike. It would create an Internet Security Autocrat would be able to close down computer networks if a large scaleÂ Internet SecurityÂ attack were to occur.

Mitigating Risk

If Companies operating in the US and rest of the worldÂ make their networks and data more secure, itÂ will make it more difficult for Internet bandits to compromise their customers personal data.

Â By taking the proper steps toÂ lessen their exposure to Internet Breach, local and worldwide companies will place themselves in a position that will make them more attractive for obtaining terms and conditions of insurance coverage thatÂ are more favorable to acquiring coverage for 1st partyÂ and 3rd party losses coming from misappropriation of cash or other assets in the event of a break in network defense.Â Crisis Management, defense costs, notification costs can be considerably defrayed with the purchase of the proper Internet Liability Insurance .

Companies face considerable demands in securing their networks in the U.S and the rest of the world. Good securityÂ and complying with Internet Security worldwide may mean fewer losses, civil tort actions, fines and a greater number of Insurance Carriers that would offer favorable terms and conditions of coverage.

There are many new threats on the world wide web these days. You must be careful and ensure you have the appropriate level of cyber security so that you address these threats and be prepared. To learn more visit http://www.rodney4insurance.com