By Krista on Jun 10, 2006 in Legal, Security, Social Media, Web 2.0 | 1 Comment
It’s always a good idea to monitor what you write about less it come back to haunt you one day. What you post on blogs and social networking sites like MySpace and FaceBook can hurt your job prospects, be used as evidence in against you, and even get you fired. But the line between appropriate and inappropriate behavior is one of interpretation, as 17 year old high school student, Miles Haggard, learned recently.
A junior at Plainfield South High School, Haggard vocalized his concerns about the school district on Xanga.com. Part of his comments included Read the rest
By Krista on Jun 7, 2006 in Identity Theft, Privacy, Security | 0 Comments
Is it really possible to keep personal data private? Between the personal info of 26.5 million veterans being stolen, Gary McKinnen hacking into US Gov computers, and of course, the ongoing NSA wiretapping stuff, it really makes you wonder.
Information Week now has an article on data grabbing. Did you know that the FBI sends 30,000 national security letters - special subpoenas that don’t require a judge’s signature that allow the FBI to request bank, insurance, phone, ISP and credit report records (thankfully, medical records are not included) - each year? And unlike subpoenas, companies who receive a national security letter can’t disclose that they’ve received one? Read the rest
By Krista on May 31, 2006 in Computers, Security | 0 Comments
If you believe 40-year-old Gary McKinnon, he’s just a ‘bumbling computer nerd’ who happened to stumble onto NASA and other US government computer systems in search of evidence of UFO technologies. And he claims to have done it through computers with default admin user names and no passwords.
BBC News has an interview with him now that the US government wants to put him on trial. He claims to have found evidence of UFOs. Here’s his description of what one is reported to look like: Read the rest
By Krista on May 23, 2006 in Identity Theft, Legal, Privacy, Security | 0 Comments
As good as technology is, it can’t protect unsecure, confidential data from clueless computer users - as this latest security breach proves. An employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs took the data home with him - without authorization and presumably, without encryption.
The data, which included names, social security numbers, and dates of birth for veterans and some of their spouses discharged since 1975, was stolen from the unidentified employee’s home somewhere around the Baltimore field office. Read the rest
By Krista on Apr 15, 2006 in Identity Theft, Privacy, Security | 0 Comments
Every day I get at least 2-3 emails from someone reporting to be Paypal, eBay, Chase, Citigroup, or another well known financial institution. The message always asks me to confirm fraudulent activity, a new email address, or a payment transaction. All emails include a link to a website that looks exactly like the real company’s website. Read the rest
