Our Future Through Cyber Space

A crash course for a One World Order!

http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~rich/aspen.html

As we veer out of control on a crash course with destiny, I see the internet and “cloud” community becoming more and more important in our short lives. Almost every aspect of our lives, now, can be performed from the “comfort and safety” of our own homes with the use of a computer and an internet connection. Just look at this course for instance. It is being taught from the classroom of the future today. No student ever actually has to set foot on a college campus through the use of technology.

But it is this technology that will ultimately drive the communities of the planet to a One World Order. What no government or country has yet to acknowledge is the fact that more and more people are becoming part of cyber communities all linked together with one another around the world. Slowly becoming one community spread across the globe. I feel proof of this is the fact that Cyber Monday is starting to generate more revenue than Black Friday in the United States. Around the globe, businesses have seen a drop in customers in their stores, but the increase in cyber sales has actually increased their profits.

Organized crime has already adapted to this new lifestyle by taking advantage of people uneducated in the ways of the cyber society. And as more and more cities offer their citizens a free pass onto the internet, via WAN, without teaching them how to use it safely, they are falling prey to the cyber criminals and their treachery. Phishing, SPAM, and hacking are becoming the new way to rob a bank. You don’t need to physically walk in and hold it up anymore, just hack the network and hijack the accounts.

As the control of the world’s infrastructure is converted to the “cloud”, no two governing bodies will be able to control “THE” network. It will become the sole responsibility of one governing body, the ultimate organized crime syndicate. This governing body alone will control what we see and do over the “net”. Censorship will run rampant and out of control, and the netizens of the future will never know that their entire existence is being controlled by this governing body. Every aspect of their daily lives could be planned out for them and freedom as we know it now will become a thing of the past.

These are my greatest fears as we speed down the winding roads of life toward an unpredictable and unforeseeable future. Blink and you could miss something!!!!

Here is an interesting article on the subject:

A New World Order in Cyberspace -

Risky Business & What Can We Do About It?

In this round of learning the main focus was on keeping your computer and information safe while on the internet.

For me, there were three main points that I came away with from the readings and lectures. Always use some form of anti-virus software, keep everything up to date with current security patches and software updates, and probably one of the most important ones, and always keep your anti-virus software up to date with the latest virus definition file. One thing about all three of these points is to update and/or patch software as soon it is available. If you do not have Windows set to update automatically, I highly suggest that change your settings. Microsoft is constantly putting updates out there to patch security holes almost as soon as they find out about them.

Since learning about all the different ways hackers can gain access to your computer without you even knowing they are there is scary. There are a few telltale signs that something is going on. Your computer starts to boot really slow all of sudden. It starts running extremely slow. Programs you don’t recognize start showing up in your task manager sometimes. There are some more devious programmers out there that have it so their programs do not show up in the task manager.

Wireless networks are some of the easiest ways for a criminal to gain access to your system, mainly because not many people properly secure their networks. One thing you can do is enable your security features, either through your operating system, or through your router, if you have one. I use a router and have my security turned on. Oh and also, DO NOT FORGET to change the login and password for your router. All routers of the same brands use the same default login and password. So if you do not change it, you are leaving your system that much more open for attack. Here is a screen shot of my security:

As you can see I use WPA Personal with TKIP encryption. I blanked out my network name for security reasons.

Here is some information that you might find interesting to know. It is actually safer to use your credit card online than it is to use it in most retail outlets. The reason being is that most stores have not upgraded to the newer WPA security, they are still using WEP to “secure” their networks. I found out that by downloading some free software from the internet and setting up a laptop with Linux and the free software, that I will not mention, I was able to go out and do some war driving. What I found was that stores that have been around for many years were still using WEP, and I was able to get in to their systems. Now the newer stores that have built their own buildings, within the last 5 years or so, are using WPA and I was not able to get in. I drove all over the Boulevard and Sheridan Drive area. I was really amazed at the information that is obtainable. Stores that when you talk to them over the phone make you think that their system is completely safe and that customer data is not stored on the same network. I found out otherwise, the data was actually saved on the network. Now I am not about to name the franchise, because I do not want any legal type backlash, but I would think twice before using credit at the store. I will be using cash whenever possible now.

When you shop online, you are using a secure network, locked down with WPA and all the latest software, plus whatever security measures you have in place. Now that doesn’t mean that just because you have all this security in place that you can never be hacked. There are always people out in the world that are finding ways to get around the latest and greatest security measures that are currently in place. Having the security in place greatly decreases the chances of someone gaining unlawful entry into your network.

People need to realize that using some else’s wireless connection, even if it is just to use the internet to check email, is the same as splicing into your neighbors cable just to watch TV for free. It is considered “Theft of Services” and comes with some jail time and hefty fines.

Information Security Awareness Contest

Educause Poster and Video Contest for 2011!

I would like to start out by introducing everyone to the Educause Poster and Video Contest for 2011. I feel the best way to describe what it is about is a screen capture from their website.

The website is: http://www.educause.edu/SecurityVideoContest2011

The topics for the contest are as follows:

Ideas for topics include, but are not limited, to:

• Computer security
• Antimalware (antivirus/antispyware) software
• Botnets
• Firewalls
• Operating system updates
• Software/application updates
• Cybersafety/staying safe online
• Cyberbullying
• Cybercrime (e.g., denial of service, extortion, identity theft, or web defacement)
• Phishing
• Protecting yourself online and safe social networking
• Passwords and passphrases
• Physical security
• Securing access to sensitive, nondigital information
• Securing equipment that is either valuable or contains sensitive information (or both)
• Social engineering
• Safeguarding data/information
• Encrypting files/e-mails with sensitive data
• Why encrypt e-mail?
• Protecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data
• Security of wireless/mobile devices
• Security risks of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing

A strong supporter of Educause and the contest is CyberWatch. The ultimate goal for CyberWatch is “to improve information assurance education at all levels: high school, associate, baccalaureate, and advanced degree levels.”

Here is a screen capture from CyberWatch explaining the mission, vision, and goals of the organization.

CyberWatch has a great slide show overview in PDF format that explains a lot as well. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader, found HERE. I suggest that everyone get involved with CyberWatch and become a registered member. It is FREE and easy!!!

My partner and I have been looking into Wireless/Mobile Security combined with Safeguarding Data/Information for the contest. One source I found particularly interesting was:

Debbah, Merouane, et al. "Wireless physical layer security." EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking (2009). Academic OneFile. Web. 14 Nov. 2010.

Document URLhttp://find.galegroup.com/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=AONE&docId=A234053592&source=gale&userGroupName=niagara_main&version=1.0

You may not be able to follow the above link unless you have access to Niagara County Community Collage’s library online so that is why I supplied the original source of the information.

Merouane Debbah presents a technical write up explaining wireless physical layer security. There is a lot of technical verbage in this paper so you will want a dictionary handy if you are not familiar with some of the technical language involved.

So get inspired and enter the contest, and do not forget to become a member of CyberWatch!!!!!!!!!

Don’t Threaten Me!

Computer virus – what are they, how do we get them, and how do we rid ourselves of them?

This module was interesting learning about computer viruses and how they work. There is a great article on this topic on the website HowStuffWorks. It is amazing how such a simple program can cause so much damage.

Then we moved on to learning about botnets or zombie armies, which ever name you prefer to call them. It appears that just having your computer connected to the internet unprotected can have an ill effect upon you and millions of others. Here is a great article about this from the NY Times.

The third part of this module was learning how a hacker works. What are the tools that a hacker uses? There is another great article on this from HowStuffWorks. There is also a video that goes with this and I am only sharing this because there is some good that can come from it. I DO NOT encourage any illicit or illegal behavior by watching this video.

Finally we looked at fixing a zombie computer. Unfortunately the best fix is a complete system wipe and restorations. Basically this means format your hard drive and start from scratch re-installing all your software. Your computer will basically be back to factory original. Once again HowStuffWorks has a great article on this.

Let us start out by defining a computer virus. What is it? According to the website HowStuffWorks, here are some definitions of viruses, trojans, and worms:

­­When you listen to the news, you hear about many different forms of electronic infection. The most common are:

·         Viruses - A virus is a small piece of software that piggybacks on real programs. For example, a virus might attach itself to a program such as a spreadsheet program. Each time the spreadsheet program runs, the virus runs, too, and it has the chance to reproduce (by attaching to other programs) or wreak havoc.

·         E-mail viruses - An e-mail virus travels as an attachment to e-mail messages, and usually replicates itself by automatically mailing itself to dozens of people in the victim's e-mail address book. Some e-mail viruses don't even require a double-click -- they launch when you view the infected message in the preview pane of your e-mail software [source: Johnson].

·         Trojan horses - A Trojan horse is simply a computer program. The program claims to do one thing (it may claim to be a game) but instead does damage when you run it (it may erase your hard disk). Trojan horses have no way to replicate automatically.

·         Worms - A worm is a small piece of software that uses computer networks and security holes to replicate itself. A copy of the worm scans the network for another machine that has a specific security hole. It copies itself to the new machine using the security hole, and then starts replicating from there, as well.

Now that we have that out of the way, we should move on to how we get these vicious programs on our computers. Here is a short video demonstrating how email can be used against you and what to watch out for.

I currently use four different anti-virus programs. I don’t advise doing this, because it took me the better part of a week to get all four programs to play nice together and not delete each other. I am using the currently ranked top four free apps.

1.     Avast!

2.     Avira AntiVir Personal

3.     AVG Anti-Virus

4.     Microsoft Security Essentials

If you are unfortunate enough to acquire a virus of any kind on your computer and are not successful at eradicating it from your system you may have one last option before formatting your hard drive and starting over from scratch. That option is System Restore. Using system restore you can turn back time so to speak. You can restore your computer to a previous state from the past at a point in time that you are positive that your computer did not have the virus on it. I am using Vista so after performing a right mouse button click and selecting properties, the following window appears. I then clicked on System Protection which opened up a new window called System Properties with the System protection Tab visible. Next i clicked on System Restore button to topen the System Restore window. Here are the options for my computer to restore it to a previous good state. I can not show any other windows beyond this because i do not want to lose everything that I currently do not have backed up at this point. 

Crime and Punishment

This week was all about spam and phishing. One of the first websites we read was about spam.

http://www.onguardonline.gov/topics/email-scams.aspx

This site listed the top 10 email scams to watch out for. It gives you the catch to the scam and explains a safety net to you. This is a very good site to check out. I highly recommend it to everyone. It is worth your time. There was also a little quiz to take that helps teach you how to spot a scam in your email.

The second challenge given to was to view four emails and we had to figure out if they were real or fake. They are all fakes, but the trick is to know just by looking at them. My favorite is the two photos combined together to create the image of a shark jumping out of the water at a diver on a rope ladder dangling from a black hawk helicopter.

Thirdly we watched a cute little video on phishing scams. The simplistic approach really made understanding what phishing scams are and how they work, easy to understand. I have included the video for you all to watch.

And here’s a funny music video to go along with the phishing scam.

Phishing scammers prey on those who are uneducated in the ways of modern technological scamming. When I was young and new to the internet, I was “hooked” by a “Phisherman”. I was using AOL at the time; I think it was version 8 or 9. I received an email about the account and I was stupid enough to click the link. My first clue that something was up should have been the fact that the webpage that came up said AOL version 3.0. I figured someone had forgotten to update that information on the page. Well I foolishly entered my ID and Password and the very next day when I tried to access my account, it was shutdown. AOL had locked my account because the “Phisherman” used my account to send out 500 spam emails in less than 5 minutes of having my account. I had to contact AOL and have my old account deleted and brand new account setup.

I was so mad and embarrassed at the same time. I was angry that someone did that to me, and embarrassed that I was gullible enough to fall for the trick. It could have been a lot worse. It could have been my bank account or credit card information. I was lucky it was something as simple as my email account and that it was only used for spam. So please be careful with your email, and another tip. If any of you are using email software with a preview pane (or window), turn it off. The preview window still marks the email as read and can inform a potential scammer that they have found an active email account and will pursue you as a potential target. So my little fishies, stick to the waters you’re used to and avoid strange tempting worms attached to a hook.

Some helpful tips on safeguarding your privacy online

Some helpful tips on safeguarding your privacy online.

Let us start with the easiest to take care of – Cookies. Cookies are simple text files that websites use to store information on your computer. But companies like DoubleClick have found a way to exploit cookies to mine data about your habits online and use that information to target pop-up ads aimed at what you might want. The easiest way to counter this is to block all cookies from being saved to your computer. If there are no cookies there, then companies like DoubleClick cannot harvest any information.

In Windows 7, this is how you would set Internet Explorer to block all cookies.

Step 1 – In the upper right hand corner of internet explorer you see a series of icons and words. Look for the word Tools and click on it.

Step 2 – After clicking on Tools, you will be presented with a drop down menu. All the way on the bottom of the menu is Internet Options. Click on Internet Options.

Step 3 – After clicking on Internet Options from the drop down menu the Internet Options window will appear. Along the row of tabs you will see one called Privacy. Select the Privacy tab.

Step 4 – Once you have selected the Privacy tab you will see this window. Just about in the middle of the window are four buttons:  Sites, Import, Advanced, and Default. You want to select Advanced.

Step 5 – Once the Advanced Privacy Settings window opens, you are presented with some options as to how Internet Explorer should handle cookies. The first thing you want to do is click in the box that is next to Override automatic cookie handling. The best thing you can do to protect your privacy is to set both First-party and Third-party Cookies to Block. If you want to be able to see everything that is being blocked you can select Prompt, but you may be overwhelmed by all the prompts to accept or deny the cookies.

Once you have the settings the way you want you can click the OK button on all the open windows.

The other threat to your privacy is DPI (Deep Packet Inspection). DPI although an excellent tool for protecting your computer from viruses, trojans, worms, and many more threats, it can also be used for internet mining, eavesdropping, and censorship. Wikipedia has some great information on DPI. The only thing you can do for now is talk to your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and see if there is an option to opt-out of the DPI. Unfortunately if your ISP does not have an opt-out option, there may not be anything you can do for now. There are debates going on all the time about “Net Neutrality” and the effect that DPI could have on it. Lobbyists are trying hard to get Congress to pass legislation making it mandatory that everyone have the option to opt-out of the DPI. Until that time comes, your privacy may not be as private as you think it is. So be careful and be safe!!!!

Digital Citizenship in a Digital Age!!!!

Digital Citizenship. Let's explore some ideas and thoughts around this concept. First, lets start with the computer.

What constitutes a computer? To be a computer you need some basic hardware to start with. The minimum requirements would be as follows:

·         Case – Keep in mind a case can be anything that houses the hardware and software (e.g. – laptop, netbook, PDA, SmartPhone…)

·         Monitor

·         Motherboard

·         Hard Drive

·         Pointing Device

·         Keyboard

I won’t get into graphics and chipsets and all the cabling needed to hook everything together. At this point I don’t think I need to get into an itemized list of every resister and wire in the CPU (Central Processing Unit). I didn’t list graphics cards or other peripherals because most modern motherboards have built-in graphics, audio, and Ethernet ports. But that is your basic bare bones hardware, now you need software. At the bare minimum you need an OS (Operating System). Most people are familiar with Microsoft Windows, but there are more out there.

Now that we have established what constitutes a computer, let’s look at how appropriate or inappropriate computer use might affect one’s future. I will use myself as an example.

Digital Etiquette:   electronic standards of conduct or procedure.Technology users often see this area as one of the most pressing problems when dealing with Digital Citizenship. We recognize inappropriate behavior when we see it, but before people use technology they do not learn digital etiquette (i.e., appropriate conduct).   Many people feel uncomfortable talking to others about their digital etiquette.  Often rules and regulations are created or the technology is simply banned to stop inappropriate use. It is not enough to create rules and policy, we must teach everyone to become responsible digital citizens in this new society. (From http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html)

Digital Etiquette to me goes hand-in-hand with common sense. Something a lot of people do not seem to possess. That is why there are laws and rules to govern when we can safely use a cell phone. And one time to NOT use it is while driving or operating anything. That is a safety issue that could get you or anyone else hurt, or worse, killed. I personally know two people that have gotten tickets for talking on their cell phone while driving. I have also had some very close calls by people veering into my lane because they texting on their phone instead of watching where they were going. You can seem them with their hands resting on top of the steering wheel holding on to the phone and their thumbs going a mile a minute typing on the keypad. What is so important that you need to risk my life to send a message on your phone while you are driving straight at me?!

Here is a short video from John Mayer.



Digital Literacy:   process of teaching and learning about technology and the use of technology.
While schools have made great progress in the area of technology infusion, much remains to be done. A renewed focus must be made on what technologies must be taught as well as how it should be used. New technologies are finding their way into the work place that are not being used in schools (e.g., videoconferencing, online sharing spaces such as wikis). In addition, workers in many different occupations need immediate information (just-in-time information). This process requires sophisticated searching and processing skills (i.e., information literacy). Learners must be taught how to learn in a digital society. In other words, learners must be taught to learn anything, anytime, anywhere.  Business, military, and medicine are excellent examples of how technology is being used differently in the 21st century. As new technologies emerge, learners need to learn how to use that technology quickly and appropriately. Digital Citizenship involves educating people in a new way— these individuals need a high degree of information literacy skills. (From http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html)

Digital Literacy is something I have witnessed over the last 14 years of working in an industry that requires the sharing of information around the world at a moment’s notice. I have watched the technology go from a phone tree to fiber-optic networks that have instant messages and alerts that are sent to everyone that needs to know no matter where they are in the world instantly. The lack of training on some of the technology is disheartening. I have been a mentor for new hires in my old job. Instead of training the people, I sat with them and gave my own crash course on how to use the technology to do their job. Instead of doing a generic push this button and this is what happens, kind of method. I prefer the, to accomplish this task you must do these steps. And then I would explain why it works, if they ask, otherwise they would, for the most part, just do as they were told. Unfortunately, most the places I worked were like this, and most were about 3 versions behind the latest versions available for the software they were using. Take the OS for example; Windows 7 has been out for how long? And the place I worked last was still using Windows XP with emulators that ran mainframe style programs that were 30 years old.

Digital Security (self-protection):   electronic precautions to guarantee safety.
In any society, there are individuals who steal, deface, or disrupt other people. The same is true for the digital community. It is not enough to trust other members in the community for our own safety. In our own homes, we put locks on our doors and fire alarms in our houses to provide some level of protection. The same must be true for the digital security. We need to have virus protection, backups of data, and surge control of our equipment. As responsible citizens, we must protect our information from outside forces that might cause disruption or harm. (From http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html)

Digital Security cannot be stressed enough. People need to be made more aware of threats from viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. Hackers are ruthless and extremely cunning. Just look at what happened to thepiratebay.org. Their advertising servers were cracked and hackers were able to post adds laced with viruses and Trojan horses that, without the proper protection on peoples computers, would install in the background without users even knowing it was happening. Although, from my point of view, anyone using thepiratebay.org was probably downloading illegal copies of movies, software or downloading music and deserve the virus or trojan installed on their computer. But that’s just me.

All three of these elements can be applied to everyday life. Your personal, professional, and in some academic life. No matter where you go you are surrounded by technology. Etiquette needs to be followed! No one likes to listen to some one speaking unnecessarily loud into their sell phone in the middle of a restaurant. Or swerving all over the road because they are texting on their phone.

Here is a very informative video made by teenagers with help from teachers.

All this information can help you in the near future. Using technology respectfully and responsibly can make the difference between having a job and not having one or being alive or not being alive. If we the people do not start following some simple common sense guidelines now, we could be subjected to strict laws that severely limit our ability to use technology. It only takes a handful of violators to ruin it for law abiding citizens. For it is us that will be punished and not the violators. The victims are the ones that suffer while the perpetrators get to run free and continue to be cyber bullies and DWT.

So remember to use technology wisely and do not drive while texting.

C U L8R!!

Another chapter opens

In chapter I of Cyber Crime Fighters by Felicia Donovan and Kristyn Bernier I read some actual accounts of people being stalked electronically. By electronically, i mean the stalkers used technology against the victims. Computers and cell phones seem to be most common. This one lady was tracked by her ex who had installed a cell phone in her car without her knowing. By enabling the GPS on the phone in her car, the ex was able to track her and listen in on conversations in the car. It is amazing at the technology out there and how much of it can be used against you. Here are some "Cyber Stalking Prevention Tips" from the book.

"Here are some suggestions to incorporate into your daily computer routine that will decrease the likelihood that you will become a stalker's target:

• Use a gender-neutral screen name.
• Avoid giving your online passwords out to anyone else. Most companies do not require your password to assist you on account matters.
• Establish your primary email address for friends and family whom you trust and set up a secondary email account for other activities, such as online groups and posts. Most free email providers such as Yahoo! and Google allow you to have more than one account. It is even possible to run two sessions with two separate logons at the same time for ease of message retrieval. Consider setting up the "public" account with limited information and a gender-neutral name such as "BookFan," which does not give away your sex. There is no validation on most free-email sites, and although everyone wants to be honest, it is in the interest of your own personal safety not to reveal your true address, city, date of birth, and gender.
• Learn to "lurk" online before posting actual messages to online groups. This will give you a chance to get more familiar with how the online group operates and to read the posts of its members to see if you feel comfortable participating.

I hope everyone finds this information useful.

C U L8R

Setting up the blog...

Setting up the blog has been harder than I thought it was going to be. There are so many choices to make. Everything from layout to the style and placement of the text. I still don't think I am completely happy with the final design. There is a pretty good chance it will continually change and evolve into something far more superior than the current state that it is currently in. I just need to learn the ins and outs of customizing the whole thing better.

C U L8R