Passwords worth real gold

A quick ‘must read’ for you today.

* Russian hackers show who values passwords

“As I’ve said here before, it is time end-users realize their personal data has value, including username and password. For those who can’t calculate that value, know that Facebook didn’t develop a $189 billion market cap harvesting corn on Farmville. That cap was built on personal data willingly provided by its end-users.” Read more..

[note: “end user” is Geekspeak for you and me – computer users.]

Today’s quote: “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” ~ Mark Twain

Copyright 2007-2014 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
And please, never forget – one person can make a difference.
Find a way to make someone’s day today.
(Best advice I ever heard? Don’t sweat the small stuff.)

Today’s Must Read (And a bit about Bitcoins)

For Those Thinkers Out There.

Folks, a quick reading reco: Privacy concerns about data collection may lead to dumbing down smart devices

“A new wave of smart devices sensors and Internet of Things collecting data will make it hard to remain anonymous offline. Will the public wake up to the risks all of that data poses to their privacy?” Read more..

Keyword there is “offline”.

(And people can hope.. as the article says.. Ahem.)

I highly recommend you read that whole article.

News: Apparent Theft at Mt. Gox Shakes Bitcoin World

“The most prominent Bitcoin exchange appeared to be on the verge of collapse late Monday, raising questions about the future of a volatile marketplace.” Read more..

(I think that’s kind of funny.. What’ya expect from an unregulated, ‘virtual’ [meaning non-existant artificiality] currency?)

Today’s bonus: Cyberattacks fallout could cost the global economy $3 trillion by 2020

“The global economy has yet to mount an adequate defense against the rise of cyberattacks, according to new research. The impact could be $3 trillion in lost productivity and growth.” Read more..

Bah. Peanuts! (And, it probably already has. But no one can/will say so.)

Today’s quote: “War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.” ~ George Orwell, 1984

Copyright 2007-2014 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
And please, never forget – one person can make a difference.

The Most Important News You Didn’t Read About

Folks, this started happening in 2009, and you won’t know it unless you read certain InfoSec (ultra Geeky) blogs – today. 

Wonder what else of National Security Threat Level Red they’re not telling us? (Can’t p.o. the Chinese, man. They own our money (cuz we by cheap plastic crap from the Dollar Store/Wal Mart/etc.).)

* Chinese Hackers Steal Info from top secret U.S military data

“QinetiQ, a UK-based defense contractor suffers humiliation as intelligence officials confirmed that China was able to steal the U.S. classified documents and pertinent technological information all this because of QinetiQ’s faulty decision-making. QinetiQ North America (QQ) a world leading defense technology and security company providing satellites, drones and software services to the U.S …” Read more..

And for a more detailed report: Hackers Turned Defense Contractor QinetiQ Into Intelligence Playground For three years, digital thieves linked to China stole intellectual property and defense information from the U.K.-based firm.

“For more than three years, hackers linked to China thoroughly compromised U.K.-based QinetiQ, a firm that bills itself as “a world leading defense technology and security company,” to steal intellectual property and sensitive defense information, according to reports of the incident.” Read more..

I put two up there ‘cuz this is.. kinda huge. (Make no mistake: these “hackers” are a unit in the PLA.)

Can’t say nothing ’bout that Internet-thingy that might shake consumer confidence, either. A handful of folks (like, 15 – two dozen) are making too much money.

So forget I mentioned it. But remember, not everyone in the “world wide” plays nice.

Related: The Cyber-Dam Breaks: Sensitive Army database of U.S. dams compromised; Chinese hackers suspected

“The compromise of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ National Inventory of Dams (NID) is raising new concerns that China is preparing to conduct a future cyber attack against the national electrical power grid, including the growing percentage of electricity produced by hydroelectric dams.” Read more..

Unrelated: Beware of fake Facebook security page phishing scam

“Trend Micro has spotted a malware sample, TSPY_MINOCDO.A, which targets Facebook users. The malware redirects users to a spoofed page of the social network and claims to be part of the site security check feature, even showing the tagline “Security checks help keep Facebook trustworthy and free of spam”. Users eager to log into Facebook may fall victim to this ruse.” Read more...

Can’t say I didn’t warn ‘ya.

Today’s quote: “When Mozart was composing at the end of the eighteenth century, the city of Vienna was so quiet that fire alarms could be given verbally, by a shouting watchman mounted on top of St. Stefan’s Cathedral. In twentieth-century society, the noise level is such that it keeps knocking our bodies out of tune and out of their natural rhythms. This ever-increasing assault of sound upon our ears, minds, and bodies adds to the stress load of civilized beings trying to live in a highly complex environment.” ~ Steven Halpern

Copyright 2007-2013 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Earn 1 million $’s the Easy Way (Seriously)

I thought it’d be bigger..

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of not being a millionaire. Fortunately, two recent reader submissions have pointed me to two ideas that will put an end to my days of brown bag, peanutbutter sandwich lunches, and will have Robin Leach looking for me.

“As to the “Easy Money” of today’s “Tech-for Everyone”, many, many years ago, did I say many years ago? I bought my usual Saturday morning comic book. In the back of it were interesting things one could order. Tucked into a sharp ad was an inticing promise; “Earn 1 million $’s the easy way.” Of course I wanted to know how. The clipping said that I had to send $1 to the address on the ad. I did so and waited anxiously for the golden information that would make me a millionaire…the easy way. After 2 very long weeks I received a postcard that said, “Take out an ad in a comic book ad ask for $1 for the information on how to get rich.” That was it. I immediately felt that I had been ripped off and took it to my dad so that he might take legal action. He informed me that I had just paid for a a very important lesson and he was glad that I was learning it at 7 and not at 27. I guess the more things change the more they stay the same.” ~ Ann

Method 2: if you have a new smartphone, one with near-field technology (like the Galaxy S III), you could just stroll around town for a while…

* Credit card data can be stolen with a wave and an app Certain smartphones allow potential fraudsters to get sensitive info, with minimal effort

“It seems like there’s a smartphone app for everything these days — including one that could be used to steal your credit card information.” Read more..

I guess the $700 it takes to buy an S III isn’t such a bad investment after all…

I sincerely thank the readers for bringing those to my attention!

Today’s quote: “Sometimes it’s important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it’s essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow.” ~ Douglas Pagels

Copyright 2007-2013 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Who’s Tamara Moon? | Software Giveaway

Who is Tamara Moon? I never heard of her, have you? Neither had I heard of FINRA. But I had heard of Citigroup. What caught my eye was a half-million dollar fine.

“FINRA recently announced that it was fining Citigroup $500,000 for failing to keep track of an employee who managed to steal almost $750,000 from 22 customers during the course of eight years.“

I ask you, who is the worst villain here? (This is from Dark Reading, an Information Security website).

“A sales assistant at a branch office, Tamara Moon, stole money from the elderly, people with Parkinson’s disease, and even her own dad. And she managed to keep up her thieving ways despite exception reports that popped up for her superiors detailing conflicts in new account application information. Similarly, her supervisors did not spot red flags from suspicious transfers between unrelated accounts.“

While FINRA is penalizing (punishing) the supervisors, the article sort of suggests the ‘bad guy’ is those working the technology, and I found it an interesting read: Insiders Still Thwart Database Controls Without Supervisory Support.
(Also interesting [to me]: “still thwart“.. like, insider theft should be stopped by now. I ask, has their ever been a defense created that an attacker didn’t eventually out-maneuver? At the moment, I can only think of one.. the Cold War policy of MAD.)

Today’s “Don’t miss out“: on the chance to enter my latest software license giveaway drawing!

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***Last Chance: Win A Valuable Prize! ***

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The folks at Softland have generously donated ten licenses for Backup4all Professional to me, to award to my readers – a $50 program!

“Backup4all is an award-winning data backup software for Windows. This backup utility was designed to protect your valuable data from partial or total loss by automating backup tasks, password protecting and compressing it to save storage space. This backup application is feature rich and offers an intuitive interface making all features easily accessible for both beginners and professionals.“ Entry closes at midnight (Pacific) tonight. Act now!

To enter the drawing, please see: Backup4all License Giveaway Drawing

~     ~     ~

Today’s quote: “Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.” ~ Gil Stern

(And just in case you’re wondering.. people like Tamara.. well, I cannot print my thoughts.)

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Software Licence Giveaway

Folks, I am pleased to announce my latest software license giveaway. 10 licenses have been donated to me, and I am going to distribute them to you, my readers, via a drawing…

Laptop theft is common and a constant threat. Thwart thieves with the free (for personal use) program – LAlarm – which emits a loud siren sound when a thief tries to steal your laptop. More importantly (IMHO) it can destroy selected data (and also retrieve it ¹) if the laptop is stolen — which is an important step in protecting your “identity”, and personal information.

LAlarm consists of five alarms and other security functions designed to protect laptops and sensitive data.

Highlights

• Theft Alarm – It prevents laptop theft by sounding an alarm when a thief tries to steal a laptop.
• Perimeter Alarm – It alerts when a laptop goes outside a perimeter.
• Data Destruction – It protects sensitive data by destroying the data if the laptop is stolen.
• Data Recovery – It can recover data from a stolen laptop. (Before destruction) ¹
• Mobile Phone Alert – It sends an alert to a mobile phone via email or SMS.
• Theft Response – you can tell your laptop what to do in advance if your laptop is in hands of a thief.
• Health Alarm-  Alert the user for using a computer for an extended period of time in order to prevent computer-related injuries.
• More…

System requirements: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2 or SP3.

Turn An Old Thumb Drive Into An Anti-Theft Device

LAlarm also allows you to use a thumb drive as a “sensor” – as described in this tutorial, fasten a laptop to a table by using a USB flash drive strap. When a thief removes the laptop from the table, the flash drive will be disconnected from the laptop and then an alarm will go off.
A great use for that old 128 MB thumb drive sitting neglected in a drawer!

If you “go mobile” with your laptop, I highly recommend you take a look at LAlarm. To do so, click here.
[Note: not all the features are enabled by default, and some configuration is required (particularly for file recovery) to “best use” this tool. So be sure to look at the FAQ’s.]

¹ requires a Gmail account.

How To Enter To Win A License

LAlarm is free for personal use. The license allows for business use. If you would like to install LAlarm on a work laptop, or an employee’s  laptop, you can enter my drawing – once only – by either:
* leaving a Comment (click on blue “Comments” below) and entering a valid e-mail address in the form field. Or…
* sending me an e-mail.
10 lucky winners will be selected by random drawing, and e-mailed the license “keys” and download links.

The folks at LAlarm get a big tip of my geek hat, and my thanks for making this giveaway possible.

Copyright 2007-2010 © Tech Paul. All Rights Reserved. post to jaanix.

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Own A Laptop? Make A Thumb Drive Theft Alarm With Free Tool

Turn An Old Thumb Drive Into An Anti-Theft Device

Prevent the theft of your laptop. Laptop theft is common and a constant threat. There is a free program – LAlarm – which when installed emits a loud siren sound when a thief tries to steal your laptop. And it can destroy selected data (and recover it later) if the laptop is stolen; which is an important step in protecting your “identity”, and personal information.

LAlarm consists of five alarms and other security functions designed to protect laptops and sensitive data.

Highlights

• Theft Alarm- It prevents laptop theft by sounding an alarm when a thief tries to steal a laptop.
• Perimeter Alarm- It alerts when a laptop goes outside a perimeter.
• Data Destruction- It protects sensitive data by destroying the data if the laptop is stolen.
• Data Recovery- It can recover data from a stolen laptop.
• Mobile Phone Alert- It sends an alert to a mobile phone via email or SMS.
• Theft Response- you can tell your laptop what to do in advance if your laptop is in hands of a thief.

What I found “kewel” was the feature that lets you use an old thumb drive as a “sensor” – as described here, fasten a laptop to a table by using a USB flash drive strap. When a thief removes the laptop from the table, the flash drive will be disconnected from the laptop and then an alarm will go off.
A great use for that old 128 MB thumb drive sitting neglected in a drawer..!

If you “go mobile” with your laptop, I highly recommend you take a look at this free program. To do so, click here.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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