As discussed in the previous post, criminals can easily create fake profiles on social networking sites.
However, it is just as easy for them to hack existing ones too.
All that is required is the correct username and password.
Some hackers take over accounts in order to have their own brand of fun, such as messing up someone’s profile page.
However, others will take the opportunity to install invisible code that they can then use for their malicious purposes.
MEGAN MEIER
In some instances the hacker’s motives are even more dire.
Recently there was a well publicised case in which false identities were used on MySpace in order to cyber bully a young girl.
Her profile was repeatedly defaced with malicious comments.
The victim, Megan Meier, subsequently committed suicide.
AVOID THIS SCAM
The primary means of avoiding this type of social networking scam is to use strong passwords and also to change them often.
If you believe that someone else has gained access to your profile then inform the site’s operator as quickly as possible.
If threats are made against you by anyone then inform the police or, at the very least, a responsible adult.
This is just one of five posts in a series on social networking scams.
Read the rest here -
Whilst social networking sites may, at first glance, appear to be non-profit websites, they can in fact generate vast incomes for their owner through advertising revenues.
Therefore, it is not surprising that owners are constantly looking to upgrade their sites, both in terms of appearance and functionality.
THE TROUBLE WITH FUNCTIONALITY
One popular such function is the ability for users to add their own applications to their profile pages.
Typically these tend to be calenders, small games, animations, etc.
The downside of such functionality, however, is that it makes it extremely hard for the site administrators to police every piece of code running on their sites.
This presents an opportunity to the less than honest, a place where their spyware, trojans and viruses can live before either being downloaded to their victim’s own computers or posted onto their profile pages.
TRUST = VULNERABILITY
Users of social networking sites, for the most part, would appear to be a trusting group of people.
They don’t expect to be scammed by other members and that can often be their downfall as it leads to lapses in security consciousness.
AVOID THIS SCAM
Key to avoiding this type of social networking scam is up to date security software.
Current versions of anti-virus and anti-spyware products should provide a strong first line of defence against malware and other gremlins that may try to enter your system.
As ever, always be cautious when downloading applications from unknown or untrusted providers.
Also, remember that just because an application claims it originated with a certain company or site doesn’t make it true.
This is just one of five posts in a series on social networking scams.
Read the rest here -
Social networking sites, such as MySpace, Facebook, Flickr and LinkedIn are becoming increasingly popular by the day.
With some 100 million or more people belonging to such sites, the opportunities for cyber crime are immense.
It’s not only the members of such sites who are at risk either. There have been many cases of impersonation on social networking sites, meaning YOU could become the next victim, even if you never visit such internet sites.
If you’ve been paying attention then you will already know how to keep your kids safe on MySpace.
Now it’s time to clue yourself up on the 5 main types of scams that are to be found on social networking sites.
Over the coming days I will look at each of them and offer tips on how to avoid them.
THE FAKE IDENTITY
Setting up a new profile on the major social networking sites is an incredibly simple thing to do.
For criminals this presents a tremendous opportunity as it allows them to affiliate themselves with just about any identity, whether that is a real person or not.
For some, a fake identity may just be a means of having fun online, however warped that intention may be.
For others, far more sinister motives guide them, from arranging risky meetings to making abusable connections and many other shady reasons.
I personally have a MySpace profile, though I probably only access it once or twice a year.
Designed as an experiment, I have acquired over 1,000 friends in the last few years, despite the fact that I have never interacted with anyone there.
Of course some of those may just be genuine, friendly people. Others, however, have peppered me with unsavoury links and even marriage proposals!
AVOID THIS SCAM
Protecting yourself from fake identity scams on social networking sites is very easy.
A little bit of common sense should be enough to remind you that not everyone online is who they say they are.
Before interacting with new friends be sure to check them out and never, ever, arrange to meet anyone in real life unless you take sufficient precautions to enable your safety.
Also, monitor the search engines, especially the most popular one - Google, in order to discover if your name or pictures are being used by others.
If they are, then you can at least warn your friends that you have been impersonated.
This is just one of five posts in a series on social networking scams.
Read the rest here -
When the WPA standard was designed it was intended to offer a far greater level of security for wireless connections than the previous WPA standard.
However, security researchers Erik Tews and Martin Beck now claim that they have developed a way to partially crack the WPA encryption standard in only 12 to 15 minutes.
Details will be discussed at the sixth annual PacSec conference in Tokyo this week, which reportedly involve a ‘mathematical breakthrough’ rather than a pure dictionary type of attack.
Erik Tews is himself no stranger to cracking Wi-Fi encryption as last year he broke the WEP encryption standard and then, ironically, suggested switching to WPA as the solution.
The new method described by the researchers only compromises data sent from a router to a laptop, not the other way around, but could well mark the downfall of WPA as a reliable Wi-Fi security measure.
The more recent WPA2 encryption scheme is not vulnerable to the attack, however, it is not widely available in the marketplace right now and home users are not likely to updrade quickly.
Regular readers may have noticed that I haven’t written anything here for quite some time.
Those who know me well will already know that was because I have not been myself due to the fact that I had to face my greatest fear in order to meet up with my parents who emmigrated some time ago.
Well, I’ve done it now -
- I’ve flown there and back, despite suffering from aviophobia (fear of flying).
The flight there was uneventful which was certainly a great help.
The return journey ended with two aborted landings in high winds followed by a successful third attempt.
I was a little scared but ultimately ok.
I’d like to thank everyone who gave me support in the lead up to me making that trip - you all helped me immensely in your own ways.
Thankyou!
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Thursday, November 20, 2008
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