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Below is a chart that shows the amount of inbound mail that we see, both spam and non-spam, over the past three and a half years.? This data also appears in the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report, but the data there is monthly (or half-yearly) whereas this data is weekly:
The charts are normalized to show the scale (i.e., the left hand scale is not 35,000 messages, but is 35,000 x some number).? In addition, the spam in red is plotted against the left Y-axis and the good mail in blue is plotted against the right Y-axis.
You can see in the above that the amount of good mail that we see has continued to increase over time.? This is because of an increased customer base, not because the total amount of good mail worldwide has gone up (although it has increased marginally as more and more people start using the Internet).? However, the amount of spam has plummeted from 23,000 in mid 2010 to 5000 now, a drop of over 75%.? The contrast couldn’t be starker – spammers are not spamming as much anymore.?
It almost looks like the battle against spam is almost over.? What’s still left to do?
Here’s a couple of things that are unique to spam and not other forms of communication:
Generic bulk mail – this is a category of mail that is not quite spam but is definitely not legitimate.? It’s gray and is usually a dark shade of gray.? These are mailers that harvest list from other places or populate their lists in shady ways (single opt-in, tossing your business card into a bowl at a conference, and so forth).? These are mailers that cannot be blocked across an entire organization because there is some set of users who desire the mail.In other words, the mailers that can’t be bothered to be responsible are still problematic.
Foreign language mail – When I say “foreign language” I mean mail in a language that is other than English.? I see a lot of complaints these days about Chinese spam, Japanese spam, Turkish spam, Portuguese spam and Spanish spam.? I don’t know what is it about spam in those languages, but they are more resistant to IP filtering than English language spam.?Writing spam rules and processing the stuff has been a challenge right since the day I joined, but I definitely see an uptick in it compared to a year ago at this time.
Spear phishing – I debated putting generic phishing in here, but generic phishing is dealt with using regular antispam techniques (URL filtering, IP filtering, and content and keyword filtering).? But as spammers have moved from a “throw everything against the wall and see what sticks” mechanism, they have embraced the “target your prey and slip under the radar” model.? They are better at crafting their spam in order to deceive users, no doubt in part because of the proliferation of the Zeus botnet and malware kit.Spear phishing is not something that spam filters are going to be good at the way they are at pharmaceutical spam or stock spam.? Because spear phishers are actively trying to craft their content in order to get around one organization’s filters, a company must use both spam filtering and user education.
Eventually the first two will be handled.? Pesky bulk mailers will see their reputations dwindle down to nothing and they will get added to blocklists along with everyone else.? The second will be handled in the same way – as the spam traps start to attract more and more foreign language spam, they will populate their lists from URLs pointing to Portuguese spam sites, or IPs sending high volumes of spam.
The third is the most difficult.? Filters will continue to update quickly but products other than spam filters will be required in order to prevent these, such as traffic analysis tools and intrusion detection software.? That will open up a whole new niche for security vendors but will likely be plagued by even less collaboration than there is now (would Microsoft want to share their infrastructure layout with Google? I think not, nor vice versa).
That will take some creative thinking and is probably the next big trend in security.
One of the big trends this year is spear phishing.? These are phish attacks that are frequently (though not always) against high profile users.? The purpose of these attacks is to steal sensitive data or get elevation of privilege inside the service by exploiting a software vulnerability within the user’s computer that transmits usernames and passwords back to the phisher.
Because of the frequency that they have occurred this year, I am sometimes asked what we do to defend against them.? I am repurposing some internal documentation that some folks inside of Microsoft have written and adding my own spin on it.
Spear phishes are more difficult to repel using spam filtering because they are not a large campaign aimed at many users (like most spam campaigns), but instead are targeted at you specifically, using information gathered from Facebook, LinkedIn and other places you have left personal information. They look like they come from a personal contact, friend or other trusted party.? Because they are small, targeted attacks, they do not show up on the radar of spam filters; they don’t come from compromised IPs (or if they do, they haven’t been used to spam yet), they contain zero-day malware or zero-day links to malware, and the language is designed to evade a content filter.
While a filter does help, users need to recognize these because a filter must not be the only line of defense against a spear phish.? Some warning signs in spear phishes:
What can you do to combat this?? Here are some common sense things you can do to protect yourself and your company:
Never give credentials to anyone.? Your IT department will never ask you for your username and password in an email (if they do, don’t give it to them).? Social networking sites and web mail services won’t, either.? In fact, the only ones who ever will ask you for your username and password in an email message are phishers. Do not read confidential email from a machine that is not patched regularly. An unpatched vulnerability in the operating system or the browser could be exploited to steal your credentials. Make sure that the software you are running on your system is up-to-date. While your IT department takes care of this for most organizations, make sure you do it at home. Are you still running Internet Explorer 6? Windows XP SP1? You shouldn’t be, you should be running IE9 and Windows 7 (or whatever the most up-to-date browser and OS is that you are running). Never execute scripts (or other executable content) on behalf of anyone unless you see independent evidence that the proper process (ops requests, approvals, etc.) has been followed.? If you get a file from someone, did you expect to receive it?? Is this normal? Use widely different passwords for personal and business applications. That way, if your personal credentials are stolen, you will not put your business at risk at the same time. Check your mail forwarding and delegation settings regularly to ensure your mailbox and its contents have nothing weird set up. For example, attackers could add forwarding rules to get your mail; your awesome ideas could all be sent to a hacker in China. When sending sensitive information by email, check the SMTP addresses of who you are sending to, not just their display names. Sometimes the autocomplete sends mail to people with similar names if a hacker has uploaded content into your address book. If in doubt, change your password.No security system is perfect.? But you should be make it as difficult as possible for anyone to attack you and your organization.
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I don’t see a lot of spam these days as my spam processing days are behind me.? However, from time to time the individual analysts on our team point me to recent trends.
This past week, in some of our feeds, we have seen a lot of stock spam with subject lines like “CALL YOUR BROKER RIGHT NOW!!!”? We’ve seen new outbreaks of this type of spam every day.
Stock spam was a huge problem when I first started 7 years ago but in recent years it has diminished.? The idea behind this type of spam is that a spammer purchases a big chunk of a penny stock traded on an obscure exchange (read: anything other than the NYSE and Nasdaq) then sends out this spam run.? When suckers receive this mail, their greed kicks in thinking that they have received a tip.? They go out and buy up shares.
The investors, of course, figure that as soon as the institutional players notice how great a company this is, they will start buying up shares in this penny stock and drive up the price.? The investors can then get out, keeping for themselves a tidy profit.? It’s their scheme to get rich… and quick!
Unfortunately, what happens in life is that the spammer has taken a position in the stock days or weeks ahead of time.? When they send out the spam run, investors purchase the stock in droves.? Because of this supply and demand, their buying pressure drives out the price of the stock and the spammer, who already has a position, gets out after the run up.? When the buying pressure dries up, the stock returns back to its normal price.? The traders who received the spam are stuck with a low priced stock that costs way more than they paid for it, and will never go up in price.? The big players will never buy the stock and it’s low for a reason – the company sucks.
This action is quite illegal for two reasons.? First, spamming is illegal.? Second, stock manipulation (front running) is completely illegal and many people have gone to jail for this.? People who write about stocks usually disclose whether or not they have a position in the stock before they tout it.? If they don’t, the SEC frequently comes knocking on their doors.
Stock spam has declined in popularity during the past few years, giving way to more pharmaceutical spam, malware and random products.? I think the reason it is less popular is because of the reasons I mentioned in the previous paragraph, and other types of spam are more profitable, and because organized crime does not want to draw the attention of law enforcement.? Government authorities have experience tracking down market manipulators and they want to stay off the radar.
Regardless, people shouldn’t be buying stuff they find in spam adverts, let alone hot tips.? Hot tips don’t come to ham-and-eggers like you and me.? By the time it comes to us, it has already been acted on and priced into the market.? You can’t make money off of them.
When it comes to stock spam, I have one piece of advice for people – Penny stocks are very low priced securities that cost significantly more than they are worth.
Enough said.
Look at the parental controls on the computer. Do the settings make sense for each user of the computer. You can normally have logins for each user of the computer. That way you don't have to have the same restricted settings as your 8-year-old son, and you can allow your teen more freedom.
Is your gaming system connected to the internet? If so, make sure the parental control settings make sense for each person who plays.
Most cell phones can both take pictures and connect to the internet. Luckily, most cell phone companies also have some level of parental controls on them. Like computer parental controls, the settings for cell phones will also change over time. Maybe the setting you wanted to use last time wasn't there, but it is now? Maybe it is time to allow more freedom than you had before?
Each child is different and every family is certainly different. There will never been a technical solution that is better than parenting. But sometimes parents need technical help with parenting situations. Enough.org has a check list of Rules 'N Tools that you can use to help in the decisions for you family.
Here’s a weird story.
Yesterday, I was driving back home after watching the latest Harry Potter movie – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.? I have never read any of the books, however, I have enjoyed the movies and the Wikipedia summaries.
I sometimes browse the news and on Friday they had a “Harry Potter Stars: Then and Now” article on some news site.? I took a look at them and compared the stars of the movies and how they had grown up during the past ten years.
I thought to myself “Gee, what was I doing ten years ago when the first movie came out?”? As it turns out, I remember exactly what I was doing.? It was November 2001 and I was living in England at the time.? I remember that there was a big buzz around the movie and that a lot of my friends were going to go see it, but I didn’t.? In fact, I didn’t see the first movie until I rented it on video (they still had them in those days) a year later and saw the second movie a couple of days after that.? I thought to myself “Wow, has it really been ten years since all of that?? Man, that’s almost a third of my life!”? Time sure does fly.
Anyhow, as I walked out of the theater I realized that I had been texting and emailing various people with my smart phone.? Unlike 95% of the population, I didn’t get a smart phone until a month ago (I got a Windows Phone; I know it’s supposedly not as cool as an iPhone or an Android, but I really like it).? I held out for a long time and finally upgraded because I wanted to use all of the advanced doodads like Twitter, Facebook, and using both of my thumbs to type text messages.
I then realized something – I’m using my smart phone to do texting, tweeting and Facebook-ing.? I’m also checking (personal) mail on my cell phone.? I’m not using a PC or regular email client for any of that stuff.
That made me realize something; in the past, I have dismissed Facebook’s “this-is-not-email” feature as not relevant to people in business.? But yet it was clear to me that I got along perfectly well this past weekend communicating with people on my phone and not using email that much.?
Why is that a problem?
The people who don’t see the winds of change are the people who are old and stuck in their ways, or don’t have access to information.? I had access to information, I just interpreted it incorrectly.? Why?? Is it because I am old and stuck in my ways?? Am I not hip enough to see the shift away from mail is coming faster than I think?
My rationale for dismissing short messaging is that it’s fine for personal communication but not for business.? In business, you need a richer experience. But I wonder if it’s even necessary?? There’s something to be said for simplicity.? A lot, actually. If you have a simpler interface, you just don’t do all of the complex mailing that you would otherwise.? And you wouldn’t miss it, either.? Prevailing thinking is that business systems are taken from the office into the home (fax machines, photocopiers, etc).? But maybe not – iPhones are now very popular amongst business people and so are Android phones.? Those started in the consumer market and made their way into the business market.
One thing that I am going to stand by – email may not be the biggest communication platform you use.? It will get smaller as a percentage.? But will it go to zero?? And will the mail client be important anymore?? Or will it be reduced to a much smaller niche market?
Or maybe I’m too old to see the future.
Most social networkers are familiar with the format of Facebook and MySpace, but Google+ has a brand new look with entirely new features. Since its member base is increasing day by day, it is necessary for parents to familiarize themselves with the interface. The most distinguishing thing about Google+ is its registration process. Currently users cannot open an account unless they have been invited. This invitation must come from a registered member and a new account can only be created upon acceptance. This is beneficial in that your teen will probably only get invites from one of her friends, not from strangers who wish to add her online.
The layout of Google+ is centered on five main features: circles, hangouts, instant upload, sparks and huddle. Circles is essentially a creative way to set up privacy settings, the user can choose to place different people in different circles and share specific information with each. If the user wants to share Christmas photographs with Grandma and party pictures with friends, he or she can do so conveniently. Hangouts let specific people, or entire circles, know that you are "hanging out" and are free to chat-face to face or through messaging. Instant upload allows pictures and videos to be shared directly from your phone to avoid the traditionally lengthy process of uploading. Sparks is, in my opinion, the most innovative feature of all. Once a user tells sparks what he or she is interested in, whether it be fashion or sports or music, the feature provides them with articles or videos that pertain to their hobbies. The last feature offered, Huddle, is particularly applicable to social butterflies. This feature enables you to enter group chat via Google+ on your phone, making it significantly easier to make plans with a large group.
If you wish to learn more about Google+ and its features, the interactive tutorial offered by Google is highly informative. It's critical to keep up with technology, especially those that your teens are using. As Google+ becomes the next big thing, keep your teen safe and informed about its use.
Like many parents, my biggest fear is of something awful happening to my child. It was heartening to me when I first heard that MapQuest and the National Center for Missing & Exploited ChildrenR (NCMEC) recently announced the availability of a new widget on MapQuest Local that includes valuable missing child alerts and information from NCMEC.
The new widget features pictures and information about children who are missing from the geographic area for which the MapQuest Local page is set. Also included is the ability to search for missing children by name and link directly to NCMEC's homepage and other missing children resources from NCMEC. The new widget can be found at http://local.mapquest.com
Through this widget, users can view the pictures of missing 
children and details about their disappearance. If they recognize one of the children or have information about one of the cases, they can contact NCMEC through their Web site, http://www.missingkids.com or toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
AOL has worked closely with NCMEC for more than 10 years on child safety initiatives for online and offline safety. Together they've collaborated on NCMEC's creation of the CyberTipline, a reporting mechanism for child sexual exploitation. Additionally, they worked together on the formation of the Technology and Financial Coalitions with the goal of eradicating child pornography on the Internet. An industry leader in efforts to establish best practices for online safety, AOL offers full-featured Parental Controls software for free to all users on the Web, and launched SafetyClicks.com, a Web site designed to educate parents on how to best protect kids and teens in a Web 2.0 world.
I was reading the other day an article about the initial fear of the Mac malware explosion this year that failed to materialize.? After MacDefender appeared and caused a kerfuffle and I arrogantly welcomed Apple to our world (that we in the Windows world have been dealing with this stuff forever), Richard Gaywood writes an article where he says that after the initial fear of new Mac viruses/malware, they have tapered off.
His? method of tracking this is good – he counts the number of malware definitions in the home grown Mac product and after a ramp up in June, they have leveled off:
The following and graph shows the number of unique malware variants listed in the file as each new version was released.
?
For a period of several weeks, we see the rapid cat-and-mouse game predicted by people like Ed Bott. Variants of MacDefender appear at the rate of about one a day, and we see a corresponding update of the XProtect definitions file once or even twice a day also. This keeps going until we reach the 21st version of the definitions file, which detects 15 distinct variants of MacDefender (labelled OSX.MacDefender.A through to OSX.MacDefender.O) using 12 different detection signatures.
And then... nothing. No new updates to the file since the 23rd of June.
There are two ways to look at this. It's possible that the malware kept coming, and Apple either failed to notice it, or just gave up trying to keep up. If that were true, though, we'd expect to still be hearing about it, both in the general press and from TUAW's contacts throughout the Mac ecosystem of developers and support staff. But we've heard nothing.
The other option, then, is that the malware has stopped evolving. The MacDefender authors gave up trying to issue new variants, and nobody else has (so far) taken their place. The Mac malware scene is... well, if not dead, then asleep. Stunned. Pining for the fjords.
It’s a fair analysis.? Why have the variants stopped?? It’s unlikely that Apple stopped updating their signatures.? Thus, the other option is that the MacDefender malware writers gave up (a third option is that there is a problem with his script that counts the signatures).? Gaywood is cautiously optimistic in his tones.
However, the hubris shows up in the comments:
Ah yeah, Mac malware. I remember the good old days when Mac marketshare was less than 3% and we didn't have to worry about malware. But as marketshare started to increase, the doomsdayers warned us that security-by-obscurity would no longer protect us: "Just wait til the market doubles [ to over 5%] then you'll see the malware writers inundate the Mac".
We waited.
At 5% marketshare, the doomsdayers warned us that security-by-obscurity would no longer protect us: "Just wait til the market doubles [ to over 10%] then you'll see the malware writers inundate the Mac".
We waited.
We're still waiting for the inundation, the flood of Mac malware now we're not protected by obscurity.
Hmmm? Maybe the Apple-haters were wrong; maybe Macs are actually quite secure.
As this guy says, Macs were always secure.? The reason that the malware author gave up is because it’s too difficult to write them for that platform.? The reason nobody ever wrote malware for the Mac is not because the market was too small to devote resources to it but even if they had 100% of the market it wouldn’t work.? You just can’t write malware for Macs, Apple is that freaking good.
Because, you know, malware authors give up after a month.? They are not at all tenacious, they just try things one or twice and if that doesn’t work, they throw up their hands and say “Oh, that didn’t work.? Better luck next platform.”
It doesn’t work that way in real life.
Here’s another theory – there was only one operator behind the MacDefender operation similar to how there was only one person behind the Rustock botnet.? In December of last year, the Rustock botnet went silent and nobody knows why.? If it was one guy doing it, and he went on vacation, then that explains why it went dark.? There was nobody around to control it.
The MacDefender guy may have decided to take a vacation.? Or he is retooling.? Or his rate of return on the MacDefender malware was too small because the user base wasn’t big enough (because the install base was too small, thus confirming the theory that obscurity still matters).? In any case, there is not nearly enough data at this point to make a comment dripping with so much hubris.
Because one day this commenter may have to eat his words.
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CollectionsTeaching crude teens good digital citizenshipAugust 31, 2011|By Sharon Noguchi, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS\ABS\Auto Blog Samurai\data\Cyber security Tips\rss3\pixel.gif){kind=tracking}
Exploring the frontiers of newfound freedom, many tweens and teens quickly embrace the raunchy, rude lingo of cyberspace, casually flinging insults, obscenities, and taunts that make chat rooms sound like barrooms.
"Foul language is just what is popular," said Rachel Carrasquillo, a junior at St. Francis High School in Mountain View, Calif. "I think half of the stuff people say on Facebook they'd never say face to face."
But now, as kids head back to school, they may find more adults are paying attention. Educators increasingly are joining in to challenge the crude culture of social networks, which they fear unleashes cyberbullying and sexting, heightens the social drama of puberty, and teaches the wrong values.
Even though Facebook flaming usually originates off campus, more schools are teaching "digital citizenship," how to care for online profiles, deal with bullies, and speak up for what's right - a critical skill because teens often don't take problems to adults.
A recent check of Formspring, an anonymous opinion site, shows what the adults are up against. On the site, Palo Alto, Calif., middle schoolers chatted about the size of classmates' body parts and who was having sex. On Facebook, one boy wrote to a girl: "go away b4 u get gang raped."
How is it that kids' conversation has become so nonchalantly, and publicly, crude? Partly, they don't have impulse control and can type whatever pops into their minds, said Caroline Knorr of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit offering free curricula for schools on digital literacy. And partly, they're exploring their identity. "They say, OK, I'm not like this in real life, but I can be like this on the Internet," she said.
A large part is that no adult is paying attention.
Slowly, that's changing.
The Santa Clara County Office of Education has set up an anti-bullying task force. The Silicon Valley Interschool Council, composed of high school students, hopes to launch a campaign encouraging students to counter cyberbullying.
Newly signed legislation, sponsored by State Assembly Member Nora Campos (D., San Jose, Calif.), enables schools to suspend students who bully others on social networks. Among others, the Oakland Unified School District is considering a policy to specifically prohibit cyberbullying.
1 | 2 | Next ?MORE LIKE THIS ?Monica Yant Kinney: Young lives are a too-open bookAugust 21, 2011Parents, students learn about cyberbullying and its sometimes-deadly results
April 6, 2011
Index by Keyword|Index by Date|About Philly.com|Contact Us|Terms of Use & Privacy Statement|Copyright 2011 Explaining the perils of social networking to a preteen can be arduous and often unfruitful. It can also be useless to forbid preteens from social networking while all of their friends utilize Facebook via mobile phones or personal computers. Fortunately, there is a happy medium. Instead of using mainstream websites which generally cater to 13 plus audiences, NPR has compiled a list of Top Ten Social Networking Sites for Kids.
These websites offer top notch safety features to satisfy parents but they also successfully incorporate the varied interests of tweens. Some of these websites offer games and "hangout" opportunities, while others serve as forums for upcoming fashionistas and music gurus. There are several available websites such as GirlSense and Sweetyhigh that are restricted to all-girl membership. Others, such as WhatsWhat.me offer social networking for children over the age of seven.
The truly impressive aspect of these websites lies in the innovative safety features offered. Yoursphere, for example, subjects parents to background checks before their children can create an account. In addition, it vets its members against a registered sex offender database to further ensure safety. Imbee offers excellent opportunities for parents to remain involved while their children learn to network online.
There is no foolproof way for parents to ensure cyber safety; however, educating youth about their cyber footprints and the need for caution is a critical first step. As we become further engrossed in this age of iPhones and Facebook, both parents and tweens can find solace in remaining informed.
I came across the following spam message today.? It was sent through a compromised account, and the payload points to a compromised Google Docs spreadsheet (hey, Google, you know spammers are going after that service, right?).? Below is a screenshot image:
Peeling apart the message:
This is resistant to IP filtering because the message comes from a hacked user’s account (the majority of mail from the IP is legitimate but “only” this user is sending spam; therefore, blocking with IP reputation would cause excessive false positives).This is resistant to generic URL filtering because the payload points at Google Docs, the overwhelming majority of which are legitimate (filtering on the specific link is acceptable although most URL checkers only go for the top level domain).This illustrates what I said in my other post, that spammers now use botnets to hack user accounts and hack legitimate services and hide behind them in order to spam.? They are spamming by proxy.
On the other hand, this technique isn’t that new.? I remember back in the day, when image spam first hit, spammers would send spam from Hotmail accounts they signed up for themselves and send image spam hosted on Imageshack or point to a domain hosted on Geocities.? Whatever the technique, these types of messages are still blocked the old fashioned way: using content filtering on the body of the message.
Sometimes the old methods are best.
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About a month and a half ago, I wrote a post in response to another post that was written by another blogger.? His post was that if you write an email and include a bit.ly link in it, the mail won’t get through.? I countered by saying that if you were a filter that blocked these, you would generate all manner of false positives.
Since then my position has evolved somewhat (but do not send me any crow for I shall not eat it).? The big problem with URL shorteners these days is that spammers are setting them up and subsequently using them to spam.? Because there is a dearth of URL reputation lists that contain URL shortners* (other than Spamhaus’s), spammers have more success with these.? All you have to do is create your own shortening service, mask your URL with it and then send out spam.? Spam filters will be confused because the reputation lists they maintain don’t say that the URL is bad.
As someone who is responsible for receiving mail and making sure that the legitimate mail gets through to end users**, my philosophy is to error on the side of leniency.? None of us like to lose legitimate mail but sometimes we will put up with the occasional spam in our inboxes.
But not everyone will put up with spam in our inboxes.
If a spammer sends out mail from a Hotmail account that contains a phishing message (or malware link) that hides behind a redirector, and that mail goes to a high level executive, that’s a problem.? All the people who are reading this will agree that they have tolerable limits for the general population of users but executives get special treatment (a reversal of the policy wherein you design for the masses and not the special cases).? And if a bunch of spam comes in to high level executives containing content that is resistant to traditional reputation filtering, then my policy of not blocking redirectors is problematic.
“Why did this spam come to my inbox?”
“Because it’s not on an IP blocklist or a URL blocklist.”
“I don’t care!? Block it!”
“Umm… hmm…”
The problem is that taking action on these types of messages, proactively, on a network wide level will cause false positives.? However, for individual people, sometimes it makes sense to block messages with URL redirectors or at least score them heavier (most spam messages contain at least some content that makes them look partly spammy even if the filter can’t make a complete decision).
Thus, it makes sense to have an option that allows people to mark spam messages from those emails that contain short URLs.? This will be prone to false positives, but that’s the way it is.? If you want to be more secure, then you are accepting the fact that you will miss some legitimate mail as well unless you want to whitelist particular senders.
URL shortners aren’t really intended for email anyhow.? You’re not restricted by space in an email.? You can always use HTML mail and put in a hyper link so it doesn’t take up 400 characters.? On the other hand, you are restricted by space in Twitter, text messaging and Facebook status updates.? You should use short URLs there.? But email?? It’s not really necessary.
So, the situation is this:
Short URLs in email look nice, but there are ways to keep your email looking nice without using them.You need short URLs in communication tools other than email.You can block messages (or at least score more aggressively) that contain short URLs, but you will generate some false positives.If that happens, you can mark the sender as a safe sender.This setting should be optional; my personal recommendation is to turn it on when you need it and off when you don’t (kind of like the Fed setting interest rates very low.? Oh, wait…)There you have it.? My position is more nuanced than it was before.
* I intentionally spelled the word “shortener” as “shortner”.** Despite what one of my co-workers erroneously thinks, the false positive rate is measured as 1 per xx legitimate messages, not 1 per total (spam + non-spam) messages.
As someone who is responsible for filtering mail, there are a number of options that we have when it comes to filtering spam.? We can do any of the following:
Reject it in SMTP with an error messageQuarantine the message to cloud storage Mark it with an x-header so that the user can filter it in their mail client without having to log in to a spam quarantineModify the subject line and do the same as aboveRedirect the spam to another alias, such as an admin account (don’t know why you’d do this, but some people do)Silently drop the messageThese are not all the options there are, but they are the most common.? Of the ones above, the first five are good ideas.? The last one is a bad idea.
Why?
I want you to imagine a situation where you send a snail mail to a friend of yours who is not living close to you.? Suppose you send him (or her) a wedding invitation saying “Come celebrate with us!? Please respond by such-and-such a date so we can add you to our list!”? You send out a bunch of wedding invitations to all of your friends.? You look up their addresses in the phone book (ha, ha, ha, just kidding; I mean the Internet) and write out all of their home addresses, stamp each one and drop them in the mailbox.
Well, weeks go by and you hear back from various people.? Some say they can come, others say they can’t.? Some people don’t respond at all.? Your wedding comes, you have a great time, and you get on with your life.
Until you run into a friend one day who didn’t respond (you forgot to follow up in person because you’re lazy even though the wedding checklists all say you should do this).? “Hey!” you say at the brief encounter.? “Why didn’t you respond to my wedding invite?”
“Huh?” says your friend.? “What wedding invite?”
“The one I sent you in the mail!”
“I didn’t get a wedding invitation from anyone?”
“Sigh,” you sigh.? The Post Office either misdelivered it or it got lost in the mail somewhere.? Yet neither you were notified nor was your friend.? For all you know, the mail got there just fine.? For all he knows, you never sent him anything to begin with.? So how would he know to expect it?? Unfortunately, a very important piece of communication went missing and neither sender nor receiver knew that the other missed anything.
It’s for this reason that silently dropping mail is a bad idea.? Because spam filters are not perfect, they will occasionally generate false positives.? If the mail is rejected in SMTP, the sender knows there is a problem right away and can move to correct it.? If the mail is marked as spam by the receiver’s filter, it is delivered to a quarantine or junk mail folder.? Yes, it might take them a little longer to receive it (who checks their junk folder or quarantine every day? No one, that’s who), but at least they can retrieve it eventually.? The mail is still retrievable.
But if mail is silently dropped, then an important piece of information has gone missing.? Neither the sender nor receiver knows about it.? What’s the receiver supposed to do?? Ask everyone he knows if they sent him an important mail?? What’s the sender supposed to do?? Follow up with everyone they send mail to and ask “did you get my mail?”? That’s ridiculous.? Because of the risk of accidentally eating important mail and nobody will ever know about it (try troubleshooting that problem), silently dropping mail is a good idea.? Don’t hide behind the false positive SLA; lost mail is lost mail.? One is too many.
Why would anyone even silently drop mail?? I can think of one reason:? You don’t want to store spam.? This eats up server resources and bandwidth; you are storing disk space for junk mail and you want to maximize efficiency.? Well, guess what?? Stop whining!? As of this writing, here is how much free disk space Gmail gives you:
That’s over 7.6 gigs.? Obviously, Google is not worrying about a lack of disk space for a product that they give away for free (although they are charging advertisers for the privilege of your eyeballs).? Google does throw away spam after 30 days but the key point here is that they do it after 30 days – they give you a chance to review it first.
There isn’t a good reason to do silent drop.? Either tell the sender you are blocking it or tell the receiver.? If you tell no one and toss the message, that’s simply irresponsible.
A couple of weeks ago, Gmail released a new feature to boost its anti-phishing capabilities. Whenever you receive a message that you haven’t heard from before, they will show you the full email address:
Normally, you would just see the sender’s name.? The way this works is that if you get an email from, say, the Bank of America, the Bank of America would be in the sender’s name and that’s it (so long as the sender can be verified by DKIM or SPF).? Gmail is displaying the P2 From address:
“Bank of America”
The part in between the quotes is the sender’s name while the part between the angle brackets is the sender’s email address.? This is attempts to combat phishing when a spammer sends you a mail purportedly from the Bank of America but a spoofed from address:
“Bank of America”
By showing you the full email address, Gmail hopes that some users will notice that the domain looks funny and will be suspicious of the sender even in the event that the spam filters don’t catch the message.
I’m not sure how effective the feature will be.? I would guess that if most users are like me, they won’t bother reading about the feature (I didn’t until I did a Bing search for “Google anti-phishing”).? Then, in their inboxes, they’ll notice that sometimes Gmail shows you the sender and sometimes it doesn’t.? They’ll wonder why but won’t really notice for the most part, and won’t bother to look up why.
Will this keep people from falling for phishing?? A really obvious spam email like ask32@rdc.ru might arouse suspicion, but noreplay@bank.america.rdc.com might not.?
People fall for phishing scams for a couple of reasons:
Their emotions of fear (of not having money) are triggered with interferes with their ability to think logically.They lack the proper education to recognize phishing scams.Google’s feature attempts to partially address point (2) – if a user has more information then they will be less likely to fall for scams.? But information on its own isn’t that useful.? Unless people know what to do with that information it won’t help because emotions are not logical at high levels of affect (that feeling of goodness or badness we get in response to all of life’s situations) and arousal.
What does help mitigate negative affect is education; it does this by keeping the emotional state at a lower level of arousal.? At low and medium states of arousal, emotions act in an advisory role.? At high levels, they can cause us to act in our own best interest.? Education helps dampen their effect by causing us to attribute the phishing scam to a non-authoritative source.? In other words, if you recognize a scam, you won’t fall for it because your emotions do not interfere with the logical part of your brain.
How could Google make this feature better?? In their explanation of the feature, they should have an explanation of what phishing is and how they are working to combat it.? They do say the following:
For example, if someone fakes a message from a sender that you trust, like your bank, you can use this information to see that the message is not really from your trusted sender.
That’s a good start, but we can improve it:? A bank will be trusted whereas a phisher will send fake emails and they will ask you to click a link to fill out your information.? If you see the email address, it is probably not from your bank.? Don’t worry, report the message as spam.? If you’ve clicked the link and filled it out, call your bank and tell them what you’ve done.? And so forth.?
It’s nice to see Google do stuff like this, and I’m sure that they are open to making stuff like this better.
A few weeks back I voiced my reaction to Google+: Meh.? A commenter wrote that with 10 million users, it was very successful.? Yet I was looped into Google+ simply because I have a Gmail account and people were adding me to their circles.? That made me one of those 10 million even though I didn’t actually volunteer to try it out.
I am not yet convinced that Google+ is necessary to replace Facebook (Google has a history of copycat products – Google+ is Facebook, Google Buzz is Twitter, Orkut is Match.com or something, Google Wave is … something to do with email).? Still, I grant that there are a number of people out there who like the flexibility of Google+ and it allows you to do stuff that Facebook doesn’t.
I came across this video yesterday on Break.com that explains what Google+ is all about.? After watching this video, now I am more convinced to give it a try.
I didn’t say I would give it a try, only that I am more convinced to do it.? My convince rate is still less than 50%.
“What is this Google Plus?” Song
The following phishing scam from hackers crossed my screen the other day, below is a screenshot:
This offer does not take you to a page where you can lock in your rate but instead is a link to malware that infects your system.
Of course, this is not a real Netflix offer.? With all the hoopla generated over the past couple of weeks in response to Netflix raising its rates by 60%, and the backlash of user anger over it, it only makes sense that spammers would take advantage of this social phenomenon.
What makes this work is the emotional response to money and revenge.? People want to save money on their subscription and clicking the special offer to lock in their rates is a way of getting back at Netflix for raising them. Spammers know this and are crafting their spam campaigns to play on people’s emotions.
Don’t click this.? It’s not real, it’s spam.? Netflix isn’t that generous.
Oh yes, one more thing – the above phishing scam is not a real phishing scam.? I made it up.? But I bet it looked like a real phish, didn’t it?? When spammers eventually do start doing it, you’ll know that I saw it ahead of time first.? You’ll also know that spammers read this blog.
A new game aims to combat childhood obesity with virtual reward-based incentives to get young teens off the couch and on the move.
Dubbed Zamzee, the game comes equipped with a hip-worn sensor that tracks kids' movements and awards physical activity with points that they can upload to the Zamzee web portal.
There they can access rewards to buy virtual goods at Zamzee's online store and share their data with their friends in the social network. Its maker, a nonprofit game developer called HopeLab, aims to launch the game this fall, and a spokesperson for the company told Relaxnews that registering for Zamzee will be free but the activity meter should cost in the $50 range.
Hopelab has also created a game for cancer patients called Re-Mission that pits a nanobot named Roxxi against cancer cells. A study of that game published in the journal Pediatrics showed that patients who played Re-Mission were more likely to stick to treatment programs. For Zamzee, Hopelab stated on its website that it has completed a pilot test that found a 30 percent increase in physical activity in the 350 teens who used the device for some 10,000 days.
"Although the idea of a reward-based system is not strictly new for these types of devices, the child centered approach for its design is quite interesting," reported tech site Medgadget on Wednesday. "It is a fascinating project and we will be watching closely to see how it develops."
For grownups and older teens who need a nudge to work out, self-monitoring fitness tools are aplenty. A new app called Nexercise lets you rack up credits for physical activity in exchange for real-world benefits, including gift cards, coupons, and vitamin supplements.
Among other devices for enhanced self-awareness is the FitBit, a small clip-on tracker that monitors your fitness and sleep patterns. Also, the Nike+ monitors heart rate data, calorie burn, pace, and distance of runs and other workouts.
* 34% record video, up from 19% (the biggest year-to-year jump: 15%)* 38% access the Net, up from 25% (the 2nd biggest jump: 13%)* 76% take photos on their phones, up from 66% a year ago (10% jump, tying with...)* 30% send/receive instant messages, up from 20% (10% jump)* 34% send/receive email, up from 25% (9% jump)* 34% play games, up from 27% (7% jump)* 72% text on phones, up from 66% (6% jump)
What does this mean for your family?
- Technology is moving faster now than ever before and people are adopting the new technology at much faster rates. Keep technology a conversation in your family, asking often how everyone in the family is using it. For example, yesterday's cell phone is today's computer.
- There are parental controls for many devices and systems. They will help, but no program is going to keep your family as safe as you will. Depending on the device and the individual child, know what they are doing any time they connect to the internet (even if it is via a cell phone).
- The social networking fad seems to be sticking around long enough to no longer be considered a "fad". Sign up to the services your kids use (or want to use). See for yourself what they want to do. You will be better suited to understand what the kids are talking about when you have gone through the process.
How has technology changed your life? Do you look forward to new techno-gadgets? Has technology changed your family in any way?
An article on Geekwire today reports on Internet browser usage amongst the various population.? Internet Explorer continues to with 55%, Firefox is second with 22.5%, Chrome is third with 15% with others picking up about 5%.?
The overall trend in browsers is that Internet Explorer has slowly declined over time while Firefox has remained mostly static (or even showing a slight decline).? Chrome has accounted for nearly all of the growth (IE and Firefox users have gone over to Chrome).
I decided to check out who is visiting this blog.? What do the statistics say about you, my readers?? A chart is below:
My audience is more technical that the rest of the Internet population and that is reflected in the choice of browser.? IE and Firefox are equally used in my visitors with Chrome trailing by a handful of percentage points, whereas in the rest of the Internet, IE still has a very wide lead.? Does this imply that more technical computer users select browsers other than the default?? It does on my blog, although it doesn’t necessary ring true across everyone because I am but a single data point.
What about Microsoft’s quest to retire Internet Explorer 6?? Well, try as they might, the 10-year old browser stubbornly retains 18% usage out of all Internet Explorer deployments (but thankfully only 4.5% out of all Internet users).? The most popular browser is still Internet Explorer 8, more than the other three versions combined.? IE8 comes as the default browser in Windows 7; most users haven’t taken the time to upgrade to the latest one which was released many months ago:
What about visitors to this site?? What version of Internet Explorer are all of you using??
The usage trends show some similarities but there are key differences:
Internet Explorer 8 is the same across all users and visitors to this site.Internet Explorer 9 is the second most used browser, nearly 3 times the usage of the general population.Internet Explorer 7 is about the same.Internet Explorer 6 is almost non-existent amongst visitors here.Thus, visitors to my site are more likely to use up-to-date browsers than Internet users in general, thus demonstrating that they are heeding my advice – make sure you keep your software up-to-date!
Way to go, readers!
I was walking around town yesterday and swung into Ben & Jerry’s with a friend of mine, and saw a flavor so intriguing I had to take a picture.? Apparently, phishers like to eat chocolate ice cream with gooey marshmallow, caramel swirls and fudge fish.
Hmm, or maybe the rest of us like to eat that sort of thing and that’s what spammers do to lure us in…
You can check out the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor page and click the flavor for yourself.
Sometimes I wonder whether or not the US administration is serious about the problem of cyber crime or if it is all political lip service in an attempt to acquire more power and funding.
I like reading the Jason Bourne novels, The Bourne
These are caricatures of our perceptions of real life politicians.? They’re not real; sure, maybe some are like that but the majority are not.? But sometimes I wonder.
In the US administration, we see important people like incoming Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta say at his Senate confirmation hearing that "a strong likelihood that the next Pearl Harbor" could well be a cyberattack that cripples the U.S. power grid and financial and government systems. He also said that cybersecurity will be one of the main focuses of his tenure at the Pentagon.
But when you look at what is actually happening in cyber security, there is more position jockeying than there is real progress.
From a Wired article in March 2009:
Cyber-Security Czar Quits Amid Fears of NSA Takeover
Rod Beckstrom, the Department of Homeland Security’s controversial cyber-security chief, has suddenly resigned amid allegations of power grabs and bureaucratic infighting.
Part of the Department of Homeland Security — for now, the government’s lead agency for cyber protection — the Center was supposed to be the one place where the defense of civilian, military and intelligence networks could all be marshaled together.
At least, that was the idea. But the Center never had a chance to even start doing its job, Beckstrom complained in a resignation letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano that has been obtained by Danger Room. The Center "did not receive appropriate support" from the Department of Homeland Security to help coordinate network defenses, he said.
"During the past year the NCSC received only five weeks of funding, due to various roadblocks engineered within the department and by the Office of Management and Budget." …"Rod [was] trying to get over NSA’s power grab," a cyber-security source with deep government ties tells Danger Room. But in the end, Beckstrom couldn’t. "He jumped nanoseconds before being pushed."
That was back in 2009.? But the next cyber security czar appointed by the White House resigned in August 2009.? From the Wall Street Journal:
Security Cyber Czar Steps Down
The White House's acting cybersecurity czar announced her resignation Monday.? Melissa Hathaway, who completed the Obama administration's cybersecurity review in April, said in an interview that she was leaving for personal reasons. "It's time to pass the torch," she said, adding that she and her colleagues have provided an "initial down payment for what's needed to start to address cybersecurity."
People familiar with the matter said Ms. Hathaway has been "spinning her wheels" in the White House, where the president's economic advisers sought to marginalize her politically.
National Economic Adviser Larry Summers argued forcefully that his team should have a say in the work of the new cyber official.? The result was a cybersecurity official who would report both to the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. Supporters said that arrangement would cement cybersecurity as a critical security and economic issue; detractors said it would require the new official to please too many masters and would accomplish little.
There are a couple of ways to interpret this.? One is that the country’s cyber infrastructure is very important to the US’s ability to do commerce and affects the economic well being of the country.? Therefore, it makes sense to have the person responsible for cyber security to report to the director of economics.? The other way to interpret this is that the Larry Summers was extending his reach and didn’t like the prospect of not having another arm of government, a pseudo-military arm, not under his control.? Hathaway could see that she would be road blocked at every turn and decided to leave rather than tread water and do nothing.
Fast forward to May of this year, and the Department of Homeland Security saw a resignation (I can’t tell if the NSA is responsible for cyber security, if it’s the DHS or even the Defense Department).? From the National Journal:
Top Cybersecurity Official Resigns
Phil Reitinger, the Department of Homeland Security’s top cyber and computer crimes official, is resigning just days after the administration launched its most ambitious cybersecurity initiative.
“I have decided that the time has come for me to move on from the Department,” Reitinger wrote in an e-mail to DHS employees this afternoon. Reitinger, who, as deputy undersecretary in DHS’s National Protection and Programs Directorate, was the department’s senior interagency policymaker, said in an interview with National Journal that the timing of his announcement was not meant to signal any disapproval with the White House.
Reitinger said he wants to spend the summer with his family – he has young children and he’s been working in cyber security “since they were born.”
Some in Congress want to elevate the position Reitinger held to a Senate-confirmable deputy with broader powers, and to give DHS’s cybersecurity programs their own directorate. Since DHS was given the responsibility to protect the homeland from cyber threats, as well as direct authority to protect dot.gov domains from intrusions, it has competed for resources and attention with the Department of Defense, which stood up an entire cyber command and has the mighty computers of the National Security Agency at its fingertips. In October, DHS signed a groundbreaking memorandum of agreement with the Department of Defense, a statement of principles acknowledging that while the different departments had different legal duties, “we want to be able to work together as one team.” In practice, that means that DHS and DOD cyber scientists and engineers work at each other’s facilities.
Reitinger was only appointed in March 2009, meaning he was on the job for two years.? The article does say that “Reported friction between DHS and other government agencies has diminished under the watch of White House senior director for cyber policy Howard Schmidt,” and that appears to be good news.? However, did you notice the secret code words in that above snippet?? Reitinger wants to spend more time with his family.? Whenever a high profile government official says that, it’s because (a) they’ve been caught in a scandal and want to leave their position gracefully, or (b) there are internal power struggles between high ranking officials and the one who is resigning lost the battle.
That’s my cynical interpretation but it rings true more often than it doesn’t. This article makes everything seem like it’s all good behind the scenes.? I’m not convinced.
Why am I not convinced?? Because last week yet another official resigned!? This time quoting an article published on The Daily Tech:
Head of U.S. Cyber Agency Resigns Abruptly, Gov. Won't Say Why
Randy Vickers, director of the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, resigned from his position suddenly last Friday
The United States government was the target of many cyber attacks this year, including those launched on the Pentagon, the CIA and even U.S. soldiers. These attacks resulted in the loss of 24,000 confidential military files, 90,000 logins of private and public sector employees (including those in the U.S. military) and the take-down of government websites.
Governments and corporations around the world have been targets in 2011's cyber attack spree, raising many questions concerning internet security. While this blaring spotlight has put stress on many people on the receiving end of these attacks, many are shocked by the sudden resignation of a U.S. agency head in charge of responding to cyber attacks.
Randy Vickers, director of the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, resigned from his position suddenly last Friday. A reason for his resignation has not yet been released.
Once again, this article is vague. The government was targeted this year and suffered data loss.? Is Vickers taking the fall for this?? When something really bad happens like this, the ones who take the fall are frequently the ones in charge (proving that not all sh*t runs downhill).
Again, there are multiple ways to speculate: maybe this is coincidental.? Yet another head of the cyber agency resigned because he wants to do something else.? Maybe he was caught in a scandal.? Or maybe he grew frustrated at all of the bureaucratic road blocks and decided that he couldn’t accomplish any real change and would be held accountable when something went wrong.
All I can do here is try to read between the lines (assuming that there is actually something to read).? But on the one hand, there are people in the military saying that there is a huge cyber threat from rogue actors and other nations (according to the new SecDef Leon Panetta).? On the other hand, according to Cyber-Security Coordinator of the Obama Administration Howard Schmidt, there is no cyber war but instead we need to focus on cyber crime.? But on the other hand, we see a revolving door of departures from people who are supposed to be in charge of the nation’s cyber security.
Maybe Lustbader’s portrayals of life time bureaucrats isn’t so far off the mark?? Maybe in order to accomplish real change, you need to be a lifetime insider who knows the ins and outs of the system.? And maybe outsiders aren’t well suited for that type of thing, even if they are bright and capable people.? My paranoia doesn’t give me a lot of confidence that the most important people in government have the nation’s best interests at heart.
On the other hand, maybe I’m just paranoid.? Meh.
Sexting isn't making anyone any money (that I know of), but 3 in 10 young people report being a part of some kind of naked sexting (either sending or receiving). One in 10 report sending a naked picture of him or herself. This translates into more people sexting than using their cell phone to access pornographic web sites.
Parents are shocked by this, but some teens just see it as a part of life or no big deal.
So what now? We educate the youth. We (as parents) spend time talking with our kids about the realities in the world. We incorporate the new technology into the teachings at school, and we hope for the best. All we can do is teach them about using technology responsibly and the risks that they face. It is up to the youth to decide what to do with the information.
What are your thoughts on how to best educate the youth about the dangers of sexting?
Here are a few of the most recent, and profound:
- The Internet is now portable. The computer is no longer in a central place in the house.
- The Web has fundamentally shifted from a platform of information consumption where a very few controlled the content to a platform of content production in which everyone can contribute.
- Social media has tapped into our desire to share our lives. And, devices with built-in cameras and video recorders have given us the ability to do so at any point in time.
Long gone are the days of walled gardens where content and communication could be easily controlled and "bad guys" simply kicked out. The effectiveness of traditional parental controls based on permit/deny lists has diminished in the face of the social media frenzy. And, safety tips suggesting not talking to strangers or sharing personal information have been cast aside as the web is all about friending and sharing.
The Web has aged and with that, protecting kids online has grown more complex. There is no single tool that we can point to or simple guidance we can bestow. Instead, keeping kids safe online is a combination of factors – rules, tools, education and communication. It really takes a collaborative effort between parent and child.
Parents must now manage their children's online activities across multiple platforms – gaming consoles and devices, cellphones, tablets and more - using the parental control technologies built-in to each. Parents must set rules and continuously educate themselves and their children to both the risks and protections of the sites and services their children use. Lastly, parents must keep talking to their children about what they are doing on the Web, what they like about it and what they don't. This is a great way to identify and address potential problems before they escalate.
There is no silver bullet. As technology evolves, we must remain diligent in protecting our children. Twenty years from now, I can only imagine looking back and remembering the easy days of social media and devices.
Filed under: Social Networking, Video Gaming
Safer Internet is today – it is organized by INSAFE in February to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially among children and young people across the world.This year, the focus is on virtual lives. Today young people spend a good part of their lives on activities ranging from online gaming to social networking. In doing so they face multiple challenges related to their privacy, reputation and health. ‧ Gamers spend on average 8 hours weekly playing online.‧ Young people sleep 2 to 3 hours less per night than 10 years ago.‧ In January 2010, 18 million accounts were registered on Second Life.‧ Facebook reports more than 500 million active users.‧ Users spend 700 billion minutes on Facebook each month.‧ 13 million players in World of Warcraft (WoW), world's largest massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG).‧ MMORPGs generated $1.5 billion in subscription revenues worldwide in 2008,forecast to reach $2.5 billion by 2012.‧ Up to 250,000 players are simultaneously online on WoW.‧ Transactions and sales of virtual goods in virtual worlds were estimated at $18 billion in 2009.*Sources: Facebook, Second Life, TDG, Strategy Analytics Here are some key messages to consider:‧ Hiding behind your avatar, pseudo or profile page will not shield you.‧ Your actions in your virtual life can impact on your real life.‧ Monitor your playing activities: a balance between online and offline is important.‧ Look for virtual worlds that don't encourage consumerism.
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Filed under: CyberbullyingCome home from school, eat a snack, play Nintendo DS. Do some homework, eat dinner, play Xbox 360. Take a shower, brush teeth, play computer games and go to the Dragon Tales website. Ah, life of the young and elementary schooler.
The Internet age has obviously impacted the corporate world dramatically. However, the increasing availability of Internet and media resources within the common household has had consequences that are not always apparent. Parental concern regarding child safety online has increased tenfold as phones, IPods, and computers all come equipped with ways to constantly remain connected. Not only personal devices, but computers at local libraries and schools are being utilized for social networking and Web surfing. Under these circumstances, it becomes extremely important and rather difficult to educate and maintain Internet safety and security.
What parents can do however, is teach to their kids instead of preach to their kids. While parents are aware of the dangers that lurk online, children are often blissfully ignorant. There are ways to impart knowledge about Internet safety that are creative and interactive. I recently came upon a website showcasing the teachings of Professor Garfield. Most of us are familiar with the chubby orange cat of Sunday comics, but his professor avatar is one that parents of younger children will find particularly useful. This website uses interactive games and videos to define common Internet dangers. For example, it encourages children to explore cyberbullying-what it is and how to stop it. Through the use of comedic videos starring Garfield, children can learn to combat Internet predators.
As someone who was a teenager not so long ago, I can attest to frustrations that arise from listening to parental lectures and advice. Although I now understand that my parents always had my best interest in mind, it was not so clear during my moody teenage days. Instead of preaching to children about the rights and wrongs of Internet safety, one can use resources such as the ever-charming Garfield to entertain and educate. Oh and mom, these videos are enjoyable for adults also.
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I was reading Reuters today and I came across a news article indicating that a number of high profile agencies – from the United Nations to the Canadian Government to government of Taiwan – were broken into over a period of the past five years.? From the article:
BOSTON (Reuters) - Security experts have discovered the biggest series of cyber attacks to date, involving the infiltration of the networks of 72 organizations including the United Nations, governments and companies around the world.
Security company McAfee, which uncovered the intrusions, said it believed there was one "state actor" behind the attacks but declined to name it, though one security expert who has been briefed on the hacking said the evidence points to China.
I’ll say it right now, even though I haven’t been briefed on it.? It was China. Continuing:
The long list of victims in the five-year campaign include the governments of the United States, Taiwan, India, South Korea, Vietnam and Canada; the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); the International Olympic Committee (IOC); the World Anti-Doping Agency; and an array of companies, from defense contractors to high-tech enterprises.
"What is happening to all this data ... is still largely an open question. However, if even a fraction of it is used to build better competing products or beat a competitor at a key negotiation (due to having stolen the other team's playbook), the loss represents a massive economic threat."
…
Some of the attacks lasted just a month, but the longest -- on the Olympic Committee of an unidentified Asian nation -- went on and off for 28 months, according to McAfee.
"Companies and government agencies are getting raped and pillaged every day. They are losing economic advantage and national secrets to unscrupulous competitors," Alperovitch told Reuters.
"This is the biggest transfer of wealth in terms of intellectual property in history," he said. "The scale at which this is occurring is really, really frightening."
CHINA CONNECTION?
Jim Lewis, a cyber expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it was very likely China was behind the campaign because some of the targets had information that would be of particular interest to Beijing.
The systems of the IOC and several national Olympic Committees were breached before the 2008 Beijing Games. And China views Taiwan as a renegade province, and political issues between them remain contentious even as economic ties have strengthened in recent years.
"Everything points to China. It could be the Russians, but there is more that points to China than Russia," Lewis said.
This is something that I have written about numerous times, here is a summary of my position:
However, while they cleaned up the unintentional stuff for spammers to make it seem like they are a good place to do business (read: not abused by spammers) they have moved in the direction of employing an army of cyber warriors whose job it is to stay hidden and steal secrets.? They are pretty good at the latter, but not quite so good at the former.
Western cultures view these cyber intrusions as only a couple of steps below an act of war or aggression.? However, the US military has asserted that it will respond in kind.? If a foreign power attacked the US power grid, they would consider that an act of aggression.? But what does stealing state secrets mean?? Covert operations have been standard operating procedure since the beginning of civilization. Here is a picture of me in China three years ago:
Not every security researcher is convinced that the evidence points to China.? Graham Cluley, of the Sophos Security blog, writes the following:
Furthermore, the report (quite rightly, in my opinion) refuses to name who it believes is responsible for the hack. Nevertheless, the media have leapt to the conclusion, with a nudge and a wink, that it simply must be China.
Despite the lack of any evidence in the report that it is China.
I don't think we should be naive. I'm sure China does use the internet to spy on other countries.
But I'm equally sure that just about *every* country around the world is using the internet to spy. Why wouldn't they? It's not very hard, and it's certainly cost effective compared to other types of espionage.
In other words, China is a good candidate but it really could be any number of countries, each of whom possesses the ability to break in and steal secrets.? I think that Cluley is one of the best security bloggers out there and I respect his work a lot. But this obviously points to China:
I could go on but those will suffice.? The targeted list of countries dovetail right into China’s interests.? Sure, it could be the United States or Russia or Britain or France or Israel.? It’s possible but not probable.
The question now is what other nations in the area and around the world are doing to counter it.
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Text messages tailored for teens may help them lose weight (Tom Fox / MCT) Also
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Pros, cons of reality TV's approach to weight loss By Jeannine Stein August 30, 2011, 4:10 p.m. Teens love text messages--and those texts may help them lose weight, if they're done right. A study tested out various types of weight management-themed text messages on overweight teens to see what they liked, finding that they favored positive messages but disliked thoughtful questions.Overweight and obese teens can be a tough crowd when it comes to weight-loss interventions--many have a tough time adopting more healthful diet and exercise routines. Researchers from the University of Michigan thought tailored text messages might be a good way to help teens adopt lifestyle changes, since texts have been successful in helping others drop bad habits. The study appeared online recently in the journal Obesity.
To determine what kinds of text messages would be most effective the researchers set up four focus groups comprised of 24 male and female teens who were part of a weight management program. Six different message types were tested: testimonials, meal and recipe ideas, targeted tips, reflective questions, feedback questions and tailored messages.
Overall, the teens were excited about the text messages, but not everything passed muster. They liked messages that told them what to do, such as recipes and testimonials about weight-loss strategies--those the teens found encouraging, but only when they came from another teen.
Participants also liked positive, uplifting messages. Exclamations and emoticons were OK--especially for congratulating weight loss--but colloquialisms typically used by teens weren't. "LOL," for example, was not well received.
They also didn't like mentions of unhealthful behaviors and foods, even if they were accompanied by references to healthier options. Mentioning unhealthful foods, for example, might trigger them to crave those items.
They weren't crazy about reflective questions, especially when there were several in a row, such as, "What does being healthy mean for you? How does screen time fit in with your goals? How could cutting back on it help improve your health?" Teens thought there were too many and weren't sure which to answer first. In discussions the teens said they wanted to be told what to do, instead of having to come up with their own weight-loss strategies.
That surprised the study authors, who noted that some studies find that people tend to stick with behavior changes if they've generated them more than if they come from other sources. But, they added, the delivery method may be to blame--a string of thoughtful questions may be too much to handle with a 140-character text messaging system.
The next step, said the authors, is to test the texts out on teens to see if they actually have any effect on weight loss. Copyright c 2011, Los Angeles Times
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? Comments (4)Add / View comments | Discussion FAQ billroberts1 at 7:47 AM September 05, 2011 Track your Fitness & Nutrition on Fitmingle
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Bill Roberts
fresh1 at 9:43 PM August 31, 2011Oh, come on... the only thing that will keep teens from getting overweight is responsible and constant parenting.
Ironman Carmichael at 6:24 AM August 31, 2011The text message should be "Put me down and get some exercise!"
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width:245px; float:left; padding:20px 20px 20px 25px; margin:10px 10px 10px 0px; border-top:3px solid #000; border-bottom:3px solid #000; background:url(http://www.latimes.com/media/alternatethumbnails/blurb/2011-06/62751500-24163214.png) no-repeat 0 22px; line-height:1.3em;}blockquote.no-quote {font-size:24px; width:245px; float:left; padding:20px; margin:10px 10px 10px 0px; border-top:3px solid #000; border-bottom:3px solid #000; line-height:1.3em;}/* Custom publishing link to green AE 7-8-2011 */div#classBarNav ul.classBarNavLink li.lastMenuItem a {color:green;}/* FB RECOMMEND BOX AE 7-29-2011 */#fb-recommend {border:1px solid #DDDDDD; padding: 14px 10px 18px 16px; margin-bottom:20px;}#fb-title-holder {font-size: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px;}#fb-title-holder div.title {float: left;}#fb-title-holder div.like-button {position: relative; left: 10px; top: 2px;}#fb-title-holder iframe {border:none; overflow:hidden; width:100px; height:21px;}#fb-recommend-list {width: 292px; height: 150px; overflow-y: scroll; overflow-x: hidden;}#fb-recommend-list div {width: 290px; height: 600px;}#fb-recommend-list iframe {border:none; overflow:hidden; width:280px; height:600px;}/* HIDE BRIGHTCOVE VIDEO TITLE BAR */div#videoHeader {display:none;}div.premiumVideo.module {margin-bottom:0px;}/* MOVING TOOLSET UNDER BYLINE *///div.story div.nextgen-share-tools ul.nextgen-right {float:left;}//ul.nextgen-left {display:none;}span.toolSet ul.nextgen-left {float:left;}span.toolSet ul li {height: 22px; float: left; list-style: none;}span.toolSet ul li span { margin-right: 5px; float: left; }span.toolSet ul li span.nextgen-font-size { background: transparent url("/hive/images/nextgen-icons.gif") no-repeat left top; width: 22px; height: 13px; }div#content span.toolSet ul li a.arrow {float: left;}div#content.article span.toolSet ul li img {vertical-align:top;}div#content.article span.toolSet ul li a.arrow img {margin-right:0px;} div#message-guidelines a {color:#2262cc;} L.A. 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LAST CHANCE: $149 to drive like a NASCAR racer at L.A. Racing (reg. $399) Latest News Most Viewed Most Emailed Boy gagged, tied up at triple-homicide scene but unhurt - L.A. Now 09/06/2011, 6:45 p.m. Carol Bartz is out as Yahoo CEO - L.A. Times - Business 09/06/2011, 6:45 p.m. Romney, Huntsman face challenge of winning over evangelicals - L.A. Times - National News 09/06/2011, 6:43 p.m. Mitt Romney releases jobs plan as he faces a surging Rick Perry - L.A. Times - National News 09/06/2011, 6:42 p.m. 'Latin Alternative' on KCSN gives Latino music a new accent - Pop & Hiss 09/06/2011, 6:31 p.m. Brock Lesnar will make UFC comeback against Alistair Overeem 09/06/2011, 6:03 p.m. Compassion creates a family 09/06/2011, 5:22 p.m. The real Ronald Reagan may not meet today's GOP standards 09/06/2011, 4:51 p.m. Chinese oil giant CNOOC's stock slumps after spills 09/06/2011, 4:00 p.m. Senate panel boosts FEMA funding 09/06/2011, 3:58 p.m. Charity will be big winner of Tesla bet 09/06/2011, 6:42 a.m. MetLife loses L.A. Unified contract after flap with board member 09/06/2011, 12:00 a.m. India's night rat killers: Hunting shadows that scurry 09/05/2011, 9:21 p.m. Indefinite solitary confinement persists in California prisons 09/05/2011, 8:22 p.m. ERs are becoming costly destinations for mentally disturbed patients 09/05/2011, 8:22 p.m. div.link { font-size: 16px; padding-left: 10px; }About the WritersEryn BrownTami DennisMelissa HealyKaren KaplanAmina KhanThomas H. Maugh IIRosie MestelShari RoanJeannine Stein Southern California Moments ? 
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