Security Snippets - July 2019
Hot Topics
This newsletter contains links to online news articles and websites. Before clicking, see "Should You Trust the Links" way below.
Was your information exposed in the Equifax breach? Now you can request compensation.
Snippets is sorry to have to warn you, but think before you post pictures of your kids. Sharing pictures and videos of family this summer can have unintended and harmful side effects. Child predators see this time of year as an excellent opportunity to exploit pictures of children. The Arkansas attorney general has some good tips about using social media this summer.
Cyber crime/Hacking
Business email comprise scams cost organizations an average of $301 million every month last year. Some of the common scams include emails telling you to send your new-house escrow payment to a different bank account, change an employee's payroll information, wire money to ensure the success of your CEO's "hot deal" and buy a bunch of gift cards.
Home/Personal Issues
Here are ten ways to keep yourself secure online against cyber attacks.
A study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics found that the teens who spend too much time on social media or watching television become notably more depressed.
Politics/Legislation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a class action lawsuit against AT&T and two data brokers over their sale of AT&T customers' real-time location data. The lawsuit seeks an injunction against AT&T, which would ban the company from selling any more customer location data and ensure that any already sold data is destroyed.
Privacy/ID Theft
FaceApp now owns your face, but read the terms for all those other websites where you upload your information. They're collecting and may own your data too. Remember, if you're not paying for a service, you're not the customer, you're the product.
The Federal Trade Commission reached a $5 billion reported settlement with Facebook over its Cambridge Analytical data scandal. That's a lot of money, until you realize Facebook made $15 billion in just the first-quarter this year and reportedly has more than $40 billion in cash reserves. Wall Street thinks the fine is nothing too. Facebook shares jumped on the news, rising 1% to the highest they've been in the past year.
Just a reminder, Apple contractors regularly hear confidential details on Siri recordings. And they're not alone. All vendors who provide devices that listen can, and do, listen in.
Best Practices/Risk Management
In Snippets' opinion, taking and sharing nude photos is generally not a good idea. But here's what to do if those pictues are leaked.
Not really security related, but interesting about the rise of the citizen journalists. Two major lessons here: First, we are no longer slaves or beholden to a few major corporations to shape public discourse and influence opinions. Anybody can post their opinions, judgments, and arguments. Second, don't blindly believe or trust what you read online. Again, anyone can post their opinions, judgments, and arguments.
Slogans of the Month
"If they email you asking for cash, be sure to throw it in the trash."
"Prevent despair, get antivirus software."
"Updating Windows is a must, to leave future problems in the dust."
"Don't be mean behind the screen."
Bonus!
What are you doing September 20, 2019? Join about 1,900,000 of your closest friends to storm Area 51 and see them aliens!
Snippets has a new hobby: pig yoga on a baseball field.
Questions and Feedback
Security Snippets is brought to you by the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC), the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), and your organization. Its purpose is to increase Arizona’s cyber resilience by helping you learn more about security and privacy so you can better protect yourself and your family.
Important: It is up to you to make sure you take the proper steps to secure your home networks and devices. The ACTIC is not responsible for your personal devices.
Contact Snippets at ACTIC Cybersecurity with any questions, to provide feedback, or to be added/removed from this distribution. Please note that this email address is not monitored 24x7.
Any views or opinions presented in this newsletter are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the ACTIC. Reference to any specific commercial product, process, service, link, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the reader, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or disparagement by the ACTIC.
Should You Trust the Links
This email contains links. Should you trust them? Thanks for asking! So, let's examine this message. It contains the ACTIC's standard header, states its purpose is to increase you security awareness, and doesn't threaten or ask you to respond immediately. The verbiage is conversational, rather than formal and attempts to be interesting and entertaining, as well as educational. And you probably signed up to receive this newsletter. Snippets says to trust it, but what do you think? Send an email to [email protected].
Hint: Hover your mouse over any link to see where it's really going.
