Next week, the National Republican Convention will take place in Cleveland, OH. Already, there’s talk of hackers targeting this election process. Will hackers target the Republican Convention?
Cyber security is a top concern. According to CIO (chief information officer) Max Everett, they’re already a number of ‘phishing’ incidents and hackers looking for weak spots. Everett assures there hasn’t been many specific threats, yet. It’s not just opposing threats that worry Everett. Hackers associated with the Russian government attacked the Democratic National Committee. Trump’s campaign has been target. It’s Russian and Chinese hackers that concern Everett and other cyber security experts. Of course, as contentious as this election has been, even an amateur could cause chaos at the Quicken Loans Arena. Cyber-threats for political conventions are different from cyber-threats for business. Employees are new. Employees are temporary. Each staffer has at least one mobile device connected to the convention’s online network. Many will have two or more. Managers are on alert as well. They’re reminding employees of common sense cyber security. Everett is testing ‘dark cube’. This dark cube will analysis where Internet data is coming from. It captures the IP address. It determines if that IP addresses means to do harm. Smart tactic. But will it work?
Some security needs to be in order. Like I said, this is the most contentious election I ever lived through (I wasn’t around in the 1960s.) Add tensions with Russia. Add tensions with China. This could be a perfect storm of a major hack fest. Yes, there were security preparations in previous elections. Yes, those conventions came out generally unscathed. But these are not the previous election. Some hater dreams of making a name for himself. Fellow haters will cheer him on. Hacking will give him that opportunity. The hater could be in China or Russia. The hater could be literally next door. Should cyber security be a concern?
Computer and smartphone maker Acer’s database was severely compromised early this week. The database leaked massive amounts of information, including credit card numbers. That info is in the hands of hackers and cyber criminals.
The breaches lasted for almost a year: between May 2015 and April 2016. Acer is notifying customers about this breach. Acer doesn’t say how many customers were compromised. It could be in the millions. Data lost include credit card numbers, names, and addresses. Acer VP?Mark Groveunder assures the breach is being addressed and rectified. Cybersecurity from all over are helping in this crisis. Credit card processors and law enforcement have been alerted. There are things consumers can do. They can check their bank statements. They can check their recent credit card transactions. If they find any fraudulent activity, they should contact police. Customers can contact the State’s Attorney’s Office and the US Federal Trade Commission. These organizations can catch the hackers. They can also teach ways to prevent cyber fraud. The news gets worse for American consumers. Europe, Middle East and African countries were not hit by this breach. Their security system prevented the breaches. That’s right. American Acer customers got the worst of it.
Acer wants to make ID theft prevention a top priority. They assure nobody’s social security numbers or passwords were comprimised. But the damage had been done. People’s credit/debit card information is at risk. But you know what’s really telling? Other nations were protected, and we weren’t. How many major security breaches have we had over the last several years? TJ Max, Target, and health care providers immediately come to mind. Our government, on all levels, need to do a better job keeping our cyber information safe. Didn’t you know ID theft is the fastest growing crime in America today? Did you know millions will be hit by it every year? They can improve their surveillance program. Why can’t they improve our cyber protection?
Twitter leaders told users their accounts were at risk. They announced a database with almost 33 million usernames and passwords may be at risk.
Twitter didn’t give the exact number of customers were notified. But it’s believed millions have been notified so far. Millions are changing their passwords. Twitter security officer Michael Coates is confident the database wasn’t stolen from Twitter’s computers. According to LeakedSource, this is more of a consumer issue than a Twitter issue. They believe information was collected from previously hacked computers, not from Twitter’s systems. There’s been an upswing in hacked twitter accounts lately. This week, Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter account was hacked. So was the National Football League’s. Hackers used that account to play a cruel hoax. That hoax was to announce NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had died. Don’t worry: Commissioner Goodell is alive and well. ?The year 2016 has been a crazy year for celebrity deaths; I see how this can be believable. A couple of days ago, even Twitter co-founder Even Williams was hacked. According to a German software company, criminals are using Twitter data to hijack the company’s customers. There is a suspicious alias named [email protected] going around. Some, like Hold Security LLC’s Alex Holden, suspect those behind this alias are hacking accounts. Then, they’re reselling the info on the black market.
Holden’s suspicions aren’t that far fetched. Hackers will sale your password and/or username for as little as five dollars. There’s a thriving underground market thriving like that. They don’t care whose information it is. Tech leaders and sports institutions are being hacked. That reminds us nobody is immune. Consumers have to be one step ahead of the hackers, if it’s possible. Don’t make your password too easy. Don’t make your username too easy. Change your password. The more often, the better. What else can we do to keep safe? What can suggest to tech companies to keep us safe?
Yes, even Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has accounts in other social media outlets. Two of them, Twitter and Pinetrest, were hacked this past weekend.
An organization called OurMine Team claimed responsibility. Nobody has verified how the hacks took place. But it’s widely believed Linkedin massive password dump a few weeks ago. In May 2016, millions of passwords and other pieces of user information were somehow leaked. Linkedin contacted the hacked users and instructed them to reset their passwords. It’s easy to use the same password for different accounts, from emails to social media. Apparently, it’s easy for Mark Zuckerberg to use the same passwords. Twitter suspended Zuckerberg’s account almost immediately. They publicly announced that decision. ?It’s back up now. I don’t know how entertaining it’s going to be. He hasn’t used Twitter since early 2012. OurMine Team claimed Zuckerberg’s Instagram accounts were hacked. They were not. His Instagram account is intact. So is his Google accounts. A Facebook representative announced no Facebook account has been hacked.
Why am I telling you this? Mark Zuckerberg got hacked. Why should you even care? If you haven’t changed your Linkedin password, do it now! You don’t think Zuckerberg’s was the only one that was hacked, do you? It’s a good time to take stock on all your password accounts. If they’re too easy, like ‘qwerty’ or ‘password’ or ‘1234567’, then change them. Change them into something difficult and something that only you can remember. Mark Zuckerberg is one of the greatest tech giants of all-time. Think of all this man’s accolades. Yet, he got hacked. So if it can happen to him, don’t think it can’t happen to you. Some may say, “Well, he has credible information and wealth and power. Of course somebody is going to target him.” My answer to that is: Do you own a credit/debit card? Do you own an email account? Do you own a social media account of any kind? Do you live in the United States of America or other industrialized nation? Do you have easy access to a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone? If you answer yes to two or more of these questions, then you have credible information, wealth and power as well. Don’t you think you can be targeted as well?
Summer is literally just a few weeks away. Many of us are toiling, sweating and sacrificing to get that beach body or get into that dream swimsuit. Your fellow beach companions aren’t the only ones watching. Hackers and cyber criminals are, too.
According to Intel security, 88% of people have clicked on pro-diet or pro-weight loss diet pop-up ads, even though many know what pop-up ads can lead to. ?Of the 15,000 people, nearly a third have purchased a diet product from a pop-up without even researching the business or product. They knew the purchase could even cause malware. And clicking these ads can cause vicious malware. And purchasing from such ads could lead to far worse consequences: id theft, fraud, online robbery. The same way professional con artists on the street are upping the ante, so are cyber con artists. Criminals know what season it is. They know dieting is almost a $65 billion a year industry. They know everyone wants to look good for summer. They know what season it is too. In much of the country, May is when people get summer minded. Weather gets warmer. Bathing suits are on store shelves. Criminals take advantage of this.
I am not here to play ‘blame the victim’. Those who are behind this needs to be caught and brought to justice. Those who are using this to phish and steal need harsh criminal and civil penalties brought against them. But we need to be more vigilant. If a weight loss pop-up ad comes your way, don’t purchase what they’re selling. Don’t even click on it! Hit the ‘x’ off button immediately. If you’re into weight loss products, they’re plenty of respectable companies either online or in person that have products that truly work. Or you can just do what I do: Be satisfied in the skin you’re in. That concept isn’t that radical, is it?
Over the last several years, there has been a lot of concerns online: hacking, ID theft, sextortion, government surveillance. These privacy and security issues deter online users, and it affects consumers and businesses alike.
Almost half of online consumers have been deterred from the Internet in some way, according to a study by the Department of Commerce. In fact, 30% of the 41,000 household studied say such concerns deter them from at least two Internet activities. These activities are: Banking/financial transactions, buying online, posting on social media, addressing controversial issues. Nearly half of those polled were afraid to bank online. One in every four were afraid to shop online or post on social media. One fifth of those surveyed were afraid of expressing controversial opinions. When asked what was their biggest fear, 63% of them said ID theft. Other fears include bank fraud (45%), corporate data collection (23%), personal data hijacking (22%), government data collection (18%), and personal safety issues (13%). The study suggest the more devices an individual or a household had, the more likely they would be to suffer at least one of these woes. This concerns security analysts because in order for online businesses to survive, much less thrive, there has to be some sort of trust between vendor and consumer. And it doesn’t look like there’s too much trust going on.
But on the bright side, this means the majority of consumers, though it’s a slight majority, don’t let such threats deter their online habits. But we need to do better. There are things you can do to protect yourself, like setting up challenging passwords and be careful of who you let in your social media circles. But there’s also more our government and corporations can do to protect their people. As we hear more stories of fraud, my fear is that these numbers will increase as the years drag on. If that happens, then the only people who will win are the bad guys. Ethical online businesses will go out and consumers will be consumed by fear and cynicism. Do you see why we have got to do better?
