Mark April 8 on your calendar, ladies and gentlemen. No, it’s not a new holiday, festival or celebratory event. If you’re not willing to change your Windows system, then come April 8, you may have nothing to celebrate.
On the day, Microsoft is expected to shut down Windows XP. That means all security, bugs, and virus updates will be gone. In layman’s terms, if you use XP to shop online after 4/8/14, you’ll be way more venerable to ID theft. If you’re storing data on XP after this date, your data has a much better shot at being compromised.? I know many have upgraded their systems in recent years (XP has been around for 12 years). But around 30% of all PC’s are still running on XP. Windows XP was already installed in nearly every computer built and bought from 2002-2006. Now the easy solution would be just to switch to a more modern Windows version.
And by this point, that’s really the only solution. It’s never good to keep any system for over a decade, especially if there’s been several replacements ever since. Now I know Windows Vista was a historic fail, but what about Windows 7 or 8? This is especially true for corporate firms that has been so comfortable with XP for so long. It’s time to move to a new version. It will take some effort: testing hardware and software, scheduling, and training employees for a new system. It will take money: If your computer is 10 years or over, simply buy a new computer. It’s time to let go. I know very few people like change. Very few people like to part with money and put forth extra effort. But wouldn’t you rather have the latest running technology for your business or household? Or are you willing to take a chance, hold on to XP, and risk everything you’ve worked so hard for being wiped out?
It’s a billion dollar a year business several times over. I’m talking about selling our personal information to the highest bidder with little legal or ethical accountability. CBS News’ Steve Kroft talks with Facebook director of public policy? Tim Sparapani on this controversial trade.
Mr. Sparapani now advises tech companies. He says there’s a lot that we don’t know about what’s being collected and sold about us. This includes everything from your political views to your medical records, and everything in between. Anyone, and I do mean anyone, can look at, buy or sell or know anything medical about you. They can follow and study what you buy online and the places you go to. For the longest time, data brokers have kept such a low profile. But now, a handful have come on the surface. There’s Paramount Lists, which has people struggling with addictions and debt. There’s Response Solutions; they have bipolar patients. Then there’s Stalistics. They broker the names of gays and lesbians.
Why are these data broker firms coming out now? Is it because they chose to or because they were exposed? I could care less. I’m just glad these issues are being discussed. Some may actually see positive aspects of data breaking. But at least we have concrete knowledge and know it’s being done and we can have an open debate about such issues. Do you believe data selling is ethical?
Russia has been in the news a lot this week, mostly due to the crisis of Ukraine and the world’s response to it. Here’s something they haven’t told you.
There is spyware out there called Turla. It’s said to come out of Russia, and it’s hit many government computers in the US and Europe. It’s been called one of the most sophisticated acts of espionage of all-time. These alleged Russian government backed hackers are said to be extremely disciplined in their craft. They pin point their targets to a tee. They exploit those who don’t have the technical knowledge and will to stand up to them. Of course, the US Pentagon and Russia’s Federal Security Bureau declined comment.
But this just didn’t start. Apparently, they’ve known about?Turla since 2008. Is it a coincidence that’s the same year Russia invaded?the former?Soviet nation of Georgia? I think not. Nor do I believe it’s a coincidence we’re just starting to learn about Turla in the wake of?Ukraine’s crisis. And since the US and most of Europe has been vehemently opposed to Russia’s meddling in the crises…maybe it’s a good thing we are learning about this Turla virus.?Where could they strike next? Could they strike our military? Could they strike our media? Could they strike the things we take for granted? How far could this escalate?
There’s a camera on every block and in every store. Someone can take a picture of you at any moment and blast it online. An employer can check your social media and refuse to hire you or fire you. Does privacy even exist anymore?
Apparently, this answer is yes…if you pay for it. There’s a New York Times article in which the author describes the literal cost of her privacy. These cost include $230 to encrypt her data on the Internet cloud, $35 for a privacy filter for her laptop, and $420 to bypass potential hacker and malware laced connections. Overall, $2,200 were spent to protect her online privacy.
I’m starting to empathize with this NY Times writer, in some ways. Sometimes, I like to browse travel websites for my next trip. Yet when I go to another site, surprise! That travel website has an online ad. Let’s not even get in the horror stories of hacking, from credit card theft, ID theft, even sextortion. But at what cost? I’ve gotten use to the ads following me around. I would pay the $35 for a privacy filter. And there are some steps you can take to keep your privacy private for free. I’ve always urged people to change their passwords often and not use the same passwords for all your accounts. So I ask you…Is $2200 a year a good investment on privacy or is it going overboard?
In the past couple of months, security hacks have made all kinds of headlines. Unfortunately, this trend has no end in sight.
According to Hold Security LLC and it’s chief security officer Alex Holden, around 360 million accounts have been compromised in attacks. One attack compromised over 105 million accounts alone. With these accounts, cyber criminals are selling an additional 1.125 billion emails to spammers. But these 360 million include usernames, passwords, and emails in unencrypted word. Holden believes these attacks were breaches that haven’t been reported. Holden believes some of these companies attacks probably won’t even be aware that they have been hit until a third party tells them.
Obviously, this is going to put people at risk for ID theft, stolen bank accounts, health records, even military records. Hold Security LCC, which has seen it all, says this is overwhelming. And think of all the Fortune 500 companies and even governments that has dealt with this in recent years. I don’t report these things to scare you but to inform you. And this isn’t going to go away.? So we need to do what we can to protect ourselves. Change your passwords often, and don’t use the same ones for all your accounts. Check your bank accounts often. If you see anything suspicious, take action immediately! What else can be done to keep us safe online?
First came target. Then came Neiman Marcus. And today, it’s my unfortunate duty to report yet another major hacking.
This time it was Kickstarter. Kickstarter is a website where struggling artists can form alliances, get funding for their work, and maybe even be discovered by a major label or company. By summer 2013, they hosted over 100,000 projects submitted by artists and raised over $700 million in pledges. But last week, their defenses were broken into. Users’ usernames, emails, physical addresses, phone numbers and passwords were compromised. Fortunately, no credit card or financial data was compromised, as far as we know. Kickstarter quickly revamped it’s security system and vows they’ve learned and improved. But they’re being hush about how many people were affected.
Like I said, the good news is the hackers got no financial info this time. But the info they got could easily lead to ID theft. It can also lead to more sinister problems: What if someone uses the personal info stolen to settle scores, or to sabotage someone’s artistic ability and dream? If you’re using Kickstarter, change your password immediately! I’ll go even further: if you’re using the same passwords for other websites, change those too. Kudos to Kickstarter for catching and reporting this breach before it got anymore severe. But this is the third major breach in as many months that we’ve heard about. Is there anywhere that’s safe?
