Do You Surf The Net Naked?

Well…do you? Okay, I’m not talking about what you wear—or don’t—while surfing the Web. I’m talking about surfing the Web without a thread of protection. Since I’ve started down this path of visuals to make the point of this article, I’ll give you a visual of how dangerous it is to surf without protection. Picture yourself walking in a prison yard, or on a street in a bad section of town, completely naked.

Expansion of ATM Skimming…To Retail Stores

I’ve been reporting on ATM skimming of bank cards by criminals, and subsequent credit card skimming at gas pumps since June of 2010; In The News – ATM Skimmers Industry, Cybercriminals Changing Attack Method on ATMs, and ATM Skimmer Crime; Moving From Bank ATMs To Gas Pumps; and now the crooks are expanding to retail stores such as restaurants and supermarkets. As reported by Silicon Valley Mercury News.com, “Jetro Holdings, one of the largest restaurant supply wholesalers sent letters to their customers, mostly restaurants, to cancel their credit cards in the wake of a data theft that was apparently linked to Russian criminals.” “Lucky Supermarket shoppers were also caught up in a card-skimming scheme that’s claimed more than 500 victims.”

5 Important Features when Choosing a Webcam

Here is an article from guest writer Rashed Khan. It contains information on choosing a webcam, including an explanation of the features you should consider in your search.

The amount of money that you spend on your webcam normally has a direct correlation to its functionality. Should you only require a webcam for keeping in touch with friends, a lower quality, less expensive webcam will suffice. For a more professional use, a webcam that has video conferencing functionality may be more appropriate with its additional picture enhancement features.

Webcams can vary in many ways such as size, shape, specification and price; follow these 5 tips to help you choose the best webcam for your individual needs:

Megapixels – The megapixels are the tiny dots of colour that, when combined, make the resulting visual image. A webcam with more megapixels will result in a clearer more vivid image. Today, the number of megapixels is not as big of an issue as it was in the past. Most webcams now will provide a reasonable image quality; however, the general advice is to go for a webcam that has 320X240 or 640X480 pixels for a good image. If you have the functionality of HD, consider a better specification for your webcam of 1280X720 pixels.

Frame Rate – As the megapixels deal with image and colour vividness, the frame rate is what controls how smooth the video quality is. Frame Rate decides how many images per second are displayed. 30fps (frames per second) is more than suitable for a standard use webcam. Those looking for a smoother, higher quality moving image should consider a webcam with the capabilities of 60fps.

Lens Quality – the lens is the first stage in the video process therefore it is vital that you have the correct lens to cater for your needs. A webcam with a glass lens is much better than one with a plastic lens.

Continuous Autofocus – In many scenarios there can be a lot of activity happening during a webcam session, autofocus (AF) enables the webcam to keep you as the main focus rather than diverting to other movements within the frame.

Low Light Quality – If you tend to use your webcam during the evening or in low light conditions, the resulting image quality can be very poor. By tampering with the screen brightness and contrast, you create a hazy and continued poor image on screen. Logitech have developed ‘Right Light’ in some of their webcams. This enables the image quality to be optimised in these poor light conditions.

Another issue to consider when contemplating the use of a webcam is the speed of your Internet connection. The speed of your computer processor and Input/Output capability is also an issue. The faster the better is the rule because the video images use lots of your computer’s communications capacity. I recommend the fastest broadband speed you can afford, to avoid jerky, stop and start video images. This requirement pertains to both ends of the teleconference session. Many folks have purchased webcams only to be disappointed by the poor video quality due to the above communications and computer shortcomings.

Are You Using The Internet Safely At Home?

Microsoft has published a short set of guidelines for using the Internet safely at home. It contains no new revelations, but it’s a concise, plain-English list of tips that you can use as a checklist to see if you’re using the proper security practices.

Their list of Top Tips for Internet Safety at Home is as follows:

Good Internet Citizens: Are Your High School and College Students Aware?

As we send our children off to high school and college, where they’re encouraged to use computers and the Internet in their studies. What’s wrong with that? Nothing really, it’s a good thing. But should they decide to get into online mischief, they…and you, might wish they hadn’t.

Hacktivists Hack Into Law Enforcement Websites

The hacktivist (hackers with a sociopolitical motivation) group Anonymous said recently that they have hacked into 70 law enforcement websites across the southern and central United States. Their reason? Retaliation for arrests of its sympathizers in the US and Britain.

Have these guys lost their minds??…the police?? I don’t agree with them hacking into any person’s or company’s website, for any reason. But law enforcement?? Do they want all the resources of the FBI and Scotland Yard aimed at them and determined to bring about their ruin?

Internet Security: Do you like sitting in the dark?

We may all be sitting in the dark without electricity in the near future. The Stuxnet malware that was used to attack the control systems in the Iranian nuclear power plants has been cloned and is for sale to anyone who wants it. Stuxnet was designed to attack and take control of the Siemens computers that control many industrial operations, including power plants.

Recently, the code for this malware program surfaced on the Internet and was “packaged” to sell. What this means is that this very sophisticated malware, probably developed by a nation-state (it is rumored that the US and Israel are those nations), will now be available to any hacker who may want to use it to disrupt operations in nuclear plants, power plants, manufacturing plants, anywhere these controllers are used.

Facebook Users Beware: Phishing Attacks Increasing

According to the latest Kaspersky Lab spam report, there was a significant increase in the amount of phishing attacks on Facebook and other social networking sites in June.

Phishing – The practice of sending out fake email messages that look as if they come from a trusted person or institution——usually a bank— in order to trick people into handing over confidential information. The emails often direct you to a website that looks like that of the real financial institution. But it is a fake and has been rigged to collect your personal information, such as passwords, credit card numbers and bank account numbers, and transmit them to the Bad Guys.

Phishing attacks on Facebook users increased 4.07 percent in June alone

Internet Security: Banking Trojan Attacks Smartphones

The Zeus trojan malware, famous for it’s skill in infecting PCs with the objective of seeking out banking account credentials and making unauthorized withdrawals and transfers, has turned it’s sights on the smartphone. It’s attack tactic is to lure a smartphone user to download fake security software which then injects the Zeus trojan onto the cell phone. It acts as an online banking application…pretty smart, huh?

Cool Stuff on the Web: Microsoft Security for Home Computers Newsletter

My regular readers know I’m passionate about improving the computer security of all computer users, especially the home computer user, and I try to write in least technical language in order to communicate to people at all levels of technical knowledge. So, you would not be surprised that I seek out other forums of security information who have a like objective. Microsoft’s Security for Home Computers Newsletter is a great resource for the home computer users who want to get tips on how to secure their computers, security alerts, news about security updates, and other security resources available to them. And it’s written in language that isn’t too technical for the less-experienced user.