good news and bad news

the good news for the day is:



the bad news for the day in technology is:

Tech: What will go wrong in 2009

the above link leads to a long article, so i'm distilling the main points below, as well as adding some of my own solutions not mentioned in the article:
1. hackers are now hijacking traffic by using the internet servers that translate the name of a site like msn.com to it's numerical equivalent like 208.67.111.222 (not a real translation). what this means is that a user can go to a trusted site with everything secure and done right, but all the information within the transaction gets rerouted to a different server where the hackers can later retrieve it. i recommend using a service like OpenDNS.com to protect against this. the service is free for a residential internet account. i've got it on my wireless service at home. i've got a buddy that works there. i might do an interview with him for fluxlife in the next month.

2. mobile phone attacks will happen in the future as mobile banking becomes more prevalent. no need to panic yet, but start thinking about alternate secure ways to do your banking so attackers don't get your account and PIN numbers from your cell phone in 2009.

3. attackers have found ways to exploit web and browser vulnerabilities so that they can place a virus on a server. so, you've got a trusted site on an infected server. you go there, and bam, you're hit. an example of this is when the internet explorer browser got hacked earlier this month. EXPERTS RECOMMEND DOING YOUR UPDATES WHEN THEY COME UP AND NOT WAITING.

4. attackers are taking advantage of social networking sites like FACEBOOK to get personal information. THAT'S WHY I NEVER PUT MY BIRTHDAY ON ANY NETWORK OR ANY COMPUTER SYSTEM NO MATTER WHAT.

5. attackers take advantage of the unemployed and sell them get rich quick schemes over the internet as well as charging the unemployed money for helping them file for unemployment which is a free service if you go through the respective agency in your state.

6. in general, attackers are opting more for quiet personal information stealing operations, vs. the "loud" systems shut downs and other more obnoxious hacker exploits.

7. also, attackers are becoming more and more precise with identity theft operations. they'll use your name, your pet names, and any other information they can glean off the net to develop a scam against you. for example, they may send you an email or letter with your full name on it and other personal information you wouldn't expect an attacker to have. don't fall for it! if you don't know the person whom an email or letter is coming from and it asks for more information about you, it's a scam!

well, not as short as i had hoped. there's a few more items to be covered from the source article, but these are what caught my eye. and, i don't mean to bum you out, but there are ways to seriously minimize or avoid all these problems, and i think awareness is the first step.

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8 comments:

MICKEY said...

Great post! VERY HELPFUL! Thanks for the insight and I'm looking forward to the next update.

Steve Morozumi said...

thanks Mickey!

Anonymous said...

The good news totally trumps the bad news, as the bad news can be bettered. Thanks very much for the helpful advice. Happy New Year!!!!!

Steve Morozumi said...

you're welcome!
and Happy New Year to you too!!!

Anonymous said...

Priceless info! Thanks for sharing. I better take some action...

Steve Morozumi said...

great to see you again Liz! glad you found this information useful!

have a Happy New Year!

Unknown said...

Thanks for this! ummm I need to go and remove my B-Day off about 5 sites... Doh! Peace;-)

Steve Morozumi said...

peace and Happy New Year to you Janaki!