Teachers in numerous Massachusetts cities and towns are not allowed to “friend’’ students on Facebook or other social networking sites, and a number of other school districts south of Boston are considering a similar ban. The Boston Globe reports that many communities are working on policies governing school staff’s use of Facebook, “inspired in part…
Now more than ever, criminal hackers are hacking into databases that contain Social Security numbers and using the numbers to open new financial accounts. Criminals use stolen Social Security numbers to obtain mobile phones, credit cards, and even bank loans. Some victims whose Social Security numbers fell into the hands of identity thieves have even…
There is no shortage of news reports clear across the country on home invasions. States like New Hampshire are responding by including home invasion as a qualifier for the death penalty. Couple pistol-whipped during Tulsa home invasion Oklahoma: “A husband and wife were pistol-whipped early Saturday during a home invasion robbery. Three males in their…
When traveling for business, I often use Skype to video chat with my family at home. This is a comforting way to connect while sitting in a hotel. I’ll even leave the call on for hours at a time, just to watch what they do and hear the homestead background noise, which often includes the…
If a tree falls in the woods and nobody hears it, does it make a sound? Of course it does. If your smoke detectors go off and you’re not home will your house burn down? Maybe. Houses burn down when a fire apparatus doesn’t get to the home soon enough to put the fire out.…
In Cape Coral Florida, WZVN reports “Statistics in Cape Coral Florida show a major decrease in crime for 2010 and police say the biggest drop was in burglaries. They also say the citizens of Cape Coral played a big part in the crime rate reduction. “ That it is music to my ears. “Newly released…
The AP reports “WikiLeaks’ release of secret government communications should serve as a warning to the nation’s biggest companies: You’re next.” According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse’s Chronology of Data Breaches, more than 500 million sensitive records have been breached in the past five years. The Chronology of Data breaches lists specific examples of incidents in…
Service men and women face an elevated level of identity theft due to the ubiquitous use of the Social Security number (SSN) both here and abroad. Military personnel use their SSNs for a variety of reasons every day from everything including on various forms, IDs, access to facilities, and in Iraq they have it painted…
News9 in Oklahoma reports “An Oklahoma couple is urging thieves to return a stolen computer they say has the power to save millions of lives. The couple stopped at Panera to grab a meal before heading back to the lab. When they finished, they found their car windows broken and the laptop gone. Unfortunately, most…
Early adopters of new technology often discover bugs, quirks, imperfections, and security issues before a product is widely adopted. That’s why I usually wait six to eight months for companies to fix their flaws. Researchers discovered they could hack into Internet-ready HDTV’s. One of the top five best-selling TVs left its security process vulnerable to…
