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ISPs invading Subscriber’s Privacy

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It’s hard to keep track of the news of politics these days, and even if you can, how do you know it’s even real? The political landscape has greatly changed since January, and there have been a lot of laws passed that will affect us all, including the repeal of a law that protected your privacy on the internet. Basically, with this repeal, your internet service provider, or ISP, can sell your browsing history to anyone.

If you use the internet, you will be affected by this law. Not only will this change allow your ISP sell your browsing history to the highest bidder, it could also make it easier than ever before to access information about your family, your finances, and your health. Your ISP can now sell this information to companies, and they don’t need your permission to do so.

So, what does this mean for you? After all, you might not think it really matters that much. In simple terms, it means that your ISP can collect data about your browsing habits, create a record of this, and then sell it to advertisers. Think about your browsing history yesterday. If you want, open it up right now from your browser. One minute, you might have been buying dog food on Amazon, and then next, reading the latest news from the Kardashians. Regardless of if you want advertisers to know that you are a Kardashian fan, or not, to them, your data is a gold mine.

Now, think about your browsing history over the past few weeks or months, and then consider that your ISP knows each and everything you have searched for. It knows about that weird smell coming from your laundry room that you checked out online, and it knows that you have listened to that catchy new pop song a few times. It also knows your deepest worries, your sexual preferences, your political leanings, and what you are feeding your family. This information is invaluable to advertisers, but do you really want it getting out?

Luckily, you have options, one of which is called a VPN, or Virtual Private Network, which will encrypt data. Some of these, such as Hotspot Shield VPN, a client, is a good option. Also, start paying attention to those cookies and delete them.

Robert Siciliano personal security and identity theft expert and speaker is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen. See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video.

Study Shows Millennials Choose Convenience Over Security

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To those of us consider Tom Cruise the movie star of our day or even Grunge as the music we grew up with, looking at millennials, and the way they view life, is fascinating. These “kids” or young adults, many are brilliant. They really do define “disruption”.

However, that doesn’t mean that this tech savvy generation is always right. In fact, a new study shows just the opposite when it comes to internet safety. Though, they can also teach us a few things and are definitely up to speed on the value of “authentication” (which leads to accountability).

Anyway…South by Southwest, or SXSW, is a festival and conference that is held each year in Austin, TX. This year, a survey was done with some good AND scary results. The company that did the survey, SureID, found that 83% of millennials that were asked believed that convenience is more important than safety. That’s not good. But this is not the only interesting finding, however. On a positive note, the study also found the following:

  • About 96% want to have the ability to verify their identity online, which would ensure it was safe from hackers.
  • About 60% put more value on time than they do their money or safety.
  • 79% are less likely to buy something from a person who can’t prove their identity.
  • 70% feel more comfortable interacting with a person online if they can verify that other person’s identity.
  • 91% say they believe that companies “definitely” or “maybe” do background checks on those who work for them. These include on-demand food delivery and ridesharing. However, most companies do not do this.

What does this information tell us? It says that we are very close to seeing a shift in the way millennials are viewing their identities, as well as how they view the people and businesses they interact with.

Millennials have a need to want to better verify another person’s identity. To support this, just look at dating apps. Approximately 88% of people using them find the idea of verifying the identity of the people they might see offsite as appealing. It’s similar with ride sharing, where about 75% of millennials want to know, without a doubt, who is driving them around.

We live in a world today that is more connected than ever before. These days, as much as 30% of the population is working as freelancers, or in another type of independent work. In many cases, this work is evolving from small gigs to large and efficient marketplaces. Thus, the need for extra security and transparency is extremely important. Sometimes, technology helps us act too comfortably with people we don’t really know, and the study shows that having people prove whom they are will help to create higher levels of trust.

Robert Siciliano personal security and identity theft expert and speaker is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen. See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video.

Jihadis using easy to get Privacy Software

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Over the past two years, the media has tended to sensationalize jihadists’ rapid adoption and strategic use of social media. Despite perpetual news coverage on the issue, the public, by and large, continues to be relatively in the dark about the intricate ways in which many jihadists maintain robust yet secretive online presences.

To accomplish their goals — ranging from propaganda dissemination and recruitment to launching attacks — jihadists must skillfully leverage various digital technologies that are widely advertised and freely accessible online.

Just as smartphones and portable devices have transformed the way much of the world communicates and interacts, jihadists, too, have rapidly adopted and availed themselves of these technologies.

Their grasp of technology, which is quite savvy, yields one of the most frequently asked questions about the jihadists today: What is in their digital toolbox and how do they exploit these technologies to benefit their activities? This report explores these questions.

ISIS is no exception to the many entities out there, good and evil, who want a strong grasp on technical savvy, particularly software that can oppose surveillance. The Dark Web is abuzz with jihadist threads about how to beat surveillance systems. And they’re learning a lot, says a report from Flashpoint, a cybersecurity firm.

For instance, ISIS knows how to use Tor and Opera to scavenge the Web undetected. That’s just the beginning of their software knowledge. Jihadists also use:

In short, ISIS is very well keeping up with communications technology. Evil can be technologically savvy, too. Do not underestimate the technical prowess of jihadists, even though it seems as though some of them live rather primitively.

Robert Siciliano personal security and identity theft expert and speaker is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen. See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video.

10 Ways our Privacy is invaded

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2POnce you become active online…and especially once you become “connected” with a smartphone…your privacy will be in sizzling hot demand—and in fact, you can bet that as you read this, it is already being invaded in ways that you couldn’t possibly imagine. Here are some of those ways, provided by wired.com:

  1. Someone could be collecting information on you via a keylogger: It’s a little tool that records your keystrokes, that someone secretly inserts into your computer. A keylogger, however, can also be deposited by malware that you unknowingly downloaded.
  2. Tracking technology that retailers use. You are in a large department store and must pass through several departments to get to the one you want. Your smartphone is connected during this time. The tracking technology scans your face (or maybe it doesn’t) and connects with your phone, identifying you as a potential customer for the goods that are in the departments you are passing through or near to. Next thing you know, you are getting hit with ads or e-mails for products that you have no interest in.
  3. Video surveillance. This is old as far as the technology timeline, but it is still a favorite among all sorts of people including those with twisted minds. Video cameras can even be hidden in your front lawn. They can also be found at ATMs, placed there by thieves, to record users’ PINs as they punch them in.
  4. E-mail monitoring. Your e-mails could be being monitored by a hacker who has remote viewing capabilities of your computer (because you unknowingly let in a virus).
  5. Personal drones—those small-enough-to-by-held-by-a-child aircraft that are remote controlled; they can be equipped with cameras to take pictures of you, and they can even follow you around.
  6. Public WiFi. Snoops and hackers can eavesdrop on your unsecured WiFi internet with the right hardware and software. Use Hotspot Shield to encrypt your data.
  7. And in addition to these ways your privacy could be invaded, a hacker could be spying on you through the little Webcam “hole” above your computer screen (a piece of masking tape over it will solve that problem).
  8. Peeping Tom. And of course, there is the old fashioned way of intruding upon someone’s privacy: stalking them (on foot or via car), or peering into their house’s windows.
  9. Reverse peephole. A person could tamper with a peephole on a house’s front door, apartment door or a hotel door, then be able to see what’s going on inside.
  10. Remote access technology can be malware installed on your device designed to extract all your sensitive data. Make sure to keep your devices security software updated.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.

Consumers smartening up to Privacy Issues

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According to a recent report from Pew Research, many Americans take privacy seriously—as in the cyber kind, but also offline. 2P

  • 9% of survey respondents thought they had strong control over how much of their personal information was collected and shared.
  • 38% thought they had moderate control; 37% believed they had little control; 13% said they had zero control.
  • 25% used temporary e-mail addresses or usernames for some online activities.
  • 24% gave non-truthful information about themselves (e.g., when registering on a site to post comments, a single woman might indicate that she’s a married man; or a childless person might indicate that he has kids).
  • 59% cleared their browser and cookies.
  • 47% avoided giving out non-relevant information for online transactions.
  • 55% remained anonymous for some online activities.
  • 74% believe the government should have better limits to collecting people’s data.

Why don’t more people do things in the name of privacy like adjust the settings of their accounts or smartphone? For starters, some don’t want to hassle with “techy” things, while others don’t think it’ll make any difference. Some just aren’t worried all that much and have nothing to hide. Others don’t want to pay more money for more security. And some are clueless over how much of their data gets shared, such as those who blindly allow mobile apps “permissions.”

Some users also know that higher privacy, in general, comes with slower loading times and other inconveniences. People want efficient usability. Nevertheless, people are getting cranky.

For example, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was surveilling Americans’ phone calls overseas. They’ve now been sued. Secondly, the Stop Online Piracy Act was on the brink of being shelved, but lawmakers put a stop to these plans.

The National Security Agency’s metadata program with bulk phone calls was recently deemed illegal after the American Civil Liberties Union brought a lawsuit to the U.S. federal appeals court.

And that’s just a sample. There are more lawsuits in the works in the name of Americans’ privacy rights.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing identity theft prevention. Disclosures.

Consumers sacrificing Privacy for Convenience

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It’s hard to believe that, according to a recent poll from the Pew Research Center, most Americans aren’t too upset that the government can track their e-mails and phone calls. There’s too much of a blasé attitude, it seems, with people thinking, “I don’t care if I’m monitored; I have nothing to hide.”

2PThis blows it for those of us who actually DO mind that the government is snooping around in our communications, even if we’re as innocent as a butterfly.

Privacy experts believe that governmental monitoring of online activities is just such a fixed part of Americans’ lives that we’ve come to accept it. But privacy experts are pushing for an increased awareness of the importance of digital privacy, and this begins with the U.S. masses putting out some demands for privacy.

An article on arcamax.com points out that as long as Americans are sitting pretty with cheap and easy-to-use Internet experiences, nothing much will change. “People are very willing to sacrifice privacy for convenience,” states Aaron Deacon, as quoted in the article. He manages a group that explores issues pertaining to Internet use.

The article says that Pew’s research reveals that since the NSA revelation, 20 percent of Americans have become more privacy-conscious in a variety of easy ways like using a private web browser.

But most Americans shy away from the more complicated privacy protection methods. Furthermore, some people don’t even know of the extent of governmental monitoring.

Nevertheless, ease of use has made people complacent. Who wants to hassle around with encryption, decoding, coding, etc.? This stuff is great for techy people but not the average user.

The good news is that there is somewhat of a revolution geared towards making privacy methods less intimidating to Joe and Jane User. It just won’t happen overnight, but the market is “emerging,” says Deacon in the article.

Theoretically, if everyone turned techy overnight or privacy protection instantly became as easy as two plus two, this would make unhappy campers out of the businesses that flourish from tracking users’ online habits. The government wouldn’t be smiling, either, as it always wants to have fast access (e.g., “backdoor”) to electronic communications: the first communication choice of terrorists.

Thus far it seems that people have two choices: a fast, easy, cheap Internet experience that gives up privacy, or a techy, expensive, confusing experience that ensures privacy. The first choice is currently winning by miles.

Forewarned is forearmed. Pay attention. This is getting real.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to TheBestCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention.

Tips to Stay Digitally Safe on Spring Break

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Give me a break! In the next month, students will get the week off for spring break—a much needed reward after months of hard work and, for some, gnarly winter weather. Spring break means free time, family vacations, trips with friends, and timeless memories.

7WBut, spring break can pose some risks to your online reputation and your identity. So whether you are going to party it up in the Caribbean or you are taking the kids to Disney World, here are some tips to keep you digitally safe this spring break.

  1. Don’t bring more technology than you have to. Do you really need to bring your laptop, tablet, and smartphone on your beach vacation? The more devices you bring, the more chances for someone to steal or compromise your device and your personal data.
  2. Backup your data. No matter what devices you decide to bring, make sure you back them up before you leave. You don’t know what will happen on your trip, don’t risk your data.
  3. Share when you get home. It’s tempting to share that family picture with Mickey, but it could alert thieves that you aren’t home. Wait until you return home before you share your vacation pictures online.
  4. Review your privacy settings. Just because you aren’t sharing anything from your spring break on social media, doesn’t mean that your friends aren’t. Check up on your privacy settings so you can manage who sees your content, and as best as possible, what others say about you. That embarrassing video of your belly flop doesn’t need to be seen by everyone.
  5. Be careful when using public Wi-Fi. Don’t log on to bank/credit card sites or shop online when using a public Internet connection. You don’t know who else is on your network.
  6. Install security software on all your devices. Use comprehensive security software likeMcAfee LiveSafe™ service to protect your devices no matter where you are.

Have a great spring break!

Robert Siciliano is an Online Safety Expert to Intel Security. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked! Disclosures.

How the Internet of Things is further killing Privacy

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Privacy used to mean changing clothes behind a partition. Nowadays, say “privacy” and people are likely to think in terms of cyberspace. Stay connected, and you risk losing your privacy.

2PEven if you’re not connected, don’t even own a computer or smartphone, information about you can still be out there on the Internet, such as a listing for your address and phone number or a way for someone to get it with a small fee if you live in owner-occupied property.

An article on wired.com points out that the Internet of Things (IoT) is a privacy killer. But it’s also more than that. The evolution of technology forces us to redefine how we perceive our lives, says the article. Even an invention as primitive as the steam engine caused a rethinking among people. But whereas the steam engine was a slap, the IoT is a sledgehammer.

And the Internet of Things is only just beginning. Wired.com notes that the combination of the World Wide Web, big data, social identity, the cloud and more are all poised to erupt into something huge, and it won’t give us time to prepare.

The IoT will infiltrate the tiniest and most remote pockets of the planet, inescapable, impacting all who have a pulse, literally. It’s not like the steam engine in which, soon after its invention, many people were afraid to ride the train because they believed that God did not intend for humans to travel so fast, and thus, these folks easily avoided boarding the train.

We won’t be able to avoid the IoT. It won’t be a station we walk up to and then decide we don’t want to get on. We will be, as wired.com says, living inside the Internet. We’re too addicted to technology not to. Kids can’t imagine living without their smartphones. When their grandparents were kids, the only thing they felt needy for was an umbrella on a rainy day. You don’t miss what you can’t conceive of.

With the IoT slowly dissolving us, like a snake swallowing a giant rat and slowly dissolving it (certainly you’ve seen those unsightly images—you know what I’m talking about), our privacy will be dissolved along with us.

Strangers already can figure out what things we like to shop for without ever communicating to us. Your health habits, eating habits, dating habits…all the data that makes you YOU is continuously being shagged by Big Data. “Privacy” may one day become one of those words, like “oil lamp,” that’s no longer in use because by then, it will be such a far-removed concept.

Imagine living in a house made entirely of see-through structures, so that no matter where you are in it, people on the outside can see what you’re doing. There’s no brick, no aluminum, drywall or wood—just all some transparent material. That’s the Internet of Things.

Ways to shield your privacy:

Use a browser that has an “incognito” mode or privacy plug-in.

Use a VPN to mask your IP address and encrypt your data. Knowledge of where you’ve visited can be used against you by insurance companies and lawyers, to say the least; you just never know what can happen when something out there knows your every online move.

Turn of GPS location for photos. iPhone and other devices saves the location where you took the shots, which is no secret once you post the photos on FB, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Shutting down location based apps will help here too.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.

Having the Privacy Talk with your Kids

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Years ago, having “the talk” with your kids meant telling them where babies come from. Nowadays, “the talk” has a whole new meaning. Your kids may be able to explain in detail how a baby is created, but may be clueless (because so many adults are) about something called “data permanence.”

2PDon’t beat around the bush. Tell your kid outright, “If you post any racy images of yourself online—it will be there for the next million years for anyone to see. And it can be used against you.” Give this same warning about comments your child might post to an article. Things that your kids put online can come back to bite them many years later when they’re applying for employment. Tell them that.

Of course, warning your adolescent that something they post could come back to haunt them 20 years from now might not have much of an impact on them—kind of like telling your kid—who has endless energy—that smoking could cause heart disease 20 years from now. So how can you get through to your kids?

  • The more open the lines of communication are between parent and child, the more likely your message will get through about data permanence. Don’t make communication one-sided.
  • When your kids ask you how things work, even if it’s not related to cyber space, never act annoyed. Never make them feel it was a silly question. Never show impatience or judgment. If you don’t know the answer to their techy question, say, “I don’t know; let’s find out.” Don’t fudge a half-baked answer in an attempt to sound smart. Admit when you don’t know an answer, then hunt it down.
  • If you think it’s time to have “the talk” with your child, it is.
  • There’s never a perfect time to have “the talk.” Stop putting it off. Stop saying, “I’ll have it when…” Just do it.
  • Emphasize that raunchy images or nasty comments can come back to bite them in the near For example, they might have a crush on someone in a few years. What if that person googles them? What might they find? Ask your child, “What would you like them NOT to discover?”
  • Don’t be all lecture. Get your child thinking and talking opportunities. Ask them open-ended questions, such as the example in the previous bullet point. Get their brain cells working.
  • The privacy talk should be a process, not an event. That is, it should be a work in progress, ongoing, rather than a single event.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention.

Spy on your Kids yes or no

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It’s one thing to bust into your kid’s diary and read it, but if your kids want the privilege of engaging in the cyber world, they need to understand that parents are justified in “spying” on them. Or are they? Depends on whom you ask and how far they go at “spying” on their kids.

2WFrankly It’s not spying at all and both kids and parents should get over it. It’s called parenting. My kids are still young, but as they get older there will be hardly a thing they do online that I won’t be aware of. The internet isn’t a right, it’s a privilege to someone under age. No 13 or even 17 year old of mine will be on it without being supervised. Same goes for passwords. I’ll have access to all of them. This may be far-reaching to some, akin to the ancient form of spying: listening in on the extension phone to a phone conversation between your kid and his buddy. But really, it’s simply being a parent.

Spying can also be a life saver. Kids are being bullied today like never before. And as a result, they are hurting themselves. And then there are all the illegal things they may be doing. These same acts can get them killed. In this case, knowledge is definitely power to keep your kids safe.

Parent believe and they are right that spying is “an invasion of privacy and a violation of trust.” If you get caught, your relationship could be sabotaged, this is true. So spy openly and honestly. Tell them. Show them. Remind them. If kids know you are watching, they are often less likely to do things they aren’t supposed to.

The element of surprise, however, may be a factor. It makes a world of a difference if, from an early age, the parent establishes with their children that there will be “spying,” vs. never discussing this concept with the kids, and then one day you get busted.

Don’t use the word “spy,” either. Instead say “monitor” and let your kids know

How do you balance protecting your kids and maintaining trust? Team up with your kids. Make family agreements and contracts that show transparency. This will go far is keeping a close eye on their safety and security.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention.