FBI Warning - Connected Toys Risks

On Monday, The FBI issued a warning that advises parents to carefully check toys connected to the internet for privacy and security concerns. 

In this warning, the Feds gave American families the depressing news that the toy with cloud features such as online content hosting or speech recognition could put the security and privacy of kids at risk as large amount of personal information may be unintentionally disclosed. 

The FBI warns that these toys to have poor security standards which are overlooked in order to market them fast and to make them easy to use. Online research of these products should be done by consumers for any known issues face by them that have been recognized by researchers or in consumer reports. 

It was found that numbers of toys were found to be spying on kids indirectly and they collect and store data that includes personal information and audio conversation without parent’s knowledge. 

In addition to spying toys, some of app developers and websites have been called out for inadequate protections on accounts and data for children. 

Under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), it is mandatory for a company to get permission from parents before collecting any personal information from the user who is below the age of 13. 

The warning given by the FBI advises parents to check the reviews of the toys, what they can collect, transmit, and the privacy policies under which they operate. Furthermore, parents are advised to use connected toys on the reliable Wi-Fi networks that make sure that patches and firmware are installed for connected devices and connected apps. 

The FBI warns that "Bluetooth-connected toys without authentication requirements such as passwords and PINs when paired with mobile devices pose a great risk of unauthorized access to the toy and allow communications with a child user. Such unauthorized users can remotely gain the access to the toy with poor security measurements. 

The Internet has modified the way people connect and optimized the way business is conducted. It has made life less complicated for everyone and now people are quite depending on it. That ‘everyone ‘consists of criminals and conmen together with all benign internet users. Alas! The Internet has no longer most effective eased humans’ lives but also positioned them inside the reach of those with malicious cause. If you do not step with caution, much more likely than not, you'll be a victim of cybercrimes. 

While you may think that you are not unique enough to be “hacked”, maximum criminals do not longer specify a goal. Though focused assaults do show up when there are financial or other advantages concerned, maximum attackers set a lure and look ahead to random people to fall for it. But, these traps may be averted in case you’re conscious.

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Social Networks Security Threats and Tips

Social Networks Security Threats and Tips

Social networks encourage their users to share far too much personal data with each other. For example, 45% share their birth date which is a key identity verifier. It’s no wonder that cyber criminals use social networks to target their prey.

These are the Best Tips:

Be skeptical -Social networks can be a useful source for business information, as well as for newsworthy updates from your friends. But they also contain a lot of useless information. Generally speaking, you should treat anything you see online with a high degree of skepticism. Do not believe everything you read, be it financial advice, breaking news, or tips on free giveaways—especially if it involves clicking a link or installing an application. If someone asks you for money in advance, it might be a scam.

Check privacy policies & settings - All major social networking services have specific privacy guidelines and rules that are published on their websites. Make sure you understand them, even though they may be tedious to read, as they likely explain if your information is shared with other parties. Some services offer the ability to restrict your privacy settings for specific groups, such as allowing you to share pictures with your friends only and not everyone. Make good use of these settings.

Good passwords -Use good, strong passwords. (Your birth date or “123456” are not good passwords.) If possible, the password should contain letters and numbers, as well as special characters. If you can’t remember complex passwords, either use a passphrase as hint or use any of the available password management utilities that can securely store them for you. Do not choose a password that can be guessed by the information that you have published on your account site. This includes friend’s names, favored movie stars, or pet names.

Protect the password - You should never share your password with others. This includes services that promise to help you get more friends or something similar. Do not lose control of your password. If you enter your password, ensure that you are on the real website and not a phishing scam page that just looks like the original site. Should you suspect that you have fallen for a phishing attack and your account has been compromised, use a clean computer to log into the original service and change your password.

Be thoughtful - Always think twice before posting something. Keep in mind that once you posted it, even to a close group of friends, you no longer have control over where it will be reposted and who might read it. These things can come back to haunt you when you search for a new position in the future. Consider if you really need to publish the full information. This includes posting too many personal details, such as phone numbers or work-related things. Furthermore refrain from forwarding virus hoax or exaggerated warning messages that will confuse more than help other users. Be nice and respectful to others—do not post hate messages about others, since you would not want to receive them yourself.

Be wary - People on the Internet are not always who they claim to be. The celebrity who you are following might just be another fan, and the supposed co-worker from another office might just be someone doing reconnaissance on your enterprise. Not everyone that claims to be your friend is your friend.

Stay updated - Always ensure that the software you use is up-to-date. Not only does this include the operating system and web browser, but also third-party plug-ins, such as PDF viewers. Install all the latest patches and hot fixes from the official site and automatically check for newer available versions through the software.

Stay protected - Setting up and upgrading your anti-virus and firewall program is one of the first things that should be done before connecting to the Internet. Without this basic component scammer will have quick access to the details on your PC. There are many applications available such as Norton, created by Symantec to guard customers from being taken advantage of.

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7 Protection Tips to Avoid Identity Theft

Check out our 7 tips to avoid identity theft, phishing attacks and secure your personal information

Question: Would you trust a stranger with your bank account number, email account password or telephone number?

Answer: Most of the time it happens without you even noticing.

Look at what happened to Michelle Brown and how long it took her to recover from her identity theft. A woman called Heddi Ille stole her name and social security number. Heddi used Michelle’s identity for a year. A year passed before she was caught.

In that time Michelle ended up $50,000 in debt thanks to Heddi. Michelle had a history of paying her bills on time. Despite Michelle’s protestations that she wasn’t running up bills, it made no difference. When Heddi was eventually caught she was arrested for ‘stolen property’ and 'not identity theft.’

These are 3 of the most common methods for stealing personal information:

Pharming: When you enter the URL of an online banking site, you can be redirected to a fraudulent site, which looks identical to your bank. But the site records and steals your financial details.

Keystroke Logging: Your keystrokes can be recorded by cyber criminals and used to steal your credit card details.

Phishing: These are clever, sophisticated emails which request your confidential details and online banking information – to scam you. Your bank would never ask for this information.

7 Tips to Prevent Identity Theft

1. Backup and secure your personal and financial documents. You can easily backup your files to the cloud from your security/backup software or backup your documents and files to an external hard drive. 
2. To avoid phishing attacks, don't click on spam emails and links you don't completely trust. 
3. Protect your computer, mobile device, tablet and ensure that the security software you use is up-to-date 
4. Don't log in your bank account, email or any sensitive account through free public Wi-Fi. 
5. Create strong passwords and update them frequently. Never use the same password in more than 1 site, different passwords adds another layer of protection against cyber criminals. 
6. Be aware of what you share and think twice before sharing something. 
7. Check your credit card statements each month and contact your credit card company immediately in case of lost or stolen credit card. 

Internet security software with Identity Protection keeps your passwords in one place, and discovers phishing and identity threats before they cost you, money and time.

 Click Here to Get 50% Off Security Software with Identity Protection

If you bank, shop online, or have a social media account - be careful! As simple and convenient as it can be, shopping and banking online without a software security suite poses serious risks to your security.

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250,000 users’ passwords stolen From Twitter by hackers

The social networking site (Twitter) has warned that A quarter million its users may have had their passwords and email addresses stolen by hackers. This is the biggest ever security breach which has affected Twitter, which has 200 million active users, and highlights growing concerns over the danger of so-called cyber attacks.

There is also a risk that Twitter's "internal network" has been compromised by the hacking, which could potentially compromise other information. But security experts cautioned that the hackers may have a potentially valuable cache of information, as many people's Twitter passwords are identical to those they use for other purposes, including banking. This has come after Twitter warned earlier this week of attempts to gain access to its user data. It said that it shut down one attack moments after it was detected.

The relatively small number of users affected suggested either that those attackers weren't on the network long or that they were only able to compromise a subset of the company's servers, he said.

An expert said that the Twitter hack probably happened after an employee's home or work computer was compromised through vulnerabilities in Java. Ashkan Soltani, an independent privacy and security researcher, also said that such a move would give attackers "a toehold" in Twitter's internal network, potentially allowing them either to sniff out user information as it traveled across the company's system or break into specific areas, such as the authentication servers that process users' passwords.

Bob Lord, Twitter's director of security told users to make sure that they use a strong password – at least 10 (but more is better) characters and a mixture of upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. He further encouraged them to take the opportunity of ensuring that they follow good password hygiene, on Twitter and elsewhere on the internet.

Twitter said in updated in its blog that the attack was not the work of amateurs, and they do not believe it was an isolated incident. For that reason, Twitter decided that it was important to publicize the attack while they still gather information, and are helping government and federal law enforcement in their effort to find and prosecute these attackers to make the internet safer for all users.

Twitter is generally used to transmit messages to the public, so the hacking might not immediately have yielded any important secrets. But the stolen credentials could be used to ear-drop on private messages or track which internet addresses a user is posting from

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Social Media Safety Tips. What not to share & what is the risk.

This video from Intel provides safety tips for social media. What not to share & what is the risk.

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