The Last Watchdog

on Internet security by Byron Acohido

Scareware purveyors using Blackhat SEO to target Twilight movie fans
June 30, 2010

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Scareware purveyors’ top target for today: Twilight fans using Google to search for show times, sound tracks and all things related to latest movie about young vampire lovers.

{Safety tip: If you see a suspicious virus scan or alert, the worst thing you can do is click on anything in the alert, even a “cancel” button. That’s because clicking on anything the bad guys present to …More

In defense of employer monitoring
June 30, 2010

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The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month ruled that your employer has the right to monitor your text messages. That development falls in step with corporations increasingly monitoring employee’s phone calls, e-mails, instant messages and social network postings as USA TODAY reported in this cover story. George Orwell was prescient, albeit a few decades off. In this LastWatchdog guest post,  Elizabeth Charnock, CEO of evidence analytics …More

Google vs. China timeline: can search giant thwart communist superpower?
June 29, 2010

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Google has just acquiesced to China’s demand that it stop automatically redirecting Chinese citizens to Google’s Hong Kong website.

“It’s clear from conversations we have had with Chinese government officials that they find the redirect unacceptable—and that if we continue redirecting users our Internet Content Provider license will not be renewed,” says David Drummond, Google’s Chief Legal Officer.

This is  China’s latest counter punch — and a strong indicator …More

IT pros: most senior execs are ignorant about cyberattacks
June 28, 2010

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LastWatchdog has just gotten an exclusive sneak peak at the results of a NetWitness/Ponemon survey, due out next week. The survey of IT professionals who toil at big organizations reveals the extent to which CEOs, COOs and CFOs behave like ostriches, when it comes to grasping the scale and scope of cyberattacks against their respective organizations.

Ponemon Institute surveyed 591 IT professionals whose day-to-day duties revolve around securing …More

World Cup related scams and hoaxes infest Internet
June 26, 2010

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Internet scammers are taking full advantage of the fact that the World Cup is assured of high visibility across the planet through mid-July. Symantec says 25 percent of all global e-mail spam is now related to the World Cup.

Creative e-mail spammers are getting the gullible to buy fake tickets, fake drugs and bogus designer goods using the soccer tourney as the initial attention grabber.

And in …More

The privacy cost of social networking
June 25, 2010

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Consumer and corporate  exposure to cyberattacks spreading via Facebook and other popular social networks have reached the point where federal regulators this week stepped in to mandate that Twitter take privacy and security much more seriously.  In this LastWatchdog guest post Karl Volkman, Chief Technical Officer of SRV Networks,  outlines how  emerging  privacy concerns make  Facebook — the granddaddy of social nets, with 500 million users …More

FTC nails Twitter for deceiving users about privacy and security
June 24, 2010

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An important milestone that should compel all  social networks to be much more diligent about preserving  privacy and providing robust security was established by federal regulators today.

The Federal Trade Commission barred Twitter from misleading consumers about privacy at any point in the next  20 years. The FTC also ordered the company to establish a comprehensive  security program, subject to government monitoring for the next 10 years.

Twitter agreed …More

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