Why Should You Use A Proxy Server?

Have you ever thought about how cyber-criminals are able to steal your identity?  They do this by following the digital tracks you leave behind whenever you log onto the internet.  This new brand of crook sits waiting for someone to let their guard down, so he can pounce. 

When you go to your favorite coffee shop to have your morning coffee…or even if it’s to unwind after work… and you decide to take out your laptop to send out some e-mails, or do some shopping, you could be putting your identity at risk.  Whenever you use a public hotspot, the WiFi connection may be free, but the penalty could be very costly.  Think about it…how many other people are also using this connection?  You see all of the open laptops, but some of those people may be hard at work hunting for information.

The internet connections in public places leave you vulnerable to identity theft.  Any information you send through this connection  is unencrypted, which means anyone who can find your IP address can intercept your data stream and see everything that you are doing.  

The internet is such a vital part of all of our lives and we are at the point where we don’t give a second thought to entering our personal information.  Every day, we sign up for online newsletters and interesting websites.  We shop on line because that way, we’re not limited to store hours.  Each site asks for a user name, an e-mail address and a password.  If we enter this information over an unencrypted connection, that cyber-criminal posing as a fellow businessman will be able to use it.

With so many websites, newsletters, and social networking sites to sign up for, at one time or another, we have all been guilty of using the same user name (usually an e-mail address) and password for everything.  After all, how can we be expected to remember 20 different passwords?  If a cyber-criminal has intercepted your data stream while you were sending e-mails, he now has your e-mail address and a password.  Once he has this information, he can go through all of your e-mails and collect information from them.  He also now has a password that he can potentially use to open other areas of your on line life.  Bank accounts, on line shopping accounts…your life will be laid out before him.  

If you use the same password for your social networking site, this thief can get into your account, which will tell him your name, location and names of your family and friends.   He is now armed with your name and city, so now it’s not only your identity that is in jeopardy, but also your home and family. 

The only way to deter a cyber-crook, other than never again using a public hotspot, is by using a proxy server.  With a proxy server, not only can you surf the net anonymously by hiding your IP address, but all of the information you enter is encrypted.  Even if someone could intercept your data stream, he won’t be able to decipher any of the information, so it would be useless to him.   

Don’t let a cyber-criminal into your life.  Start using a proxy server today!

US IP Address - How To Get One

Do you need a US IP address?  

Sign up for a free trial of Private Proxy at www.privateproxysoftware.com. 

Fighting Cyber Crime the Better Way

As the use of mobile devices becomes more popular, the number of cyber crimes also increases. The internet can now be accessed by almost anyone who has a smartphone or other digital device. This worsening scene has made law enforcers look for more inventive ways of combating these criminals. The usual strategies alone cannot be effective against cyber crime. It needs a good deal of initiative, coupled with technology, in order to take a good stand against cyber criminals.

In California, a new special eCrime Unit is now catching and prosecuting internet crooks. This is a team created by the State’s Attorney General and, is comprised of 20 attorneys and investigators. It uses modern techniques to target criminal activities like email scams, piracy, child pornography, online fraud, and others. Many people have been, and are still being victimized by cyber crime, or e-crime, both online and off.

The unit has already solved one case and put a man in jail who was found guilty of hacking email and Facebook accounts. What he usually did was to break into an account, and he would then intimidate its owner by threatening to expose embarrassing pictures. Another case involved a criminal group whose main activity was using card scanners and hidden cameras at ATM machines to steal passwords and other sensitive account information.

Knowing that the internet is very important to the economy, to individuals, and to businesses, these criminals are not lacking in victims. From offline, their operations shifted online to steal very important information from individuals and groups. The year 2012 is seen to be a year of battling against online criminal activities. The past year proved to be problematic in terms of scams; this year will give rise to other types of online crimes.

More systematized and focused internet crime fighting activities will be delivered by the new eCrime Unit. According to the Attorney General, California would like to set a new trend in going after cyber criminals and prosecuting offenders. They will make sure that internet technology is useful not only to online criminals but more so to law enforcement agencies.

Image: chanpipat / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Be Prepared for Narural Disasters

No matter what you call it, a natural disaster is something that comes with or without warning. The year 2011 was rich in natural catastrophes that cost billions of dollars. In the United States alone, there were numerous hurricanes and tornadoes. There were earthquakes that rocked and destroyed places on the East Coast, in Colorado and in Peru. Japan had her share of tsunami while Queensland, Australia, Bangkok and most recently the Philippines, suffered from devastating floods. Many people learned the lesson that natural disasters should be put at the top of risk concerns.

Businesses and government agencies have to be prepared for all these impending disasters. Every business and agency should have its own disaster recovery plan. In today’s information-driven world, power outages and network failures can be a result, and these further the chaos that comes with disasters. It should not be too late for every business to adapt and respond to risks if it is to survive. No matter what happens, there should be uninterrupted and continuous access to data, whether it is personal or corporate in nature.

So, how should one get ready for disaster? It is a given that the most important assets of a company or agency are its people. These people have their own most important asset, which is their family. The company or agency should have a plan on how to move its people, including their families, if the need arises. There should also be efforts to make a communication plan that is timely, clear and honest.

Because company and agency data are vital to the uninterrupted stream of activities, a data back-up plan should be verified and validated. Is it actually out of harm’s way? Is it accessible to the recovery location? What about data privacy? Cloud service is now available so a company or agency could use this to store key data.

Thinking ahead of the situation, it should be clear to all that catastrophic events could last for some time. The impact of such events could be expected to last for days, weeks or even months. What options are there if the business facilities, network, technology and people could not be available? It is also very important to think about those other businesses associated with it. Their being prepared has a direct effect on any company or agency because together, they form a chain or network. There is no point in doing everything right if everybody else around is not prepared.

Image: Maggie Smith / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Securing Patient Data

There are new privacy concerns that were triggered by the continuous increase in data breaches at health care providers. There were some studies conducted to pinpoint the main cause of this exasperating situation. There were some that put the blame on insufficient funding for security, while others said that the sudden surge in data breaches is due to devices that were either lost or stolen. The first reason could be explained by the government’s priorities in distributing funds, but it is not good to hear that there is human error, or that health care professionals are not well informed about securing patient data.

Almost all private and public organizations are now using mobile technology in their daily operations. People in these organizations use smartphones or tablets to conveniently manage data because doctors and other health care professionals discovered the convenience of using these gadgets for electronic health records. These tools, however, do not possess the much needed, necessary security. Because they do not have enough background, some doctors are using these gadgets without taking advantage of the use of encryption technology, or even passwords.

A spokesperson from the American Health Information Management Association saw the need for education and awareness. He said that training sessions on the use of mobile technology in relation to data management are already being implemented. But he also added that these are not as effective as education and awareness. There must be better involvement if health professionals are to have the sufficient awareness of patient data security.

It is surprising to note that at present, 4 out of 10 health care professionals surveyed believe that patient data accessed by mobile devices is secured. An added surprise comes from knowing that 81% of them are using these devices to collect, store and transmit patient records. But the shocking detail is that almost one-half of the participants surveyed revealed that their organizations do not have any data security mechanism at all.

Image: winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Still on Health Record Breaches

The number of hospitals in the United States that are adopting electronic medical records is continuously growing, but according to a study from the Ponemon Institute, insufficient funding for security has also triggered a surge in patient data breaches. A recorded 32% increase in data breach incidents from 2010 to 2011 tends to support such a claim. Hospitals say that there should be enough funding from the agency concerned in order to ensure patient privacy.

Converted into cost, the health care industry lost an estimated $6.5 billion just last year alone. Nearly one-half of the health organizations that were surveyed said that the major cause of this was lost or stolen devices. The survey included 72 hospitals and health care providers, but the names of the organizations were kept private.

Observers see that the condition is getting worse, mainly because security seems to not be given any major importance. They also anticipate that it will not get better given the policy of providing incentives to doctors and hospitals that implement digital health records. More patient records will be exposed to theft with the compensation budget that reaches up to $27.4 billion. Health care organizations then rush to speed up health records, but there is no corresponding needed security.

Another study showed that more than 50 percent of the organizations surveyed blame insufficient funding as the reason for such breaches. There are existing data breach notification laws that order organizations to report to the Health and Human Services Department those breaches that involve more than 500 people. The agency then makes a list of those affected and posts these violations on its website.

There are laws on federal privacy that health care providers and employer-sponsored group health plans are obliged to comply with. These laws require periodic audits to be conducted by the Health and Human Services Department. This is to carry out security risk reviews and assess security and breach notification policies. This mechanism ensures that organizations have their privacy, security and breach notification policies in place.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Anti-Hacking Laws Must be Updated

Lawmakers are busy looking into the 1986 anti-hacking law primarily because it no is no longer up to date with the current online “culture”. Without the needed changes, the law would punish even innocent web surfers. But those concerned with its updating are very careful because changing the penalties might not sink the law’s teeth in legitimate criminals. Revising the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act should not set aside the civil liberties of users while seeing to it that cyber-criminals are prosecuted.

One important revision that has to be made is in the power of government to penalize users who violate a website’s terms of service agreements. A law school professor openly said that the present state of the law is harsh. He added that it threatens the civil liberties of Americans who simply give false information on Facebook and other sites.

The professor gave some typical examples in his written testimony of how millions of users give fake information. He wrote that a user could be held criminally responsible for simply writing that he goes to the gym every day when in fact, he goes there only once a month. He added that the millions of users who supply false information about their height, weight or age could be considered criminals. He also mentioned a study that suggested 8 out of 10 users provide false information in their profiles. Incredible, but there are millions of Americans out there who are cyber-criminals!

One critic deemed it necessary for lawmakers to spell out what the law actually means, particularly with the phrase “exceeds authorized access”. This will set the limits of employers to penalize those employees who break terms of service agreements. The same critic also said that the revisions should make those federal employees who are handling confidential information answerable.

Such initial steps and suggestions would narrow down the prosecution threats to those breaches committed by government employees. A letter was co-signed by organizations that have been known to protect consumers and citizens. They laid down their common concern of defending people who break site service contracts by “accident”.