Firesheep brought to light the security of social sites. It is shocking to find how easily accessible your information can be on the Internet.
Without the right security measures and protocols you can loose valuable information as well as be put in harms way if your hacker might have a dangerous motive for wanting to access your accounts.
There are four known ways to get hacked:
1. Lack of SSL Browsing
Without a secure SSL anyone can see what you are browsing at any time
2. Partial Sidejacking
In a partial sidejacking, some of your info is available to the attacker, but the person can’t completely breach your account.
3. Full Sidejacking
The attacker can get full control of your account but still cannot access your user name and password
4. Full Hijacking
Attacker gets full control of your account and can make any changes.
Unfortunately the world is becoming increasingly dangerous by the day and to survive one must continuously be aware of risks, because if you know the risk you know how to prevent it as well.
I hope that you found the article useful
Source: www.digitaltrends.com
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
The "Firesheep" add-on!
If you are one of the people that surf the net without logging out of, lets use Facebook as an example, then this article is very important to read.
What is Firesheep?
Firesheep is a Mozilla add-on that allows anyone to hijack other people's social network accounts in open WiFi zones.
How this application works is actually very simple. When you log in to a site, you get a session cookie to keep you logged in, this is usually turned on by the "Remember Me" button).
By that cookie you will be automatically identified as the one logged into the site so that you don't need to identify yourself again. So then Firesheep allows it's user to "steal" your cookie and with that your session and then they can do anything and access anything that you can on the site...scary isn't it?
Even scarier is that any person, or idiot, can use Firesheep. There is a list of sites that firesheep can hijack such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Google, Foursquare, Windows live, Cisco, Flicker, bit.ly and so many more.
So now you are probably wondering how you will be able to Stop this from happening to you?
Well, always use an encrypted WiFi when using one. Then you can demand a SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) network, this provides secure communications over the Internet, your company has a responsibility to protect you against these kind of threats
For our range of Networking solutions contact iVolve Technologies (Pty) Ltd
What is Firesheep?
Firesheep is a Mozilla add-on that allows anyone to hijack other people's social network accounts in open WiFi zones.
How this application works is actually very simple. When you log in to a site, you get a session cookie to keep you logged in, this is usually turned on by the "Remember Me" button).
By that cookie you will be automatically identified as the one logged into the site so that you don't need to identify yourself again. So then Firesheep allows it's user to "steal" your cookie and with that your session and then they can do anything and access anything that you can on the site...scary isn't it?
Even scarier is that any person, or idiot, can use Firesheep. There is a list of sites that firesheep can hijack such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Google, Foursquare, Windows live, Cisco, Flicker, bit.ly and so many more.
So now you are probably wondering how you will be able to Stop this from happening to you?
Well, always use an encrypted WiFi when using one. Then you can demand a SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) network, this provides secure communications over the Internet, your company has a responsibility to protect you against these kind of threats
For our range of Networking solutions contact iVolve Technologies (Pty) Ltd
Monday, September 20, 2010
Greatest Generation
When browsing the internet I came across this article that I found quite interesting, it was posted on the wall street journal under the heading The Greatest Generation (of Networkers) and it immediately caught my attention.
A 17-year-old boy, caught sending text messages in class, was recently sent to the vice principal's office at Millwood High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The vice principal, Steve Gallagher, told the boy he needed to focus on the teacher, not his cellphone.
The boy listened politely and nodded, and that's when Mr. Gallagher noticed the student's fingers moving on his lap.
He was texting while being reprimanded for texting.
"It was a subconscious act," says Mr. Gallagher, who took the phone away. "Young people today are connected socially from the moment they open their eyes in the morning until they close their eyes at night. It's compulsive."
Because so many people in their teens and early 20s are in this constant whir of socializing—accessible to each other every minute of the day via cellphone, instant messaging and social-networking Web sites—there are a host of new questions that need to be addressed in schools, in the workplace and at home.
Chief among them: How much work can "hyper-socializing" students or employees really accomplish if they are holding multiple conversations with friends via text-messaging, or are obsessively checking Facebook?
Some argue they can accomplish a great deal: This generation has a gift for multitasking, and because they've integrated technology into their lives, their ability to remain connected to each other will serve them and their employers well. Others contend that these hyper-socializers are serial time-wasters, that the bonds between them are shallow, and that their face-to-face interpersonal skills are poor.
Does text messaging prepare one to interact in the workplace?
"The unspoken attitude is, 'I don't need you. I have the Internet,'" says P.M. Forni, the 58-year-old director of the Civility Initiative at Johns Hopkins University, which studies politeness and manners. "The Net provides an opportunity to play hide-and-seek, to say and not say, to be truthful and to pretend. There is a lot of communication going on that is futile and trivial."
That's far too harsh an assessment, says Ben Bajarin, 32, a technology analyst at Creative Strategies, a consulting firm in Campbell, Calif. He argues that because young people are so adept at multimedia socializing, their social skills are actually strengthened. They're good at "managing conversations" and getting to the pithy essence of an issue, he says, which will help them in the workplace.
While their older colleagues waste time holding meetings or engaging in long phone conversations, young people have an ability to sum things up in one-sentence text messages, Mr. Bajarin says. "They know how to optimize and prioritize. They will call or set up a meeting if it's needed. If not, they text."
And given their vast network of online acquaintances, they discover people who can become true friends or valued business colleagues—people they wouldn't have been able to find in the pre-Internet era.
It's hard to quantify whether the abbreviated interchanges of text messaging are beneficial in the workplace, but this much is known: Young workers spend more time than older workers socializing via their devices or entertaining themselves online.
In a 2008 survey for Salary.com, 53% of those under age 24 said this was their primary "time wasting" activity while at work, compared to just 34% for those between ages 41 and 65.
Online social networking while at work hampers business productivity, according to a new study by Nucleus Research. Almost two-thirds of those with Facebook accounts access them at their workplaces, the study found, which translates to a 1.5% loss of total employee productivity across an organization.
A study this year by psychology students at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., found that the more time young people spend on Facebook, the more likely they are to have lower grades and weaker study habits.
Heavy Facebook users show signs of being more gregarious, but they are also more likely to be anxious, hostile or depressed. (Doctors, meanwhile, are now blaming addictions to "night texting" for disturbing the sleep patterns of teens.)
Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did
Odette
www.ivolve.co.za
A 17-year-old boy, caught sending text messages in class, was recently sent to the vice principal's office at Millwood High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The vice principal, Steve Gallagher, told the boy he needed to focus on the teacher, not his cellphone.
The boy listened politely and nodded, and that's when Mr. Gallagher noticed the student's fingers moving on his lap.
He was texting while being reprimanded for texting.
"It was a subconscious act," says Mr. Gallagher, who took the phone away. "Young people today are connected socially from the moment they open their eyes in the morning until they close their eyes at night. It's compulsive."
Because so many people in their teens and early 20s are in this constant whir of socializing—accessible to each other every minute of the day via cellphone, instant messaging and social-networking Web sites—there are a host of new questions that need to be addressed in schools, in the workplace and at home.
Chief among them: How much work can "hyper-socializing" students or employees really accomplish if they are holding multiple conversations with friends via text-messaging, or are obsessively checking Facebook?
Some argue they can accomplish a great deal: This generation has a gift for multitasking, and because they've integrated technology into their lives, their ability to remain connected to each other will serve them and their employers well. Others contend that these hyper-socializers are serial time-wasters, that the bonds between them are shallow, and that their face-to-face interpersonal skills are poor.
Does text messaging prepare one to interact in the workplace?
"The unspoken attitude is, 'I don't need you. I have the Internet,'" says P.M. Forni, the 58-year-old director of the Civility Initiative at Johns Hopkins University, which studies politeness and manners. "The Net provides an opportunity to play hide-and-seek, to say and not say, to be truthful and to pretend. There is a lot of communication going on that is futile and trivial."
That's far too harsh an assessment, says Ben Bajarin, 32, a technology analyst at Creative Strategies, a consulting firm in Campbell, Calif. He argues that because young people are so adept at multimedia socializing, their social skills are actually strengthened. They're good at "managing conversations" and getting to the pithy essence of an issue, he says, which will help them in the workplace.
While their older colleagues waste time holding meetings or engaging in long phone conversations, young people have an ability to sum things up in one-sentence text messages, Mr. Bajarin says. "They know how to optimize and prioritize. They will call or set up a meeting if it's needed. If not, they text."
And given their vast network of online acquaintances, they discover people who can become true friends or valued business colleagues—people they wouldn't have been able to find in the pre-Internet era.
It's hard to quantify whether the abbreviated interchanges of text messaging are beneficial in the workplace, but this much is known: Young workers spend more time than older workers socializing via their devices or entertaining themselves online.
In a 2008 survey for Salary.com, 53% of those under age 24 said this was their primary "time wasting" activity while at work, compared to just 34% for those between ages 41 and 65.
Online social networking while at work hampers business productivity, according to a new study by Nucleus Research. Almost two-thirds of those with Facebook accounts access them at their workplaces, the study found, which translates to a 1.5% loss of total employee productivity across an organization.
A study this year by psychology students at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., found that the more time young people spend on Facebook, the more likely they are to have lower grades and weaker study habits.
Heavy Facebook users show signs of being more gregarious, but they are also more likely to be anxious, hostile or depressed. (Doctors, meanwhile, are now blaming addictions to "night texting" for disturbing the sleep patterns of teens.)
Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did
Odette
www.ivolve.co.za
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Evolve with iVolve
iVolve Pty (Ltd) t/a iVolve Technologies is a leading ICT hardware and software solutions provider that offers all the services that best suits your needs
We are a well known company in the IT industry with partners such as Microsoft and HP(where we have Gold status). In addition we are a member of the Kagiso group. Our high BEE status and our 100% recognition level makes us well known in the wonderful world of Technology, acquiring customers such as ABSA, Protea Coin, Ensync, Brolink, Afgri, Standley security solution, Aerosud and many more
We also have a short term division that is very popular when it comes to renting equipment over short periods of time for mainly the purpose of a conference or function. You can rent these equipment on a Daily, Monthly or weekly basis. We also deliver them to the venue of your choice. To find out more on this, visit www.i-rent.co.za
We recently took the web by force, in launching our iShop store which allows clients to purchase equipment online in the comfort of their own home. We have unbelievable specials and our products are at very compatible prices. Visit www.ishoponline.co.za to get more of an idea how beneficial this is.
We offer a range of services to best suit your needs such as maintenance and insurance contracts. We also offer Runner and loan unit services which makes your life so much more convenient. All of these against a small additional fee. Visit www.ivolve.co.za
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)