Marian Merritt: A FOSI Retrospective

Recently I attended the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI)’s European conference in London. The primary theme was “Every European a Digital Citizen.”

There were so many interesting discussions and issues raised, such as dealing with the known masses of underage kids in social networks, the challenges raised by growth of mobile web access, and concerns of privacy.

The keynote was provided by the always challenging and effervescent Dr. Tanya Byron. During her brief remarks and later, during a panel discussion, Dr. Byron made it clear that she’s frustrated by school policies blocking the use of technology and allowance for kids’ mobile devices in the school environment.

As Tia Fisher summarized in a microblogging post, “Give. kids. technology. In. Schools.”

Currently most schools limit or block the use of cell phones and web access at school. When your children sit in the computer room or use their laptops at school, they are bound by school filters and blocked from most social media sites.

The reality is that despite the best efforts, many parents, students and teachers tell me that kids regularly know how to defeat the filters and the only ones being blocked from their online destinations are the teachers.

There are other emerging arguments about the positive and powerful use of technology in schools to enrich the educational process.
Some of our younger or just more technologically savvy teachers are adopting tech in their lesson plans in creative ways.

Teachers can meet together in their evening hours to discuss teaching issues and challenges via microblogging sites by using “hashtags” to find each other.

Other teachers are using wikis and live chats during the classroom hours to encourage otherwise quiet kids to participate.

Kids who are having difficulties with a lesson can access on-line tutorials or even review the teacher’s lectures via mobile devices without delaying the rest of the class’ progress.

How should parents be kept in the social media school loop? Would it make you uncomfortable for your teen to chat with a teacher in a social networking page? What if it’s a group and open and visible to you and other community members?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

May 31, 2011 | Filed Under Family Online Safety | Leave a Comment 

Norton Cybersecurity Institute

This is a guest post from Adam Palmer, Norton’s Lead Cybersecurity Advisor.

Cybercrime is a global concern and any solution requires global cooperation.
The Norton Cybersecurity Institute, announced this month, is a collaboration between law enforcement, consumer safety groups and security leader Norton.

Our goal is to create a global initiative to win the fight against cybercrime by providing law enforcement with training, technical expertise, and improved global cooperation.

Starting in 2011, the Norton Cybersecurity Institute plans to begin rolling out a number of programs and resources to assist law enforcement in the fight against cybercrime and to support victims of cybercriminals.

We have already sponsored law enforcement conferences in Cartagena, Colombia and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

As an example of the global nature of our work, the Malaysian was hosted by the Society for the Policing of Cyberspace (POLCYB), which is a Canadian non-profit group, currently headed by a senior member of UK law enforcement! (He’s the President of the POLCYB Board of Directors).

The event in Malaysia attracted over 50 law enforcement members from 20 countries who spent several days discussing anti-cybercrime strategy.  This type of collaboration greatly improves the ability of law enforcement to effectively communicate and successfully investigate cybercrime cases.

In addition to training conferences, the Norton Cybersecurity Institute is also sponsoring programs that bring members of the international law enforcement community together for extended meetings to collaborate on case investigations and receive extended training.

This “train the trainer” program produces experts who can return to their home countries with the expertise to assist and train their colleagues.  Members of UK law enforcement have actively participated in these programs and provided valuable assistance.

Cybercrime is a global epidemic that can’t be solved by one company or law enforcement agency alone; keeping the Internet safe is a shared responsibility.

Through training and global collaboration, the Norton Cybersecurity Institute will help law enforcement in their efforts to catch and prosecute cybercriminals successfully.

In the coming months we are also planning other international projects to increase the effectiveness of global anti-cybercrime efforts.

Global cooperation to develop a solution to cybercrime is a founding principle of the Norton Cybersecurity Institute, and will remain of the highest importance.

May 26, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Roll up roll up… my personal details are for sale!

This guest post has been written by Oliver Crofton of Vigilante Bespoke, a digital security firm.

It is alarming how often personal details are harvested by cyber-criminals looking to imitate, trick, or simply track unsuspecting internet users.

In the most unlikely places, personal information can be posted online without the person who the information is actually about even knowing.

So where are cyber-criminals finding this information?

A quick search online will provide a good starting point to get information on most of us; with the electoral role, land registry, and social networking sites all giving a powerful insight into our personal lives.

As if that’s not enough, blog sites, reviews, comments, and even pictures can provide an insight into our backgrounds, habits, and even personality.

We often get asked whether it really matters if someone can obtain an address, a photo, or date of birth, and the answer in short is yes! Whilst these snippets of information may be harmless on their own, if they are part of a larger profile on you, than it can become a very serious issue.

We were recently engaged to look after a new client who had fallen victim to online fraud:

Client X posted comments on an online forum complaining about a bad experience he had had with his mobile phone company. He used his real name and listed the town he was from. A cyber-criminal noted this information and tracked his details on the land registry and obtained his postal address and home phone number. The criminal sent Client X a very expensive phone bill posing as his mobile phone company, which looked completely legitimate. The phone bill related to calls made from America, and Client X became worried that he hadn’t been to America recently and his phone must have been used without his knowledge.

When he called the number on the letter (which he thought was his phone company), they admitted there indeed had been a mistake, and they would gladly “refund” Client X with the money. Keen to resolve the issue, Client X provided his bank details so that the “refund” could be made.

Unfortunately there was no refund, and Client X had been conned out of £3,500.

Whilst many of us may think that we wouldn’t fall for such an obvious con, legitimate looking emails or letters which contain personal information, and are from a service provider you currently use, can be very difficult to spot; so keep your eyes peeled.

Vigilante Bespoke provide digital security services to high-profile individuals in sport, entertainment and commerce. For further information visit: www.vigilantebespoke.com

May 19, 2011 | Filed Under Data loss, Identity theft, Security | Leave a Comment 

Is there such a thing as a harmless status update?

This guest post has been written by Oliver Crofton of Vigilante Bespoke, a digital security firm.

We look after many high-profile sports stars, and whilst it’s incredibly rewarding to work with such talented people, the threats posed to their technology and online profile is heightened purely due to who they are.

A recent example of how a seemingly harmless Facebook status turned into a multi-million pound blunder is as follows:

Player Y was at his usual training session on a Tuesday morning before a big game on the following Saturday. As a new signing to the Club, he was very keen to make a big impression, and keep the critics quiet by giving the performance of his life.

The session was coming to an end, and during the final tackling drills, a hard knock from a teammate resulted in a bad ankle injury which meant he would miss the big game on Saturday.

Gutted about his injury, and as a heavy user of social networking, Player Y posted on his status how sad he was to be missing the big game on Saturday, along with information on the medical details which the Physician had told him.

Immediately the opposing team knew Player Y would be missing from the squad on Saturday, and was in fact likely to miss several other games considering the medical information he had posted. This gave a valuable insight for the competing Clubs, as they could build their squads to capitalize on the weaknesses caused by the missing player.

Whilst this may seem like an extreme example of how a “harmless” status update can cause wider implications, the principle behind it applied to all social networking users.

Taking work as an example; posting information that your financial results weren’t as good as hoped, or that you are working on a big proposal for a new client, may be all the information your competitor needs in order to get the upper hand.

Vigilante Bespoke provide digital security services to high-profile individuals in sport, entertainment and commerce. For further information visit: www.vigilantebespoke.com

May 12, 2011 | Filed Under Security | Leave a Comment