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u got meme’d!
Posted: September 10, 2010 (19:51) under Humor, Security, Technology, Theft

There are lots of technical hacks and ways to get at your internet properties, be they blogs, websites, or social media pages and profiles; why, there’s an entire master’s program in Bulgaria on hacking: not preventing it, doing it. So your internet security is always at risk, both from amateurs who only want to change your Facebook status to “poopyfacepoopyface” and from experts who have a commercial interest in your data and control of your internet properties of whatever kind.

That said, by far the easiest way to get at someone’s site is to convince them to give you the password. Don’t think it’s easy? Check this elegant, yet evil little trick out:

Facebook Password Trick

That’s not nice; don’t fall for it. But if you do, remember that you can delete your posts on Facebook if you hover your cursor over the right-hand side of your comment, just above the line of typing. But if your friends do this to their friends, GET NEW FRIENDS.

The Not-So-Fine Print
Posted: May 27, 2010 (03:23) under Humor, Intellectual Property, Security

We’ve discussed the monolitic data mining system known as “Facebook” before. Let’s discuss it again in light of the recent change in “privacy” settings and subsequent public outcry. I think this about sums it up.

Facebook Privacy

People know that when they post information about themselves to a website they and the website are bound by the user agreement that they signed during the registration process. The problem here is that Facebook (and several other sites to which you should similarly give the side-eye) reserves the right to rewrite their side of the contract at any time. Maybe they’ll actually tell you; maybe they’ll expect you to have Techcrunch on your RSS reader and check it hourly.

Remember: this is a service contract. It’s true that you pay nothing in cash, but you are giving them precious information which they then use to make a significant amount of money. Look at it as a consumer would, for that is what you are. Weigh the tradeoffs and realize that even though there’s no cash exchanged, there is a significant cash value to your information as far as Facebook is concerned, which is why they do not charge you for the service. You are entitled to bring critical intelligence to bear on the issue.

I still have my Facebook profile, one Facebook Group, and two Facebook Pages, and it’s unlikely I’ll join the so-called mass exodus on May 31 (we’ll see how many of them really delete their profiles; nobody wants to get left off a birthday party invitation list!). But it is similarly unlikely that I will actually trust Facebook to keep my best interests at heart, or even keep my settings.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Facebook Not Screwing Around With Its PR Around Privacy Changes (businessinsider.com)
• Facebook Admits ‘Mistakes’ With Privacy (news.sky.com)

Face the Facts on Facebook
Posted: May 20, 2010 (10:09) under Security

The Internet is over; also, for porn

Don’t even THINK your mother won’t see what you said about her.

We’ve ranted about Facebook before; its inflexibility, its unreliability, the fact that Viggo Mortensen won’t Friend u- oh, never mind that last bit. We’ve hardly even gotten started on the privacy leaks, and it’s a good thing, because they’ve just made them much worse. Fortunately, there’s a useful little tool you can simply add to your Bookmarks that will tell you where your Facebook profile is vulnerable; it’s called PrivacyScanner, and it’s from ReclaimPrivacy.org.

Here’s what it says about my personal profile:

secure    Instant Personalization is currently sharing personal information with non-Facebook websites. you are opted-out of the Instant Personalization feature

secure – all of your personal information is at restricted to your friends or closer

secure – all of your contact information is at restricted to your friends or closer

secure – all of your friends, tags, and connections information is at restricted to your friends or closer

INSECURE – your friends can accidentally share your personal information. Prevent friends from sharing your data

secure – you have blocked all known applications that could leak your personal information

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• Does Facebook Privacy Even Matter? (allfacebook.com)
• HOW TO: Reclaim Privacy on Facebook (mashable.com)
• Facebook has another shot at killing Privacy shock horror….. (broadstuff.com)

Status: Loser
Posted: November 26, 2009 (09:53) under Security

What can we say? It’s always been hard to get good help, but now it’s easier than ever to confirm that they’re so … not good. If this happens on your own site, you’ve no-one to blame but yourself, for setting the privacy settings to “broadcast to the entire universe” but there’s more of a sting at setting something to Private on a trusted site and finding out that what you mean by private and what they mean by private are different.

Or mutable.

Hundreds of thousands of users were unpleasantly surprised earlier this year to find that Facebook contents are now visible to search engines, and to people who are not logged in to Facebook. While Facebook is one of the biggest offenders, it’s really just the most obvious example.

Do. Not. Use. The. World’s. Most. Powerful. Communication. Tool. To. Keep. Secrets.

It just doesn’t work.

Do not make a private blog and enable an RSS feed, unless you just don’t have enough drama in your life. You wouldn’t use a safe deposit box that was located in the middle of a public square, or put your jewels in a safe in someone else’s basement, would you? If you’ve got files and information that you want kept private, but need to put online for whatever reason, do not do this on a third-party site like Facebook or Twitter; their priorities are not yours, and if it comes down to a choice between protecting you and monetizing the business, guess who’ll come out the loser? Own the land you stand on, and maintain your fences; get your own site and make sure it’s professionally maintained and protected.

Ahem.