Raise your awareness about computer security. (Knowledge is power!)

Just came across this boingboing post.

A server used by a botnet to store stolen data from infected PCs was found to contain more than 1.4 Gigabyte of business and personal data. It consisted of 5,388 unique log files. The data included:
* Compromised patient data
* Compromised bank customer data
* Business-related emails
* Captured Outlook accounts containing email communication

To illustrate the scope; the server contained among others 571 log files from the US, 621 from Germany (DE), 322 from France (FR), 308 from India (IN), 232 from Great Britain (GB), 150 from Spain (ES), 86 from Canada (CA), 58 from Italy (IT), 46 from the Netherlands (NL), and 1,037 from Turkey (TR).

(Glyn)

Stop and think about this for one second. 1.4 GB is an extremely large amount of data. Just by reading this post I have come to the conclusion that a few Hospitals, Clinics, and Medical Billing Agents may have had machines compromised. I can also take into account that many Financial Institutions had compromised computers as well!

My conclusion is based upon a post with limited information. But I can assure you that most of the data could have been taken from Personal Computer Systems. Many people work from home. With limited IT skills, your average user knows very little about protecting their computer.

Here are a few links that should help with protecting yourself online.

1. GeeksToGo - How did I get infected in the first place?

2. AntiPhishing Work Group - Community committed to wiping out Internet scams and fraud!

3. Get Safe Online - Protect your Apple Machine

4. Get Safe Online - Protect your Linux Machine.

5. LifeLock - Identity Theft Protection

Would you like to add something to the list? Please email ping@theleetgeeks.com.

Fring makes it way to the iphone.

A few months back my friend Stephen Hogan mentioned a service called Fring. Fring for those of you who are unaware, gives mobile phone users the ability to use services such as Skype. (MSN, Google Talk, ICQ, Twitter, Yahoo and AIM).

Stephen had installed Fring on his Nokia E61 and was making Read more

Carrotmob: Making It Rain on Businesses Who Reduce Their Carbon Footprint

We are a nation of consumers. We are living in a world that is spinning out of control on many different levels, especially when it comes to our environment. Big business, too concerned with the bottom line, is driven by money, power, market share and profits at any cost. Washington, on the other hand, is caught up in red-tape and is short-stopped by lobbyist on capitol hill. Fade-in Carrotmob: a team of savvy, environmentally conscious consumers that reward businesses that agree to donate a negotiated percentage of their sales towards making environmental upgrades. Read more

The courts are here to protect us, maybe not!

Computerworld is reporting the Superior Court of California (County of Riverside) is being accused by privacy advocates. They claim court data containing Social Security numbers, medical histories, tax records, bank account numbers and other sensitive information is being made public via the states website.

This site gives anyone with a court case number and internet access the ability to view court transcripts. Computeworld stated the IT director said. “All documentation Read more

Facebook Application Insecurities

This morning the BBC’s Spencer Kelly reported on a potential issue with Facebook Applications. In his report he stated that the BBC was able to write and publish an application to Facebook that was able to collect user data. The application then sends a list of users with personal user information to an off site server. (Not associated with Facebook.)

This application code could masquerade as a game or program used on the social networking site. They also state that a user Read more

Trying to be Green!

Earth day has come and gone.

How can I make myself more Green? The thing is I have always been the type of person to toss my garbage into the proper trash bins. I believe in the conservation of our environment. Over the past 15 years I have always made it a point to find places to properly recycle my old electronics. Always reaching out to the local township. Trying to find locations where I could drop off such equipment. Read more

What is HamachiX (Stable Version for OS X Leopard) Release: 0.9 (1C3)

HamachiX (0.9 1C3) was just released for OS X Leopard on April 22, 2008. They have addressed many issues that had arrised due to the recent updates in Tiger and Leopard.

A brief description to anyone out there who isn’t familiar with Hamachi.

“Hamachi is a simple, secure, and effective alternative to VPN. If you have ever wanted to access your home computer from the office, hotel or internet cafe look no further. With Hamachi there is no need to configure you your firewall by opening ports and exposing you computer to nasty threats lurking on the web”

This past weekend I used the Hamachi service to help secure my activities on the internet. We had the pleasure to attend PodcampNYC this weekend. Alike many Read more

IbeatYou: challenge the world

This is a very cool site. Basically what users do on ibeatYou is compete in competitions by posting user submitted content. Submitted videos and photos coincide with competitions of the month. (Best Group Lip Dub, Best self taken photo, or Wastepaper Basket!) Read more

Politics and uStream.tv

In recent years politicians have been reaching out to us via the internet. They create websites for us to congregate to in order to get their message out. Many of these website also offer ways for us to conveniently donate to a political campaign. (Sure is better then having someone knock on your door!) Read more

Psystar: OpenComputer running OS X ($399.99)

Miami based company Psystar is now offering a computer called the OpenComputer. This system is selling for $399.99 standard without an Operating System. Add an additional $155.00 for OS X Leopard pre-installed, bringing the total price of this unit to $554.99 (shipping not included). The price of this unit seems reasonable compared to Apple computers such as the Mac Pro at $2799. Read more

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