US phone identity look-up site

This is a pretty scary tool. It is only working in the US but allows you to reveal the owner details and location of any phone line; land or mobile.

Fortunately it would be illegal in the UK but watch out across the pond.

To give it a try go to http://tirs.us/ and put in the US number after the slash on the address line.

The commercial version is here http://www.reversephonedetective.com/

Read more here TIRS Allows Info Mining For Cell Phones

Employees see work laptops as personal property

I think this is a fair reflection of how we see our work laptops and mobile phones. If you are providing laptops and phones and not providing real-world guidelines and activating system controls, you are putting you data at risk. If you need help finding a balance contact us.

Work laptops and mobile phones are increasingly being treated as personal property outside the office, potentially exposing businesses to security threats.

A survey by Vodafone found that nearly half of business people use their work laptop to access the internet outside the office, whilst a similar number considered their work issued laptops or mobile devices as their own property whilst away from the office. more...

Lawyer-client privilege can't stop surveillance, says House of Lords

The UK's highest court ruled that spy law the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) allows lawyers' conversations to be bugged. This is a very significant ruling for all in the legal profession and anyone involved in a legal dispute. 

If you are in the legal profession or involved in litigation contact us now for advice and services to help maintain your privacy. It is worth remembering that it is not just the government that uses covert surveillance during litigation.

The state is allowed to bug communication between lawyers and their clients, the House of Lords has said. more...

The ruling in full...

Should we be worried about Google Street View?

An interesting take on Google Street view and our civil liberties.

Simon Brew offers his personal take on the launch of Google Street View. And he’s a worried man. more...

Visa chief risk officer says that the recession is creating more identity criminals

Unfortunately we know that when things get tough there is an increase in crime. Anything that will provide an advantage is more likely to happen.  Corporate espionage, identity theft and general theft will all increase. Look out for the signs and do not become a victim.

The dire world economy is one of the biggest threats to payment security, according to the chief enterprise risk officer for Visa. 

Ellen Richey said at the Visa Security Summit in Washington, DC that it was common sense that a poor economy and bleak job market would increase the desperation and creativity of would-be data thieves. more...

Hidden Video Recorders

All of these items are fully functional digital audio/video recorders with hidden cameras. These kind of devices are being produced in the millions in the Far East and most are available for less than £100. Be aware the threat landscape has shifted and what was once the realm of James Bond is now available on the high street. Checkout Maplin, Ebay or Amazon to see how prolific these devices are.

For a real eye-opener take a look at one of the manufacturers site. click here...

 

Right to privacy broken by a quarter of UK's public databases, says report

Pretty strong stuff but perhaps the first honest appraisal of our major databases. We are at the adolescence stage of our understanding of mass data storage and must maintain vigilance as we learn this process. If you loose your house keys you can always change your door lock. If we loose all our personal information (NI numbers, passport numbers, bank details, date of birth, place of birth, DNA, medical history, children's school info, criminal history etc) it is a bit harder to 'just fit a new lock'.

A quarter of all the largest public-sector database projects, including the ID cards register, are fundamentally flawed and clearly breach Europeandata protection and rights laws, according to a report published today.

Claiming to be the most comprehensive map so far of Britain's "database state", the report says that 11 of the 46 biggest schemes, including the national DNA database and the Contactpoint index of all children in England, should be given a "red light" and immediately scrapped or redesigned. more...

Complaints force Google to remove Street View images

If you haven't seen Google Earth with Street View in action you need to. the amount of information is quite shocking - especially when you are looking at a picture of your own curtains!

Google was forced to remove hundreds of pictures from Street View, its mapping service, within hours of its launch after complaints from people who said that the system breached their privacy. more...

Mobile users at risk of ID theft

This is one of those threats that is only going to get worse. many of us store huge amounts of personal information on our phones and mobile devices. We are humans and we will loose these devices from time to time so a few basic rules are essential.

1. Always have a power-on and key-lock password activated
2. Always have a voicemail password activated
3. Don't save a number or address called 'home'
4. Do not give out your passwords to unsolicited calls
5. Do not leave your phone unattended
6. Back-up your phone data

You might also want to watch out for Spyphone software.

A survey of London commuters suggests that 4.2m Britons store data on their mobiles that could be used in identity theft in the event they are stolen.

Only six in 10 use a password to limit entry into the phones, according to the survey by security firm Credant. more...

U.K. to monitor, store all social-network traffic?

It is always worth remembering that nearly everything we say in the electronic arena (emails, sms messages, IM conversations, Twitter twits, IM conversations, Facebook posts etc.) is stored somewhere. It is nearly always traceable to the user. If you shouldn't say it certainly do not say it electronically.

The U.K. government is considering the mass surveillance and retention of all user communications on social-networking sites, including Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo. more...

Credit card skimming malware targeting ATMs

It seems like such an obvious target it makes me wonder if this is the first time ATM's have been compromised or just the first time it has become public? Ultimately most malicious code is intended to generate revenue for criminals and ATM's are, in essence, computers full of cash!

From time to time, because they know I work for SophosLabs, my friends ask me about different malware types and forward me warnings of alleged malware outbreaks, which often turn out to be just standard hoax emails. more...

UK companies spurn encryption

This survey suggests too many of us are taking the 'head-in-the-sand' approach to data security. If you want some practical, real-world advice contact us.

Fewer than half of UK companies use encryption technology to secure their data, according to a survey.

Despite the lack of encryption, UK IT managers claim their corporate data is safe and almost two-thirds (65 percent) said the data breach at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will not change their IT spending priorities, according to a survey of 140 senior IT staff in UK public and private companies by security software specialist Check Point. more...

Finn creates USB 'finger drive'

More anatomy modification.

A Finnish computer programmer who lost one of his fingers in a motorcycle accident has made himself a prosthetic replacement with a USB drive attached. more...

Two million households now have spy devices in their bins

Following on from an earlier post we see the march of the council powers continue.

Figures released using the Freedom of Information Act show 42 local authorities have installed the 'spy' devices in rubbish containers to record how much residents are throwing away. more...

Bogus bomb, somewhere near you

This scam targets our fear to trick us into clicking onto a dangerous site. Always be aware and check before you click on any unsolicited material. Worth remembering you computer broadcasts your approximate geographical location.

Security labs have discovered a variant of malicious spam that is engineered to report an exploded bomb within the recipient’s vicinity.

The ‘waledac’ variant, containing an apparent link to a Reuters website, shows the geolocation of the explosive as corresponding to the users IP address. more...

Bishop of Manchester silenced by computer virus

Public and communal orginisations have considrable challenge maintaining the balance between accessabliity and security. If you are a public or NFP orginisation and need help contact us.

THE Bishop of Manchester has been forced to take a vow of email silence after his computer was crippled by a virus.

The Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch has been unable to send or receive messages for nearly 10 days, it has emerged. more...

Sentex keypads have a mastercode!

Sentex are a worldwide brand of electronic entry systems. It has been discovered that there is a master code across many of their products allowing anyone to enter who knows the code. This raises the question of other access control systems, have yours been checked and tested?

It has a master key:

 

Here's a fun little tip: You can open most Sentex key pad-access doors by typing in the following code: more...

World Wide Web creator Sir Tim Berners-Lee fell victim to online fraud

Be careful out there - even the man who invented the web can become a victim of on-line fraud. Be sensible and do not click on anything unsolicited.

Sir Tim, who dreamt up the web 20 years ago, said he bought a Christmas present from an online shop. It was only when the present didn't arrive that he realised he had been conned.

He is one of an increasing number of victims of online cyber crime. Around one in four internet users in the UK have fallen victim to online phishing scams that attempt to steal people's financial details while one in six have fallen victim to other types of online fraud. more...

Film-maker turns into 'eyeborg' with camera in eye socket

The stuff of sci-fi films becomes reality. 

NB - there has been a golf-ball sized covert DVR (Digital Video Recorder) on the market for over a year....watch out at the 19th hole.

A film-maker is putting a mini video camera in his prosthetic eye to record a documentary highlighting the issues of privacy and the surveillance society.

Rob Spence, 36, says he will secretly record people for his "Eyeborg" project using a tiny camera, battery and wireless transmitter hidden inside his false eye. more...

Google Docs leaks out private data

The big dilemma. If you store all your data locally you are the single point of failure but on the whole you are in control. If you sent your data to the 'cloud' you are at the mercy of third parties..... still if you want to hide a tree put it in a forest.

The security rating of cloud computing has taken a battering with news that users of Google's online word processing service - Google Docs - may have shared their data with unauthorised users.

A security flaw in the Google Docs software meant that the documents of some users were flagged as collaborative items, allowing third party users of the service to access - and amend - the files. more...