Warning! Computers and Smart Phones are attacked every day

                 Good Day Humboldt County!

Today we’re going on a walk down Technology Road. It’s not a smooth road despite the many benefits associated with computers and smart phones.

The fact is, you better be on guard when you take that walk with either technology, because there’s dangers ahead. To make your journey safer I advise reading these two articles to see what challenges you’re facing right now, and further on down the road. 

Information is power, and being informed is the key to staying on a safe path. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you never have to deal with a computer or smart phone virus. 

 

                                      New virus raids your bank account - but you won't notice

The best way to protect yourself from an online financial scam is to diligently check your bank accounts. At least, until now.

Israeli-based Security firm Trusteer has found an elaborate new computer virus that not only helps fraudsters steal money from bank accounts -- it also covers its tracks. Think of a crime plot involving a spy who plans to break into a high-security building and begins by swapping out security camera video so guards don't notice anything is amiss. Known as a surveillance camera hack, the technique has been used in dozens of movies.

A new version of the widely prevalent SpyEye Trojan horse works much the same way, only it swaps out banking Web pages rather than video, preventing account holders from noticing that their money is gone.

The Trojan horse employs a powerful two-step process to commit the electronic crime. First, the virus lies in wait until a customer with an infected computer visits an online banking site, steals their login credentials and tricks the victim into divulging additional personal information such as debit card information.  Then, after the stolen card number is used for a fraudulent purchase, the virus intercepts any further visits to the victim's banking site and scrubs transaction records clean of any fraud. 

That prevents -- or at least delays -- consumers from discovering fraud and reporting it to the bank, buying the fraudster critical extra time to complete the crime.

 

Victim account holders who check their balance at an ATM -- or even at a second uninfected computer -- would be able to spot the fraudulent transactions. The virus doesn’t impact bank systems, merely the characters that are displayed within the infected system's Web browser.  That means paper statements would reveal the fraud, too.

Of course, consumers who rely on paper statements could be a full 30 days behind when it comes to spotting fraudulent transactions.While Klein is worried about the "post transaction" attack, he said consumers who have vulnerable Web browsers are bound to be victims of one fraudster or another. "My take is that if your computer is infected with financial malware, it's game over anyway," he said. "My takeaway is you need to prevent getting infected with financial malware in the first place."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Smartphone hacking will rise in 2012, experts warn

Security experts predict 2012 will be a breakthrough year for cyber-attacks on smartphones. There are now enough of these mobile computers in use to make them an inviting target.

“Shopping and mobile banking are things that are going to leave a trail and contain lots of goodies that criminals can go after,” says Rachel Ratcliff Womack with the digital security firm Stroz Friedberg.

In addition to all of your personal information, you probably have business email and contacts on your phone. “It brings those two worlds together in a very convenient package for criminals to target,” Womack says. Not only are they loaded with all sorts of personal information a crook would like to steal, most smartphones are also completely unprotected.

The subject of malicious cell phone attacks has been greatly hyped the last few years. But during 2011 it became clear that this is a real threat that must be taken seriously. “We are only at the beginning of the wave,” says James Lyne, director of technology strategies at Sophos, an international firm that specializes in online security for businesses. “We’ve definitely got to start worrying about security on mobile devices.”

But people don’t seem to have the same security concerns with their smartphones that they do with their PCs. “The problem is that users may view these devices as eminently secure, when in reality they are just waiting to receive more attention from cyber-criminals,” Lyne says.

All smartphones can have security vulnerabilities, but right now most mobile malware is aimed at Android devices. That’s because Android powers more devices and it’s an open platform, which makes it’s easier for the bad guys to distribute their malicious software.

In a new report, Lookout Mobile Security estimates that Android users lost more than a million dollars to cyber-thieves last year. The company says the annual risk of encountering malware on an Android device is now 4 percent, up from 1 percent at the beginning of 2011. “In 2012, we expect to see the mobile malware business turn profitable,” says Kevin Mahaffey, Lookout’s chief technology officer. “What took 15 years on the PC platform has only taken the mobile ecosystem two years.”

                            What are the threats?
Mobile malware can do all sorts of things. It can spy on you, run up your wireless bill or steal your personal information.

“The things they are doing on PCs, they’re also doing on smartphones — and even more,” says Gary Davis with McAfee Labs.

• There are banking Trojans that will intercept financial transactions with your bank and then use that information to drain your bank account.
• Other malware can send text messages to premium SMS services without your knowledge. You wind up with a huge bill at the end of the month for text messages your phone sent.
• Spyware can harvest information about the places you go and when. It can also record phone conversations and forward them to the attacker. 
• Quick Response codes (those black-and-white squares starting to show up in all sorts of ads) can also pose a security risk. Internet security company Kaspersky Lab recently reported that it found QR codes can link to malicious text messages or websites. And of course, you can always click on a malicious link yourself or be tricked into giving out your personal information via a phishing scam directed to your cell phone.

What can you do to protect yourself?
The first security software for smartphones is now available and more will soon hit the market. McAfee is working on a product that analyzes the “permissions” an app wants from your device and warns of possible threats. For example, a flashlight app doesn’t need to look at your location or your phone book. If the security software found a flashlight app asking for access to that information, it would flag it.

But do you really need security software for your mobile devices? “We don’t think that people have to install yet another program for security on their phones, at least not now,” says Paul Reynolds, electronics editor at Consumer Reports. “Probably the biggest security threat is losing your phone.”

Security expert Lyne agrees. He says mobile security today is about the basics: have a decent password, use encryption and make sure your device is patched — running the latest versions of both apps and the phone operating system.

But he says in the next year to 18 months, you probably will need to seriously consider security software, especially if you use your smartphone for shopping or banking. You also need to be careful about the apps you install. Think before you download. Check reviews. Be skeptical. “Stick with the major apps and the major app stores,” advises Rachel Ratcliff Womack. If you go to Amazon or the iTunes store, your chances of getting malware are relatively low, but still possible. You run a greater risk at the Android Market.

Time to walk on down the road…

The Doors to release first new song in 40 years

Good news for Doors fans (I’m one)…

The Doors will release their first new, unreleased track in 40 years on Monday to kick off the belated 40th anniversary of the band's landmark "L.A. Woman" album.

Lost track "She Smells So Nice," which "L.A. Woman" co-producer Bruce Botnick discovered while reviewing the album sessions for a re-mastered re-release project, will debut on the band's Facebook.com page at noon EST a day before it is released to radio.

The tune kickstarts what is being called "The Year of The Doors" and will pre-empt a new DVD, "Mr. Mojo Risin': The Story of L.A. Woman" and the release of a 40th anniversary package featuring the remastered 1971 album and previously unreleased tunes from the recording session and alternate takes of classic tracks "L.A. Woman," "Love Her Madly" and "Riders On The Storm."

A century of world history from 1911 to 2011 summed up in 10 minutes of YouTube clips

It’s a great way to brush up on your history – but some may find parts a bit depressing. Here’s 100 years of world events from 1911 to 2011 boiled down to a 10-minute clip using authentic/archival footage. It charts some of our greatest achievements, but also some of man’s most terrible acts.

                                SEE VIDEO BELOW. NOTE: CONTAINS DISTURBING IMAGES

Although a bit long, this video is fascinating and will keep your attention if you give it a chance. Thumbs up!

It begins with Roald Amundsen reaching the South Pole in 1911 and then takes in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, World War I, the erection of the Empire State Building in 1931, Hitler’s inauguration in 1933, World War II with Pearl Harbor and the atomic bomb attack on Japan in 1945 through to the Vietnam War, the election of Pope John Paul II in 1978, the Berlin Wall coming down, the last French atomic bomb test in 1996, the Mars Rover landing in 1997, the Twin Towers attack in 2001 and this year’s dreadful tsunami in Japan.

Booze hounds acting badly in public – have another drink!

        Good Day Humboldt County!

 Today we’re going down the path of people acting badly in public places. Note that both stories involve drinking and drunken activity.

  But that’s okay right? Booze is legal. Drunken behavior in public is common. But heaven forbid we legalize marijuana! So pot heads watch drunks beat themselves up with amusement.

Cops: Colorado woman punches, rubs her buttocks against $30 million painting

A 36-year-old woman was charged Wednesday after punching, scratching and sliding her buttocks against a painting worth more than $30 million, authorities in Colorado said.

Carmen Tisch is accused of pulling her pants down to rub up against the work, an oil-on-canvas called "1957-J no.2", by the late abstract expressionist artist Clyfford Still.

Tisch allegedly caused $10,000 worth of damage to the painting.Citing the police report, the Denver Post reported that the suspect was apparently drunk at the time.

Tisch was charged with felony criminal mischief on Wednesday and has been held on a $20,000 bond since the incident in late December, said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver District Attorney's Office. Kimbrough said Tisch urinated after she rubbed up against the canvas at the recently opened Clyfford Still museum in Denver.

"It doesn't appear she urinated on the painting or that the urine damaged it, so she's not being charged with that," Kimbrough said according to the Denver Post.

Flyers fans filmed beating Rangers fans

A man boasted on Facebook that he and his friends beat up two Rangers fans outside a Philadelphia cheesesteak hotspot following Monday's NHL Winter Classic. Police have released video footage online in the hope of catching the group of Flyers fans, but a man named Edward Neary appeared Wednesday to admit his participation in the attack.

Neary wrote on Facebook, "it was me and my friends do something about it," and then used a homophobic slur. His Facebook page, which has since been deleted, said that Neary graduated from high school in 2009. Neary later blamed the incident on his friends, identifying three by name, and claiming the Rangers fans instigated the fight.

He made the claim on a Facebook page for Flyers fans called Broad Street Hockey. The operator of the page had posted video of the fight in an effort to help police identify the attackers.Three suspects wearing Flyers jerseys are seen in the video repeatedly punching the two men in Rangers jerseys outside Geno's Steaks in the south of the city. Officials said the attack occurred around 7:15 p.m. local time.

One of the victims, later revealed to be off-duty Woodbridge, N.J., police officer Neal Auricchio Jr., was hospitalized with a concussion following the attack, his father told the New York Post. He said his son, a former US Marine who served two tours and earned a Purple Heart, had driven down to Philadelphia with a friend to watch the outdoor Winter Classic between the two rivals.

Time to walk on down the road…

‘In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous…’

photo source                                                   above quote by Aristotle

File this one under - ‘Where do these people come from?’

Alvin and the Chipmunks usually don't wear pants, and for a while last week, neither did a man watching their latest movie.

According to Chicago NBC affiliate WMAQ, Edward L. Brown, 34, attended a showing of "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" last week.

A half-hour into the movie, he took off all his clothes and walked completely naked in front of nearly 100 moviegoers, many of whom were children.

Instead of fleeing the scene, Brown then sat down, still naked, in the front row, where police found him. He's now facing numerous charges, including sexual exploitation of a child and disorderly conduct.

According to RBLandmark.com,  "Brown told officers that he had been let inside the movie theater for free by an unknown female who allegedly told him to have a seat in the front row of the theater, take off his clothes and wait for her, so they could have sex, smoke crack and do heroin."

Bail has been set at $100,000 and Brown remains in custody, RBLandmark reports. The Classic Cinema movie theater refunded patrons' ticket money. (article source)

Apocalypse not now: NASA debunks doomsday predictions

                  Good Day Humboldt County!

 One of the many subjects that will stay in the news this year is the earth, and how people are predicting it’s demise in 2012. The kooks are out there, no doubt, but it makes for some interesting reads.

Not everyone is a kook because they believe in myths, but given the chance to view facts regarding their mythical belief doesn’t always convince them. People have been predicting earth’s destruction since ancient times.

  The following is a wrap-up of beliefs and legends about the perceived apocalypse that’s supposed to happen this year:

On Dec. 21, 2012, many doomsday believers fear the apocalypse — anything from a rogue planet smashing into us to our world spinning end over end. However, the world should expect nothing more next year than the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, NASA says.

Many people point to the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar on Dec. 21, 2012 as evidence of the coming apocalypse, but astronomers have been quick to stress that there is nothing to be concerned about.

According to the ancient Mayan calendar, next year's winter solstice marks the end of a 144,000-day cycle. This cycle, which begins at the mythical Maya creation date, has already been repeated 12 times. The 13th will end in 2012, capping a full 5,200-year Mayan cycle of creation.

This date has long been shrouded in mystery, with many claiming that it will bring destruction to our planet. [End of the World? Top Doomsday Fears]

Rogue planet Nibiru?
One fear is that a rogue planet that has been dubbed "Nibiru" or "Planet X" is supposedly aimed at Earth. Self-proclaimed Nibiru expert Nancy Lieder, who says she is in contact with the aliens from Zeta Reticuli, first said Nibiru would cause widespread disaster in May 2003, only to change it to Dec. 21, 2012.

There is, however, no evidence that Nibiru is real.

"Nibiru is ridiculous because it doesn't exist — it never existed as anything other than a figment of the imagination by pseudo-scientists who don't seem bothered by a complete lack of evidence," astronomer Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object program office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., told SPACE.com.

There is no basis for the claim that it might be lurking behind the sun, as it could not have hidden from observation until now, Yeomans said. If such a planet was headed toward Earth by Dec. 21, 2012, it would already be visible to the naked eye.

Cosmic alignments?
There are also concerns that planets or stars might line up in ways that will transform Earth. For instance, some theorists claim that from our point of view, the sun will cross in front of the plane of our galaxy on Dec. 21. However, the sun already does this twice a year, Yeomans said.

In fact, the sun will eventually cross the plane of our galaxy. However, the sun is about 67 light-years from the galactic plane, so it should take several million years to do so, Yeomans said. Even then, when our solar system finally does cross the plane, nothing special will occur, he added. [10 Failed Doomsday Predictions]

Some also claim that gravitational effects from planets lining up with each other will somehow affect Earth. However, there is no planetary alignment due on Dec. 21, 2012, "and if there were, it wouldn't cause any problems," Yeomans said.

Flip-flopping Earth?
There is some alarm that 2012 could see the flipping of Earth's poles — either the planet's geographical poles, which mark the Earth's axis of rotation, or its magnetic poles, which our compasses point toward.

But, there is no reason to fear such an occurrence, scientists said, because the moon stabilizes our planet's spin. The planet's magnetic poles do flip, but over periods of about 500,000 years, and not suddenly, "but over thousands of years," with no evidence of a flip on Dec. 21, 2012, Yeomans said.

Even if the planet's magnetic poles do flip, no real problems would occur, other than the inconvenience of us having to change our compasses from north to south, he added.

But despite evidence to the contrary, doomsdays theorists have garnered attention, and similar prophecies will continue to proliferate unless scientists become more involved in bringing truth to these outlandish claims, Yeomans said.

Mounting hysteria regarding these unfounded doomsday predictions "will improve only if scientists get more engaged in debunking pseudoscience," he said. (article source)

Time to walk on down the road…

Supersized saddles for fatties, and Cops go after 5-year old for overdue books

                Good Day Humboldt County!

 The holidays are over and it’s time to get back in the saddle… Today we’re going to look at why saddles have to be made larger nowadays. And for that little touch of stupidity that seems to make the world go around, there’s the story of a 5-year old who got a visit from the cops because of overdue library books.

Supersized saddles find home on the range as Americans fatten

In a sign of America's growing girth, dude ranches and hunting camps in the Northern Rockies are adding heavyweight horses and super-large saddles to seat swelling numbers of outsized clients.

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that a third of U.S. adults and 17 percent of children are obese, Western wranglers and outfitters say they are doing all they can to accommodate the widening of waistlines and other anatomical areas. "To put it bluntly, we call them the big-butt saddles," said Lee Hart, owner of Broken Hart Ranch in Montana. The business near Yellowstone National Park seasonally provides trail rides and guided hunting by horseback to nearly 2,000 people from across the country.

Hart and others said the 18-plus-inch saddles they now stock were all but nonexistent 30 years ago, when just 15 percent of American adults were considered obese. At that time, a 16.5-inch saddle would have been considered ample enough for a stout rider.Guest ranches and outfitting operations also are bulking up on riding stock crossbred with draft horses -- weighing in at roughly 1,500 pounds -- to fit their super-sized customers.

Cops In MA Sent To Retrieve Overdue Library Books From 5-Year-Old

Can it really be true? Police dispatched to retrieve overdue library books from a five-year-old? It is.

The chief of police in Charlton, Massachusetts sent a uniformed police officer to pay a visit to a home and demand the return of two overdue library books.

A sergeant from the Charlton Police Department was dispatched to the home of Shannon Benoit and her five-year-old daughter (pictured right). The sergeant’s task: to investigate two library books that were a few months overdue. The CBS affiliate in Boston covered the story:

The books were recovered and returned to the shelves for use by other Charlton residents.

Was this a good use of police assets? Even the man assigned to the case was not so certain. He told the CBS reporter;

“Nobody wanted to, on this end to get involved in it,” says Sgt. Dowd. “But the library contacted us, and the chief delegated, and apparently I was one of the low men on the totem pole.”

Time to walk on down the road…

Okay…It’s time for a laugh don’t you think?

source

Fighting Somali Pirates with Science is okay, but armed guards are better according to statistics

 “Piracy is a serious problem in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. While NATO, Russian, Iranian, and Chinese ships all escort merchant vessels through the Gulf of Aden, foreign militaries can't be everywhere at once. Ships traveling through dangerous waters often need to create their own improvised anti-pirate defenses ... and the market for these products is booming.

A variety of arms contractors and boutique manufacturers are producing everything from “stinky water” walls to high-powered water cannons to deter murderous Somali pirates.

One firm, the International Maritime Security Network, markets an expensive defense package called the “Triton Shield Anti-Piracy System.” The integrated product, which includes everything from on-ship security guards to a specialized camera system, also creates a wall of very stinky water. Bloomberg's Julie Bykowicz uncovered an impenetrable wall of stinky, foul-smelling water that can be deployed by Triton against potential pirate skiffs. International Maritime Security's Ralph Pundt described the smell as that of “a skunk on steroids.”

Lasers can also be used to defend against pirates. Earlier this year, British defense contractor BAE Systems announced the successful deployment of its prototype anti-pirate laser. BAE's Laser Distraction system uses a special eye-safe laser that can either provide a visual warning to pirates at distances greater than two kilometers or temporarily disorient attackers at closer distances. Ships can either deploy the Later Distraction system semi-autonomously or have a crew member operate the product.

Meanwhile, fellow British manufacturer BCB International (which has been featured in Fast Company before for its miniature drones) markets an anti-pirate air cannon. The Buccaneer is a lightweight air cannon designed to fire and deploy a net around any small craft trying to board a ship. The cannon has a range of approximately 2,700 feet and fires proprietary projectiles that create a net in the water around the craft. Apart from net projectiles, the Buccaneer also fires high-powered smoke projectiles.

BCB International's Phillippe Minchin told Fast Company that “the use of lethal force should be selected as a ‘last resort,’ whereas non-lethal protective measures can help to create a ‘layered’ and proportional defense around a vulnerable vessel or offshore platform. BCB International’s Buccaneer launchers utilize compressed air to launch entanglement nets up to 60 meters, which are designed to foul oncoming skiffs’ props and therefore disable the attacker before they have a chance to attempt boarding. Usefully, the Buccaneer can also deploy payloads such as smoke cartridges out to 700 meters, which means that like the LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) system, it can create an effect on a target well before it comes into close proximity with the vessel.”

This ship is equipped with the latest safety package called the Triton Shield anti-piracy system.

LRAD systems are frequently used by military and civilian craft to repel pirates. The sonic systems, often deployed by police and military forces at riots worldwide, create an unbearable wall of noise. In 2008, a British cruise ship successfully used LRAD to repel Somali pirates.

LRAD is a proprietary product of the LRAD Corporation, who make a significant portion of their sales from commercial shipping.

Fast Company reported previously on the growing use of advanced technology by Somali pirates. Because pirates have begun using more sophisticated methods to trap shipping vessels — it's not unknown for savvy maritime criminals to track sea traffic via Internet postings — protective measures have changed.

However, according to one expert, the best security is the old-fashioned kind. Jay Bahadur, author of "The Pirates of Somalia," believes that armed guards are the most important anti-pirate defense. In an email, Bahadur told Fast Company that while “I think there have been some valid counter-piracy technologies developed by defense contractors — the proposed BAE "laser distraction system" comes to mind — but in the end, it comes down to what ship owners can afford.

Commercial shipping is one of the most cutthroat industries in the world, and ship owners don't have the budgets to spend on space-age defenses. The recent drop-off in piracy has been due to the increased use of armed guards, not technological innovation, which in turn have been made economically feasible by skyrocketing ransoms and lengthening captivity periods.

One insurance company issued a stat a few months back that 80 percent of pirate attacks were being repelled by armed guards, and no vessel employing them has been hijacked.”

Additional anti-pirate security devices are expected to be unveiled at the 2012 Transport Security Expo, which will be held in London this coming November.” (article source)

Geologists suspect ‘Fracking’ is the cause of earthquakes in Ohio

Good day Humboldt County!

I’ve been following the earthquakes in Ohio with interest. I was born there, not far from Youngstown in 1950.

Last year I started researching the ill effects of fracking and was motivated to write a column about some of the concerns with the practice -

• Federal Study Reveals 'Fracking' Safety Concerns

Earthquakes is one area that I didn’t touch on. People should be aware of what happens when we mess with mother nature.

                                      Ohio suspends well operations after series of small quakes

“Ohio has suspended operations at five deep-well hazardous fluid disposal sites after a series of 11 earthquakes in the Youngstown, Ohio, in the past year, including one on Saturday with a magnitude of 4.0, officials said. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said Sunday it was halting operations at five Mahoning County wells owned by Northstar Disposal Services LLC as a precaution, citing concerns of a possible link between well activity and the quakes.

"Our geologist would say there is a strong chance there is a fault line very close to the site of the well," Ware said, adding the department was concerned that pressure from the fluid disposal could be affecting a previously unknown fault line.

Earthquakes induced by human activity have been documented in a few locations in the United States, Japan and Canada, according to the U.S. Geological Survey website. The largest and best known resulted from fluid injection at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver, Colorado, where in 1967 a 5.5 magnitude earthquake followed a series of smaller quakes.

Ware said Northstar began drilling in mid-summer. The injection disposal started in December 2010 and the first earthquake occurred in 2011. A representative for Northstar could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Earthquakes are not common in Youngstown, and seismic records going back to 1980 show no reports of earthquakes prior to the series of quakes last year. A 2.1 magnitude quake, the first of 11 in 2011, was reported on March 17. More were reported in August, September, October, November and December.

Ware said after a 2.7 magnitude quake was reported on December 24, Northstar voluntarily lowered the pressure at one well. On Saturday a 4.0 earthquake was reported, "causing the Ohio Department of Resources to recommend all wells in the area stop operations," Ware said. After the initial spate of earthquakes in the area, four more monitors were set up near the first well to get more data on the source of the seismic activity.

There are 177 disposal wells currently in operation in Ohio. The Mahoning County well is 9,000 feet/ deep and is used to dispose of hazardous fluids, injecting fluid that cannot be disposed of in landfills into sandstone well below groundwater level.”

Time to walk on down the road…