Computers a Necessary Evil:
Know the Risks
Introduction
• The importance of information security
• Security Smarts
– Computers
– Smartphones
– Social media
– At work
Information Security - Overview
• Information assurance: the measures to
avoid compromise to data and systems.
• The three main threats:
– Viruses – a program that attaches itself to
other programs and files.
– Worms – copy themselves from one computer
to another using a network
– Trojan Horses – a software that appears to do
something else
Other Threats
• Phishing – fake email messages and
addresses and websites that appear to be legit
that are used to obtain sensitive information.
• Evil twins – wireless networks that seem to be
legit (airports, hotels, etc.)
• Social engineering – using social skills to
convince people you are to be trusted with
sensitive information
(http://www.trutv.com/video/tiger-team/tigerteam-101-1-of-4.html)
Computer Security
• Virus protection –
– Run scans frequently
– You get the protection you pay for
– Many softwares now have the ability to scan
facebook walls and search results.
• Firewalls - Any barrier that is intended to
thwart the spread of a destructive agent.
• You – You have the ability to identify the
potential threats and avoid them.
Computer Safety
• Do not open emails from unknown
senders
• Do not click on links without verifying the
URL
– Sometimes the displayed URL is not the
same as the embedded URL (unm.edu)
– Before entering information verify you are at
the correct site (that you are at amazon.com
not anazon.com)
Smartphone Threats
• Smartphones are vulnerable to the same
threats as regular computers, but they are
much easier targets.
– Apps
– Loss or theft
– Lack of virus protection
– Saved passwords and other personal
information
• 82% have their own smartphone
Top 10 Smartphone Threats
1. Smishing - text messages to trick victims into
calling a fake bank or credit card company and
divulging his/her account information under the
pretext of needing to confirm a purchase or
update security settings.
2. War Texting - a hacking technique that sniffs
out the codes used to communicate between a
smartphone and a car.
3. Wi-Fi Hijacking - some hackers set up free WiFi hotspots in public places such as parks,
cafes and airports.
Top 10 Smartphone Threats (cont.)
4. Open Hot Spot - hackers may be able to gain
instant access to your connection and your
communications using your own created
hotspot.
5. Baseband Hacking- intercepting cellular calls
6. Bluetooth Snooping - Using Bluetooth devicepairing default passcodes can give an attacker
access to all your messages and contacts.
7. Hidden URLs - shortened URLs are being used
to hide malicious sites and software
Top 10 Smartphone Threats (cont.)
8. A Few Bad Apps - Hackers used a Trojan
known as Droiddream and hid in it as many as
50 different rogue apps.
9. The One-Minute Attack - smart hacker can
attack quickly and get out before the victim is
aware anything is wrong
10. Message Forwarding - A weak password
enables a hacker to automatically forward
all incoming and outgoing emails to him.
http://www.technewsdaily.com/7276-top-10-threats-smartphone.html
(October 26, 2012)
Marketing Class Notable Statistics
• 76% have their own computer
• 100% use the internet and social media
and have an email addresses
– 94% have a facebook account
– 24% have an instagram account
• 65% use different passwords for different
accounts
• 94% have posted a picture of yourselves
Marketing Class Concerning Statistics
• 18% have posted something they didn’t
want their parent or employer to see
• 6% don’t know what privacy settings are
• 47% have had their email or social media
account hacked
• 24% don’t know the strength of their
password
• 12% aren’t aware of security policies at
their place of employment
Social Media
•
•
•
•
Use privacy settings
Share information sparing
Read privacy/policy updates
Don’t add apps or add-ons without
knowing what information it will access
• Don’t added people you don’t know
• Don’t “like” unverified pages
Facebook Risks
•
•
•
•
•
Fake product/organization/company pages
Spam
Applications access account information
Fake people
Fake posts – Joe Bob just watch a
monkey kick a dog click here.
• Advertisements
Instagram Vulnerability
• “Friendship Vulnerability”
– Anyone can add themselves as your friend
– Can view photos set as private
– Can view profile information
http://www.zdnet.com/instagram-vulnerability-anyone-can-add-you-seeyour-photos-7000000757/ (7/12/2012)
• Inappropriate pictures
• Geotagging (location of picture)
http://www.campusecho.com/campus/campus-news/instagram-apphas-risks-1.2905250#.UI6dQIYoo3R (9/19/2012)
Social Media Posting Risks
• College Recruiters, parents, and potential
employers look at these sites
• Computer administrators at work, school, or
on public computers can access the
information
• Application publishers and their affiliates also
have the rights to view your content, and post
as you
• The promote feature allows your post to be
associate with a brand
LAHS 2013 on Facebook
• Type of information I was able to find:
–
–
–
–
–
Clubs/activities
Statuses
Places
Pictures
Relationship information (status, date, person,
etc.)
– Family
– “Likes” including: “Having Sex”, “Smoking Weed”,
movie titles, band names, etc.
• Check your privacy settings!!!
At Work
• Security policies are in place to protect data
• All companies deal with protected data
• Companies may block a site if they deem it
unnecessary or a security risk
• Backdoor routes into blocked sites could
cause extreme potential harm to the
system
• Follow the policies and procedures
Questions
Bonus Questions
What percent use
facebook?
Bonus Questions
What is social
engineering?
Bonus Questions
What are the three main
computer threats?
Bonus Questions
In relationship to other
countries in 2011 where did
the US rank for Online Virus
Threats Detected and what
was it percentage? (on
handout)
Bonus Questions
What is phishing?