iPhone Virus exposed

    As if you didn't have enough thing's to safeguard in trying to "Avoid  I.D.Theft" here's one that may come as a shock to most. Gentleman by the name of Charlie Miller exposed a virus that would enable hackers to control your iPhone with a simple text (SMS). You only have to actually receive the text to get hacked.  This vulnerability was presented at the Black Hat Security conference in Vegas.

      Apparently the Palm Press is vulnerable to similar attacks. The hack work's by sending  your phone a text, that crashes your phone. Once it reboot's its theirs!!

  If by chance you receive a text in a square character or any odd looking text messages(empty) "Shut your phone down". Unfortunatly at this time, thats about all we can do. We are all sort of waiting for that magic patch from "Apple". If by chance this hack spreads and they usually do, and god forbid you end up getting hacked. Be sure to monitor everything regarding your i.d. I will to keep you posted.

The What and Why's of Encryption

    I'm  writting these articles to raise an awarness and educate people with the basics. After all knowledge is power. In your quest to "Avoid i.d. Theft" you must first become familiar with the very basics. Encryption is a process where files and data are encoded to secure their content.  If i where to type the letter "A" this is only an example, the letter "A" would mean the number 3, and so on and so forth.

     
     


    All things considered, The Linksys routers are not set secured by default. Most people go on to use them this way. Kinda leaving you out there sorta "Naked". Simple password protection, is often overlooked.  One major factor in how well your data is encrypted, is based on the complexity of the algorithm.  Wikipedia refers to it as follows,                                                                 


               Each algorithm is a list of well-defined instructions for completing a task. Starting from an initial state, the instructions describe a computation that proceeds through a well-defined series of successive states, eventually terminating in a final ending state. The transition from one state to the next is not necessarily deterministic; some algorithms, known as randomized algorithms, incorporate randomness.


   Incorporating randomness is "Key" in the data encryption process. The fact is that banks use this method on much larger strands. The more complexed the algorithm, the more secure the data.


   In the event a "Hacker" was successful in retrieving your data it be of no use, without first having a "Key" to decode it! 




   Remember that anytime you send information over the internet it can be viewed by just about anyone who want's to see it.(Scary but true)


   When sending data, it's  first sent to your local network, pretty much everybody in your neighborhood. The data then travels to your Internet service Provider, who by chance "Yes" can view your information. Your data then travels a variety of routes and finaly reaches your (I.S.P) for the intended party. Finaly, the person your information was intended for initially,  recieves it.  In this proccess there are countless number of individuals that can hijack, intercept, and retrieve all your data.  


         
   


It is not until this type of encrytion is implemented that quite honestly i wont really feel safe about, sending crucial data over the net. Though, the funny thing about technology is that while someone is creating a safer platform, remember that theres always someone who 'Will" figure out how to hack it. Good luck guy's, and "Safe Surfing".  Seems the video was removed by you tube if you get a chance, look up photon encryption it's hopefully going to be implemented soon to slow down the pace of identity theft.

Anonymous Surfing

  There are times more then not, that i surf anonymously. It's another precaution i use to "Avoid I.D Theft". It Hides your I.P. Address. "Internet Protocol Address". This series of numbers is exclusive to only you. Printers routers and modems all use this to communicate with one another on a network. Its pretty much as good as your home address. Literally.  If you have ever been banned from a forum or cannot access a restricted site, then you are being identified through your i.p.

     There are sites that wanna charge you a monthly fee to have you surf anonymously. For some of us it may seem reasonable. They use web based proxy servers. You would head over to the sight.. punch in your website,{url}and yes, you would avoid i.d.theft this way but, with everything being filtered through a middleman makes surfing feel like dial-up.  "Nightmare".


  One way i stay protected is with "TOR". Just so you know i'm not affiliated with them in any way, (Though i wish i was) it's just a download worth having in this day and age. To use it to it's fullest abilities i would suggest downloading  "Firefox". I have had nothing but good experiences with this browser. In fact i love it.  It's endless what you can do with Firefox. It's the only browser compatible with "TOR".  Say it again only browser that has the "Tor" language embedded in it. And in this browser once tor is installed can easily be enabled at the bottom 
right corner.


  One of the things i love is that one minute you are in Germany, the next your i.p. is bouncing in Hong Kong. It really does work and "Yes" it's free. Once you have installed it go to Google and type in "Find my I.P. It will even throw in a map to pinpoint your location.  That being said Click here "Tor"
and safe surfing.

Wireless Router?

In this day and age "Who" doesn't have one? That being said, i wanted to get into Yet, other ways to "Avoid I.D.Theft". For this convenience, theres a big window wide open, that's within that "Wireless Range". Huge corporations pay big money for the protection of their routers. And even with all that so called protection, Hackers can still pull all that information right out of the air, literally. So let's strap up.                                

     Encryption is a great way to protect outsiders from hijacking your i.d. It basically prevents data from traveling from computer to router and vice verse unencrypted. Which is the wireless range i was referring to. It scrambles your info. to the host. "Gotta love it". But "WEP" is a big sign of trouble. Make sure your wireless network is secured with at least "WPA" Or "WPA2". Again big precaution for protecting that I.D. and preventing theft. Not to confuse you with all the mumbo jumbo of why "WPA2" is Superior by far to "WEP". Just make sure your not on "WEP".

    My Next suggestion is hide your (SSID), "Service Set Identifier". By doing this your neighbor's wont be able to see your network I.D. by doing a network search. Along with hiding the SSID make it difficult for someone to guess. Simple things that make a big difference.

   In the event your encryption has been compromised , theres one other precaution you can make with your router. Set it to only accept "MAC" addresses you want associated with YOUR network. This helps keep intruders you don't want on your network because, the MAC address of the NIC does not match.

6 Simple Precautions To Protect Your Identity

Identity theft is unfortunately something people in general just don't pay enough attention to. People think that it wont, or just cant happen to them. With the recession crippling the economy there are a new wave of criminals evolving. The fact that people are starting to look for ways to protect their identities only means that people are just beginning to take this threat seriously. On that "Note" here's a few ways to "Avoid I.D. Theft".

Dictionary.com Descibes it as follows phish (fĭsh)
intr.v. phished, phish·ing, phish·es
To request confidential information over the Internet under false pretenses in order to fraudulently obtain credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal data.

One. "Phishing" Basically a hacker would set up a site that looks exactly like the one you where searching for......You would be redirected. You would then enter your information (Password, Personnel identification) and without realizing it, your information, now compromised . You would then see an error of some sort with the site and your information gone. One thing i always check for when landing on a page where i have to log in......... is Matching URLs.

Small Precaution but "Goes a long way" It's happened to me.

Two. Avoid" Limewire". When you go to sites where you would download anything from music to movies torrents like the "Pirates Bay" the minute you download anything you leave every strand on your computer open. Not very safe, definitely avoid any downloads unless you are 100 percent of the source.

Three. "Firewall" Key piece of protection on your P.C., well worth the download, keeps you informed of where and who is trying to connect to your p.c. I found a good free one at freeware.com, called zone alarm.

Four. "Password Protection" When it comes to cracking passwords one would be amazed at how quickly ones password could be cracked. Ive seen programs do it in 1 second flat. Combinations of numbers and letters both upper and lower case, and use something that Only you would know. Could ultimately make a huge difference in protecting your identification.

Five. "Insurance Protection" Because of the rise in identity theft, insurance company's are now offering coverage. "Sign of the times" call your local insurance company and see if it makes sense for you financially to give yourself that piece of mind.


Six. "Understanding" Knowing the way thieves operate, you should be able to protect yourself. Be proactive dont wait to become a victim.

Safe surfing.