Avoid the top Five Holiday Cyber scams: Be safe, not sorry

Best tips for safe on line holiday experiences

OTTAWA, November 25, 2010 /Canada NewsWire/ - Canadians continue to embrace online shopping. Last year we bought more than $15 billion of goods and services, up from $12.8 billion in 2007. According to global Internet security provider Trend Micro, increased online activities and financial transactions also mean more opportunities for scammers and hackers. And the holiday season is a perfect time to take advantage of weary shoppers looking for a great deal or gift.

"The convenience of online shopping doesn't have to come at the added cost of being the victim of cyber scam. Much like the real world, if an online deal looks too good to be true, it probably is," says Trend Micro Canada's Ian Gordon, Director of Marketing.

To protect Canadian cyber shoppers this holiday season, Trend Micro offers five of the most popular cyber scams disguised as holiday deals and what you can do to protect yourself:


Holiday Cyber scams to Avoid

1. Online gift cards offered from an unknown e-tailer, an unsecure URL or individuals reselling online Purchase on line gift cards from reputable well-known sites and companies.

2. An email offering this season's hottest laptop or video game for only $100 Shop safely with a sale from a reputable merchant

3. Charities that want your money for a good cause but are vague about their work or offering tax receipts for more than your actual donations Donate to recognized charities through a safe and secure site Make sure the charity's business registration number is clearly visible on the site.

4. Sharing too much information on social media sites like Facebook about your holiday plans Don't give burglars a chance to visit your home alone. Avoid the impulse to share too much information online about your holiday travel plans.

5. Infecting your computer with viruses from email and websites promising fun holiday videos or music Make sure your antivirus software is up to date and blocks access to malicious or infected websites

Teach your children or grandchildren to view content critically and avoid downloading from file-sharing websites and Don't open email, click on links, or accept files from strangers.

OPP Introduces New Program to Help Parents Keep Children Safe Online

ORILLIA, Ontario, November 9, 2010 /Canada NewsWire/ - With Crime Prevention Week underway (Nov. 7 - 13, 2010), the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has introduced an effective new Cyber Safety program designed to help parents keep their children safe while they are using the Internet.

The OPP Crime Prevention Section developed the program in partnership with Cowan Insurance Group and the OPP Youth Foundation to raise awareness and educate parents about how to ensure that children are having safe online experiences.

While the Internet provides learning opportunities for youth, it also opens the door to the potential exploitation of children, including cyber bullying and other online threats. The program was designed to address these threats and provides all the information parents need, in order to recognize what risks exist as their children learn and play in the online world. It also provides them the tools to be aware of what sites their children are accessing and how to monitor their Internet use.

"The program focuses on parents and prevention, and while officers are active in schools educating our kids about safe Internet use, it's important that parents also be engaged and educated about Internet safety, as they are instrumental in keeping their kids safe while online", said OPP Inspector Mark Allan of the Crime Prevention Section.

The Cyber Safety program consists of a training kit and resource package that will be provided to OPP Community Services Officers and School Resource Officers who will deliver presentations and make this material available to parents in communities throughout the province.

Cyber Safety Program

...The Cyber Safety program was created by the OPP in partnership with the Cowan Foundation, the Ontario Provincial Police Youth Foundation and the Ontario Provincial Police.

...The Cyber Safety Program provides education and awareness designed to provide parents with essential tools to recognize the risks associated to the Internet and to encourage a safer cyber experience for their children while they are online.

...The launch of the Cyber Safety Program coincides with the 2010 Crime Prevention Week theme "Connecting to kids today - preventing crime tomorrow".

...The program consists of a training and resource package which includes a CD, videos, handouts and instructional material.

...The program is the latest example of the various programs created by the OPP and its community partners to promote crime prevention through school-based and community-based activities.

Internet Safety Checklist for Parents

...Parents should discuss the potential dangers of the Internet with their children and educate them on how to handle situations that may arise. Here are some basic steps parents can take to protect their children:

...Be involved and know your child's online activity

...Keep the computer in an open area of the home

...Remind children to protect their passwords; encourage them not to share passwords with friends

...Use caution with web cams, unplug web cams when they're not in use

...Be sure of who they're talking to before allowing them to turn on a web cam and enter your home

...Make sure children are cautious with what they post online

...Know their online friends the same way they know friends in real life

For more information about Internet Safety Tips for parents, go to: http://www.opp.ca/ecms/files/250363925.pdf


For more information about Internet Safety Tips for teens, go to: http://www.opp.ca/ecms/files/250363929.2.pdf


For more information about the OPP Crime Prevention Section, go to: http://www.opp.ca/ecms/index.php?id=47

Cell Phone Towers Dangerous to your Health - National Research Council Journal

OTTAWA, November 5, 2010 /Canada NewsWire/ - Living near a cell phone tower can be very harmful, according to a study published today by The National Research Council Journal.

The peer reviewed study shows that low-level microwave radiation from cell towers increases Cancer and many other illnesses. These Illnesses "are consistent with microwave exposure" and happen well below the danger limits set by Health Canada.

The study's co-author, Dr. Henry Lai from the University of Washington said microwave radiation levels that caused Leukemia in U.S. Embassy employees in Moscow in the 1970s, are now commonly radiating from cell towers in neighbourhoods where we live.

Landmark Resolution passed to preserve the Future of Privacy

International data protection commissioners pass Privacy by Design resolution sponsored by Dr. Ann Cavoukian, with a view to protecting privacy for future generations

TORONTO, October 29, 2010 /Canada NewsWire/ - A landmark resolution by Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner, Dr. Ann Cavoukian, was approved by international Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Jerusalem today at their annual conference.

The resolution recognizes Commissioner Cavoukian's concept of Privacy by Design - which ensures that privacy is embedded into new technologies and business practices, right from the outset - as an "essential component of fundamental privacy protection." The resolution, which was co-sponsored by Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart and Commissioners from Berlin, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, and Estonia, also:

...Encourages the adoption of the principles of Privacy by Design as part of an organization's default mode of operation; and

...Invites Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners to promote Privacy by Design, foster the incorporation of its Foundational Principles in privacy policy and legislation in their respective jurisdictions, and encourage research into Privacy by Design.

"We live in an era of enhanced surveillance: data mining, behavioural profiling, targeted and discriminatory practices, and cloud computing," Commissioner Cavoukian told her counterparts from around the world. "If we want to preserve the privacy that so many of our freedoms rest upon, beyond the next decade, we need to commit to a new approach, and we need to do it now."

Citing ubiquitous connectivity, new paradigms of information sharing, and online social media that have emerged over the last few years, Commissioner Cavoukian called the current moment "a tipping point" for privacy.

"Unless we act now, privacy as we know it will be gone - lost beyond our grasp - by the year 2020," said Commissioner Cavoukian earlier this week during a key plenary address at the 32nd International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners.

Today's resolution marks a sea-change in how the international community will go about preserving privacy, well into the future.

"The velocity of the market drives development of new technologies at a dizzying pace, far beyond what legislative efforts can keep up with," Cavoukian stated. "Reactive regulatory measures alone are no longer sustainable as the sole vehicle for ensuring the future of privacy. This resolution is a commitment to taking swift action now to implement the principles of Privacy by Design and make privacy the default, going forward."

Privacy by Design (PbD), a concept developed by Commissioner Cavoukian back in the '90s, is being adopted globally by a growing number of organizations and jurisdictions. It prescribes that privacy be built directly into the design and operation, not only of various technologies, but also of business processes and networked infrastructure. Instead of treating privacy as an after-thought - "bolting it on after the fact" - PbD is proactive and preventative in nature - a highly effective approach in today's world of increasingly interconnected technologies and extensive data collection. (For more information, see www.privacybydesign.ca.)

The UPS/FedEx 'Delivery Failure' Scam Con artists try an old phishing tactic

from SilverPlanet.com
By Florence Klein

We first reported the UPS/FedEx phishing scam in September 2008. The scheme has never completely disappeared, and it's recently been circulating again, probably because the upcoming holiday mailing season makes it more likely that people will open the email and click on its attachment.

The emails are variations on the basic theme of "package delivery failure." Some may include a false "tracking" or "packet" number to add verisimilitude and help trick the unwary.

UPS and FedEx aren't the only companies affected. In March 2009 and September 2010, similar emails purporting to be from DHL and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), respectively, began to appear. The USPS version reads as follows:

Hello!

Unfortunately we failed to deliver the postal package you have sent on the 19th of September in time because the recipient's address is erroneous.

Please print out the shipment label attached and collect the package at our office.

United States Postal Service

If you receive such an email, don't be tempted! Clicking on the attachment, which looks like a harmless Word document, opens an executable file that installs malware on your computer. The USPS is also aware of attempts to collect personal information via the phone:

Customers may be receiving email messages or phone calls that allege to be from the U.S. Postal Service that contain fraudulent information about attempted or intercepted package delivery.

For emails: If opened, the messages instruct customers to click on a link to find out more about when they can expect delivery of their "package." Simply delete the message without taking any further action.

For phone calls: Please do not provide any personal information and let the caller know you're not interested and hang-up the phone.

The Postal Inspection Service is aware of the problems and are working hard to resolve the issues and shut down the malicious programs.

We regret any inconvenience this may have caused our customers.

UPS, FedEx, and DHL have all issued warnings to immediately delete these emails and to never click on links contained therein. UPS writes that it “may send official notification messages on occasion, but they rarely include attachments.” FedEx says emails it sends with tracking updates for undeliverable packages “do not include attachments.”

... read more story at SilverPlanet.com

10 Worst Computer Viruses of All Time

from HowStuffWorks.com
by Jonathan Strickland


There's nothing quite like finding out your computer has a serious virus.

Computer viruses can be a nightmare. Some can wipe out the information on a hard drive, tie up traffic on a computer network for hours, turn an innocent machine into a zombie and replicate and send themselves to other computers. If you've never had a machine fall victim to a computer virus, you may wonder what the fuss is about. But the concern is understandable -- according to Consumer Reports, computer viruses helped contribute to $8.5 billion in consumer losses in 2008 [source: MarketWatch]. Computer viruses are just one kind of online threat, but they're arguably the best known of the bunch.

Computer viruses have been around for many years. In fact, in 1949, a scientist named John von Neumann theorized that a self-replicated program was possible [source: Krebs]. The computer industry wasn't even a decade old, and already someone had figured out how to throw a monkey wrench into the figurative gears. But it took a few decades before programmers known as hackers began to build computer viruses.

While some pranksters created virus-like programs for large computer systems, it was really the introduction of the personal computer that brought computer viruses to the public's attention. A doctoral student named Fred Cohen was the first to describe self-replicating programs designed to modify computers as viruses. The name has stuck ever since.

Old-school Viruses

Some of the earliest viruses to infect personal computers included the Apple Viruses, which attacked Apple II computers and the Brain virus, which could infect PCs.

In the good old days (i.e., the early 1980s), viruses depended on humans to do the hard work of spreading the virus to other computers. A hacker would save the virus to disks and then distribute the disks to other people. It wasn't until modems became common that virus transmission became a real problem. Today when we think of a computer virus, we usually imagine something that transmits itself via the Internet. It might infect computers through e-mail messages or corrupted Web links. Programs like these can spread much faster than the earliest computer viruses...read mores story at HowStuffWorks.com

Google contravened Canadian privacy law, investigation finds

Google Street View cars inappropriately collected personal information such as e-mails, usernames, passwords, phone numbers and addresses; Commissioner recommends stronger controls and improved privacy training.

OTTAWA, October 19, 2010 /Canada NewsWire/ - Google Inc. contravened Canadian privacy law when it inappropriately collected personal information from unsecured wireless networks in neighbourhoods across the country, an investigation has found.

The Privacy Commissioner's investigation also concluded that the incident was the result of an engineer's careless error as well as a lack of controls to ensure that necessary procedures to protect privacy were followed.

"Our investigation shows that Google did capture personal information - and, in some cases, highly sensitive personal information such as complete e-mails. This incident was a serious violation of Canadians' privacy rights," says Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart.

"The impact of new and rapidly evolving technologies on modern life is undeniably exciting. However, the consequences for people can be grave if the potential privacy implications aren't properly considered at the development stage of these new technologies."

The personal information collected included complete e-mails, e-mail addresses, usernames and passwords, names and residential telephone numbers and addresses. Some of the captured information was very sensitive, such as a list that provided the names of people suffering from certain medical conditions, along with their telephone numbers and addresses.

It is likely that thousands of Canadians were affected by the incident.

Technical experts from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner travelled to the company's offices in Mountain View, Calif. in order to perform an on-site examination of the data that was collected. They conducted an automated search for data that appeared to constitute personal information.

To protect privacy, the experts manually examined only a small sample of data flagged by the automated search. Therefore, it's not possible to say how much personal information was collected from unencrypted wireless networks.

The Privacy Commissioner launched an investigation under the federal private-sector privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, or PIPEDA, after Google revealed that its cars - which were photographing neighbourhoods for its Street View map service - had inadvertently collected data transmitted over wireless networks installed in homes and businesses across Canada and around the world over a period of several years. The networks were not password protected or encrypted.

Google collected the personal information because of a particular code integrated into the software used to collect WiFi signals. The code was developed in 2006 by a Google engineer who was taking advantage of Google's policy of allowing its engineers to use 20 per cent of their time to work on projects of interest to them. He developed the code to sample all categories of publicly broadcast WiFi data and included lines that allowed for the collection of "payload data," which refers to the content of the communications.

The code wound up being used in the Google Street View cars when the company decided to collect information about location of publicly broadcast WiFi radio signals in order to feed this information into its location-based services database.

When the decision to use the code was taken, the engineer who created it did identify "superficial privacy implications." Those implications were never assessed by other Google officials because the engineer failed to forward his code design documents to the Google lawyer responsible for reviewing the legal implications of the WiFi project - contrary to company policy.

Google asserts that it was completely unaware of the presence of the payload data collection code when it began using the software for its location-based services. While the code was reviewed before being installed on Street View cars, the review was only to ensure that the code did not interfere with the Street View operations.

"This incident was the result of a careless error - one that could easily have been avoided," says Commissioner Stoddart.

In light of her investigation, the Privacy Commissioner recommended that Google ensure it has a governance model in place to comply with privacy laws. The model should include controls to ensure that necessary procedures to protect privacy are duly followed before products are launched.

The Commissioner has also recommended that Google enhance privacy training to foster compliance amongst all employees. As well, she called on Google to designate an individual or individuals responsible for privacy issues and for complying with the organization's privacy obligations - a requirement under Canadian privacy law.

She also recommended that Google delete the Canadian payload data it collected, to the extent that the company does not have any outstanding obligations under Canadian and American laws preventing it from doing so, such as preserving evidence related to legal proceedings. If the Canadian payload data cannot immediately be deleted, it needs to be secured and access to it must be restricted.

The Privacy Commissioner will consider the matter resolved upon receiving, by February 1, 2011, confirmation from Google that it has implemented her recommendations.

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada is mandated by Parliament to act as an ombudsman, advocate and guardian of privacy and the protection of personal information rights of Canadians.