Facebook

U Can’t Touch This

December 18, 2014 — Leave a comment

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In case, you ever wish to block Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook, here is something you may find helpful. It is not going to work, that is for sure. Why? Does it really matter? It is this guy’s social network and he can do whatever he likes with it. Including the very special VIP status. Or, cannot he?

There is something we should be more worried about than this “innocent” VIP game. If you recall, we had a couple of self-initiated bug bounty attempts on Facebook, which went an impressive extra mile. For what exactly? To knock directly on Mark’s virtual door and show him a flaw first-hand.

The trouble is that these busy little bees, who have identified serious security flaws on Facebook, were not rewarded accordingly. As a matter of fact, the extremely skillful people, who were able to hack Mark himself on Facebook, ended with peanuts instead of a decent prize and recognition for the efforts.

Maybe, we have unintentionally promoted an additional challenge. How about blocking Mark for a change? Is there someone who can really do that? It is about time for Mark to recognize and appreciate the contributions of the bug bounty hunters on Facebook. There is no other way, is it? Any ideas?

Simple Rules For Cyber Fools

December 4, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Which one came first? The UK law makers’ decision to urge the social networks to drastically simplify their rules, or Facebook announcement of the Privacy Policy for Dummies? Either way this a win-win situation for us. Yet, it is worth to spend some extra time thinking about what is exactly happening here.

Facebook is not going to create new privacy policy. It is just going to rewrite its policies in a simpler way. This is something very similar to the UK’s intention to make you think twice before you press Yes at the end of a certain policy document. These situations we take for granted. That is true.

We do not like to think, we like to use. We literally consume the social networks without second thoughts, or some serious consideration. Later, we like to complain. Maybe, it is better to do these things this way. Fair and simple. You do not have to be a law expert to understand properly the privacy policies.

On the other hand, we will not have an excuse, if something eventually goes wrong. There is a reasonable fear, though, that all of these policies are nicely written, but we are too lazy to read them thoroughly. Let us see what is going to happen eventually with this simplicity reform. Is that enough?

Facebook Privacy For Dummies

December 3, 2014 — Leave a comment

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2015 is going to be an important year for both parties, us and the Facebook itself. It turns out that Facebook wants to wish you a happy new privacy year among the first in the world of social networks. So, what is the catch with this one? Above all, what is new about Facebook privacy policy in 2015?

Here is the biggest surprise of them all. Nothing is changing, but Facebook will do us a favor. The legal terminology and the entire structure of Facebook Privacy Policy will be simplified beyond recognition. At least, this what they are trying to convince us about. How is this supposed to change our lives?

Well, for what is worth, maybe we will finally learn how to use some features or privacy adjustments. Perhaps, we will be able to understand Facebook’s Privacy Policy. On the other hand, we have to ask ourselves, why Facebook has become so generous and privacy friendly all of a sudden?

Here is a word of advice. Read the new policy about the privacy policy, but keep an eye on what is going on with the Facebook’s advertising business. Maybe, our privacy is to suffer from a terrific blow for the advertising purposes, and Facebook wants to minimize the potential danger and damage. Maybe.

Golden Rules And Cyber Fools

November 26, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Privacy and social networks simply do not go hand in hand. Does it really have to be this way? Well, it depends on you. At this dark hour for our privacy, it would be nice to remind ourselves of a timeless classic in this field. According to the NSA golden rule, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about.

As simple and as complicated as that. On the other side, here is one more goldie just for you. There is no such a thing as privacy on social networks. The man, who invented the Facebook, said that. If you want to keep something a secret absolutely and permanently, you have no other choice than to keep silent.

So, what are we supposed to do? Use the social networks to suit you the best. However, do not forget that everything and anything on these networks come at a certain price. It is up to you, whether or not a certain social network will become a social spider’s web for you. Maybe you are a spider itself.

Yet, you just do not know it. Either way, it is the social networks’ way or the highway. We have a choice, to use them or find some other way of communicating and making new friends. Is this a true choice, in the first place? Or, you can create a new social network of your own. Maybe you can change the world.

The Drone Avengers

November 26, 2014 — Leave a comment

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If you loved the Avengers, then you are going to be blown away by this one. Under a certain condition. You have to live in the USA. The people, who are living half across the globe, are definitely not going to be thrilled with an idea of the flying drone carrier. Can you imagine such a thing flying above you?

The flying fortress, which deploys hundreds, even thousands of drones everywhere you look. This is not a movie, but rather an imminent reality knocking at our door. To make things even worse, we can expect the further commercialization of the drone related possible applications. Intrigued?

Amazon plans to launch an entire fleet of commercial drones. Google is currently occupied with satellites and Facebook with balloons. But, you do not have to guess twice what will happen, once they hear about the drone carrier. That means to have an entire trade or service center right up in the sky.

These ideas make business giants to be simply restless. On the other hand, we can only ask ourselves, how long before this new SkyNet starts making trouble? This dronology can be an annoying thing. Especially, if you do not like to see a crowded sky with all kinds of flying machines. Drones are not carrying bonbons, that is for sure.

Dial F For Murder

November 17, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Can you believe that there is such a thing as a Facebook murder? This is not a game. Pay close attention. We are not talking about a situation when someone kills his own profile or remove a person from a friend’s list. Oh no, real murders with a link in the virtual world are our primary concern here.

For the UK police Facebook is a serious and respectable partner in crime against the crime itself. For what is worth, top crime experts are making the profiles of the most dangerous potential murders on Facebook. You do not have to be a police expert to figure out yourself that all comes down to the proper prevention.

On the other side, we do not want you to get a wrong impression that Facebook is to blame for some of these unwanted things. The people with bad intentions will always find a way to materialize their malicious desires. In this sense, the criminals are no different than the ordinary users on Facebook.

There is an important moral of this story. Do not leave an open door for the trouble on Facebook. The last thing we need is to turn ourselves into an easy prey for the Facebook predators. Who knows, you may stumble across a cyber troll, or even worse a truly dangerous man with an innocent profile.

I Am The Moderator!

November 9, 2014 — Leave a comment

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So, how do you think the system works? We are talking about the immense content sea of the social networks. You think that you have seen it all, don’t you? You take the situation on the modern social networks for granted. You do not like what you see. Well, without moderators that would have been a living hell.

According to some very reliable urban legends and unreliable rumors there is an entire army of literally hundreds of thousands of social network moderators out there. Most of them are freelancers from the third world countries. For a couple of hundreds of dollars per month you get the top class human filter.

Thanks to these busy little bees we have a unique chance to enjoy ourselves in the cleaned version. Do not you even dare to ask what had to be eliminated during the process itself. All for your pleasure and convenience. Why? Because the good old Facebook does not want to upset its users too much.

If so, how come we do not have hundreds of thousands of cyber security moderators? Well, that is more costly. In addition, from the provider’s point of view, this is a completely different thing. The one he is ready to pay for, only when something bad happens. Poor busy little bees, they fly only in one direction.

Identica Problematica

October 22, 2014 — Leave a comment

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The stupidest thing you can possibly do on the Internet is to use the same user names and passwords for the different online platforms and services. Then how come we keep repeating it all over again, with the self-destructive stubbornness? We are either too lazy or unforgivingly ignorant about the cyber security.

Finally, someone has decided to do something about it. What exactly and how efficiently? Well, the Facebook has decided to turn the first page. If it turns out that you are using your Facebook account user name and password for some other web service, you will get a fair warning to change them accordingly.

How the Facebook knows all of that? You should relax. If Facebook knows it, then you can rest assured more than one hacker knows it, as well. It is always better to change them all before any real damage is being done. On the other side, do not worry about your privacy. Facebook works for you, in this case.

Do we have to repeat it all? User name and password twins on the Internet are not a smart choice. Do not be lazy and at least create different passwords, if you do not have enough patience to play with the different user name combinations. Our hats off to the Facebook for this thoughtful move.

Facebook Inaugural Internet Defense Award

August 28, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Finally, someone has realized that there is no such a thing as a bad investment in IT security. Finally, some positive news from the Facebook’s kitchen after the troubling series of events associated with the privacy controversies. This is what we need. A little bit of both to improve our IT security.

We need contests with prizes and bug bounty programs with awards. Facebook has generously awarded two German researchers with $50K for their paper “Static Detection of Second-Order Vulnerabilities in Web Applications.” The great thing about this news is that Facebook is willing to go to the next level.

The logic with this is quite a simple one. If we can detect these extremely important vulnerabilities, the next thing to do is to find a way to eliminate them successfully. Facebook is looking forward to seeing some additional research in this field. It will also invest some money for it, as well.

It comes without saying that is better to invest time and money in these kinds of IT security researchers, rather than to spy on your own users including all kinds of secret experiments, which threaten our privacy. Our hats off to Facebook for this one. We sure hope this is only the beginning.

You Can Hide, But You’ll Be Recognized

August 21, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Do you recall how the updated FBI facial recognition technology was under the tremendous pressure and criticism as being extremely expensive and insufficiently efficient? It was even compared to the one used by Facebook. The most popular social network in the world apparently much bigger database in this matter.

For what is worth, the FBI was able to close the 15 years old case, thanks to this facial recognition technology. One notorious child abuser was caught in Nepal against all odds. This amazing story really makes you think seriously about the potential implications of the latest technologies.

On the other hand, we just got one more confirmation of an old and simple IT security rule. There are no bad technologies or apps, only good or bad people who use them this way or another. This is definitely something worth remembering and repeating as many times as possible.

Just imagine what we could do, if we were to use available apps and technologies for some other things rather than spying and advertising. Would not that be something to wish for? Until then, these kinds of events will be treated as lonely and positive incidents. Unfortunately.