Scams aimed at social networkers

It's the digital version of boy-cries-wolf, and it's a shame, because social network sites via computer or cellphone are a great way to broadcast a friend's (or one's own) real call for help. I remember a story a year or so ago about a journalist who was jailed in Egypt, shortly thereafter to be released because his text messages mobilized friends to get the US Embassy involved. I'm sure most social networkers are smart enough to distinguish between real calls for help and what happened the other day to friends of Bryan Rutberg, though they were scammed pretty convincingly. MSNBC tells of how Bryan's profile was hacked so that a bulletin was sent to his friends saying he's been held up at gunpoint overseas and had no money to get home. Responses to test messages sent to the person posing as Bryan were convincing enough that one friend sent money. I would definitely not hurt to sit down with social networkers at your house and go over three solid tips for social-networking malware avoidance from ComputerWorld.

Data privacy: Be extra alert these days

This is timely news, since yesterday the United States, Canada, and 27 European celebrated the third-annual Data Protection Day (see Computer Weekly). Computer security experts are saying that cybercriminals are taking advantage of "the fear and confusion created by tumbling financial markets" with a "massive wave of schemes to steal people's personal data," USATODAY reports. Panda Security told the paper that the number of malicious software programs circulating around the Net "tripled to more than 31,000 a day in mid-September, coinciding with the sudden collapse of the US financial sector." What to be on the alert for: ads, emails, IMs, bulletins, comments, etc. promoting anti-virus programs, get-rich-quick opps, funny or suggestive videos, etc. - basically everything. Just be on the alert and tell your kids it's just good to be skeptical about messages that make something sound really good or interesting. There really is something to "think before you click." [See also "Beware of Facebook 'Friends' Who May Trash Your Laptop" in a Wall Street Journal blog.]

'Cyber Monday' alert!

Apparently today is the biggest online shopping day of the year, but everybody needs to be extra alert for spam and phishing scams right through the holidays (not to mention every day). The Monday after the US's Thanksgiving "consumers are expected to spend $821 million this year, up 12% from 2007," USATODAY reports. "But a wobbly economy, combined with a consumer thirst for too-good-to-be-true bargains, has motivated cybercrooks to unleash a torrent of spam, phishing scams and malicious software." USATODAY adds that last year, phishing attacks rose 300% on Thanksgiving, and worse is expected this year. It's an excellent opportunity to teach critical thinking. Help your kids understand that, online too, too good to be true is usually exactly that: not true, not a "deal." USATODAY cites security experts as urging users "to be wary of cut-rate deals from unfamiliar online merchants. They also suggest using multiple passwords when shopping and using the most up-to-date Web browsers and anti-virus software."