Secure Your Wifi Monitor
The chance of someone seeking out your unsecured internet connection and using it to access your nursery monitor to watch (or scream at) your baby are very small; the stories of it actually happening are absolutely terrifying. “From a security perspective, all of these devices are hackable,” says Goodman, and can potentially be leveraged by burglars, pedophiles and other perverts. Even if that sounds alarmist, your home network should be secure anyway. Goodman recommends WPA 2-level encryption for your internet router, which should be an option unless you’re still an AOL dial up customer. The router password needs to exceed Spaceballs-level complexity, as does the password on the device itself. If the device doesn’t have a password option, you bought a piece of crap. Oh, and here’s a novel security technique: turn it off when you’re not using it.
Pull Their Credit Report Occasionally
“If somebody steals your identity, you’re going to see the charges on your credit card statement and realize that you didn’t buy a stereo in Lagos,” says Goodman. “Kids don’t have credit cards and they don’t view their credit reports, but they do have social security numbers. Hackers go after these because they can use it for 18 years before the kid goes to apply for financial aid and discovers their credit score is 260.” As banks get more savvy about detecting traditional identity theft, stealing the social security numbers of newborns becomes more common, so don’t wait until Junior gets their first credit card to check.
Turn Geotagging Off On Your Phone’s Camera:
If you’ve managed to keep pictures of your baby in a digital black box, that’s great (but your in-laws must hate you). Anyone who wants to share images with their friends digitally gives up control of those images. By ensuring that the pics don’t contain any location-based information, you can rest (a tiny bit) easier knowing that no one can use them to figure out where you live. Here’s how to turn this setting off on an iPhone, and in Android.
Understand That Corporations Target Them
The Children Online Privacy Protection Act explicitly limits how much corporations can market to kids under the age of 13 … and it’s violated constantly. Facebook, Google, McDonald’s, General Mills, Viacom, Turner Broadcasting, Sony and Subway are just a few examples of corporations that have been fined for coaxing information out of kids through sites like HappyMeal.com and Nick.com. That data included how many siblings they have and their street address. Goodman is particularly weirded out by the idea of Hello Barbie, Mattel’s “smart” doll that learns your kid’s name and asks them questions about what they like and don’t like. “They’re recording your children’s voice, sending it to third parties, and they can listen in the background — there isn’t an off switch,” he says. “When we were kids, our dolls didn’t require a Terms Of Service.”
Exercise Authority Over Their Devices
You’re paying for it,” Goodman points out, so you shouldn’t feel bad about using services like those provided by Verizon or AT&T that let you locate your kid’s phone. He also recommends monitoring software that lets you limit what they can see and who they can talk to online. There are free versions of these programs, but for really robust features pony up for something like PhoneSheriff ($89 per year). Another common sense way to keep them from wandering too far into the online wilderness without a chaperon is to make sure their bedrooms remain offline. Centralize the family computers in a single room, make them keep their phones or tablets in the kitchen, or simply don’t give them your wifi password. It may feel draconian, but it’s way better than having them learn the birds and the bees from a Dutch pedophile.
Don’t Assume They Understand Tech Better Than You
“They’re competent, they know how to use all the latest tools, but they have a lack of curiosity. There’s no adult logic,” Goodman says, recalling a talk he gave to 4,000 high school students who were shocked to learn that their Snapchats did’t actually disappear after 10 seconds. The tendency for kids to not fully appreciate the consequences of their actions doesn’t go away just because they can beat you on Xbox. The idea that a text lacks context that can turn a joke into an insult is lost on them. So is the idea that nothing ever really disappears online, and it can come back to haunt them. “Their ability to discern adult from child or friend from foe is weak,” says Goodman. “They only place they’ll get that is from their parents.”
Don’t Run For The Hills
“I’m broadly an optimist,” he says. “Your kid can sit down at 14 and take a class at Harvard. In the past, if you wanted to learn French, you needed a textbook. Now you can talk to a hot French girl halfway around the world. Technology opens up tremendous opportunities; it will bring 2 billion people out of poverty, reduce infant mortality and bring education to the world. It’s awesome, we just need to mitigate against the downsides.”
Either that, or just move to Amish country, which is supposed to be beautiful this time of year.
]]>“We are at the first minutes of the first hours of the first days of this internet revolution.” -Marc Goodman
The Cheat Sheet:
What are steganography and script kiddies?
How air conditioning led to the Target security breach in 2013.
Is hacking becoming more complex or more simplified?
What are spoofing and swatting?
Why living in a “in screen we trust” culture is so dangerous, and what do to about it.
And so much more…
Today we live in an era of wi-fi enabled everything, but have you ever considered the consequences of such access? Or what will happen over the next few years as everything goes online from our thermostats to our clothes to our bridges? How vulnerable does that access make us to cyber attacks and what can we do to protect ourselves?
Here to share the good, the bad and the ugly on cyber security is Marc Goodman. Marc is the author of Future Crimes: Everything is Connected, Everyone is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It. We dive into those topics and more on this bonus episode of The Art of Charm.
Whether we’re aware of it or not, cyber crime and cyber attacks are becoming increasingly common. Today anyone with Internet access can download an app or software program to hack into your phone or your laptop and do any number of dubious things.
Marc Goodman spells out many of those dubious activities and what we can do to guard against them on today’s show. As a former member of the LAPD, Marc has witnessed firsthand how far behind law enforcement is in this area. He says local and state level agencies are swamped with non-tech crimes to solve and they’re also hampered by budgetary restrictions.
While they are doing their best to keep pace with technology’s ever-changing landscape, cyber crime continues to grow. Over the next several years even more of our day-to-day lives will be online from our clothes to our televisions to our cars. It may not sound like much until you consider our energy grids are online, our traffic systems are online, our airplane management systems are online. Soon every aspect of our lives will be accessible via the Internet.
And we don’t have the security to fully protect that information. Do you remember the breach at Target that happened during the 2013 Christmas holiday? It all stemmed from a third-party vendor who had been authorized to manage Target’s HVAC systems. Millions of credit cards were breached through an air conditioning system, Marc explains how this happened in greater detail during this show.
But it isn’t all doom and gloom! Marc believes the Internet advancements will also lift 2 million people out of poverty, help us feed the world and provide clean water for everyone as well as education. So long as we harness these advancements responsibly and learn to protect ourselves.
He gives specifics on what we can do on a global scale as well as an individual scale. For ourselves we can implement what he calls UPDATE:
U – update frequently.
P – passwords. Use a different password for every site and get a reliable password manager (see the resources for suggestions).
D – downloads. Watch your downloads and be cautious about what you install.
A – administrator. Don’t run your computer using the administrator account.
T – turn off your computer. If it isn’t fully turned off it’s still accessible.
E – encrypt. There are 2 types: you can encrypt the data on your computer and encrypt the data as it is sent out using a VPN.
There’s much more Marc tells on this show. He shares some amazing stories and much-needed data so listen in to hear it all. Thanks to Marc for being here and thanks to you as well. We’ll see you next time on The Art of Charm.
If you enjoyed this session of The Art of Charm Podcast, let Marc know by clicking on the link below and sending him a quick shout out on Twitter:
Click here to thank Marc on Twitter!
Future Crimes web site
Marc Goodman’s web site
Marc on Twitter
The AOC’s VPN recommendation
Password protection recommendations: LastPass, 1Password, Dash Lane
The Art of Charm bootcamps
I’m guessing yes.
I hadn’t ever – until last week.
And then I started thinking about all of my information and who it might be exposed to. Scary.
But conveniently, I had an awesome guest lined up to interview for The School of Greatness who is an expert in the field of cybercrime.
Marc Goodman knows what’s up when it comes to protecting yourself and your information in the age of the internet.
He came by my studio to discuss his nearly two decades of experience solving cybercrime cases all over the world.
Not only has he given a TED talk, consulted with Interpol and the United Nations, and written a new book, but he used to be a street cop in LA.
So you could say he has the credentials to talk about this.
In our conversation, we talk about everything from how to protect your email account to what 3D printers are allowing criminals to make now (instead of having to get on the black market).
But it’s not all bad news. Marc gives some really helpful tips to protect your information, set up a secure computer system, and keep aware of new technology.
I can safely say, Episode 142 applies to EVERYONE and you can thank Marc Goodman when you listen to it.
Some questions I ask:
How do hackers find your passwords?
In general, is society pretty clueless as to what’s actually happening with cybercrime?
Have you ever tested these hacking techniques yourself?
How do you protect yourself if someone steals your computer?
Does Google track everything you do on your computer?
Are a bunch of cybercrimes coming or are they already here?
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
How to protect yourself from getting Facebook hacked (600,000 people get hacked daily)
Crimeware – software made by hackers to make crimes easier online
The dark side to “the internet of things” – how connecting all of our devices and systems to the web can be a bad thing
What an asymmetric threat is – the good guys have to check every possible in and safeguard it, but the bad guys only have to find one weakness
“One person can now rob 100 million people; that’s never been possible before.”
That someone could hack your brakes on your car system while you are driving!
Why you should use a camera cover on your computer when you’re not using it (hackers can activate your camera without you knowing)
His 6 step process to reduce your risk of cybercrime by 85%:
The UPDATE Protocol
– Update – keep your software updated (otherwise it’s full of holes)
– Password – don’t use your Facebook account to login to other sites
– Download – from authorized sources only
– Administrator – don’t use your computer when logged in as admin (except when necessary)
– Turn your computer off – or at least the wifi
– Encryption – scrambles your data unless you have the password
To get a VPN – a Virtual Private Network
The Fact or Fiction answers to my rapid fire questions
That virus protection software only detects about 5% of viruses
How internet access is about to get a LOT bigger
“Stop, think, then connect.”
What is possible with 3D printers now (cool and scary)
How gamers could be the solution for detecing spammers
Plus much more…