How to Disappear

When I heard about this on the NYT Tech Talk podcast, all I could say was…WOW!!!  You’d really be surprised what you will find on the internet about yourself.  Be Safe! while surfing the net. 

 

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How to Disappear
by
Frank M. Ahearn & Eileen C. Horan

 
From the world’s preeminent people finder—an insider’s guide to disappearing!

How to Disappear is the authoritative and comprehensive guide for people who seek to protect their privacy as well as for anyone who’s ever entertained the fantasy of disappearing—whether actually dropping out of sight or by eliminating the traceable evidence of their existence.

Written by the world’s leading experts on finding people and helping people avoid being found, How to Disappear covers everything from tools for disappearing to discovering and eliminating the nearly invisible tracks and clues we tend to leave wherever we go. Learn the three keys to disappearing, all about your electronic footprints, the dangers and opportunities of social networking sites, and how to disappear from a stalker.

Frank Ahearn and Eileen Horan provide field-tested methods for maintaining privacy, as well as tactics and strategies for protecting personal information and preventing identity theft. They explain and illustrate key tactics such as misinformation (destroying all the data known about you); disinformation (creating fake trails); and, finally, reformation—the act of getting you from point A to point B without leaving clues.

Ahearn illustrates every step with real-life stories of his fascinating career, from undercover work to nab thieving department store employees to a stint as a private investigator; and, later, as a career “skip tracer” who finds people who don’t want to be found. In 1997, when news broke of President Bill Clinton’s dalliance with a White House intern, Ahearn was hired to find her. When Oscar statuettes were stolen in Beverly Hills, Ahearn pinpointed a principal in the caper to help solve the case. When Russell Crowe threw a telephone at a hotel clerk in 2005, Ahearn located the victim and hid him from the media.

An indispensable resource not just for those determined to become utterly anonymous, but also for just about anyone in the brave new world of on-line information, How to Disappear sums up Ahearn’s dual philosophy: Don’t break the law, but know how to protect yourself.

Firesheep Firefox Add-On Hijacks Twitter, Facebook Over Wi-Fi

I heard this on NYT Tech Talk and thought it was very informative. Beware of unprotected hot spots and ensure your browser is the most up-to-date.

By: Larry Seltzer

If you didn’t already know that plain HTTP sessions are utterly insecure, here’s proof: A new Firefox addin named Firesheep captures sessions on open Wi-Fi networks and goes one step more sinister. It finds users logged into Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon, Dropbox, Evernote, WordPress, Flickr, bit.ly and more, and lets you take over their sessions and become them.
This isn’t revolutionary in any way. Session hijacking in HTTP is old news, but it may never have been this easy before. For Windows users it’s a bit harder, as they have to install WinPcap, a packet capture library, but it’s still not much of a barrier. An OSX version is also available.
What can you do? Don’t use open, unencrypted Wi-Fi networks or, if you do, use a VPN on them. At the very least, use HTTPS sessions on open networks. Hat tip to TechCrunch for suggesting Force-TLS, another Firefox extension that forces Firefox to use HTTPS (TLS) connections from certain sites.
Many of these sites offer TLS (HTTPS) connections, but don’t default to them. Support can be flaky: Facebook on TLS has no chat available. What’s up with that? Some services, like Gmail, have moved to all-TLS all the time.
I don’t think there’s any particular reason why Firesheep should be limited to Wi-Fi networks. Regular wired Ethernet connections aren’t encrypted by default either. I’ll research this and report back.
Originally posted on PCMag’s Security Watch blog.

New Virus Alert: Social networking “LinkedIn” being targeted

A new malware campaign is targeting
“LinkedIn”, a social networking site used by industry professionals.

Bogus e-mail invitations, appearing to originate from LinkedIn, entice
recipients into accessing a seemingly legitimate website. These websites
are actually malicious in nature and attempt to install malware on the
victim’s system. The specific malware is a variant of the stealthy Zeus
Trojan, which is designed to obtain passwords and banking credentials
without the user’s knowledge.

With the advent of Social Media access across the DoD, this malware campaign
represents a legitimate threat to Air Force Networks. Users are reminded to
never open unsolicited messages from unknown senders, especially those
containing untrusted links. These messages should be deleted at once.

Be Safe while online.

Thanks to B. Goff for passing the info