Edward Snowden Q&A

Edward Snowden also know as the whistleblower behind the biggest intelligence leak in NSA history has done a live Q&A with The Guardian. He took questions live and answered queries regarding what he did and why he did it. He also spoke about Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple. Saying that their denials to allowing the government access to their servers were false. They are actually misleading their users as to the amount of information they were sharing with the NSA. He also spoke about why he choose Hong Kong and why he fled the US.

The Q&A is a good read for people who have been following this saga since it all began. The whole think started with something called PRISM - which gives the NSA authority to seek to snoop on users' data. This could be data from social networks, phone companies and just about anything out there. Many users have since started using the search engine duckduckgo to get their search queries answered. This entire data collection efforts' codename is PRISM.

This whole revelation by Edward Snowden is always on the news and this is the first time he did a live Q&A to answer people's questions. Hopefully he does an AMA on Reddit.

Read the entire Q&A here. Photo by The Guardian

How to recover your Facebook Password using Trusted Contacts

Now here's something useful for people who might forget their Facebook password and in addition lose access to their email. You might read the first sentence with a smirk on your face. However there are many people who lose access to their email accounts. You might think it's not possible - but it is. There might be many times when a user might forget their Facebook password and cannot open the recovery email sent to their email accounts. Facebook wants to make sure you can always gain access to Facebook no matter what happens. And to facilitate this Facebook has introduced something called Trusted contacts.

What is Facebook trusted contacts and how does it work
With Trusted contacts you can add 3 - 5 people who you think you trust the most. These friends need to be on Facebook and once you add them as trusted contacts. They will be notified and can help you if you ever lose access to your Facebook. Make sure you can contact these people offline - phone or someone you can visit physically. It's like giving your house key to a trusted friend. So once you lose access to your account call them up and let them know you want to recover your account. They can then help you out with a security code. Once you get your security code from at least 3 of them. You can enter then codes and gain back access to your account. There will be no need to add a security question and all of them. The codes are enough. Also good if your account gets hacked.

How to setup, enable turn on Trusted Contacts on Facebook.
You can click here to go to your security settings and enable Trusted Contacts or follow the steps below.
1. Login to Facebook
2. Click the cog icon and then choose account settings
3. On the left click on Security
4. Now click on trusted contacts
5. Choose trusted contacts
Save and you're done. The process has now started.

Source: Facebook Notes.

Please see video below if you need the visuals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGBgogY2L7w

What to do if your computer loses Internet access on Monday due to DNS Changer Malware

What seems to be the problem?
In November 2011 FBI, the NASA-OIG and Estonian police attested cyber criminals in 'Operation Ghost Click'. The criminals used to distribute DNS changing viruses. What they did was operate a botnet around the world and infected people's computers altering their DNS settings. DNS settings are the settings your computer or PC uses to connect to the internet. If the settings are changed or altered - your PC will not be able to connect to the internet.


How does it work?
So once your computer's DNS settings are changed when you type in a URL in the search bar. you will not be taken to the site you intend to go. Instead infected computers will throw-up sites that are malicious and misleading designed to trick you into giving your personal information.  Also pointing users to dangerous products. When users click on the ads that accompany these pages the bad-guys stand to make millions of dollars. 


Why are computers being affected now?
When the FBI discovered this problem they found and took down the servers the criminals were using. This prevented users computers from facing further problems. The agency then activated replacement servers as a safety net. The system is being being shut down as of 12:01 a.m. ET on Monday.


How many computers were affected worldwide?
The Malware is supposed to have spread to 570,000 machines worldwide and about 64,000 windows PCs in the US. 


How to check if my PC has been infected?
You can go to http://www.dns-ok.us/  which is an FBI approved website and by simply visiting the site you will be show a green or red image. Green if you PC is clean and red if it is infected. In fact Google and Facebook will also be letting users know if their machines carry the DNS changer Malware. 


What to do if I find my PC is infected with the DNS Changer Malware?
Go to http://www.dcwg.org/ for more instructions on what to do if your PC is infected. If your PC is unable to connect to the internet you can always contact your internet service provider for guidance on how to change your DNS settings. you would also need to make sure that the virus is cleaned from your system by your internet service provider. 
Source: USA Today via Chron

An original post by

Sociolatte

How to protect and secure you Google account by using a 2-step verification process

With all the news of hacking these days it seem it is better to take extra precautions to keep your account secure. Especially if you travel around a lot and need to access your Google accounts from various computers located in different places. It does not take a professional hacker to get access to your account. Someone with a simple firefox extension called firesheep can capture your login details. 

By using the Google 2-step verification program you ensure that whenever you login from a different computer other than the one you permanently use, you will need to first enter a code sent on your mobile phone, then your password before you gain access to your account. This ensure that if someone gains access to your account and wants to login via a machine that Google knows is not the one you use, they will need to get the code sent yo your mobile phone before they can enter into your account. This ensure that even if by some slightest chance someone gets your login details they will still not be able to gain access to your Google accounts. To keep your Google accounts safe and secure please click here. The good part about the process is that you can also add backup information in case your phone is unavailable. 

An original post by

Sociolatte

Google hack 'Aurora' Now leaked on the internet. How To protect yourself.

The code that was used to hack Gmail accounts in China is now publicly available on the internet. And till a patch can be developed internet users across the world need to be vigilant. The hack targetted users of IE6 and till Microsoft can develop a patch users need to be aware of this threat.


The guys who posted it on the net did it for good reasons so that people involved in security can download it to test their security vulnerabilities. This code however can be downloaded by anyone from the net and there comes the problem. 


So what do you need to do to protect yourself.


This program runs like this. You know those e-mails you get that looks like a forward. You see it and it looks suspicious. Well that is the one do not open it. Because that is how this program works you get a mail with a catchy heading and a link for you to open. Once you open that link this malicious program can begin to work. So if you get an e-mail with a link that sounds to good to be true. it probably is. You need to be cautious when opening e-mail attachments. 


Found on Foxnews

Gregg calls it spearphishing: "They target the user with an e-mail  that would appeal to them, one that leads to a site that launches malicious code onto your system." And the IE 6 exploit makes it particularly easy to slip that code on your computer.

Staying on top of current security patches, using firewalls, updating Web browsers and running intrusion detection software is the first part of staying safe. But since most attacks rely upon spearphishing or some similar end-user exploit, Gregg suggests a training program that would warn users that if an e-mail link looks too good to be true, it probably is -- don't click on it.

On Thursday, the code that was used to hack Gmail accounts in China and led Google to threaten to close shop there was posted to malware-analysis Web site Wepawet. By Friday, security site Metasploit had posted a demonstration of just how easily the exploit can be used to gain complete control over a computer.

Metasploit is intended to let security professionals test out security threats. 

An original post by

Sociolatte