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Maintaining Your Online Privacy

The biggest commodity in recent days is privacy. If you search on your own, you might discover the number of organizations who are said to have your information, about your family, and other things etc. Your information, phone number, and other things which are personal like your social security number and so on are worthy of more money for the bad people and legitimate businesses. The bad individuals want to steal the information from you. So, it is important to secure your information and maintain online privacy.

Different ways of maintaining online privacy

Let’s discuss various ways or possibilities of maintaining online privacy:

  • Be picky about sharing your number of social security

You are required to think twice when you share the number of social security to your bank, company, or with anyone. If anyone has your data such as your address or birth date, they can take out your credit cards and steal your identity. Few of the bad hackers can even pile up debt in your name. The last four digits of the social security number must be only revealed when it is only needed. It is normally asked by banks to set your password. So be careful in sharing your social security number with anyone.

  • Keep the private browsing on

When you are browsing through the internet, you need to allow private browsing. This setting deletes temporary internet files, browsing history, and cookies etc when you close the window after the browsing. Every organization which advertises on the web will surely what to know what you purchase, what sites you visit, about your friends etc. They can offer you aimed ads by knowing about your online activities. Some of the times they might depend on the code which is embedded to track your preferences, demographic information, and visits. Try to surf the net by hiding your IP address if you truly care about the privacy. This is especially recommended when you viewing adult content. Obviously, you don’t want people to know when you are looking at teen sluts, but hookup sites are also often a target for malicious actors. Popular free sex apps like Meet n Fuck Free often suggest bolstering your security and privacy when accessing their platform. You can do this by using a virtual private network that operates by routing your web traffic through a series of servers.

  • Utilize two-factor authentication

With the authentication of two factors, you can lock down your dropbox, google, and Facebook etc. It means when you sign in, you also are required to enter the special code which the website texts to your mobile phone. Few of the administrations need it all the time you sign in to their site. This authentication works amazingly which makes others not to access your accounts. But few people think this is time-consuming. When you serious about your privacy then this works better for you.

  • Just pay for the things with cash

Many of the credit card companies seem to see your buying information to the advertisers. If you do not want any organizations to know how much booze you are going to purchase or any other embarrassing things then pay for them with the cash.

  • When making credit card purchases do not give zip code

Many of the stores sometimes ask for your zip code when you purchasing something with your credit card. You should not provide it unless you wish to donate to their database of the market. Companies can get information of yours easily through your zip code incorporating your email, address, and phone number.

  • Lie when you answer security questions

When you are logging into a company’s site, you will be asked security questions like in which city you are born etc. To keep your privacy and account secure from the hackers, lie when you answer the security questions. By digging up some answers, anyone can easily access your account.

  • Put privacy on your social network activity

When you use Facebook, make sure to check settings and only your friends know what you are actually doing. You can set privacy in the privacy settings of your social media account. By putting the settings to privacy, only your friends can know your social network activities.

  • Setting up a google alert for your name

The simple method of keeping an eye on someone who is saying about you on the web is set up a google alert. It is like telling the google to look for what types of web pages to search and how much time to search etc.

  • Utilize a password vault

Many of the individuals utilize the same password more than once for more than one application or website. It cannot be possible for remembering various passwords for different online administrations that you may utilize. Using the same password for all the services can lead to tracking your data easily on the web. For this reason, utilize a password manager or use a password vault which generates super-strong login fields and remember all your passwords.

  • Lockdown your hardware

You need to set up your personal computer to need a password when it wakes from boots up or sleeps. Suddenly if you lose your laptop or your mobile devices, you need to utilize a passcode for accessing them every time you use it. When your device gets stolen, for locating it install an application or lock the hardware to clean your entire data. Such that any stranger cant accesses the information. Make sure to install an antivirus to be aware of the malware applications to secure your mobile device from any kind of threat.

  • Do not fill out your profile of social media

When you share more amount of data on the web then it gets easier for any person for stealing it. Do not be cooperative and mention your whole data on social media profiles. You need to carefully observe your social media profiles and don’t fill them with your birth data. Phone number or email address. There are high chances that someone can steal your data easily in this way that is through your social media profile. If you seriously care about your privacy then make sure to not offer your personal information on any kind of social media platform.

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The Ashley Madison Hack Explained

A few years back, there was a cyber-attack which became well-known even today. This was one of the most dangerous and notorious cyber-attacks in history. This attack was the Ashley Madison Hack, a security breach on a large online adult dating service. This site is all about extramarital affairs.

In 2015, this site suffered from a security breach and there was big news. By the attack, more than 300 GB of user data got exposed and that included user names as well. Along with this, the attack also dragged their credit and debit card information, banking data, and their transactions as well. More than anything, users were worried about their sexual fantasies that got explored. This was one of the worst nightmares of using this site. Because of this attack, his personal information was available on the internet for everyone to see. The consequences of attacks were really worst and it is difficult to imagine such consequences.

Earlier Ashley was just a sleazy site which was questionable. After the attack, the same site has become the best example of security management malpractice.

Hacktivism as an excuse

The impact team was the hacking group. After they successfully attacked this site, they started sending messages to the owners. With their message, they were threatening the owners for bad faith and they were criticizing them for their security. The company didn’t respond to the hackers and that resulted in exposing the personal details of the users by the hackers.

Thousands of user data got breached and hackers justified their actions. They told that Ashley Madison was unable to protect user’s data and they failed to provide proper security. After Ashley Madison offered to delete the users’ accounts by paying some amount. But even when the account was deleted properly, transactions were never deleted. Purchase details remained in the site and that included even the real names of the user along with his/her address.

These are the main reasons, the hacking group finally decided to punish the company. This punishment of exposing the user’s data cost almost $30 million for Ashley Madison as a fine.

Costly consequences

Even though they took all the measures for security, even today people have the opinion that they are still threatened. There are many groups that are not related to the impact team who are sending blackmail messages to this company. These messages are demanding around 500-2000 dollars for not exposing the information hacked from Ashley Madison.

So, the company is continuously putting efforts to strengthen its security measures. Along with the fine, they also went under investigation of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. This left a void in the market for people interested in affair dating and finding local sex. This opened the door for adult sites and apps like Local Sexfinder and other backpage alternative services.

What should be done?

After the investigation of this case, experts drew some interesting conclusions. These conclusions should be taken into account in each and every company to make sure that security is intact.

Strong passwords

This is most important in a site and the site should implement very strong passwords. Ashley used the Bcrypt hashing algorithm for protecting the passwords. They have also used the MD5 algorithm for some 15 million subsets. This was the main reason behind attacks since this algorithm is very vulnerable mainly to brute force attacks.

Strict Delete

This is one of the most controversial aspects of the entire case of Ashley Madison. Because the hackers and attack users came to know that even after deleting the account, Ashley’s site was holding information about them. The Impact group was dragging the information for a long time. But it is very important for a company to take care of personal information management. Once the user deletes his account, the entire account with all his transactions should be deleted.

Ensuring the Highest Security

Offering and maintaining impeccable security is of utmost importance for an organization. Users believe in security and privacy and the company should take the right measures to maintain the same. It should always implement impeccable practices and protocols when it comes to security.

MD5 protocol used by Ashley Madison was one of the reasons behind this attack. This was clearly a mistake and they would have utilized some strong protocol in its place. Apart from this, the entire platform has a lot of security issues and the reason behind this was the earlier development team. One more thing to focus on is insider threats. There will be some internal users who can result in harms that are irreparable. So, the best way to prevent all these issues is the implementation of strict protocols in all aspects including monitor and log in along with employee actions.

Final Thoughts

After this attack, many organizations started implementing strict protocols and they started strengthening their security measures. Especially when the company deals with a user’s personal information, it should implement the best actions and security measures to protect personal data. Ashley Madison hack should be considered as a case study and organizations should learn from this case.

Online News Companies – Are They Private and Secure?

One of the few sectors that never goes out of demand is news. Be it weather forecast to local news, political condition to financial markets, scientific discovery to the latest situation around the world – news really brings the entire world in our drawing-room. From broadcasting channels in radio and TV to print media including magazines and newspapers and digital online news content – one can access news via numerous channels.

With the increasing popularity of news channels (both online and offline), many new companies are springing up. While some are becoming successful, many are relying on hoax, gossip, and stuff like celebrity wardrobe malfunction. In today’s world when fake news and rumor are giving rise to violence and riot, it’s important to select the right news companies. These companies strive really hard to convey the right message to the audience and make people aware of the contemporary situation without any bias. We will discuss some of the leaders by market share in the online news space.

We know that these companies are highly profitable enterprises, but where do their profits come from? The answer is advertising. Advertising developed from targeted information that they collect from users. Online advertising often conjures images of adult companies sending emails to “meet local milfs” or buy a product promising other worldly results that are easy to ignore and place in the digital trash bin. However, more often than not we are exposed to advertisements that are laser targeted and placed in ways that don’t set off the radar of smarter, jaded consumers. These online news companies are some of the largest purveyors of such ads.

News Corp

Market share – $7.48 billion

One of the most diversified media and information service providing companies is News Corp. Rupert Murdoch split the News Corporation into two agencies – 21st Century Fox and News Corp. That’s how the company came into existence.

News Corp, with its four additional segments like book publishing, digital real estate service, cable network programming, and other paid television and online services, focuses mainly on information service and news.

Some of its famous brands include Fox sports, Harper Collins publishers, Herald Sun, The Sun, The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, The Times, and others.

The New York Times Company

Market share – $4.21 billion

The New York Times is a global media and marketing company that operates mainly on its own digital platforms. Its journalistic service is provided by the reputed brands like The New York Times International Edition, The New York Times, and NYTimes.com.

Tribune Media Co

Market share – $3.39 billion

Tribune media is one of the renowned diversified broadcasting companies that offer sports programming, entertainment and news both on digital media and television. It operates in over 45 TV stations and its popular programme WGN America reaches more than 85 million houses! The company also has share on diverse fields including classified ventures, TV food network, mashable and other media businesses.

Daily Mail and General Trust

Market share – $2.82 billion

This UK based company DMGT (Daily mail and general trust) is established back in 1922 and got listed on the renowned London Stock Exchange. It owns numerous radio stations, television, and newspapers. It has a great presence across DMG information and DMG world events, entertainment, and data analytics.

E.W.Scripps

Market share – $1.38 billion

E.W. Scripps or SSP is a significantly large media company founded back in the year of 1878. It has a presence across various national and local digital media sites, newspapers, and TV stations.

Its business has three distinct streams including content syndication, television, and newspapers. Also, its stream includes Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Gannett Co Inc

Market share – $1.12 billion

GCI or Gannett Co Inc is a reputed media information and news company that has a presence across digital, publishing, and broadcasting platforms. Its most famous brand is USA Today. Its publishing segment runs across 80 publications, broadcasting segment runs over 45 TV stations, and it has more than 420 non daily local publications. The company also provides online HR software service and digital marketing solution.

Daily Journal Corporation

Market share: $325.86 million

DJCo or Daily Journal works as a journalistic service provider thorough digital media and print. It primarily operates in Arizona and California. Some of its well known brands include the following: The Orange County Reporter, The Daily Recorder, The San Francisco Daily Journal, The Los Angeles Daily Journal, The Intercity Express, Daily Commerce, The Record Reporter, Business Journal.

A.H. Belo Corporation

Market share – $98.83 million

AHC or A.H. Belo Corporation focuses mainly on local newspapers like The Denton Record Chronicle, The Providence Journal, The Dallas Morning News, and others. Also, the company releases various audience-specific publications.

The McClatchy Company

Market share – $54.58 million

MNI or The McClatchy Company has over 30 daily and non daily newspapers, digital publications, and web portals. It also provides ad service in 29 markets in the United States. Some of their popular brands include The Raleigh News & Observer, The Kansas City Star, the Miami Herald, The Sacramento Bee, the Fort Worth Star Telegram, and so on.

So, you got a clear insight which companies own which publication house. The curious part is that some of the leading (or to say, rival) publication houses belong to the same company! When you start to dig deeper into the data and information that these platforms collect from their subscribers you start to uncover more. Some of these platforms collect very specific and often sensitive information from their users and subscribers. Many outlets, including the documentary The Great Hack, have shown us just how vulnerable our personal information can be when we turn them over to some of these companies.

What’s your take on the article? Feel free to comment below and share your thoughts with us. Also, share the article with your friends.

WHAT IS A VPN?

The term VPN is now widely used in corporate environments. Information for which months had to be spent in the past or were never realized, because of ID barriers, can now be obtained in a jiffy. This is done at no cost of identity to the User and the data itself is acquired over encrypted connections, which provide privacy that is superior to even Wi-Fi Hotspots. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. It gives the User anonymity and absolute privacy while carrying out a search from public Internet connections. While the name seems to be on most corporate lips in the know, not everyone can answer the question — What is a VPN?

How Does a VPN Work?

vpn diagram

A VPN is a private network that is created virtually on the Internet, which is a public network, in order to connect certain sites or Users together who have barred entry to most enquirers directly. The VPN creates a virtual website with the ability to protect the User’s id and encrypt messages, through private channels. Thus, the ID of the User is protected by a cloak of anonymity while the desired data is extracted from the public network. The VPN can be used to access websites that are restricted, perhaps regionally or even through the creator’s instructions, all the while shielding the Users browsing activity from interference or prying.

Setting up a VPN

To set up a VPN in three steps one must do as follows:

  1. Add a connection on the PC or phone security settings.
  2. Select the type of service and server address of the VPN provider as well as the VPN User name.
  3. Enter authentication information.

The VPN setup is now complete.

Legality

The legality of using a VPN may vary from country to country but is generally acceptable in most advanced democratic countries like the US. However, countries like Russia, China, Belarus, Iraq and North Korea either restrict or ban the VPN. The test of legality involves the reasons for use of the privacy cloak provided by the VPN. Not all VPN are however legal and use of the Darknet is not encouraged. To the question — What is a VPN? — the answer has to be that legal VPNs help to encrypt a User’s connection to the Internet to stop the user being Tracked or Hacked while online. Legally speaking, one should use only the best and most legal VPNs, which are also fast. For example, PureVPN satisfies the legality test perfectly and is also fast.

Some Disadvantages

  • The VPN might monitor User activity and utilize the User’s data.
  • There might be performance issues when using the VPN.
  • User applications might find it difficult to setup a private network.
  • Internet speed may be slowed down.
  • It might be costly to use VPN.
  • The legality of using VPN should be checked in the country it is being used in.

VPNs are therefore useful, and certainly give protection to the user, but their use must be controlled and restricted by legality and reason.