Internet Security



Dear Reader,

As the rest of the world was forced to make major adjustments due to Covid, New England Give Camp also had to change. For those of my readers who aren’t familiar with New England Give Camp, Give Camp is a nationwide organization that organizes technical professionals for a weekend code-a-thon to write solutions for non-profits.

Each year has a theme and sometimes a challenge. This year’s challenge was remote colloboration spread across many states whereas we are all usually on site. “Eleven Is Heaven” was this year’s theme because it’s our eleventh meeting and always a joy to do good in the world. There is never a year that goes by that I don’t experience a strong mixture of heartache and joy. The heartache comes from witnessing some of the need for our services and the joy is knowing the help we provide.

Although I am a veteran Give Camper, I was unsure about the logistics and how we would get into our teams. Usually we meet in the large area then find each other and find a working space. I was nervous because I always want to do the best work I can. Fortunately, the organizers used Slack to create the teams and we were able to move forward with the projects from there.

This year, I was honored to work with the Lakota Youth Stay organization and it’s mission “… to foster authentic, mutually rewarding and sustainable friendships between Native American youth and people in Eastern Massachusetts with the goal of inspiring hope and creating cultural understanding and awareness.” Lakota Youth Stay had begun a Pen Pal program to prevent the children from losing invaluable connections during the pandemic. The program had grown so quickly that the data was unmanageable.  They had to put the program on hold leaving over 100 children without resrouces and many more unable to sign up.

I served with a senior software engineer and a retired database developer and with Joy Harris, the Founder and Excutive Director of Lakota Youth Stay. This year, I felt like we were the A-Team. “I love it when a plan comes together.” – John “Hannibal” Smith from The A-Team. Despite my earlier fears, we were quickly and efficiently working together to wrangle Joy’s data and get her a functioning system. From a database standpoint, this was a fairly simple problem to solve. I had the data cleaned up fairly quickly. The next day, the team worked to get a system built from the cleaned data that the non-profit would be able to use. A bit more data manipulation was necessary as we had to merge a couple spreadsheets. We were able to create a functioning sign up form so the non-profit would no longer be required to manually enter the data.

As a Data Manager, Data is more than just numbers on a spreadsheet. The data tells me stories. A story began to unfold as I worked with the data. Many people’s phone numbers changed frequently – even monthly. The mailing addresses would change frequently as well. The children didn’t always have the same parent / guardian. It began to remind me of the poor neighbors I knew when I lived in Providence. As I was writing this blog and reading more about the South Dakota reservation I was horrified. Per the webpage about the Pine Ridge Reservation, I learned that :

  • Annual per capita income: $7,000
  • Unemployment: 85 – 90%
  • Alcoholism: 80 – 85%
  • 97% live below the federal poverty level
  • Life expectancy is 48 years for men; 52 years for woman
  • Teen suicide rate is 2.5 times higher than the US national average
  • School drop-out rate is 70%
  • 35% of the household on Pine ridge have no indoor plumbing; 39% have no electricity
  • Most people have limited access to quality health care
  • There are minimal preventative health care programs
  • There is limited public transportation
  • There are no major retail stores on the reservation. There is one grocery store and a number of convenience stores.

My heart broke (again). I think I’ve begun measuring the need and success of these weekends in the number of kleenex I go through while I do this work. I’m horrified that people live in these conditions in the United States with the resources we have. I’m gratified that I can do something to help. If any of my readers are considering supporting an organization, I would recommend this one. There are small ways and large ways to get involved that can make an enormous impact on the quality of life for these folks.


endangered-species-listDear Reader,

A recent visit with a non-technical friend made me aware of fears that people have regarding crimes involving personal information.  She successfully thwarted an attempt to make a fradulent purchase in her name; yet the fear remained.  She was focused on the criminals always “being one step ahead” rather than the fact that she had outsmarted them.  Non-technical does not mean helpless!  The goal of this post is to demystify cyber crime and return control to the individual.

Being a global community, we are finding that our privacy is on the endangered species list.  How much of our information is made public?   Do we have any control over it?  Is the only solution to shun social media?   More of our home devices are becoming “smart”.  Can outsiders gain access to our homes remotely?   Understanding the technology provides us with the skills to protect our homes. ( Understanding Your Home Network )

Inside your home, your smart devices all operate on your LAN (What Is A Lan ) You can think of this like your neighborhood.  Each device has a uniqe name (MAC address).  Each device is assigned an ip address.  The name never changes, but the ip address can change.  You could think of your computer like a person.

Assume your computer is named Suzie. bot-4878002_1920 Suzie lives at 5 Mockingbird Lane.  Suzie can move up the street to 8 Mockingbird Lane.  Another person can move into the neighborhood.  Say Fred is your smart TV.  Fred moves into 5 Mockingbird Lane after Suzie moves out.  Fred and Suzie can only communicate with each other if they pick up the phone and call each other.  Fred and Suzie can only communicate with the outside world (bank, pizza place) if they pick up the phone and call. Both your TV and computer must connect to the house internet (the telephone lines between Suzie and Fred).   The computer has a web browser (the telephone to call the pizza place for dinner).   The TV has apps like Netflix or Hulu (the telephone to talk to Suzie).

Since we started building homes in the 1700s until today, the way to protect yourself from theives stealing your stuff is to lock your home.  Nothing has changed.  We have come up with better locks, but that’s about it.  No matter how creative the cyber criminals become, the same holds true for computers – make good passwords for anything that someone can access.  To better understand this, it’s important to know that there is a device or devices in your house that allows access to the outside world.  It’s your router / modem.  Protect it.  Protect all your accounts.

Partial List of  internet best practices:

Do not trust unsolicited emails
Open a web browser and navigate to the link separately
Do not run any unknown code
Always maintain good antivirus
Check any suspicous downloads using your antivirus
Use good password practices
Use a long password – at least 8 characters
Do not use personal names, pet names, family names, birthdays, social security numbers
Use a mix of letters, numbers, upper case, lower case and special characters
 
Write them down at home and do not store on computer
Change about every 3 months
Do not reuse old passwords
Do not use the same password on every internet website
Create accounts on important sites even if you don’t intend to use them – criminals create accounts in your name if you don’t
Social Security
Register your credit cards
Department of Motor Vehicles

logicbomb

If the worst happens: If you become the victim of a digital crime — identity theft, fraud, hacking, email breach or other crimes, what do you do?

 Just like any other crime, do not panic.  Remain calm.

Crime Action Resources / further action
Social media hacked Change password, Report to social media platform Social Media Resources
Suspicious Email Report to Email platform Report Suspcious Emails
Online Scam Report to credit card company or bank Stop Scams
Identity Theft Report to credit card company or bank, report to DMV, passport and other relevant accounts Identity Theft Assistance

“People fear what they don’t understand and hate what they can’t conquer.”

― Andrew Smith

I hope that this blog will remove fear and empower users to become more of a part of our digital community.

Further reading:

How The FBI Gets Cyber Criminals

Report Tip to FBI

Online Safety

What Is Cyber Crime

How To Set Up A Home Network

How To Secure Your Home


Dear Reader,

NEGC-Logo-Large-768x263

I am at year # 9 of   New England Give Camp.  Over the years, Give Camp has become my haven of hope away from the daily, screaming problems of the world.  I bury myself in working for good and remind myself that the good outnumbers the bad.  It rejuvenates my soul.

This year’s organization is Project Giving Kids. logoProject Giving Kids is all about connecting busy kids and families to fun, meaningful and age-appropriate service activities through a unique website and app experience. Project Giving Kids started with a color wheel full of causes kids care about, and the belief that kids could be powerful drivers of the entire process.

I have always believed in the abilities and power of children as strong, contributing members of our society.  stock-vector-children-volunteering-in-the-farm-garden-322541219My nieces and nephew helped me pick out clothes, become more tech savvy and introduced me to Facebook.   Seeing children courageously and tirelessly work for a world where terrorists and bullies are not the norm reminds me why we are all here.

Rock on!


Dear Reader,

Exploration and Innovation have previously been the domain of Universities and Governments marshaling their collective resources.  How does humankind’s drive to colonize Mars in the digital media age take shape?   In the form of a reality show.   Yes, you heard right, Reality show.

It is possible to think that television has been lost in the sea of digital media, but apparently not.   From its inception, television has been leveraged to communicate, bring us together as a digital society, and socially engineer our future selves.   Presidents became closer to mainstream America, we share entertainment, atumblr_mqxvemvpsO1r01w8mo4_1280 (2)nd we witness events as a nation. We all held our breath while Apollo 13 was clinging tenaciously to life.  Broader still, other countries share our adventures into television media.  Although television now has rivals in the Internet, Cell Phones, and Tablets, television has grown to be a dominant force in our global community.

Television with the onset of reality programming has provided  Mars One‘s entrepreneur,  Bas Lansdorp, with the means to finance his dream of colonization of Mars.  Mars One is a non-profit organization working towards the goal of colonizing Mars with the first four people by 2023.   Working within our current technology, Bas, is currently seeking volunteers to go on a one-way trip to Mars.   If anyone ever told you to “Get Lost!” this is the way to do it.

As immediate as 2016, the project will be capable of unmanned demonstration.  The Mars One website showcases a complete list of FAQ’s including the business model, cost of the project, and its feasibility.  Its creator has managed to recruit an incredible amount of support including a Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist, and world-wide suppliers for all the technical resources they will need.

The Journal of Cosmology said, “…, to attain it [an outpost on Mars] would require not only major international cooperation, but a return to the exploration spirit and risk-taking ethos of the great period of Earth exploration, from Columbus to Amundsen, but which has nowadays been replaced with a culture of safety and political  correctness.” in an article exploring the proposal in 2010.   That article goes on to analyze the potential challenges faced in such a venture.

NASA’s footage of Mars Moons passing each other from the Mars surface is beautiful.   There are individuals willing to take the risks involved in a one-way trip to Mars to be able to witness this firsthand:

This will be an epic media event.   mars-one-childrens-t-250The entire worldwide community will watch these events unfold.   Bas Lansdorp has thought of everything.  Where would any pop media event be without T-Shirts?


NewDirectionsInSensoryDeprivationDear Reader,

I often wonder what the introspection of a 20-somthing in the technology age looks like.  Lindsey Arsenault realizes the experiences of life provided by technology pale in comparison to those experienced in reality put her reflections in a recent blog post.  She coined the phrase, “Sensory Deprived Existence” while reflecting on the place of technology in her life.   As an artist, she is a self-proclaimed “raw emotion addict”.   Perhaps its the drive for experience that reinforces the dichotomy of real vs. virtual to her.

40sAs a 40-something adult who remembers rotary dialing telephones and 3 tv networks, technology is not foreign to me; but I conceptualize life as defined by real interactions with people.   When I was 20-something; life consisted of time with friends, family, and real experiences.  For myself, technology is merely a supplement to enhance relationships and my journey through life.   Its a tool not an end of itself.  Even so, there are times that the sensory-deprived existence threatens to encroach on the fullness of days lived out among others.   How often have I been guilty of saying “yes” to the sensory-deprived existence when my love of all things digital takes over?  Saying Yes to a Sensory Deprived Existence.


cloud-computing (2)Dear Reader,

I remember when the internet was on college machines, text-based only, and you could go get a cup of coffee while your conversations scroll up the screen at 1200 symbols per second (baud).  At the University of Rhode Island, if Brown U was down so was URI.   Human nature then was what it still is today.   Remove all the flash and dazzle of parallax scrolling, quad core computing and terabytes of information, and you still have people at the heart of the machines.

So it came as no surprise to me that people tried to hack each other’s accounts, tried to phish for information, blackmailed others, took down servers, or otherwise tried to commit mayhem on a digital scale.  Technology was advancing, not human nature.  The thing with technology crimes is that generally they require more intelligence than a hit-and-run robbery making the criminals more difficult to catch.

For quite aimagesCAMYXG9Nwhile,  I believed the cloud culture to be more fluff than fact – inherently prone to data break-in and server crashes resulting in data loss and unreliable services.   Something for large companies to take risks with for business needs and  Cloud Computing News has extensive articles examining ideas crucial to businesses in the cloud.   Then I got a smart phone.   Between the phone and my home computer, the value of the cloud became apparent.  For a techy, I’m a bit of a latecomer to the cloud.   However, coordinating across devices IS a problem without the cloud.   Some have USB ports, some don’t.  Some are not compatible with others or your friends’ or colleagues’ machines.   He has an Apple … you have a PC ..  they have a Galaxy …   You have an Android tablet … and so it goes….

Apple has iCloud to coordinate, but it doesn’t play well with others – if at all.   To be honest, as I’m becoming more than passing acquaintances with my iPad I’m wondering how Apple gained the popularity it did.  (Anyone feel free to comment here on their behalf)  You can barely multitask, there are bugs just as with any other piece of equipment, and the security is a poor step-child to PC security.

PCs have a variety of cloud applications to coordinate – DropBox, EverNote, and software to create and run your own personal cloud Tonido.

As time has gone by since I’ve been active on the internet, I have realized that the amount I’ve been hacked has been extremely scarce.   One of my accounts was hacked and spamming friends.   I changed the password and solved the problem.   That was it.   Any viruses I caught was from downloading torrents.   I grew tired of repeatedly fighting off viruses especially after I caught a rootkit.  However, its under my control.   Run a good KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERAvirus protector, create complex passwords, don’t put identifying information on the internet such as social security numbers, birthdates, and the like and you will most likely be fine.

So the old girl has learned new tricks.   I’m a fan of the Cloud after all.  I may even work to set up my own Cloud for fun.


images (3)Dear Reader,

Is social media the devil in disguise?

The ills of Facebook are legendary – the lack of privacy, cyber bullying, and abuse of personal information for sales.  Whether you are a fan of social media or not, it has become a part of our culture.

Media, social or otherwise, has long been controversial.   The US Constitution guarantees the freedom of the press in the First Amendment established in 1791.   The freedom of the press was universally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.   There have also been laws passed to prohibit abuses of these freedoms – libel being the most noted example.   The press has had some notable influence in the United States when the “checks and balances” system has suffered.  The rise of Joseph McCarthy to almost unassailable power in post-Nazi America in the ’50s was checked by Edward R. Murrow who pioneered broadcast journalism when television was new.   Murrow, on his show “See It Now” exposed McCarthy when the formal processes failed.

Like Edward R. Murrow with the use of new technology, will we allow social media to form us or will we form social media to our needs and best interests?

So what are the advantages of Facebook?   Among other things, my friends who regularly post to my wall are all media-savvy and I stay more up-to-date on the news than before.   I have found long-lost high school and college friends and I’m once again involved in their lives.   I keep up with my brother’s children who are all grown and leading their own lives now.   I keep up with distant family members as well.   Social media, like any other instrument of communication, is what you make of it.   I do not post anything on Facebook I do not wish to be public knowledge.   I take Facebook as the poor man’s advertising.   Your web personality is reflected in your posts.   No one can expect the cyber community to cyber-revolution-FINAL“know who I am” unless they make it clear.  The responsibility for one’s communication with the cloud community is on the individual.

The positive use of social networking is overwhelming – advances to business, professional networking, following trends, in addition to the aforementioned connection with friends and family.   Entire websites have come up to help people promote positive social change including Idealist and  Change.Org among a plethora of others.   The fact is that social good far outnumbers social bad.   The bad just attracts better headlines.

This post would not be complete without covering the topic of cyber bullying.  Cyber bullying iscyberbullying-2 an extension of bullying that has gone on forever.  Sadly, human nature has not advanced with technology and headlines love attention-getting stories.  “When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news.”  was coined in the mid 1800s regarding this phenomenon.  How many of the headlines regarding cyber bullying go on in real life?  And are we giving it undue attention?  Cyber bullying will probably always exist in some form as real-life bullying has always existed.   Extensive measures have been taken to counteract this problem and will continue.

The challenges for the modern world really haven’t changed.   Employ critical thinking when absorbing information.   Is something shock journalism or serious journalism?  How accurate are the news stories being published and by what source?   What agenda drives the information?  Buyer beware.


mobile256Dear Reader,

Its mind-boggling. Operating systems, devices, apps… all vying for our attention and all declaring their superiority over the competition. So which one is the best? Yes.

I came at this backwards. I never saw the point in apps on my phone and my first-ever app device was my new pc. The touch capability was revolutionary for me more than any perceived advantage to apps.  I purchases a smart phone just to remain current with technology  and I was quickly won over.  The advantages became really apparent. newspapers, email, twitter, LinkedIn, freelance work while commuting for work.  It totally depends on your particular needs / wants for technology.  Competition and customer preference have created a fairly level playing field.  Hopefully this post will give you a starting point.

If you know what your uses and price point are can really help. Do you live more mobile or stationary? Heavy keyboard user or total touch? Cell phones are an awesome device because you have your phone and a lot of interactive capability. However, as large as the Samsung Galaxy gets, you are still looking at a total screen size of approximately 5″ x 2.5″. Text can still become fairly microscopic on a device like a phone — not to mention the restriction of typing.

Next up is a tablet. The downside? No phone calls. The upside, much bigger screen and some have optional keyboards you can buy. They are great for productivity and possibly game play, but they are not a full-fledged laptop. Tablets and some cell phones can cost as much as laptops. Is the lack of functioning worth the portability?

Another factor to consider is the aggravating pre-installed apps that you would prefer to remove from your Android or Apple device and you can’t. You can on a Microsoft device. Also, Windows Phone won Endgadget Reader’s Choice of the Year.

Ease of use? iPad has it, but so does Windows.

As offensive as it is to Apple who innovated the touch interface and apps, currently Windows can do more. I now own an iPad and an Asus tablet. The iPad apps are better developed than Windows. Additionally, the iPad seems to handle open apps and retain state better than Windows 8 or RT. Since its better for the machine to close apps this is a minor inconvenience to me. However, for productivity, I still prefer Windows. I can close any Windows app by the swipe of a finger. On my MAC I have to click buttons and the screen for quite some time. 800px-Cuddling_with_multiple_devices (2)On my Windows tablet I can go to previous internet pages by the swipe of a finger. MAC still relies on back browser buttons. I have both a delete and a backspace key on my PC. Not so on the MAC — and since I am an intensive typist this is not such a minor inconvenience. On my MAC I lack convenient “end” keys to jump around quickly.  And Windows still multitasks better than a MAC. I’m writing this blog post on my iPad in the WordPress app. I am previewing the post and trying to test the links to see if the work. My device is not opening a web browser for me when I tell it to. Not really useful.  I wound up completing this post on my PC.

Regardless of the device, if you are a multi-device user, coordinating over the cloud becomes a factor. Which app to use? Total personal preference. The same apps are available on all devices including DropBox, EverNote, SkyDrive and Google.   I already had a DropBox account from a volunteer event so it was natural to use that for my own needs.

Whether you are a Mac or PC fan, hopefully this will give you enough information to make an informed decision — or point you in the right direction for your personal needs.

 


ComputerWomanUsingLaptopDear Reader, “I have one urgent request for the CIA, FBI and other relevant agencies. After the next attack, could you please send a woman to talk to the press? You have lots of them and, trust me, they know what they’re talking about. Please do it to improve the morale of your female officers and give their daughters a better understanding of their options in life. The women are tired of being invisible.” Susan Hasler, Special to CNN.

Its ironic that in this advanced age that men still represent women who did the work. The old images and stereotypes die hard. I was saddened in a recent Facebook debate to see a woman pose the concept that no woman would be capable of being President of the United States because women are incapable of clear leadership thinking due to our nurturing natures. When I was young and we learned English grammar, generic pronouns that were used in proper writing were “him” and “mankind” and that represented women as well. I remember when women got their own pronouns. I remember 1975, the International Year of the Woman. Helen Reddy was awesome.

“I am woman, hear me roar In numbers too big to ignore And I know too much to go back an’ pretend ’cause I’ve heard it all before And I’ve been down there on the floor No one’s ever gonna keep me down again”

I am grateful for all the women who came before me and did the really hard work. Thirty years have passed since I entered the workplace in the mid-80s. Things have gotten much better and the changes are much easier won. The young men I work with are completely comfortable with me as an accomplished colleague. Now, its more a matter of awareness and perception changes. Articles like the one written by Ms. Hasler assist those changes.


Dear Reader,

logo @NEGiveCamp is always a surreal experience.   For one weekend, I’m in an environment of total teamwork absent of self-interest, political agenda, financial goals  – everyone pulling together to help the organizations depending on us.  I planned my week of vacation around this event.

This year, the experience was healing for me.   New England Give Camp is annually hosted by Microsoft’s New England Research and Development Center at 1 Memorial Drive in Cambridge, MA.   For those of you blog followers who aren’t familiar with Boston’s geography, that is literally about a block or so from the bombings and where the officer was killed.  In addition to being so geographically close to the horrific events it was chronologically close to the events as well – about 3 weeks after.   I was terrified to get on the train to go into town.  The first night I was awakened at 3 am by a loud bang!   It turns out one of the other campers had stumbled during the night, but I was panicked for a bit.

However, being a New Englander, rather than head to the Bahamas for vacation, I pick up my weapons of choice (my trusty laptop and my courage) and I head into terrorist country.   logo

There is healing in community sharing.   I met old friends and we talked.   We processed the events together.   We worked to fix the problems in the world together.  I saw the young children that were not traumatized by the events, but were rather energized to make a difference.    Joy Olaes Surprenant always comes.   She began a wonderful organization, Catching Joy, that teaches the children the joy of givi559643_312590812203058_1173642950_ang back.   After the events of the terrorism, her organization was flooded by children wanting to know how to make a difference.

My team was helping out the fledgling organization, GVNGTogether – a non-profit that is innovating philanthropy.   Rather than philanthropy being one individual helping others, GVNGTogether is creating a community of philanthropists benefitting others.

I realized that those two terrorists made headlines and an impact.   New England Give Camp may not make the same headlines, but our impact is greater.   We outnumber them.  There are 120 of us volunteers, 24 non-profits and uncounted numbers of people positively impacted by that.   It doesn’t always feel like it, but the good is winning.   Its just not quite as flashy as Superman.

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