Should You Offer Support To Somalia’s Famine Victims?

In its most simple form, a social contract is an agreement between the people in a society and the society that they are a part of, to provide an environment conductive to – at a minimum – survival.

This is a fundamental human expectation which exists within a 20 person tribe in the Amazon jungle, to a city populated by millions, and outward to a country populated by hundreds of millions.

Then there’s Somalia – a fractured state – where the social contract has been shredded by the elites, politicians, warring factions, and the political and functional ineptness of intervening outside agencies and governments.

Since certain Western governments seem to find it more politically appealing to blow the hell out of people, in support of oligarchs, rather than provide adequate  assistance to those truly in need of survival intervention, the famine victims in Somalia are virtually on their own.

If you’ve read this far and you’re wondering why I would take a position on a food crisis in Africa, in a technical blog – here’s why.

First – the consensus of opinion I’m reading in popular media seems to be focused more on “here we go again”, and the usual – we need to stop giving  taxpayer money to feed people in Africa who contribute to terrorism, piracy, environmental destruction and world overpopulation – rather than on a realistic humanitarian perspective.

Second – the following comment from regular reader “Hipockets”, whose concern for the innocent victims, in what is proving to be an escalating tragedy, is evident.

Bill, the following request is way, way, way off topic, but the famine in Kenya and Somalia is so severe that many families there are having to choose which of their children to feed, and which to bury.

There are many worthy causes that need our help, but I can think on nothing more important than helping starving children.

So please think about some way to tell your readers about how they can contribute funds to help these children.

Contributions can be made via the following websites:
http://www.usaid.gov/
and
http://www.unicefusa.org/

Admittedly, the World is in unprecedented turmoil. A time in which we’re faced with issues that appear to offer diminishing prospects of a satisfactory resolution. Even so, the very idea of not providing adequate assistance in order to prevent a generational tragedy in Somalia, is abhorrent to me.

I’m hopeful that you will join with me, Hipockets, and other concerned individuals, in offering what help you can to those in Somalia who are faced with circumstances – not of their own making – in which their survival is under attack.

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Internet Security – An Oxymoron?

Internet security warnings from my Tech Net News column in the last few days. This is only a small sampling of the hundreds of cyber criminal activities I’ve posted to Tech Net News so far this year.

Fake VirusTotal site serves malware

Hotmail flaw allows attackers to exfiltrate emails

LinkedIn security flaws allow account hijacking

Sony online store hacked and user information published

Black Hole Exploit Kit Available for Free

Cybercrime statistics show widespread phishing problem

Not Even Security Managers Immune to FakeAV Infection

Major weapons makers see networks breached by hackers

Apps with dangerous permissions pulled from Chrome Web Store

Security researcher finds ‘cookiejacking’ risk in IE

Norwegian Military Hit by Cyber Attack in March

Google Patches Critical Chrome Bugs

Newest MacDefender Scareware Installs Without a Password

The question:

Why should it be necessary for me to run FIVE  security applications on my home machine – including  Zemana AntiLogger, WinPatrol, Microsoft Security Essentials, PC Tools Firewall Plus, and ThreatFire – to guard against cyber crime ?  On top of that, in order to maximize security potential, I have to  run in a virtual environment (BufferZone Pro), while surfing the Net.

It doesn’t stop there though. In addition to all of the above, I have to load up my Browser (Firefox), with TEN security/privacy add-0ns including – Adblock Plus, Better Privacy, WOT, Ghostery, GoogleSharing,  HTTPS-Everywhere, NoScript, Perspectives, Qualys BrowserCheck, and Search Engine Security.

Reality:

The reality is – we are immersed in a mess that has reached virtually unmanageable proportions. We are now at a full blown crisis stage vis a vis Internet security.

The tech speak, which this situation engenders, reminds me in a sense of the political rhetoric we are constantly exposed to – everyone has identified the  problem/no one has identified the real problem; everyone has a problem solution/no one has a solution, everyone seems to discuss it/no one truly discusses it.

The end result? It appears as if no one seems to give a damn. So, we just keep on piling up the victims of cyber crime.

Finger pointing, and finger wagging, is the order of the day. It’s the developers fault; it’s the users’ fault; it’s the very nature of the backbone of  the Internet (as if the Internet was a parallel universe not subject to laws, or moral and ethical consideration); it’s the lack of effective law enforcement; it’s the lack of truly effective security applications; Internet security is a business, so it’s unlikely anyone is going to kill the goose that lays the golden egg; …………… Round and round it goes.

What a mess! Are you as tired of been forced to deal with this seemingly never-ending escalation in cyber crime, as I am?

Something to consider – cyber criminals are not the only ones who find Internet security a lucrative field. I’ll admit that I’m a cynic – but, I’ve never yet met a problem solver who worked himself out of a job. Something to think about the next time you purchase a security application, or appliance.

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1051 Site Dr. Brea, CA – Not An Address You Want To Go To!

Back in July 2009, I wrote an article “A Helpful Spam Scammer – A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”, which discussed how scammers rely on an apparent “truth” to convince unwary, or unsophisticated surfers, to buy into a scam designed to entrap victims of previous scams.

You would think the principal of “once burned – twice shy” might have impact; but apparently not. The World, it seems, is full of people who are ready to be shorn, not once – but, twice or more.

I have a hard time getting my head around the idea, that people can act so irrationally, they can be convinced to part with their money a second time, in what amounts to a slightly off kilter version of the same scam.

Scammers are not fools, by any stretch of the imagination, and they pursue time proven cyber-crime methods. And so, the following scam email, plucked from one of my inboxes this morning, is representative of the “we’re gonna screw you twice” emails, currently flooding the Internet. Just like most of these type of emails, this one contains the usual spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors.

Dear Friend,

I am Mrs. Alice Hall. I am a US citizen and i am 48 years Old. I reside
here in 1051 Site Dr.Brea, CA 92821 USA. and i am thinking of
relocating since I am now rich.

I am one of those that took part in the United Nations Compensation
program in Nigeria many years ago and they refused to pay me. I had
paid over $20,000 while in the US, trying to get my payment but all
was to no avail.

So I decided to travel down to Nigeria with all my compensation
documents, And I was directed to meet Barrister Richard Anderson, who is
the member of COMPENSATION AWARD AUTHORITY and a Human Rights Activist (Lawyer), and I contacted him and he explained everything to me. He said whoever is contacting us through emails are fake.

Right now, I am the happiest woman on earth because I have received my
compensation funds of $850,000.00. Moreover, Barrister Richard Anderson
showed me the full information of those that are yet to receive their
payments and I saw your email as one of the beneficiaries who have not
yet received the payment under CASE FILE 54AC003 and that is why I decided to email you to stop dealing with those people which never fulfill their
promises of helping you. They are not with your fund, they are only
making money off you.

Therefore, I would advise you to contact Barrister Richard Anderson for
his assistance and inform him that your CASE FILE is 54AC003. Contact him
directly via the information below.

Name : Barrister Richard Anderson
Email:barrister.mike.edward009@gmail.com
Telephone: +234-8131387018

You really have to stop dealing with those people that are contacting you and telling you that your fund is with them, it is not in anyway with them, they are only taking advantage of you and they will dry you up until you have nothing.

The only money I paid after I met Barrister Richard Anderson was just $350 for the paper works, take note of that.

Thank You and Be Blessed.
Mrs. Alice Hall
Trustee/Treasurer, Triad Foundation Inc.
1051 Site Dr.Brea, CA 92821 USA
Education: BS, Business Administration

As unbelievable as it may sound – there are some people, somewhere, who will believe this nonsense. After all, we don’t normally expect to be deceived by someone who gives us fair warning. You might be surprised, just how often reasonably intelligent people are deceived by this type of clumsy attempt to defraud.

Be kind to your friends, relatives, and associates, particularly those who are new Internet users, and let them know that there is an epidemic of this types of scam on the Internet. In doing so, you help raise the level of protection for all of us.

Ask your friends, relatives, and associates to keep the following tips in mind  while on the Internet:

Don’t click links in emails or social networking sites. If they come from a known source, type them on the browser’s address bar. If they come from an untrusted source, simply ignore them.

Don’t run files that you receive via email without making sure of their origin.

Keep your computer protected. Install a security solution and keep it up-to-date.

If you’re wondering why I’d even bother writing an article on a scheme that sounds so ludicrous – here’s why. The previous article on this topic continues to get substantial daily reads, most of which are as a direct result of Google searches. So, if surfers are searching, then there’s some degree of interest in responding to this type of email – crazy as that may be.

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Internet Security? Who Really Gives A Damn!

I noticed this morning, that USA Today (TechnologyLive), had linked back to an article I wrote earlier this year on SlimWare Utilities ( tools designed to clean up, and maintain, computer systems).

At the risk of sounding ungrateful (which I’m not), I would have  much preferred that they had linked back to an article dealing with computer security. Allow me to draw an analogy to explain this – an article on “How to Upgrade Your Kitchen”, has limited value if crooks have just stolen the kitchen sink.

The reality is – we are immersed in a mess that has reached virtually unmanageable proportions. We are now at a full blown crisis stage vis a vis Internet security.

The tech speak, which this situation engenders, reminds me in a sense of the political rhetoric we are constantly exposed to – everyone has identified the real problem/no one has identified the real problem; everyone has a problem solution/no one has a solution, everyone seems to discuss it/no one truly discusses it. The end result? It appears as if no one seems to give a damn. So, we just keep on piling up the victims of cyber crime.

Finger pointing, and finger wagging, is the order of the day. It’s the developers fault; it’s the users’ fault; it’s the very nature of the backbone of  the Internet; it’s the lack of effective law enforcement; it’s the lack of truly effective security applications; Internet security is a business, so it’s unlikely anyone is going to kill the goose that lays the golden egg; …………… Round and round it goes.

I continue to shake my head in wonderment over the kafuffle caused by the BlackBerry conflict with Middle East countries requesting access to encrypted BlackBerry corporate email services.

The truth of the matter is – on a broad scale, the number of people affected is miniscule, as compared to the number of people impacted by cyber crime EVERY day.  Yet, this is one story that won’t go away – one that is constantly updated by mainstream media.

Criminal activity, on the other hand, that has substantial impact on consumers, business, and government (think Stuxnet), continues to get short shift. Talk about reality displacement!

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