Category: information

More Internet Domain Names

Brooklands Radio is obviously a radio station and the Internet domain “.radio” is becoming more popular.

In theory we could buy the domain name BrooklandsRadio.radio or Brooklands.radio or something similar if we wanted to.

“.radio” is an example of a domain name suffix or top level domain as they are called.

Many of these such as .com or .co.uk can be bought by anyone for maybe £5 – £20 per year.

And some are incredibly valuable such as Google.com or Microsoft.com or bbc.co.uk.

Some have protected registrations which means you can only own the domain if it is relevant to your business.  “.radio” is protected so only radio stations and business in the field of radio can buy such a domain name.

Why is there a need to protect domains? There are unfortunately a lot of people (claim jumpers) who buy domain names they think will be valuable then try to sell them at a profit to someone who needs that one.

If .radio was not protected then someone could buy up the domain bbc.radio for example and then sell it at an extortionate price to the BBC if they wanted it.  This can prevent people getting the domain names that they should have for their business.

There are new Internet domain extensions created periodically and some of the more interesting names are: domains are

.charity.com

.theatre.com

.rugby.com

.smile.com

.motorcycles.com

.rsvp .com

.dad .com

.kid.com

.seek.com

And so on.

There’s a world of new domain names to choose from. But most businesses still use .com as it’s so well known.

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Who Are The Data Brokers ?

Data brokers, also known as information brokers, collect personal information, package it into bundles, and sell it to advertisers or other third parties.

On the Internet, we are effectively giving away huge amounts of personal information by using search engines, posting on social media, accessing websites that track us, using mobile phone APPS, buying and selling etc.

We give this information away freely and sometimes it’s used for our benefit but often to help businesses sell more to us and scammers to take from us.

Data brokerage relies on this freely available information that they can collect, package and sell on.

The largest of the data brokers are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion and it’s a multi billion dollar industry.

There are four main types of data brokerage:

  1. Marketing and advertising

This information lets the advertiser target what they believe are relevant adverts at you. Can lead to adverts for the same products following you around from web site to web site. Some people prefer to have targeted adverts rather than random ones, but many feel this intrusive.

  1. Financial information

This is essential at times e.g. when you want to take out a bank loan or a mortgage – the prospective lender needs to be able to check on your previous financial dealings to determine what level of risk you are.

This data is also used to prevent fraud.

  1. Personal health information

This more about Marketing than about any benefit to you. Companies want to know what medication you buy, what health supplements you use, what medical questions you search on etc.  in order to sell more health products and services to you.

  1. People Search

These companies look for any information on you that they can find (e.g. social media profiles and postings, companies house records etc.) and then sell to a wide range of businesses including political organisations, charities, Marketing companies and many more. There are numerous web sites where you can lookup individuals – usually they charge for more than basic information.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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StartMail

Startpage is a Dutch search engine company that highlights privacy as its distinguishing feature.

To learn about Startpage – go to https://fightback.ninja/startpage-search-engine-privacy/

StartMail was founded in 2014 by the CEO of Startpage and was developed to offer an email service that offered full privacy.

It is a PGP-encrypted email service.

Startmail say:

·         We never read your email

  • We believe that your privacy is a basic human right worth fighting for.

·         Unlimited aliases

  • When you don’t want to share real email addresses, you can create temporary ones on the fly.

·         IMAP/SMTP compatible

  • You can use StartMail with your favourite email programs, like Outlook, Thunderbird, and Apple Mail.

·         Based in Europe

  • Dutch privacy laws and regulations are among the strictest in the world.

·         10 GB storage in a personal vault

  • No limit on the number of emails as long as its within that maximum storage

·         Use your own domain

  • Get StartMail security on your own domains or subdomains for professional, custom email addresses.

·         Easy setup for business

  • No software to download. No installation needed. We walk you through the easy setup in minutes.

·         Costs less than a coffee i.e. $5 per month.

So, it does cost but there is a free trial available so you can test drive the service.

There are various similar email services on the market, so if you’re looking for higher privacy levels than standard email, do look around and do your research.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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Zeus Malware

Zeus Virus or Zeus Trojan malware (also called Zbot) is a form of malicious software that targets computers running Microsoft Windows, although some versions have been created for other devices and operating systems. It is most commonly used for trying to steal financial data.

It was first detected in 2007 and has infected millions of computers across the world.

The creator of Zeus malware published source code in 2011, which made it possible for many other criminals to create their own versions.

How Zeus Works

Step1. It creates a botnet – this is a network of infected computers that are secretly controlled by a Zeus command server.

Step 2.  The controlled computers then send information to the command server which can collate that for the criminals or can carry out various types of attacks on those computers.

Step 3. Zeus can also steal banking credentials from the machines it infects, by means of keylogging and other methods.

Zeus infects computers typically be means of

  1. Spam emails
  2. Social media campaigns
  3. Drive-by website downloads

How to Protect Against Zeus Malware

The means of protection are basically the same as against malware generally, including:

  • Up to date anti-virus and anti-malware
  • Regular backups of all important information and data
  • Use of strong passwords
  • All software updated as specified by the supplier
  • Consider the use of two factor authentication where appropriate

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

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What are Data Brokers

Data brokers, also known as information brokers, collect personal information, package it into bundles, and sell it to advertisers or other third parties.

On the Internet, we are effectively giving away huge amounts of personal information by using search engines, posting on social media, accessing websites that track us, using mobile phone APPS, buying and selling etc.

We give this information away freely  but often don’[t understand how that data is used – sometimes for our benefit but often to help businesses sell more to us and scammers to take from us.

Data brokerage relies on this freely available information that they can collect, package and sell on.

They may collect information on purchases, preferences, habits, location, travel, income, pastimes, health issues, relatives and friends and much more. This collection of data can be used by advertisers to target adverts at you. Some people prefer seeing more relevant adverts and other people find it creepy that searching on Amazon for a product can lead to that product then popping up in adverts on other websites you visit.

It is also likely that this information paints a false picture of you, at least in part.

For example, if you search online for pregnancy items for your sister, buy dog food for the neighbour and signed up to a social media group on marital arts by mistake then you are likely to get adverts focussed on your new baby, your pet dog and martial arts equipment.

Information Sources

There are numerous sources of data on us, but the most common accessed include:-

  • date of birth
  • address
  • property sales
  • who you live with
  • relatives
  • friends
  • income level
  • purchases
  • marriage licenses
  • arrest records

The Data Brokers sell to advertisers, finance companies, landlords, prospective employers and many more.

Make sure they only have the information you want them have, by restricting what you publish about yourself online.

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Research into Mass Marketing Fraud

There is a project led by Professor Monica Whitty of the University of Warwick and it involves a number of Universities, enforcement agencies and private sector businesses.

DAPM (Detecting and Preventing Mass Marketing Fraud).

Project Outline:

The DAPM (Detecting and Preventing Mass Marketing Fraud) project will develop novel techniques to detect and prevent online mass marketing fraud (MMF), a major and growing problem that generates significant social anxiety and psychological impact. DAPM will establish new foundations for:

  • Detecting assumed identities and persuasive messaging used by fraudsters
  • Delivering much needed insights into the psychological and technical factors that lead to poor decision-making on the part of existing and prospective victims of such frauds

Through a multi-disciplinary approach and close focus on co-designing solutions collaboratively and testing them ‘in the wild’, the project will generate not only new scientific understanding of the anatomy of MMF, but also tools and techniques that can form the basis of practical interventions in tackling such fraud.

Importantly, this work brings together academic and non-academic partners. Each organisation has different knowledge to share and can tackle the problem using different methods. Combining academic research with technical knowledge provides much greater capability to prevent and detect MMF.

The outcomes of this project will enable:

  • Increased trust in the digital economy by citizens due to developed science around MMF detection and prevention
  • Improvements in public safety and fewer victims of MMF crime.
  • Changes in industry tactics and public policy around detection and prevention of MMF

Background

Mass Marketing Fraud is a serious, complex and organised crime. Examples include foreign lotteries, advanced-fee scams and romance scams. Some are low value, one-off scams involving large numbers of victims; others involve developing a relationship where money is defrauded over time. The internet has opened up a vast array of opportunities for criminals to target potential victims and to trick people into making financial transfers in the name of charity, investment or love.

In the UK Action Fraud estimate that less than 10% of victims actually report this type of crime. Victims are unlikely to recover losses, offenders are often not caught and many victims are affected psychologically – often to a degree outweighing the financial loss.

Go to https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/research/digital/csc/dapm

for further information.

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