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Technology Reflections is a
newsletter sponsored and prepared by
Mickler & Associates, Inc.
of Vancouver, Washington.
The newsletter addresses the technology concerns
of small business in every day lingo and
reflects on trends, issues, and tips to help
your company gain competitive advantage from
tech spend. Please feel free to distribute to
colleagues and partners.
Our New Website!
Okay, if you haven't seen it, you should visit
our new website right now!
www.micklerandassociates.com
It's chocked-full with my articles, blog
entries, microlectures, interactive forums and
discussion areas, and my Twitter and Customer
Feeds. If you haven't already seen it, please
come on by and
tell me what you think!
One of the cooler things that I'm trying to do
with this site is create a public forum for
discussing technical support questions. The
advice is free. And the advice that I give could
be used by others experiencing the same problem.
So when you have a technology question, please
feel free to post it in the
Open Forum for Tech Support Issues. Who
knows - maybe I can solve your problem or refer
you to some online help, and all it took was a
few seconds to ask!
Russell P. Mickler, CISSP
Principal Consultant, Mickler & Associates, Inc.
360.601.0818 |
rmickler@micklerandassociates.com
Erasing Yourself
We've all heard the horror stories of people who
let maybe too much information about themselves
get out of hand on the Internet. Overnight, the
pictures, the quotes, the questionable behavior
is spread across the Internet, potentially
damaging your reputation and the reputation of
your company. Surely, everyone - including your
friends and employer - are going to see these
things and there's nothing you can do about it.
Well, kind of.
A couple of practical steps may be just the
advice you're looking for to expunge your
unsightly deeds from the Internet. Whether
you've got something to hide or would just
rather not be seen, follow these steps to help
erase yourself from the Internet.
1. Damage Assessment. Case Yourself.
Casing is a social engineering term that hackers
use to learn more about a person. The first
place they would begin is to type in your name
into Google. Go ahead, it's fun. And if you
think that's fun, try the names of your
children. Then do the same at a few more search
engines:
Yahoo!,
Ask.com,
msn.com,
Intelius.com,
ussearch.com,
whitepages.com,
yellowpages.com,
peoplefinders.com, and
privateeye.com. Get a feel for the
information that is publically available and the
scope of the problem. Also get a feel for where
this information may have come from: websites
you may have joined, surveys you filled out,
contests you entered, maybe from a phone book
listing, or even public records from state and
municipal government agencies. Afterward, copy
what you find to a Word document - keep a log of
those websites that you're interested in
contacting. Separate the log into actionable
steps and potential contacts so you can deal
with this problem when you have time - removing
your footprint is going to take time, and it's
best that you prioritize and keep a journal on
your progress.
2. Erase and Destroy What You Can On Your
Own.
It's hard to think of every place you've
possibly been on the Internet. If you can, go
back and delete any account that you would feel
is non-essential or redundant. Genealogy
websites, blogs, diet centers, classified ads,
old unfinished websites, magazines and webzines,
Wikipedia articles, Knols, and social networks.
Remove what content you can and delete any
non-essential data, and delete the account if
you're not using it anymore. Information that is
left hanging out there becomes the victim of
"scraping" technology where copies of that
valuable data is brought back to be aggregated
by spammers and other folks who want to know
about you. Really, clean up after yourself here.
3. Use Some Website Removal Requests.
Sometimes though you might need some help, and
you need to ask for assistance from some of the
bigger names. Each of the following links will
bring you to the online request pages for
removing information from a major search engine
metabase, or, to privacy policies with
instructions on how to proceed. The entries that
you're able to remove and request from these
sources will affect other sources, and
trickle-down throughout the Internet after
removal. Here they are:
4. Email Webmasters for Help.
After doing these things and the data that
you're trying to target is still hanging around,
then use the contact pages of each website to
find the webmaster and ask for assistance. If
anything, they can maybe point you in the right
direction. You can usually find the Technical
Contact for any domain by visiting a
WhoIs.
5. Fake 'em Out.
Literally, if people refuse to remove your
information, walk through the steps to provide
misinformation: false address, city,
state, zip, email addresses, phone numbers,
whatever.
6. Employ a Service.
There are a number of reputable services out
there than can help do a lot of this dirty work
for you, and, they have the reputation and the
clout to get it done quicker than you. Here are
a couple of names that I'm familiar with:
ReputationDefender,
Naymz, and
RepVine. They'll handle your case and
usually would like to talk to you about on-going
defense solutions.
7. Send a Cease and Desist Notice.
If all else fails, let's employ the law. If you
feel that your reputation is being significantly
damaged and you've reached the end of your rope,
Chilling Effects has an online process for
submitting a Cease and Desist Notice. Otherwise,
it might be time to talk to a lawyer onground.
Going forward, I've got some good advice:
1. Always Use a Pseudonym.
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"... I'm my own brand on the
Internet; everything I say and do I want
attributed to me. However, you might feel
differently ..." |
Hey, I am my own brand. Everything I say and do
on the Internet, I want all that cool content to
be attributed to me. I am a real attention hog
that way; eh, it's how I roll. You, however,
might feel differently, so create a pseudonym
and stick to it - create a fictional email
address on Google, a fictional name, maybe even
a fictional address where you could dump junk
mail, and everywhere, just use the fictional
account information. Anything you post, anything
you subscribe to, anything you register for -
use the pseudonym with everyone but the most
reputable firms. Also, use the pseudonym both
online and offline; in fact, I just setup a John
Doe with Barnes and Noble today to weasel in a
discount on some book purchases that I made! You
can even setup some fictional telephone number
and voicemail with Google - check out
Google Voice and Google's Grand Central.
2. Install an Internet Anonymizer.
The
TOR Project has set out to create a free
tool that can be used to mask your computer's
identifying characteristics while online. This
is a PC application, of course, and it installs
on Windows and helps to mask your computer's IP
address and other identifying information. Be
warned, though: the use of this product may be
prohibited from some websites who will claim
that they need the information to best serve
you. At that point, you'll have to make a
decision or an exception.
3. Install a Cleaning Agent.
EvidenceEraser is a commercial piece of
software that I've had some success with,
bearing in mind that nothing is foolproof and
there are new exposures, risks, and hacks all of
the time. This product and others like it
attempt to find personally-identifying
information and shield it from outside requests;
other noteworthy products can be secured from
AVG and Symantec. The software can be tried for
free to see if it works out for you, and of
course you can purchase it directly online.
Beware searching for these things online -
they'll often take you to bogus software that is
actually spyware.
4. Share Nothing and Disconnect.
Literally, this isn't a bad idea. Step away from
the computer. It may sound a little insane given
the state of how everything is moving these
days, but if you have problems maintaining
personal private information, it may be found in
the personal habits you have while using online
resources. The best defense may be recognizing
that you could be your own worst enemy and to
keep away from the PC, or at least ask for a
little help. Over time, your content online will
still remain, but at least no new content is
being generated. Also, moderate what you and
your kids share: your job, your work's name, any
personally-identifiable details, schedules,
links to awards or family videos... listen: the
more information you share, the easier it
becomes to learn about you, your family, your
habits, and routines. That in itself is fairly
risky. Share little information in public; try
to keep direct links to confidential information
behind secure websites and within email.
5. Keep the Computer Platform Up-to-Date.
Maintaining your personal computer is critical
to the success of your anonymity plan.
Appropriate patches, firewall settings,
anti-malware and anti-virus and anti-phishing
mechanisms, and a good once-over every now and
again are proactive steps you - or a computer
professional - can take to minimize risk.
6. Read the Privacy Policy.
Where ever you share your personal private
information, read the Privacy Policy - a
document that can usually be found with major
site operators. It will often elaborate on what
operators will do with personal private
information and how you can opt-out of sharing
your information with others.
7. Bone up on Privacy.
Also, it may be a good idea to bone-up on your
rights to privacy and anonymity online. Be
aggressive and informed: if you're going to take
removing your footprint seriously, then you're
going to have to stay current on the changing
privacy landscape. Here are a few reasonable
resources:
Technologies alone can't protect our privacy
from compromise, but you can take a few of these
proactive steps today to start cleaning things
up. And as always, if you have any questions
about this issue, please feel free to contact me
- in fact,
I've setup an online forum on this topic.
Please - join in on the discussion - share your
thoughts, tips, and ideas!
Russell P. Mickler, CISSP
Principal Consultant, Mickler & Associates, Inc.
360.601.0818 |
rmickler@micklerandassociates.com
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IT Security? Relax.
Breathe easy.
We've got you covered.
Blog and Syndicated Articles
Please visit our
Blog
on the Web for new articles, explainers, and
opinion. Here's a sampling of entries made this
last month.
Link-In Like a Pro
How to Create Local Business Listings in Google
Notes on Windows7
Control Your Spam!
Google Profiles Become Relevant!
PPI Risks on the Rise - Should the Feds
Intervene?
Response to a Survey
Microsoft to Small Business: You Pay Now, or,
You Pay Later
What's the Value of an Education Anyway?
Recent Forum
Topics
Onground Universities are Irrelevant
Why Social Media?
Cloud Computing Examples
Neolingo
SOCIAL NOTWORKING
The practice of
spending too much time unproductively attending
to social networking sites and, well, not
working.
News and Announcements
Mickler &
Associates, Inc. welcomes its new customers:
Bugs, Hoaxes, Viruses
Mars Will Be Too Close to the Earth
Hacker Warning - Simon
and Christopher
Plastic Water Bottles
Malware
Defender. This guy is still making the
rounds - this is a
fake application (a hoax - click on the
hyperlink to see some screenshots and its cousin
applications, Spyware Guard 2009 and System
Guard 2009). Users on the Internet will receive
pop-ups that try to convince them to take action
against infections on their PC. The user then
authorizes the installation of the application
and it dumps more malware on the system. Users
should be educated to just close their browser
if confronted by these pop-ups.
Win32/Netsky.Q
worm. This is a self-replicating virus that
is distributed via email. Usually, the email
will have a message like "A file, zipped, is
sent to a victim and they open the file
believing it to be from somebody that they
trust. When the file is opened, its payload - an
executable and a *.dll file - is copied to the
local drive. Registry settings are changed.
The worm's actual purpose of attacking websites
and beeping the computer's speaker would
normally take place in April 2004. However,
since that time has passed, it's now just a
nuisance that propagates itself to other
computers.
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Watch our
YouTube Video on Information Systems |
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Additional Resources for Technology and Business
Professionals
oen.org
The
Oregon Entrepreneurs Network is a great website
for anyone looking for local networking events
and seminars in Portland, Oregon on issues
affecting small to mid-range business.
simnet.org
The
Society for Information Management (SIM) is a
great place to start if you're headlong-bound
for a career in IT.
the cluetrain manifesto
The
more things change, the more they stay the same.
The ClueTrain Manifesto was written ten years
ago and talked about the changes to business
imposed by the digital revolution. Still as
relevant today as it was then - a great
retro-read for free through Google Books!
springwise.com
Want
entrepreneurial ideas brought to you daily from
around the world? Put the power of over 8,000 "springspotters"
across the planet to work for you - they
aggregate new business ideas into this single
portal so you don't have to. A great site to
throw in your RSS feeds!
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