A valuable lesson I have learned

 

Today I learned a very valuable lesson that I think should be shared with everyone. Today when I went to log into my e-mail it would not let me in. I could not understand why it would not let me in. But after several failed attempts I decided to just change my password. well this worked, but what I found out was that my account had been hacked and my password had been changed. Now the good thing about this was it had been hacked by someone I knew very very well so nothing else was done to my account. His point was to show me just how easy it was to get into someone's account if a hacker really wanted to, which could result in ID theft and many other very bad things. I was so impressed by this I asked him to write the following article so everyone could be more informed. Please read the following article and share it with everyone you know, it’s very very good.  The pictures were provided by me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello everyone,

This article is targeted towards online account security. Now just about everyone has an online account of some sort whether it be an e-mail account or your banking account. I am not going to focus on actual account hacking through programs, but something many of you may be unaware of. The method I will talk about is called Social Engineering. Social Engineering is a method of hacking used though general conversation. This method can be the most dangerous kind because you are giving a hacker the information he or she wants straight from your own mouth.

For example: Let’s say there is someone at work that wants to hack your e-mail account. If they wanted to know your e-mail address (which is half the battle) all they could do is simply say something like “Hey, I got this e-mail the other day that I thought was pretty funny, what’s your e-mail address?” Like most people you would probably give it to them. Now I’m not saying don’t give out your address, just be proactive. Now once they have your e-mail address then can go to let’s say hotmail.com (if you gave them an msn e-mail address) from this point on they would most likely click on the “Forgot password?” link in which they can use reset your password provided they know enough about you. Most online accounts ask you for general information when resetting your password such as: City, State, Zip code, and a secret question. Chances are if you work with them they already know you city, state, and possibly zip code. The secret questions can be anything from: Your first pet, mother’s maiden name, favorite vacation spot, where you met your spouse. All of these answers can easily be drawn out of an unsuspecting victim. Let’s say you set your secret question to “Favorite vacation spot” and the answer might be something like “San Diego”. Now three days have passed and it’s Thursday at work. That co-worker sent you an e-mail containing something you thought was pretty funny, and he came to ask you what you thought of it. I’m going to do a sort of role play for a minute.

Victim “That e-mail was great, where did you get it?”

Hacker “Oh, one of my friends set it to me the other day, glad you liked it”

Hacker “Hey, I’m thinking of going on vacation in a few weeks, where do you usually go?”

Victim “Well sometimes I go to Florida, or California, I like it where its hot.”

Hacker “Yea me too! Do you have family there?”

Victim “ I do in California, but not Florida, I like going to California for that reason.”

Hacker “Yea, I have family there as well, where in California do you visit?”

Victim “San Diego”

Hacker “Really, I heard it’s great there, I may go to Florida, I have never been there, where do you go?”

Victim “Palm Beach, it’s really humid though!”

 

Now the hacker has two guesses at to where your favorite vacation spot is, and guess what you told him! Now the next time he tries to reset you password he will more than likely know you secret answer to your question. If by chance it’s wrong, all he has to do is simply go up to you and keep talking to you about vacation. Once he has all the correct information the account is his, he can change your secret question and answer so when you try to reset your own password you fail. This is very important because some people get bank statements and other sensitive date sent to their e-mail. This scenario does not just have to be at work, it can be anywhere, your favorite store in which you have a favorite sales person (they are nosy by nature), or for you women it can be your barber. The ways to avoid putting yourself at risk is simple. DO NOT directly answer your secret question. For example if you chose the vacation question. Make your answer your favorite dinner, car, or video game. Use the same concept for all your accounts. E-mail is targeted heavily because a lot of online bank accounts are tied to them. If they hack your e-mail they can more than likely hack your bank account by requesting a password reset from the bank’s site. Most bank sites then send a link to your e-mail with instructions on how to change your password. Some of the greatest known hackers in the world use primarily Social Engineering. I remember hearing about a guy who walked into a building dressed as a technician and said he was there for server maintenance, and people led him right to the server room! From there he created a back door to the network. When he was arrested he was asked why he did it his answer was simply “It’s so easy it’s funny to me”

I have gone on for far too long if you wish to learn more about this please e-mail me at justinsalter24@gmail.com (I did half the work for you).

How life would be different if Computer ceased to exist tomorrow. :)

 

A day I will never forget. (In memory of those who died.)

Out of all the things I have written about, this has been the hardest for me to write, even now I don’t want to write this article, but I think it needs to be written. Not so much for my self, but so we don’t ever forget the ones that died that fateful day.

25 years ago Sunday October 23, 1983, at 6:22 Am, a coward drove a 5 ton truck full of explosives into the 4 story marine barracks in Beirut and blew it up killing 241 marines and causing the barracks to implode and fall into a massive pile of concrete and rubble. For the 241 marines that died, this was one of those unusual days in which they had the chance to sleep in; they never knew what was coming.

For me it was one of the worst days in my Air Force career. I was in the

barracks in Frankfurt Germany, when I was told I would be going to Beirut to take part in “Project ID”. I would be assisting in the recovery of the bodies and bring them back to Frankfurt Germany where they would be ID and then sent home to loved ones to be buried.

The flight over to Beirut was quiet, no one said much of anything and no one really knew what to expect when we got there. The first thing that hit me was the fact that it was very hot and the air seemed to be very thick making it a little hard to breath. In the distance I could hear small arms fire and see smoke, most of which was away from the area of where the barracks once stood. When we got to where the barracks use to be, it suddenly hit me as to how bad this explosion really was.

I remember thinking where were the barracks? All I saw was this big pile of concrete and rubble where the barracks once was.

I remember seeing everyone running around and digging, trying to find anyone who might have survived the explosion. At that point I remember thinking there was now way anyone could be still alive in all that rubble. I also remember the smell; it was so horrible that I have no way to describe it to you. I remember some one saying “it smells like a morgue”. I then remember seeing all the metal caskets lined up and ready to be brought back to Germany so they could be identified and then sent home to their loved ones. That was the final thing that just pushed me over the edge, I found myself with tears in my eyes because I knew some of these caskets had my friends and others had people I had never met before, but I knew were fellow soldiers even though we were in different branches of the service. I also found my self filled to over flowing with a hate for the ones who did this horrible thing. The flight back to Germany was a lot like the flight over, except this time there were a lot of tears for the lost of fellow soldiers. It was a very sobering sight to see all of those caskets lined up in the back of the aircraft being flown home. I felt bad deep in my heart for the families that would now have to deal with the loss of a loved one. It is one thing to

hear about a loss, but it really hits home when the body of the loved one is brought home to be laid to rest. I wondered if the families would feel the same hate I felt or would they just cry over their loss and be done with it and move on. That would be something I will never know.

This is just one account of that fateful day, my account of the things I felt, saw and heard. I know there are others who have a story to tell about that day, the things they saw, felt and heard. I also know that there are soldiers out there that were there when it all happened and they have a story to tell also. It is my hope that by sharing this with everyone, it will encourage others to share their stories about that day as well and by doing this we will never ever forget those that died that fateful morning. May they all rest in peace.

Ideas for extra money during these hard financial times.

Hmmm, this just might work.



Even wall street is working to earn some extra money during these hard times.

Ford today showed off their new 2009 economy car. Ford said they would build hundreds these new vehicles during the financial crisis in an effort to make things more affordable for everyone.

And finally this report just in Burger King in an effort to help the local neighborhood control some of the over population of cats has also found a way to cut their cost as well. Burger King was heard saying "Its a win win for everyone" Hey PETA what you think?