Yes, this means I am taking about networking sites like Facebook, twitter, myspace!

To find a talent who meets all the criterias needed has always been a big challenge. On the other hand, where all the management books tell us to keep our professional and personal lives separate, practically we all know how far it is possible. Of course, let us not talk about the exceptions… In addition, frankly speaking, whether you agree or not, someway or the other, both lives are dependent on each other!

Therefore, the bottom line is that recruiters have learned to take advantage of this. However, on the other hand professionals feel that social networking sites are not the right place to interact with employers/ recruiters as/or are uncomfortable sharing private information.

I do not intend to discuss the privacy issues with the social networking sites right now, though when it comes to employment and social networking sites, it is estimated that more than one-third of the top 100 employers have a Facebook Page for recruitment purposes, many of them with more than 1,000 fans.

So, the question arises – why are employers/ recruiters interested in connecting with the candidates/ recruits on social networks if candidates feel uncomfortable?

Statistics show that social networking sites have proved to be more engaging than the professional networking sites. With sites like Facebook, employers create business page strategically for the purpose of recruitments. They know that if they have some interesting content on these business pages, it will lead to comments, discussions and possibly more personal interactions. Naturally, this two-way communication method helps them to get connected to the right candidates.

As social networking sites offer a comparatively a large audience with its active users globally, have the characteristic of an open network comparatively and requires no premium accounts to use certain features unlike professional networking sites, they are most preferred! In addition, having an active presence on sites like Facebook is certainly a great start for employers looking to attract and communicate with young talent. Apart from this, social networking sites can make life easier for spammers and stalkers too!

Hence, it is better to be thoughtful about what you post. Be cautious on what information is shared on your profile and make sure that you do not put your safety or your future at risk. Share the types of things that you would not regret posting later.

The words and images post on the Internet may be available for years and future employers in addition to identity thieves, spammers, and stalkers may view your profile, taking advantage of it. Criminals can use your information provided about a person’s birthday, location, routine, hobbies, and interests to impersonate a trusted friend or convince the unsuspecting that they have the authority to access personal or financial data. They can use such information to guess your account passwords. Well, this is why it is advised never have a password that uses the name of your pet, favourite band, hobby, birthday, or something else easily known about you. Well if you do so, stalkers will really appreciate your help if you post your daily routine and whereabouts online!

Therefore, when deciding whether to post something, remember that the more information malicious people have about you, the easier it is for them to take advantage of you. Also, limit who can see what you post. If you do not want random users to see your contact information, you can limit the publication of that data. Just change your settings. You can also block users from having any contact with you should the need arise. Most of the social networking sites offer similar ways to restrict access to personal information, but in all cases, the principle is the same: do not advertise to the world what you are doing or where you live. There is a possibility that even if you limit who can see what you post, there are ways others can get around it to view your profile anyway.

The best way treat these social networking sites is like a free place to promote yourself personally as well as professionally while staying connected with both friends, relatives, colleagues, and acquaintances.

It is never too late to learn to use your online profile to your advantage! Right?

For online users, individuals or organizations, malware has always been a significant threat. A rapid rise is being witnessed that is more than capable of compromising, damaging or acquiring sensitive data which can either be personal or could lead to loss of intellectual property in the overall threat landscape. Statistics say that, rather than being hacked by using an exploit; IT users are more likely to be tricked into downloading malware. Hence, there is a continuous challenge in detecting and preventing such threats. Though, not all of these attacks are socially engineered, however, the technique is being used to evade security programs and is being applied to the web that increasingly triples the distribution of malware, of which 55% (Malware) is now delivered via Internet downloads, whereas only 14% is delivered through malicious emails. Which means that as there are more than a handful that don’t understand the complexity of web based threats, from a hacker’s perspective tricking users into installing malware is much preferred.

Also, the inappropriate use of SEO is on the rise. Attackers lure the users to the sites that contain the malware software and expose them to fake Anti-virus downloads, Trojans, worms and fake surveys. In addition to Search Engine Poisoning, the upturn in social networking sites makes them the prime focus of cyber criminals. As the information accessibility and services are interconnect and interdependent of each other, it opens more opportunities for more effective attacks on individuals and organisations.  The emerging Java threats due to Java plug-ins soon will be ruling the malware distribution. Also, URL Shortcut services and Location services contribute greatly in the business of malware distribution. URL Shortcut services will be witnessed.

Apart from creating new malware, Cyber-Criminals are effectively re-modifying the code of known deceased malware. A very good example would be that of the Ramnit Worm which has recently morphed into a financial malware. Moreover, there has also been an enormous increase in malicious programs accounting for at least 25% rise in fresh threats when compared to similar months in 2010. Trojans dominated the line of newly detected threats comprising of at least 70% of all newly created malicious software.

There was a whopping $114 Billion loss due to cyber crime itself cost the world last year. With over 2.9 million users falling as victims to cybercrimes, India alone stood at a loss of $7.6 Billion or Rs 36,200 crore out of which $4 Billion was the total financial loss while $3.6 Billion was the amount spent to resolve reported theft. Of the total amount reported a mere 21% of victims actually reported the crime to the police. Despite the efforts made by security vendors, only 16% had security software installed on their cell phone while 21% had on their PCs. Also, additional $274 billion was lost, based on the value victims placed on time lost due to their cyber crime experiences. More than two thirds of all adults who used the Internet more were victims of cyber crime. While most issues are more than preventable, over 54% of online users have experienced malware followed by 11% in online scams and 10% in phishing scams. In comparison to 2009 and 2010, there has been a decent increase in malware amounting to 19% in 2011.

There key reason for this increase in the cyber attacks is financial profit. Also, there been a whole automation in terms of the creation of malware due to the web attack toolkits that are growing at a rapid rate as the chosen weapon.

On the other hand, the way cyber crime is dealt by people online shown by the overall number of infected users itself signifies a defect. According to studies, in the last one year the overall number of users infected with regard to online cyber crime has tripled in comparison to offline crime. A major flaw is been noticed in the way users perceive online threats. There is a huge gap between awareness and the action that needs to be taken by IT users. Approximately, 80% of PC users are aware of cyber crime as a growing threat, however the necessary precautions are not being taken against it. At times, either the Security is outdated or the implementation of the necessary updates to protect users from complex threats id not up to the mark.

With respect to enterprises, cyber crime is increasing at an alarming rate with over $30 Billion being invested annually on corporate defences and cyber criminals are invariably being able to evade these conventional defences. In fact, even the most security conscious industries are vulnerable to online attacks such as HBGary, Epsilon, RSA and DigiNotar, Comodo– to name a few.

Pain being considered to be the fifth vital sign, it is considered as one of the key elements of the patient assessment. Doctors completely rely on patients to tell them whether they are in pain. Well, however, gone are the days when we had to keep trying to explain to our doctor how much something hurts on a scale of one to 10. Recently, the Scientists at Stanford University have taken an initiative in creating a new gold standard for assessing pain using computer learning software.

As the research and development continues for this innovation, the scientists have been able to predict most of the time whether the volunteers are experiencing pain or not. Moreover, to get these results, they have combined computer-learning software with a catalogue of MIR brain scans. For the study, the team uses a linear support vector machine – a computer algorithm – to classify patterns of brain activity and determine whether someone is experiencing pain. For this, the volunteers who undergo the brain scans are touched by a mildly heated probe and then again on a painfully hot setting. The computer uses data from these scans to recognise different brain activity patterns that occurs when a person is detecting heat, and which ones detect pain. It is estimated that, in these tests the computer has been more than 80 per cent accurate in detecting which brain scans are of people in pain or not. Conducted in a controlled laboratory environment, the study is said to need a further research to detect if the technology can be adapted to accurately show chronic pain.

Using this neuro-imaging technology, apart from the scale of pain, the team has also been successful in detecting whether the patient is in a state of pain or not. Hence, eventually with the use of this technology, doctors will be able to detect pain better and will be able to give better treatment of chronic pain.

So, the next time when we go to the doctor and he has this question in his mind for us that how much does it hurt, their computer will help them tell how much pain their patients are experiencing.

I agree it is a great innovation, and fingers crossed…. I pray that it meets the standards successfully. However, I would like to make a point that no matter how successful this innovation is, it will not give accurate results if the malware and other viruses affect it. Such malicious creatures have the tendency of disturbing the working of softwares installed in the computer as well as the whole computer rather. Moreover, this will lead to inappropriate treatment, thus increasing the complexities in the patient’s health. Hence, an Anti-Virus is a must for such computers.

Otherwise, how will the computer understand the pain we are going through?

It is observed that major internet savvy users have stopped going to bank. Right from filling the forms and online applications to transferring the cash and all the other banking formalities we have started using internet. Let me not talk about the pros of the same. We all are aware of them. However, the overshadowed cons due to favourable pros of this facility need to be brought under notice.

One of the biggest security concerns when using internet banking facility is Keyloggers. In simple words these especially creative people tracking the keys struck on a keyboard from remote, while someone is banking on internet. We might have heard people saying that they have lost money from their account or there are some unknown transactions showing on their bank accounts using their internet banking accounts. This means that their account is being hacked!

Now, a question might arise that how is this possible? This is done secretly so that the person using the keyboard is not aware that his/her actions are being spied on. Key logging can be done from hardware and software-based approaches to electromagnetic as well as acoustic analysis. With is they are able to trace the username, password of the online banking accounts. And can take advantage of that information. It is easily possible by writing simple software applications for key logging. Later, these programs can easily be distributed as a Trojan horse or as part of a virus in the network. To whom-so-ever this virus stuck, is a victim!

Here, something which is not simple for the Keylogger is to install a hidden keystroke logger without being caught and to download the data that has been logged without being traced. Usually these Keyloggers manually connect to a host machine to download logged keystrokes risks being traced. There is always a risk of sending a Trojan to a fixed e-mail address or IP address because it may expose the key logger’s identity. One of the other ways that keyloggers try is by unconditionally writing the crypto Trojan to the last few unused sectors of every writable disk that is inserted into the machine that remain marked as unused, using a USB token. And only the Trojan writer can decrypt the cipher text because only he knows the needed private decryption key.

Hence, we need an alternative to the conventional computer. In year 2008, IBM engineers invented virtual keyboard also known as laser keyboard. Its primary use is when you need to type without a physical keyboard present. It is also used as an additional safety measure from viruses, Trojan and  that might be present in the computer that logs every keystroke from the keyboard waiting for you to type in your password or credit card number. Virtual Keyboards are the best for internet banking. This online application protects your password from malicious Spyware and Trojan Programs.

Presently, there are several programs available in the market today that can be added to any desktop or laptop system to create a virtual keyboard environment. Also, it can be downloaded from internet. Once installed on your computer, it is easy to access. Some times the original keyboard (hardware) is used to active the virtual component and using mouse virtual keys can be typed. Couple of more alternative devices such as head mouse and eye mouse can also be used. Laser technology can also be used to operate the virtual keyboard.

Apart from Virtual keyboard, the other ways to have a safe banking experience online is by using Anti- Keylogger softwares, Live CD/USB, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Virus programs, Network monitors, Automatic form filler programs, One-time passwords (OTP), Security tokens, On-screen keyboards, Keystroke interference software, Speech recognition, Handwriting recognition and mouse gestures, Macro expanders/recorders and so on!

Well, the fact is that effectiveness of countermeasures varies as keyloggers use various techniques to capture data and the countermeasure needs to be effective against the particular data capture technique. Also, there are always possibilities of the Keylogger software authors updating the code to adapt to countermeasures that may have proven to be effective against them. With the increasing advanced innovations, there are more advanced versions of thefts invented…. Or Visa Versa!

The bottom line is BEWARE!

I know being a parent, it does matter to you what your teens are doing when they spend major time on computers. And with the increase in the computer… rather internet usage, chances are that majorly all parents do know something about what their kids are doing on the Internet, however I am sure not everything!

Today’s generation is growing up with Internet. And the fact is that, they use it more comfortably & skillfully than the way many adults may use. Right from entertainment to communication to education… that’s way I call them digital natives! They are heavy users of internet who access it for approximately 6-7 days a week. Statistics shows that, while communication and downloading content are the primary Internet usages, education also plays a major part. 80-90% of the teens use internet for research purpose for school assignments and for improving their general knowledge. The most famous use of internet amongst the teens is gamming and more than 70% of them enjoy playing online games. With boom in social networking, more than 85% are said to have at least one social networking account.

And so, with their increasing amount to online participation… a huge amount of potential dangers opens up for them. Online threats… cyber bullying… sharing personal information to a stranger… identity theft… phishing… spamming… to name a few, including other online threats due to malware and other viruses that creep over the internet. Hence, it obviously becomes essential as a parent to understand the risks of your teen’s online lives along with its potential benefits. And so, we need to nurture the positive aspects, while minimizing its risks.

According to various researches and statistics, it is said that today’s generation only think know about the positive aspect of the online participation, not thinking about its cons. More than 50% of teens accidentally allowed their computer to become infected with viruses or other malware. Though they think that they know how to be secure online, still more than 55% – 60% share their personal information to strangers online.

Well in this case, just question yourself that what is your share of spending or involving with your kids online from the total time period your children spend online? Well, I know that you as responsible parent would stay informed about your teen’s online lives. But do really monitor their online activities closely? Statistics says that majorly all the teens say that their parents trust them to do what’s right online. Though more than 55% reveal that their parents know only some their online activities and not everything while more than 35% revealed that their parents don’t have time to check up on what they do online! There are some 40% teens who don’t believe in telling their parents about their online activities and major of them have a habit of changing their behavior if they see that their parents are keeping an eye on them!

Well, in this case I feel that it is important for you to talk/ share with your kids about potential dangers due to their insecure online activities and tell them how to avoid them. Try to have clear and open chats with your teens about the kind of information that is safe to share and to whom they should share with. Let them know that at times the information shared online could be there forever as there’s no guarantee that “deleted” online content is deleted from internet permanently. Tell them why to avoid harassing or bullying people online. It is important to have their computers safe and so ask them not to download any software without your permission.

You can always use the Anti-Virus Softwares / Internet Security Suites that include Family Protection/ Privacy Protection / user based parental control features. These features help you to , sharing confidential information, talking to strangers, and many such other potentially dangerous online risks.

After all, knowing it’s your responsibility towards the safety of your teens… online and offline!

After creating havoc in the top level corporations and governments, the known hacker group Anonymous is diverting its attention away towards the Hollywood’s elite. And for this they have honored themselves with a new title – HOLLYWOODLEAKS… thus has declared war on the entertainment industry!

Since past few days, Hollywood Leaks has been successfully accessing the private records of celebrities. They are simply facilitating the free flow of information what they find and interestingly, have no qualms about sharing it. They got access and distributed some of the precious data like the confidential script for the new Tom Cruise movie, ‘Rock of Ages’ and phone numbers of celebrities – Ashley Greene, Joey Fatone, Miley Cyrus, Lil Jon, and Mark Cuban. They even leaked Julianne Hough, the singer’s health insurance information, her cell phone number as well as her cell-phone pictures, including pictures of her with boyfriend Ryan Seacrest and even her unreleased album.

Eventually, they are also responsible in leaking topless pictures of VMA nominated rapper Kreayshawn and shared them with her some 300,000 odd Twitter followers. Toby Barrett’s twitter account was hacked. And recently, they hacked Gerald Butler’s e-mail address of his Gmail account along with email addresses of rappers Waka Flocka and Lloyd Banks.

Just like Anonymous or LulzSec, Hollywood Leaks revealed that they are in it for the Lulz – that is just for the felonious amusement atHollywood’s expense!

The group posted message to YouTube recently – “Attention Hollywood. We are Anonymous. We have been watching you. We have been listening to you. You have been allowed to run free too long. The time of Jew control media is over.” Later, the group tweeted “LOL at people calling us Anti-Semites. It’s for the LULZ.  Get over it.”

The hacker group has revealed that its intent is to target celebrities in Film, Television, and Music. And as we see, few top celebrities have already been targeted. The main purpose of these hack attacks seems that the hackers are looking for dirt, such as nude photos, embarrassing e-mails or memos, scripts under wraps, etc. In general, Hollywood Leaks wants to leave a trail of showbiz carnage in its wake.

Though it’s not the most devastating list of achievements of the group so far, however, their ominous sign-off:  “We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.” … scares me a bit! I just wonder what next… rather whose next!

I am pretty sure thatHollywoodspin machine might be scared by now due to the Hollywood Leak’s operation and have got an idea of the hack group’s potential to wreak havoc on the industry! And it looks like they’ll continue to shake up the industry.

According to security experts, Hollywood Leaks have broken into these celebrities accounts may be simply by guessing some bad security questions. So dear allHollywoodmembers… stop only thinking about your physical security… Think about securing yourselves online…. A bodyguard for you online… A good Anti-Virus!

We must have shared this point of view of our many a times that information sharing has become much faster and accessible than ever before with internet. However, we never stretched our thought a little thinking that prior to internet; we had to be more attentive and aware about the news, happening in the every corner of the world or research at a library to know about anything. However, now all this information is at our fingertips. We don’t need to store the piles of cuttings of the newspapers about the article we thought may be useful to us in future. With websites of almost every news channel and newspaper, usage of paper has drastically reduced.

Have we ever thought that now the transactions have become much more and accurate even while using less paper?  Well, ever since the invention of computer, the usage of papers has reduced a lot. Now, we are more comfortable saving our documents and pictures on computer folders rather than in piles of files. And now with almost every bank offering online transactions with secure processes, purchases on online stores and many such virtual activities… the constant need for paper supply has really come down.

How many of us have been offered discount from our mobile network service companies for using e-bills? Go ahead and switch to e-bills… they save lot of paper and also less hassle for you that you face trying to keep your paper bills files and secured.

I really appreciate online education. Virtual books, internet as a vast online encyclopedia, no paperwork at all, and even online submissions… wow…

Apart from this, when we say that internet gives us a way to be connected to like-minded individuals across the globe. Have we ever thought that earlier, one could only have few friends though now we can be connected to just about anyone across the globe. And with this if we analyze, Anna Hazare’s recent Anti-Corruption movement would not have been successful! Online activities and constant support through email campaigns as well as social networking sites contributed majorly in bringing the wholeIndiatogether. In fact, social networks have helped campaigns reach more ears—and eyes—than ever before. Without internet, just sit and think how it could have been possible and how long it could have taken to achieve the success in the campaign!

We save a lot on paper and mailing by sending emails. We can now telecommute instead of actually driving to work… have meetings via teleconference instead of flying to another city…

Practically speaking except getting motivated on June 5^th every year how many of us really take initiative to plant trees. Well, though we do really contribute somewhere a lot in saving them… right!

Internet has long promised a more efficient and greener world…. It seems to be keeping its promise!

I wonder if trees could speak the language we could understand! I am sure the one whom they would thank the most would be internet!

I am sure almost 99% of the “Please forward this to everyone” emails we get almost regularly contain at least some misinformation. Rather sometimes, the entire email is completely a hoax. Even the one trying to warn us of some great peril are usually worthless, like HIV infected needles in coin return slots, gang member initiation rituals, kidnap attempts in parking lots, or simple procedures that will save someone in an emergency medical situation, at times are outrightly dangerous (if they contain virus).

Also, the e-mails that ask you to add your name and forward on to others are similar to the mass letter. Many of us must have also received emails that say that “you can do your friends and family members a great favor by sending this information to them. You will be providing a service to your friends.”

I have also received many of the emails that try to play with our conscience by saying that “send this e-mail to 10 people… if you’re not ashamed of God/Jesus” or also the e-mails that talk about a missing child or a child with an incurable disease, “how would you feel if that was your child”…

I know these mails are received by many of us quite occasionally. My question is that how many of us respond to such mails as instructed? And what happens when we do so?

If I am not mistaken, the answer is NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENS! True… we neither win any lottery… nor do something good or bad happen with us! So what is the purpose of these chain mails? When no one gets anything out of it… why do these mails… sorry chain mails keep knocking our inboxes?

Well, as it is said that in today’s world nothing happens without a reason… same applies for internet world!

These chain mails have tracker programs attached to its e-mails that track the cookies and e-mails of those whom you forward them to. It is one of the ways to get names and cookie tracking information for telemarketers and spammers. This activity helps them to validate the active e-mail accounts for their own profitable purposes. It so works like this that every time the mail is forwarded, the host sender gets a copy and then he is able to get lists of ‘active’ e-mail addresses to use in spam e-mails or sell to other spammers. In some cases, such mails also waste bandwidth and clog ISP’s mail servers.

Yes… it’s true…! The fact is that these spammers really don’t care about how they get our e-mail addresses as long as they get them.

Well, all I would say is that do a favor for yourself by stop adding your names to such types of listing… no matter how real they might sound, making you feel guilty that if you don’t…. just ignore them and do not participate!

In case we follow the instructions thinking that somehow, somewhere we are supporting a great cause, actually we are not! Just remember that such mails are all about getting e-mail addresses and nothing more! Rather we are inviting tons of junk mail in our inbox that may bring lots of deadly viruses to your computer! As apart from such emails firing up a program that can track where an email has gone and report back to a marketer, they can launch a program that installs itself on your computer to do all kinds of nasty things like, pop-up ads, using your computer to send out spam, or keyboard watchers, etc.

When someone sends one of such mails to us and 20 other people, our email address with such activity gets on the machines of 20 people. If 5 of them forward to 20 more people then our email address is now on about 100 different computers. The reason is that by default, most email programs include the entire list of people the original was sent to when it creates the forwarded copy. And if this activity is repeated a few more times, congratulations as without you doing anything, your email address is on thousands of computers!

Apart from ignoring such emails, the other best way to save you is to have an updated Anti-Virus. Never open an email attachment that you were not expecting. If an email comes through with an attachment, always check with the sender before opening, even if it’s someone you trust. The best idea is to just click the button marked Delete. Don’t click the Spam button as this will add the senders e-mail address to the spam list, and other genuine e-mails the person sends you could also get treated as spam. Also, the sender’s e-mail could get added to the companies black list, which may result in most of their e-mails also being treated as spam to other people they are e-mailing as well. This might not just affect us but others too!

So, conclusion is that by forwarding e-mails just can’t bring us luck or bad luck… if we don’t forward! And, above all the pain and suffering we go through; we are actually helping those spammers to get rich! Let’s not make it easy for them!

So if you are still someone who continues to forward the chain e-mails expecting any luck or due to the fear of bad luck, I urge you to stop this practice… If any junk mail in your inbox… just bunk it!

In the recent past, there seems to be an unprecedented growth of these so-called social interaction platforms. The main intention of the invention of Internet is for the exchange of information. Social networking sites took this trend further. Though over the last few years, they have simply taken the world by storm. It was initiated with MySpace, Badoo.Com, Bebo, Flingr and Orkut and now the most popular are Facebook, Twitter and the recent one- Google + joining the world of Social Networking sites.

It is strange that in the span of just last 6-7 years these social networking sites have picked up a great momentum and now have garnered the global attention, making people badly addict to it. They have successfully attained the must-visit web destinations on internet on daily, rather hourly basis. Today, many of us just can’t imagine living without social networking. It has become a daily routine no matter wherever we are. And with mobile phones getting more advanced day-by-day with their applications, use of social networks today is not an issue anymore.

Social networking websites work by asking you to create a profile by filling in basic information and personality, adding people you know to your friend’s list. These profiles are generally quite open and can be easily viewed by anyone. And, the worst part is that there is no way to guarantee that the people viewing your profile are the people you want to see it.

These sites no doubt come with the advantages of you getting connected to your long lost friends, which can be otherwise impossible in the case of many of us. Also, these sites have proved to be a great platform for marketing by entrepreneurs considering that it has emerged as a viable, profitable marketing tool. However, these networking sites do come with a whole lot of package of some unavoidable disadvantages!

I know at the first instance, you many not agree though this is the hard fact!

Forget about alcohol, the addiction of these social networking sites is taking new dimensions! It has no doubt turned many of us emotionally dependent on the virtual relationships developed by these sites. But the other big concern which is the worst is privacy. Until, you have a habit of regularly updating your privacy settings to ensure that your personal information is not viewed by unknown people and their pictures are not misused, you are in a big problem. And the other health issues that come along with this package… we usually don’t even think about them!

If you ask my granny, she feels that we- the so-called new generation has become lethargic because of social networking feature. She feels that it is simply making us unsocial by just being stuck in front of computer and least bothered about interacting face-to-face. It’s true to quite an extent that social networking is slowly taking over face-to-face communication, and these days’ people prefer expressing themselves online. They feel a great comfort zone. So the bottom line is communication has become rapid and easier, though at the cost of personal interaction.

It’s been observed that these days the companies spy on future employees on social networking sites. Well my point is, isn’t that supposed to be just for social networking and not to be mixed with our professional lives?

Hence, I feel that one needs to be serious about what you have in your social networking account. The stuff that you don’t want some one to see needs to be secured or blocked. We can’t consider this as spying as social networking sites are public spaces on internet. Anyone can have access to them and use the data for their own purposes. There is no such thing as separation between personal and professional anymore.

I know many people with worst experiences in their life due to these networking sites, especially teenagers who are more attracted to these sites as they meet different people not really knowing their original characters, habits etc. They call their relation as ‘love’ and ruin their live by inviting disasters. I have seen many people adding 1000 or more friends and feel happy about it. Though what I don’t understand is that what is the need of having such a huge friend’s list when from that list you don’t know about the 99% of them…. You don’t talk to them… how can you call them as your friends… just because they are in your friend’s list ???

Looking at all this, at times a though comes to my mind that if this is the scenario in the span of 6-7 years of the existence of social networking sites, then what will be the scenario after 5 years?

Agreed, technologies and inventions do make our lives easier along with some added pleasures. Though it is up to us, whether to make them become intrusive in our lives… or just stay on the sidelines as helpful tools!

I guess… let technology not master us!

These days nothing is hidden. Hackers inform well in advance about their hack attack schedules. Currently, I am waiting to know what will happen to Facebook… waiting for November 5, 2011, the day when Anonymous have claimed to target the famous social networking site- Facebook shut down!

When criminals inform about their action in advance, I feel this means that they seem to more intelligent, confident and with advanced form of knowledge than anyone else around.

Look at the havoc these cyber criminals have been successful in creating. Network infrastructure of many companies like Google, Sony, several government institutions have been compromised resulting in the loss of sensitive intellectual property. These days it seems as if every day major companies are being attacked. Rather every major company, every major institution have been penetrated. It’s difficult to pinpoint a particular person or group behind these attacks as there are so many different potential suspects to worry about – ranging from nebulous groups of hackers, to organized crime, to competing corporations, to nation-states and military agencies – and frequently even the motives for the security breaches are unclear. This leaves victims and also the investigators wondering who was behind an act and the reason behind the attacks. One thing is very much certain that cyber attacks and the vulnerabilities faced by companies as well as society (referring to social networking sites) are intensifying day-by-day and reaching pandemic levels. With this, the appropriate protection to prevent such thefts seems to be challenging.

I agree that security is always a cat-&-mouse game between hackers and security software providers. And with time, both – companies as well as hackers have grown sophisticated. Most of the security softwares are now capable of preventing basic threats, though the malware and viruses are now too sophisticated. At times, even the IT experts fall prey to cyber attacks. Interactive media is very dangerous and now as social networking is becoming the part of marketing strategy of almost each and every company, they are more likely to be victim. Millions of Botnet-infected computers are running in homes as well as businesses across the globe. Data from more than 12 million PCs including Fortune 1000 companies and 40 major banks is being compromised. The hackers not only just steal specific data or intellectual property, but take advantage of anything and everything they can access. Either hacker increasingly knows exactly what they want, while their targets often struggle to understand the threat or where it is coming from. Or attackers continue to rapidly develop new ways to access what they want, and as a result, the threats can come from anywhere. Or else, observers believe that almost everyone and every company ultimately is at risk, a result of today’s highly networked global economy and communications infrastructure.

At one end these hackers are rapidly building malware and on the other end the security experts are trying to stop attacks using the same sophisticated programming tools available. There seems to be a constant change in the boundaries between professional and private activities the network. Also, there seem to be too many different ways by which users can access information. This is resulting in increasing potential points of weakness, thus contributing to the growing vulnerability of even the most resource-rich companies.

The more hyped concept of cloud computing brings more security. More and more companies these days outsource their IT infrastructure to Internet-based utility computing models. Thus, monitoring and controlling access to information no doubt become more challenging. Risks are becoming more interdependent as we are more and more dependent on IT systems. The supply chain and telecommunication systems in business are more interconnected today than ever and everything, everywhere; all the time can not be protected.

The only way out to be on the safer side is to protect the IT infrastructure and the actual information or data that is supported by that infrastructure, whether the information is in motion, in use or in storage. Also, make sure that access of the information and services are restricted as per the specific requirement.

Risk of anything happening anytime is the current security scenario. However, we can’t just sit thinking it’s difficult and impossible to handle. As it is truly said that thinking your enemy is more powerful than you, it should not restrict you from being more prepared and strong. They only way out is keep fighting!