Stay Safe Online Blog

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), recently announced a fellowship program  with up to six funded fellows that includes one fellowship for a person to work  on financial crimes.  In the announcement, OVC states it’s looking for someone to help “support OVC’s efforts to assess the needs and rights of vulnerable victims of financial fraud and other forms of serious yet non-violent crime (identity theft, medical/pharmaceutical fraud, mortgage fraud, computer intrusions, international cyber crimes, etc.), and to develop a comprehensive victim assistance strategy that addresses gaps in traditional victim services.” 

This looks like a great opportunity and a great effort.  At NCSA, we hear from victims quite regularly. They often don’t know where to turn when they have been the victims of cybercrime. They face a number of obstacles to justice including that perpetrators are hard to identify and locate, crimes committed over the Internet may not fall under the jurisdiction of local law enforcement, and local services may not be geared up to help them.  We also hear frustration, anger, and anxiety—all common reactions to victimization from people who don’t know where to turn or who can help them.

There is a need to strengthen our safety net for victims of cybercrime and ensure they know how to report crimes and access help. We hope OVC gets some great candidates and look forward to seeing a strengthened response to all crime victims and helping anyway we can.

SSO (stay safe online),

Michael

Today, the National Cyber Security Alliance released the 2010 State of Cyberethics, Cybersafety, and Cybersecurity Curriculum in the U.S.  which explores teacher, school administrator, and school technology coordinator attitudes toward teaching cyber education topics, what is actually being taught in classrooms, and the level of professional development teachers are receiving in order to teach these topics. The survey results show some promise. For example, more than 90% of technology coordinators, school administrators and teachers support (click here or title to read full post)

A recent study, Online Reputation in a Connected World by Cross-Tab Marketing Research on behalf of Microsoft (disclaimer Microsoft is an NCSA sponsoring company) finds that more and more companies are conducting online research into a candidate’s reputation.  Of the U.S. recruiters (study also surveyed recruiters in other countries) and HR professionals surveyed, 70% say they have rejected candidates based on information they found online.  The news isn’t all bad.....(click here or post title to continue) 

MS-ISAC, one of NCSA's prime outreach partners and a leader in cybersecurity issues, conducts a series of national webcasts on cybersecurity with great topics and speakers. ( click post title for full post)

Launched four years ago by Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, StopBadware emerged today as a stand alone nonprofit organization under the leadership of Maxim Weinstein, StopBadware’s executive director.

If you don’t know StopBadware, you should. (click here or title to read full post)

On January 13, 2010, Facebook and McAfee (disclaimer McAfee is an NCSA Board member) announced a new partnership aimed at making the Internet more safe and secure by making available a free six month subscription to McAfee’s Internet Security Suite software to all of Facebook’s 350 million users.

Facebook users are heavily dependent on a secure and safe Internet to connect with family, friends, and colleagues and to promote causes, fan pages, and commerce. The McAfee/Facebook partnership will make available to a wide range of users across the globe a key protection that should be on any computer connected to the Internet.

(click here or post title to read the entire entry)

In the last of its series from digital security experts, Just Ask Gemalto posted an interview with NCSA executive director Michael Kaiser.

See the video on YouTube.

Byron Acohido from USA Today, Crunch Gear’s John Biggs, and Amazon’s Steve Riley and others also participated in the series. Take a look they are interesting and educational.

NCSA appreciates the opportunity to participate in the series.

SSO (staysafeonline),
Michael

What does stalking have to with cybersecurity?

Quite a bit. 

Stalking impacts 3.4 million people annually and about 25% of victims report some use of technology, including spyware, email, identity theft, and instant messenger. ( Stalking Victimization in the United Sates, The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics)  If stalkers are compromising systems to track their victims then they could also put larger networks at risk. (click here or title to read full post)

Of the many online safety resources available for parents and kids, the Federal Trade Commission’s web resources are some of the best. Two new FTC resources continue their efforts to bring useable, comprehensive information to consumers. (click here to read more)