socialmedia – Page 2 – SSL and internet security news

Attacking Soldiers on Social Media

February 26, 2019 infossl

china, impersonation, military, Security technology, socialengineering, socialmedia

A research group at NATO’s Strategic Communications Center of Excellence catfished soldiers involved in an European military exercise — we don’t know what country they were from — to demonstrate the power of the attack technique. Over four weeks, the researchers developed fake pages and closed groups on Facebook that looked like they were associated … Read More “Attacking Soldiers on Social Media” »

Alex Stamos on Content Moderation and Security

January 15, 2019 infossl

control, encryption, Security technology, socialmedia

Former Facebook CISO Alex Stamos argues that increasing political pressure on social media platforms to moderate content will give them a pretext to turn all end-to-end crypto off — which would be more profitable for them and bad for society. If we ask tech companies to fix ancient societal ills that are now reflected online … Read More “Alex Stamos on Content Moderation and Security” »

How Surveillance Inhibits Freedom of Expression

November 26, 2018 infossl

censorship, china, privacy, Security technology, socialmedia, surveillance

In my book Data and Goliath, I write about the value of privacy. I talk about how it is essential for political liberty and justice, and for commercial fairness and equality. I talk about how it increases personal freedom and individual autonomy, and how the lack of it makes us all less secure. But this … Read More “How Surveillance Inhibits Freedom of Expression” »

Facebook Is Using Your Two-Factor Authentication Phone Number to Target Advertising

October 2, 2018 infossl

academicpapers, adware, authentication, email, facebook, phones, privacy, Security technology, socialmedia

From Kashmir Hill: Facebook is not content to use the contact information you willingly put into your Facebook profile for advertising. It is also using contact information you handed over for security purposes and contact information you didn’t hand over at all, but that was collected from other people’s contact books, a hidden layer of … Read More “Facebook Is Using Your Two-Factor Authentication Phone Number to Target Advertising” »

Identifying People by Metadata

July 30, 2018 infossl

academicpapers, identification, metadata, Security technology, socialmedia, twitter

Interesting research: “You are your Metadata: Identification and Obfuscation of Social Media Users using Metadata Information,” by Beatrice Perez, Mirco Musolesi, and Gianluca Stringhini. Abstract: Metadata are associated to most of the information we produce in our daily interactions and communication in the digital world. Yet, surprisingly, metadata are often still categorized as non-sensitive. Indeed, … Read More “Identifying People by Metadata” »

Manipulative Social Media Practices

June 28, 2018 infossl

consumerization, deception, facebook, google, norway, privacy, Security technology, socialmedia

The Norwegian Consumer Council just published an excellent report on the deceptive practices tech companies use to trick people into giving up their privacy. From the executive summary: Facebook and Google have privacy intrusive defaults, where users who want the privacy friendly option have to go through a significantly longer process. They even obscure some … Read More “Manipulative Social Media Practices” »

Intimate Partner Threat

March 5, 2018 infossl

authentication, computersecurity, insiders, Security technology, securityquestions, socialmedia, threatmodels

Princeton’s Karen Levy has a good article computer security and the intimate partner threat: When you learn that your privacy has been compromised, the common advice is to prevent additional access — delete your insecure account, open a new one, change your password. This advice is such standard protocol for personal security that it’s almost … Read More “Intimate Partner Threat” »

Facebook Will Verify the Physical Location of Ad Buyers with Paper Postcards

February 20, 2018 infossl

facebook, fraud, mail, Security technology, socialmedia, voting

It’s not a great solution, but it’s something: The process of using postcards containing a specific code will be required for advertising that mentions a specific candidate running for a federal office, Katie Harbath, Facebook’s global director of policy programs, said. The requirement will not apply to issue-based political ads, she said. “If you run … Read More “Facebook Will Verify the Physical Location of Ad Buyers with Paper Postcards” »

Department of Homeland Security to Collect Social Media of Immigrants and Citizens

September 28, 2017 infossl

borders, datacollection, nationalsecuritypolicy, passwords, Security technology, socialmedia

New rules give the DHS permission to collect “social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results” as part of people’s immigration file. The Federal Register has the details, which seems to also include US citizens that communicate with immigrants. This is part of the general trend to scrutinize people coming into the US … Read More “Department of Homeland Security to Collect Social Media of Immigrants and Citizens” »

The Data Tinder Collects, Saves, and Uses

September 26, 2017 infossl

adware, datacollection, privacy, Security technology, socialmedia, surveillance

Under European law, service providers like Tinder are required to show users what information they have on them when requested. This author requested, and this is what she received: Some 800 pages came back containing information such as my Facebook “likes,” my photos from Instagram (even after I deleted the associated account), my education, the … Read More “The Data Tinder Collects, Saves, and Uses” »