Sunday, July 03, 2016

For my Computer Security students and Twits everywhere.
How To Find Out If Your Twitter Account Is Vulnerable To Hackers
   Want to know how secure your Twitter account is?  Here’s an easy way to find out.  Head to the Twitter applications settings page.  There, you can see a full list of the third-party applications that have “write” access to your account: Apps that let you post to Twitter without being on Twitter dot com.


“No strategy.  We just thought it was neat!” 
Big Brother is listening as well as watching
   This past week, following revelations that New Jersey Transit didn’t have policies governing storage and who had access to data from audio surveillance on some of its light-rail trains, the agency ended the program.


The Associated Press reported in April that NJ Transit had been using audio recording systems on train lines between Trenton and Camden, in Newark and Hudson County.
Dennis Martin, former interim executive director of the agency, told the AP that the goal was to “deter criminal activity” and keep passengers safe.
But he refused to say how the audio data is stored, for how long, who reviewed it and when or how it was destroyed, saying only, “there are laws that govern that and we’re in compliance.”
Critics, including commuter organizations, contended that the recording violated both the First Amendment (free speech) and Fourth Amendment (unreasonable search) rights of passengers.
   Of course, New Jersey is not alone, nor is it the first. The Baltimore Sun reported in March that the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) has used audio recording on some of its mass transit vehicles since 2012.  It is now used on 65 percent of buses, and 82 percent of subway trains have audio recording capability, but don’t use it yet, according to the Sun.
And cities in New Hampshire, Connecticut, Michigan, Ohio, Nevada, Oregon and California have either installed systems or moved to procure them, in many cases with funding from the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS).


Everyone wants a App that can vacuum your wallet.
Walmart debuts new mobile pay app
Walmart last week became the latest retailer to join the trend toward mobile payments when it debuted a new system in all its Missouri locations.
The system is an addition to the Walmart app and can be used with any kind of credit or debit card and any kind of smartphone.
"People forget their wallets, but most people don’t forget their phones," said Farai Madzura, manager of the Walmart Express in downtown Columbia.  "These days we use our phones for everything."
   These apps use "transaction specific dynamic security codes," which means the user's actual card numbers are never shared. Instead, a unique code is used to identify every purchase made.
The new Walmart system keeps the encrypted card information on file, but it is protected by a personal passcode, Madzura said.


Perspective.  US market is flat so Amazon wants in to the Indian market.
Amazon 'returns' to smartphone market with special edition phones
   After its own Fire phone flopped, Amazon is selling special editions of other manufacturers' phones at a $50 discount.  They'll come with ads on the lock screen and about 10 Amazon apps on the home screen.
Amazon.com is touting the discount as a benefit of its $100-a-year Prime loyalty program.  Membership is required, and Amazon figures that those customers will appreciate having single sign-on access to Amazon's various apps.


Why are some students always late?  Dilbert explains.

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