Hass and Associates, Rise of the Internet

The rise of the Internet is undeniable, and unrestricted access from multifarious smart gadgets with more rapid 4G connectivity means that consumers’ potential usages of these devices in terms of the tasks they can accomplish online at any time an at any place are growing fast. In this milieu, the subject of online retail and its correlation with personal communication (either face-to-face or via phone) is being fervently discussed in all sectors.

And so it goes for insurance as well. For the past thirty years, personal connections have been dominated by the contact centre, and while not many can question that the Internet has greatly aided in generating quotes, the accepted rule is that phone calls and in-the-flesh visits are still a vital part of the sales cycle and a major force in enhancing conversion rates. While many situations may call for the application of the personal appearance, it is nevertheless the case that a rising share of everyday insurance tasks can be accomplished without it – in so far as the consumer agrees to it.

Mounting demand for self-service

Instances of these cases include online banking or even grocery check-outs show a significant – and increasing – percentage of consumers would rather ‘operate the system’ themselves, especially if it leads to avoiding queues and being able to finish such chores at their most convenient time.

As it applies now to the insurance sector, Junction recently revealed that one million BGL customers now choose to handle their own policies online. In the same manner, Ageas Insurance Solutions’ biggest motor brand, Auto Direct, moved to a self-service website earlier this year and saw 97% of its clients immediately opt for electronic documentation and messaging over paper.

It is certainly counter-intuitive to bypass this need for self-service, especially in insurance, where the advantage of the aggregator brands has produced a largely price-sensitive market.

Source:   Hass and Associates

Cringe And Reflect: The Internet In 1997

This morning, like most mornings I sat drinking my coffee browsing my freshly updated list of news feeds and articles. All of a sudden I was floored by a video, my breath lost in a mix of laughter and horror. In it’s wake I was left with a new appreciation for how muchtechnology has changed. Allow me to share this experience with you.

Consider how simple technology has become — how many times you have seen a child of only a few years old using an iPad with no effort at all? In only a few years technology changes in astonishing ways, but I for one find I often quickly forget the time before new invention X.

So how much progress have we made? Clearly technology has developed in amazing ways and as a society we have become much more comfortable with technology in every aspect of our lives. That said, we have some interesting issues this video reminds me of. The digital divide is one such issue. Across different age groups we have varying levels of expertise and security awareness on the Internet and many are left very exposed due to a lack of basic understanding.

What makes a secure password? How do you spot a phishing scam? How do you know if your web connection is encrypted? I have heard people say that security awareness is a temporal issue and that as the young generation grows up the problem will naturally be fixed – but I disagree. I’ve spoken to many young people who are extremely capable users of technology but who have less of a concept of privacy and security than older colleagues. Granted, I know many people who are my senior who struggle with these concepts too.

Source:  Hass Associates Internet news

Hass Associates, Misbruk av barn steder på Tor rammes av skadelig programvare

Nyhetene har ledet noen til å hevde at Tor ikke lenger tilbyr et “trygt alternativ”. “Dette utfordringer antagelsen om folk har gjort at Tor er en enkel måte å beholde anonymiteten på internett,” Alan Woodward, teknologisjef i sikkerhet rådgivere Charteris, fortalte BBC. “Poenget er at er ikke garantert selv om du tror du tar høyre trinn for å skjule identiteten din. Dette er første gang vi har sett noen som ser ut til å avdekke folk heller enn bare sikkerhet forskere diskuterer muligheten.”

Mr Woodward legges til at måten lagt til kode hadde vært utformet foreslo en OSS lokale politimyndigheter ble bak brudd. Tor brukere uttrykt blandede følelser om nyheter. “Dette utnytte mål kiddie porno seerne bare. Hvis ikke du, du har ingenting å bekymre seg om,” foreslo en.

En “utnytte” refererer til programvaren som gjør at programmene, nettsteder og andre kode gjøre noe de ikke ble opprinnelig utformet for å gjøre. Men en annen sa: “Denne uken er det barneporno, neste uke kan det være en fløyte-vifte eller en aktivistisk.”

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23573048

Hass Associates: Who Got Hurt by the NSA Spy Scandal? California

The problem for California is not that the feds are collecting all of our communications. It is that the feds are (totally unapologetically) doing the same to foreigners, especially in communications with the U.S. California depends for its livelihood on people overseas—as customers, trade partners, as sources of talent.

Our leading industries—shipping, tourism, technology, and entertainment—could not survive, much less prosper, without the trust and goodwill of foreigners. We are home to two of the world’s busiest container ports, and we are a leading exporter of engineering, architectural, design, financial, insurance, legal, and educational services. All of our signature companies—Apple, Google, Facebook, Oracle, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Chevron, Disney—rely on sales and growth overseas.

And our families and workplaces are full of foreigners; more than one in four of us were born abroad, and more than 50 countries have diaspora populations in California of more than 10,000.

Hollywood and Silicon Valley are as important as Washington’s politicians and foreign policy wonks, if not more so, in shaping the image of the United States overseas. But news that our government is collecting our foreign friends’ phone records, emails, video chats, online conversations, photos, and even stored data, tarnishes the California and American brands.

The response from America’s leaders? “With respect to the Internet and emails, this does not apply to U.S. citizens and it does not apply to people living in the United States,” said President Obama, as if the privacy and trust of foreigners were of no consequence. Similarly, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, said that the Prism program, which taps into online communications, “could not be used to intentionally target any U.S. citizen.”

Read more: http://www.citywatchla.com/lead-stories-hidden/5383-who-got-hurt-by-the-nsa-spy-scandal-california

Hass Associates Article - China can't be taken for granted

• 
  
• SENIOR mining industry figure Andrew Michelmore has warned that China has growing concerns about Australia's attractiveness as an investment destination even though state-owned companies are looking to exploit distressed asset values.

   

  His warning comes as newly installed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has already called time on the mining boom.

   

  Source:  http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/china-cant-be-taken-for-granted/story-e6frg9df-1226675094493

Hass and Associate blog reviews - America and Europe strengthen their cyber-defense

Within a week of each other, have both the European Commission and the white house put out a number of new rules designed to curb the growing cyber-attacks against public and private offerings. The most dangerous of these is aimed at what is called critical national infrastructure. The dimensions may be physical (e.g. , mains) or virtual, such as computer networks used by the financial system.

Together with his the union message on 11 February, released on Barack Obama Obama an executive order intended to plug hole that is left of the failure of Congress to pass legislation for cyber-security that complies with the growing threat. "We cannot look back years from now", he said, "and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and the economy." President's frustration originates from the fate of two action. One is Cyber intelligence-sharing and Protection Act, known as CISPA, adopted by of the house of Representatives in last year, that is not managed to make it to a vote in the Senate (the white house threatened a veto because of concerns about privacy).  The other is the Cyber security Act, which was supported by management, but fell victim to a Republican filibusters in the Senate.

If all sides agree on seriousness of the threat, can impede Americas biased split agreement even in cyber-security. The majority opinion poll emphasize national security and sharing of information, but want to avoid imposing oppressive government-set safety standards on private companies. Mr Obama's executive order focuses on sharing information about threats between government and the private sector.

Hass and associates internet security information - Google lanserar nya Gmail

Kom ihåg den April Fool skämt där Google sade att de lanserar en ny Blå Gmail? Tja, inte en blå Gmail men Google till lanserar ett helt nytt Gmail versionen. I en större uppdatering Google lägger till några coola funktioner och ändra lite i Gmail layout.

Gmail kommer nu med flikar och ett nytt gränssnitt att låta användarna organisera sin post bättre. Google hade rullat ut de prioriterade Inbox som ett tillägg till den vanliga inkorgen förra året. Men, den nya layouten är mer än skilja mellan din post och framåt regelbunden.

Den nya tabbed layout kommer att sortera ut poster under 5 flikar som standard. De fem flikarna är: Primära, Social, kampanjer, uppdateringar, och forum. De regelbundna, viktigt meddelande kommer att bo i standard- eller den primära Inbox. Medan alla meddelanden från webbplatser för sociala nätverk automatiskt sorteras under sociala fliken, reklammaterial från e-commerce tomter kommer att grupperas under rubriken “Marknadsföring”.  Forum för att posta förteckningar och uppdateringar för bekräftelse post.

Postburken finnas släpat och tappat mellan de olika flikarna och Google Blog sagt att Google kommer att långsamt “lära sig” där du vill att varje post. Var och en av flikarna som separat inkorg där du kan visa olästa meddelanden, förvarar bana av post, svara, etc.

Read More: Hass and associates internet security information

Hass Associates cyber news discussion, VIEW FROM AWAY: Who decides to wage cyberwar, when and why?

The shadowy world of cybercrime
was exposed in the recent federal indictment of eight men accused of
manipulating computer networks and ATMs to steal $45 million over seven months.
The heist combined sophisticated hacking with street-level hustle. In New York
City alone, thieves struck 2,904 cash machines over 10 hours on a single day in
February.

For all the wonders of the
digital revolution, there is a turbulent and largely hidden underside of theft
and disruption that grows by the day; the losses are often not counted in
stacks of $20 bills but rather in millions of dollars of intellectual property
stolen or compromised. Computer networks are vital to American capitalism and
society but remain surprisingly vulnerable to hijack and hijinks.

Also worrisome is the threat of
cyberattack on the nation’s infrastructure, such as electric grids or dams. The
Department of Homeland Security has issued a 13-page alert about possible
attacks on industrial control systems. According to a report in The Washington
Post, the warning expressed concern that an assault could go “beyond
intellectual property theft to include the use of cyber to disrupt … control
processes.”

The department did not identify
the adversary, but there has been concern about Iran’s ability to carry out cyber attacks
like the one that destroyed 30,000 computers at the state-owned Saudi oil company
Aramco.

Why does this matter? One of
the first digital weapons to target industrial control systems was Stuxnet, a
computer worm reportedly invented by the United States and Israel to damage
equipment in Iran used to enrich uranium that could be used in a bomb. If
Stuxnet was successful, as sources have claimed, it caused Iran’s centrifuges
to fail. As a method of slowing the march toward a nuclear weapon, Stuxnet was
ingenious and preferable to a conventional bombing attack.

In cyberspace, however, the
United States is not the only powerful actor. Other states increasingly have
the capability and the willingness to attack.

A new arms race — a competition among adversaries — is heating up. The United
States and other nations are building offensive cyber-armies. It is past time
to debate this. So far, most of the U.S. offensive cyberprogram has been
cloaked as an intelligence matter. While secrecy is necessary for operations,
basic questions should be openly debated: Who decides to wage cyber war
when and why?

Hass Internet Technology Reviews, 90% of unknown malware is delivered via the web

A new study of malware takes an unusual approach – instead of analyzing known malware, it analyzes the unknown malware that traditional defenses miss; and finds that 90% is delivered from the web rather than via emails.

http://hassassociatescybersecurityemma.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/90-of-unknown-malware-is-delivered-via-the-web-reference-code-85258083266-hass-internet-technology-reviews/

Hass and Associates internet security warning news - Apple ID logins with compromised sites

The last two weeks have seen a significant spike in the number of phishing sites on the web targeting Apple IDs, according to Trend Micro's Security Intelligence Blog (via The Next Web). The blog pointed out on Tuesday that the newest trend appears to involve compromising a site and adding the phishing pages to a folder named ~flight. The files in the folder display a page designed to look like a login page for Apple's services, encouraging the user to enter an Apple ID, credit card security code, and password.
The second part of the phishing attack relies on spam emails urging the recipient to submit their information for an "audit" lest their account expire in 48 hours. The email, designed to somewhat resemble an actual communication from Apple, links to the phishing page and prepares them to give up their login information.
Trend Micro has identified 110 compromised sites, all hosted at the IP address 70.86.13.17. That address is registered to a Houston-area ISP, and almost none of the sites affected have been cleaned.
As Apple IDs are typically tied to their owners' credit cards, the security surrounding them is quite important. Apple recently gave users the option to enable two-factor authentication for their Apple IDs, making it necessary to verify a user's identity before changing account options, getting Apple ID-related support from Apple, or making purchases from a new device. Trend Micro recommends that users enable this option for added protection.

This newest scam is just the latest in a line of phishing attacks targeting Apple customers. In 2011, another well-crafted phishing scam similarly encouraged users to give up their data, saying that their billing information records were "out of date." 

A 2008 scam targeted MobileMe users, citing an "important" billing problem. Apple for years now has been building anti-phishing measures into its Safari browser, and improving iTunes account security. Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox also have anti-phishing measures built in.

http://blogs.rediff.com/hass-associates/2013/05/03/hass-and-associates-internet-security-warning-news-new-phishing-attack-targets-apple-id-logins/