The Cocoon Blog
The Internet as it should be: private, secure and virus free

Four New Improvements!

1. This update prevents false-positives after you upgrade
2. Better connectivity for those users behind restrictive firewalls
3. Locking feature update allows users to lock cocoon
4. Facebook blocking no longer blocking the use of Facebook

Cocoon provides secure connections to safely use Wi-Fi hotspots

Travelers worried about those handy free Wi-Fi hotspots at airports or coffee houses being increasingly targeted by hackers have a new no-cost option to protect their personal data and communications, thanks to a California Internet security company.

Virtual World Computing is introducing a new layer to its cloud-based flagship “Cocoon” security software that automatically encrypts those hotspot communications. While logged into Cocoon, the user’s online activities are routed through what engineers describe as a “secure tunnel” to a safe server that blocks would-be thieves. The free software is available now at www.getcocoon.com.

“Travel troubles used to mean flight delays, hotel reservation problems, lost luggage or maybe a stolen laptop. But now, we must worry about data being stolen while the computer sits right in front of us,” said Jeff Bermant, CEO and co-founder of Virtual World Computing. “Few travelers realize how easy it is for criminals to hack into their computers while on open Wi-Fi networks.”

Bermant, who helped launch Virtual World Computing after his own experience with a security breach, also warns that even if a hotspot is password protected, it does not automatically mean it is secure.

Free hotspots have become famously easy pickings for hackers setting up fake free Wi-Fi hotspots that look like the real thing (aka an “Evil Twin”). When an unsuspecting user logs on, what they are connecting to isn’t a real hotspot – it’s the hacker’s laptop. Once that happens, the hacker can use free software from the Internet (such as Firesheep, WiFi Pineapple and WiFi Robin) to hijack much of the information sent to and from the victim’s laptop.

That means everything from personal information, to usernames and passwords, and confidential business documents can be at risk.

About Cocoon by Virtual World Computing:

Virtual World Computing introduced a new layer to its acclaimed free Cocoon Internet privacy and security software. Operating in the cloud, the Cocoon service provides safety to anyone utilizing Wi-Fi for an Internet connection. While logged in to Cocoon, your online activities will be encrypted, creating a secure tunnel between you and our safe server to protect your information from being hacked by thieves, a quickly growing problem. The software will be immediately available for users of the company’s free Firefox plug-in and soon will be available in an Internet Explorer version.

VWC’s core business model is built on ensuring the highest levels of privacy, security and protection. The company’s flagship product, Cocoon, provides consumers with a better way to browse with greater privacy protection, computer security and browsing convenience. Cocoon puts the user in control of the Internet experience by ensuring that their computer and personal information are protected from malicious attacks, unwanted spam or phishing, cookie tracking and many other invasions of privacy.

Maybe you noticed the big news recently that Google will “allow” people to opt-out of having their Wi-Fi access point (AP) information and location added to a database that the company uses to track people on cell phones. Heralded as a concession to European privacy laws that would be extended to the United States “sometime this fall,” the announcement by Peter Fleischer, the Google global privacy counsel, actually underscores just how much the Internet privacy discussion is being framed by those who profit from harvesting our personal information.

Once again, the norm for big business is to place the onus on individuals to opt-out of being tracked and allowing our information to be inventoried. This is routinely done as ad networks sell personal user profiles to advertisers, but this is a new twist. Google is now using your Wi-Fi signal to help them sell location-based advertising. It’s one thing when Gmail users pay for Google’s email service by allowing their email to be analyzed for advertising value – after all you get the email service for free – but Google using your personal Wi-Fi information isn’t providing you ANY benefit!

Google is exploiting the fact that you can’t keep your Wi-Fi signal within your walls. Would it be OK for a company to use high tech listening devices to listen to conversations it could hear through your walls and show you advertising based on your conversations?

First, the idea that owners of wireless routers are offered an opt-out option illustrates two of the major issues. Individual consumers have no idea how Google uses these systems to track their every move, and there’s little reason for the company to educate them because it has not needed anyone’s permission to track them. Many would argue that Google should offer an “opt-in” option, and then convince people that the service benefits them somehow.

 The move also illustrates just how much Europe is leading on the privacy issue. Especially in Germany and France, where regulators have challenged Google’s mapping services and the company is back-peddling rather than face real investigation. For example, Europeans are just now demanding that they can have images of their home blanked out on Google Street View, and it may eventually be an option in the U.S.”later this autumn.” That clearly illustrates just how far we still have to go to protect our privacy.

The fact is that businesses who make money off our information in an opt-out world argue that “it’s easier to ask forgiveness than to seek permission.” I’m sure that’s true, just as I’m sure they will continue to harvest, package and profit from our private lives for just as long as we let them.

Jeff Bermant
Co-Founder, Cocoon
™ Virtual World Computing
Santa Barbara, California
www.GetCocoon.com

After malware crashed his computer systems disrupting his business on several occasions, Jeff Bermant co-founded Virtual World Computing with Brian Fox to develop the Cocoon™ service, an all-in-one plugin that provides secure, virus-free and private online browsing.

Our Fight the Good Fight featured Internet hero today is Shaun Dakin, CEO & Founder at the National Political Do Not Contact Registry (NPDNC) and the source for news on privacy and privacy conferences worldwide.

In 2009 he founded a series of un-conferences called PrivacyCamp based on the barcamp model and open space technology. Today, PrivacyCamp has evolved to become the world’s primary event for business, academia, advocates and policy folks to get together to discuss privacy-related issues.  In this capacity he runs the weekly #PrivChat, a Twitter discussion on privacy that takes place every Tuesday at 12:00 PM EST on Twitter.

In 2007, he started The National Political Do Not Contact Registry (non-profit) to fight for voter’s privacy rights and to alert the nation on political robocalls.  Under his leadership, within the space of a year, the organization advanced to over 85,000 members.

Shaun is a very busy guy in the realm of privacy. In an email exchange we asked him a few questions about his involvement with PrivacyCamp, #PrivChat and the National Political Do Not Contact Registry. 

You run a series of PrivacyCamp “unconferences or barcamps on privacy”; could you please describe what an unconference is?

 Shaun:  Sure!  An un-conference is the opposite of a traditional curated and powerpointed event where there are key note speakers, panels, powerpoint, and people sitting listening to experts. Instead, an un-conference is simply an event where the agenda is created by those that attend and the conversation is driven by all those that choose to.

Imagine showing up to an event with NO IDEA what the day’s agenda will look like?  Not easy for many people to do. But that is exactly what occurs and it is magic.

A Camp is usually a single day starting at 9 AM through 5 or 6 PM.  The format is:

1. Opening remarks and introductions (3 word introductions)
2. Call for “topics” from participants where they stand up and say what they are interested in talking about or learning.
3. The creation of the “grid” or the day long agenda
4. Session one
5. Lunch
6. Session two
7. Session three
8. Wrap Up
9. The After Party !

If you are interested in learning more about UnConferences, this is a great website: http://www.unconference.net. We are always looking for people to start one in their own city! You can also follow PrivacyCamp on Twitter.

Could you explain what Twitter #privChat is all about?

Shaun:  Sure!  Every Tuesday at Noon ET we host (with the Electronic Privacy Information Center ) a chat or conversation about privacy issues using Twitter as the channel for communication.  More details about the chats can be found at our website.

Essentially, however, a twitter chat lasts for 45 minutes and anyone in the world with access to twitter (via computer or mobile phone) can participate.   We have participants from the US, Canada, Asia, and the EU contribute every week.

The format is pretty simple:

• We start off with introductions so that people know who is participating (if they want to do so)
• We then have four (4) questions that have been suggested by the twitter privacy community during the previous week.  Each question is given approximately 10 minutes for discussion.
• We will be adding guest “speakers” soon to the format.  When that occurs, guests will be approximately 20 minutes and then the regular Q and A will move forward after the guest is done.
• That is it!

If you are interested in seeing what we discuss, please check out our website at https://epic.org/privchat/ where the latest set of questions are located as well as a history of questions and transcripts from each week. We also have a Google Calendar set up so that people can subscribe to the calendar and never forget to attend!

As CEO and founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry what is your stance on robo-calls?

Shaun: I firmly believe that voters deserve the right to opt out of unwanted political communications, with robocalls being the worst offender.    That is, like commercial organizations, political organizations, candidates and special interest groups should follow the wishes of most Americans who sign up for the National Do Not Call Registry.

Most Americans who register at DoNotCall.gov want all telemarketing to stop.  Most Americans are outraged when they hear that Politicians wrote the DoNotCall legislation to specifically exempt political calls.   It is yet another example of politicians thinking that they are above the rest of us.

So, to be clear, I am NOT calling for the banning of any form of political speech.   I am calling simply for voters to be given the right to opt-out of political robocalls.   If the voter raises their hand and says that they don’t want these calls (which they have done with donotcall.gov ) they should expect that their representatives honor that wish.

If you are interested in learning more please visit www.StopPoliticalCalls.org

Shaun Dakin is also Founder of Dakin & Associates and a Consultant at Webbmedia Group. Thanks to Shaun for his contributions to this blog post!

 

 

 

We want to bring Internet security and privacy to a new level with our flagship Cocoon™ service. The Cocoon solution is to stop the problem before it reaches your computer. Traditional anti-virus solutions deal with the problem after it has reached your computer.

Internet threats are huge today. Every time you turn your head it appears that somebody is getting hacked or compromised in some way. Cocoon is here to offer an additional layer of security and privacy to your Internet browsing experience in the form of a Firefox plug-in.

Cocoon was created out of the belief that everyone should have access to the Web, have a right to online privacy, and that the act of browsing the Web should not expose your computer to malicious code.

Cocoon Features

• Creates a virtual firewall that keeps the bad guys away from your computer.
• Provides antivirus protection; Cocoon will alert you and stop harmful or malicious files from downloading to your computer.
• Protects your personal information and activity by preventing cookie tracking.
• Prevents malware and drive-by downloads.
• Gives you the option to remotely store history and bookmarks in the cloud.
• Encrypts all your data.
• Shields your personal identity and protects your privacy.
• Provides ad hoc email addresses via mailslots that stops spam in its tracks

According to MSNBC: San Antonio, Tampa, Fla., Atlanta, Dallas, Oklahoma, Charlotte, N.C., Detroit, Denver, Washington, D.C., and Sacramento, Calif., are the most vulnerable to online threats and the  most likely to be digitally duped. In an AVG survey of 8000 American consumers, 23% did not back up their pc, 38% shared passwords online with at least one person, 41% never ran a manual antivirus scan and 67% did not use an identity monitoring service.

In a recent AVG press release, JR Smith, CEO of AVG Technologies stated:

Recent news demonstrates that consumers need to be more vigilant than ever about safeguarding the personal information sitting on their PCs and mobile devices...Consumers are getting smarter about online threats but still fail to connect the dots when it comes to understanding that today’s climate requires users protect any device that is internet enabled. 

If you do not live in one of the top 10 cities listed above, you should still take online precautions to protect your PC or mobile device. Using a home network Wi-Fi connection with the default password or using public Wi-Fi over an unencrypted Internet connection can lead to unsavory consequences.

Owing to their poor security practices, such as sharing passwords and failing to back up their PCs, Internet users in the top 10 cities run the highest risk of falling victim to identity theft, fraudulent credit card charges, email breaches and lost or stolen personal data. -MSNBC

Cocoon, a Firefox plug-in encrypts your connection to the web and makes every site you visit as safe as visiting your online bank, even on open Wi-Fi networks –  hackers can’t get to you either.

Our Fight the Good Fight featured Internet hero today is a nonprofit consumer organization based in San Diego, California: The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC). The PRC was Established in 1992 by Founder & Director, Beth Givens, with a two-part mission — consumer information and consumer advocacy.

What the PRC Offers 

The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has many services for consumers, researchers, journalists and policymakers:

• A hotline for consumers to report privacy abuses and request information on ways to protect their privacy.
• An extensive series of fact sheets on privacy issues, available in English and some in Spanish.
• A web site (www.privacyrights.org) that provides texts of all fact sheets, transcripts of PRC speeches and testimony, FAQ and index by topic, stories of consumers’ experiences, and more.
• Assistance and interviews for journalists, providing background and comments for stories.
• A referral service for journalists and policymakers who are seeking victims of privacy abuses who have indicated a willingness to talk with the media and/or testify in legislative and regulatory agency hearings.
• A speakers service, in which PRC staff make presentations at conferences, employee training sessions, and civic and community group meetings.

The Battle

In 2011 there has been a huge upsurge of serious data breaches, if you could design the perfect solution to this problem – how would you address this?

Amber Yoo, Director of Communications for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse:

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has been tracking breaches since 2005 and publishes a Chronology of Data Breaches. The Chronology only includes breached records that contain information useful to identity thieves, such as Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, and driver’s license numbers. So far in 2011, we’ve tracked 382 breaches involving 23.2 million sensitive records. In truth, the number of breached records is much higher, because not all breaches are reported and sometimes it’s hard to determine the true extent of a breach.

Data breaches are detrimental because they can lead to identity theft. A 2009 Javelin study found that data breach victims are four times more likely to suffer identity theft. The recent string of sensational data breaches has caused consumers to question how securely companies hold their personal information. Companies need to either invest in stronger data security or risk jeopardizing consumer trust.

I would like to see businesses adopt “Privacy by Design” as a best practice. Privacy by Design is the principle of embedding privacy into every level of a business’ practices and procedures. One practical application is encryption. If companies encrypted customer data properly, the data would be useless if it fell into the wrong hands. Encryption can slow down user interfaces, but data breaches are becoming so pandemic that the necessary data security is worth the sacrificed consumer convenience.

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) August 30, 2011 report there were 279 reported breaches with 13,148,623 records exposed. Data breaches can lead to a host of cyber-criminal activity including fraud, identity theft, reputational damage and sphear-phishing campaigns.

Facial Recognition Technology

Private companies (such as face.com) are currently indexing massive quantities of online photos. With advances in facial recognition software – what would be your greatest concern in the area of personal privacy with this emerging technology?

Amber: At Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, we believe consumers deserve transparency and control. Facial recognition technology is usually employed without the knowledge or consent of the individual. Your biometric data is stored in a database and linked to your name, at the very least. As always, the concern is in the database. How exactly is the data collected, stored and shared? My greatest concern is that the deployment of facial recognition technology could have a chilling effect on political dissidents or be used by companies for price discrimination. We recently issued a Consumer Alert on facial recognition, calling it a top privacy issue of our time. 

The IAC i-CON

What do you think about Monday’s roll-out of the Advertising Option Icon from the IAB? (Off record: personally I call it the “i-CON!”)

Amber: Study after study shows that industry attempts to self-regulate are flawed at best. Advertisers have tremendous incentive to collect your data and little to no incentive to give you meaningful choice in the matter. Any attempt at self-regulation, including the Advertising Option Icon, only perpetuates this flawed model.

Advertisers claim online tracking is beneficial for consumers because it allows for more personalized ads. If it’s so beneficial, then why not explain it clearly to consumers and let them opt-in?

What’s PRC’s history?

Amber: Privacy Rights Clearinghouse was founded nearly 20 years ago by Beth Givens. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a two-part mission: consumer education and advocacy. I think what sets us apart from many other groups is our “Dear Abby” function – we invite people to contact us with privacy questions.  Listening to consumers on a daily basis allows us to better advocate on their behalf.

Your website has an incredible collection of resources that address a full spectrum of privacy issues.  “Raise awareness, empower and advocate” are strong messages that I see when I visit your website. Of the three messages that I see – what do you believe is the strongest message that you would like a site visitor to acknowledge?

Amber:  Our main goal is to put consumers in control, so “empower” would be my choice out of the three. The right to privacy is about having control over your personal information. It is the ability to limit who has this information, how it is stored, and what is done with it. Often, we don’t value privacy until it’s gone. And the tremendous advances in technology are quickly eroding what little privacy we have left. Right now, privacy is a hot topic on the Hill. I hope Americans will write to their elected representatives to demand stronger privacy protections before it’s too late.

Thanks to Amber Yoo for this weeks answers to Fight the Good Fight! You can visit the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and  Subscribe to their mailing list for alerts on new privacy issues and tips to help you protect your personal information. They are also on Facebook and Twitter.