Not all app developers are created equal! There are developers that create apps that can access too much profile information and also post malicious links to your Facebook wall and spam friends and family. Some of these bad apps go viral and can compromise your Internet privacy and security too.

According to ZDNet, malicious hackers recently began selling $25.00 do-it-yourself  toolkits to anyone interested in creating and distributing dangerous Facebook applications.

The do-it-yourself toolkit offers a template for spreading malware, directing users to click-fraud accounts and for pushing Facebook users to bogus surveys to hijack personal information.--ZDNet

MyPermissions.org is a service that will help you get a grip on app permissions and assist you in pulling the plug on the bad ones. Take control of your social media apps before they take control of you…

Commonsensemedia.org

February 7, 2012 is “call to action day” to protect our children’s online privacy.  Our kids should have a fundamental right to online privacy, they should not be targeted by behavioral marketing and the standard should be opt-in.

 Society has an obligation to protect our children and online safety for children should be a priority. We need a three-pronged approach to address this issue: policy changes; industry self-regulation; and more parental tools, monitoring and education. –Vernon Irvin | President & COO of Virtual World Computing

Take Action on February 7, 2012 
Join Common Sense Media today as they advocate for kids rights to online privacy in a digital world. They will be hosting a non-profit chat about kid’s issues in the presidential election on Twitter today at 11:00 am PST #kidsprez. For more information about this issue, read “Protecting Our Kids’ Privacy in a Digital World.”

Most kids today live their lives online, immersed in a mobile and digital landscape. This brave new world has revolutionized childhood. Kids and teens now create and consume enormous amounts of online and mobile content. Their access to people and information presents both possibilities and problems. While the Internet is a platform for innovation and economic growth and brings rich resources for entertainment and learning, the very nature of digital interaction creates deep concerns about kids’ privacy. –Common Sense Media

For more information about how you can help to protect kids digital privacy be sure to visit Common Sense Media today!

Cocoon Internet Explorer offers the same protection that our Firefox version offers:

1- Antivirus scanning of downloads
2- Encrypted browsing history
3-IP address anonymising
4-Malware blocking
5-On-the-fly disposable e-mail addresses
6-Secure public Wi-Fi

Internet Explorer users can easily download the free plug-in, which instantly provides users with greater privacy protection, security and convenience when surfing the Web. Cocoon works by securely connecting over any network to Cocoon’s servers, providing enterprise-grade virus protection and encrypting all interactions preventing “man in the middle attacks.”

Your privacy is protected because websites and advertisers only see Cocoon servers, hiding your unique IP address and preventing your online activity from being tracked by cookies. Unlike traditional anti-virus software, Cocoon prevents malicious software and virus downloads by instantly scanning files for viruses before they reach your computer.

Download Cocoon IE from CNET Downloads Today!

The Cocoon Team

Commerce in today’s world pushes convenience like never before. With more and more businesses encouraging the use of their services online, consumers are offered increasingly attractive options in which they may stay productive on the Internet. Where the people go, so does the money; and where the money goes, criminals will follow. Just as the online community is growing and evolving, so is the world of cybercrime.

Cybercriminals are sharpening their tools and improving their methods, and the proof is out there. Last year’s breach of Sony’s Playstation Network brought the issue to
headlines around the world. The more recent hacking of online shoe retailer, Zappos proved to be yet another example of why online consumers need to protect themselves and stay alert. The retail giant had to alert its nearly 24 million customers of a data breach that exposed various personal details related to their online accounts. This data ranged from names, email address, and billing addresses to the last four digits of customers’ credit cards.

So, why do criminals want this information and what do they do with it? The answer is simple: the underground network of data mining works similar to that of the advertising and data mining companies, except they run on a more malicious, less legal level. Rather than tracking your online whereabouts and selling that information to ad companies, these cybercriminals are going straight for the vitals. Names, email addresses, physical addresses, credit card numbers, and so on are mined through various techniques and sold to the highest bidder. In the case of Zappos’ customers, the hackers that infiltrated their data likely sold it to spammers, botnet operators, and identity thieves and other organized underground networks. Each one of these crime rings is capable of making that stolen data even more profitable than those before them.

By now, it should be obvious why so many people are after your data: there’s lots of money to be made and spread throughout the rings. There is an equally daunting amount of methodology and technology that goes along with this need for harvesting data. Phishing is a common technique employed by identity thieves because it allows them to simply ask you for your private information directly. This may sound absurd, but phishing scams are becoming all the more elaborate with each passing year. Cyber criminals have nearly perfected the art of impersonating websites that you trust and doing everything from sending fake emails to creating rogue, but identical web pages. Fabricated forms request that you fill out what you believe to be a legitimate corporate request, instead you’re essentially handing phishers your personal data first hand. Once they have the information, they can choose to sell it or steal your identity. It happens every day, and phishers will succeed in accessing bank accounts and making fraudulent purchases on behalf of countless phishing victims.

In addition to phishing scams, hackers have developed more elaborate ways to use and abuse you. Malware, or malicious software, can be downloaded to your computer or smartphone without your knowledge. This software can be dropped on your machine when you visit an infected web page, and does not require you to click on anything. Some of the more dangerous types of Malware can install keystroke-tracking software on your machine that records each stroke of the keyboard and tell hackers anything you’ve entered (think bank account passwords, usernames, social security numbers, etc.). Botnet operators can install malware to a victim’s computer and use it to spread spam, malware, and more.

With each new convenience, comes a new scam. This is exactly why more people are finding it necessary to protects themselves online just as they’d cover their PIN while using a cash machine or lock their homes when they go to work. Using Cocoon can instantly hinder many of the aforementioned attempts on your identity and data. Cocoon Mailslots is an easy way to make sure that hackers do not gain access to your real email address, which in turn can save you from spam and many potential phishing campaign attempts. Browsing the Internet through Cocoon’s secure proxy servers will keep any unwanted malware from attaching itself to your system, which may save you from having your identity stolen or worse.

You’re walking down a dangerous street; why not make yourself invisible to thieves?

by Brian J. Fox, Co-founder & CTO, Cocoon

I remember clearly the first time I overheard someone say the word “e-mail” in a restaurant. I jumped up from my chair, and strode over to the table where the 30-something man was sitting, and said, “Hi, I’m bfox. We’ve met before, right?” At that time (1981), there were only about 500 e-mail servers on the ARPANet, and the odds were extremely high that one user of the network would have exchanged information with another.

Times have changed, and I’m fully aware that I don’t know everyone who uses e-mail. But I do know that I can communicate, collaborate, and exchange ideas with large numbers of people that I’ve never met physically. For me, it is the natural way that the world should be for us humans — using technology to bring us closer together.

In many ways, the Internet has finally evolved to a place where it is having just the type of transformational affect that we early e-mailers dreamed it might. The “Twitter Revolution” in Iran, the clean democratic elections in Egypt following their revolution that ousted Mubarak, the overthrow of Gaddafi in Libya, Occupy Wall Street, and even the 6 million people who took to the streets earlier this month in Syria — all were aided by the technological advances that have decentralized the flow of information. Who would have dreamed a hashtag would transform journalism, empowering individuals to report the news in real time?

In Iran, officials spent as much time online shutting down portals as they did in the streets policing protesters. Libya was forced to turn off its Internet access in order to stem the flow of truth and ideas.

And now, just as the world is reshaping itself through the availability of information and flexible communication, there are direct attacks on the technology infrastructure that is shaking up political structures. The poorly named Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has serious implications for the use of free speech on the Internet, and there has been a viral revolt against companies and interests that support it. GoDaddy.com got slapped hard with an overnight boycott of its web hosting services when it declared its support of the bill, and reacted by recanting its statement of support.

It is the under the radar attacks that have the potential to wreak the most havoc on the fulfillment of the real promise of our Internet. In my current work, my job is to protect the online privacy of consumers. Advertisers are working hard to develop intricate consumer profiles of every individual — to know who you are, where you are and what you are browsing and buying. My job is to give us back the power to control our information — its flow, who it is shared with, and whether it can be used to track you.

Proponents of free speech utilize our product “Cocoon” to access social media from behind restrictive firewalls, and let their voices be heard.

For decades I imagined that we would be using secure voting systems and implementing a true digital democracy, empowering individuals around the world to shape their own governments to best reflect their needs. We still aren’t there yet. Instead, I am focused on protecting the privacy rights of those same individuals from Peeping Tom advertisers or government intrusion.

These same principles of tracking and consumer profiling are also having a limiting effect on what information is presented to us. In a recent TED speech, Eli Pariser received a standing ovation from the audience for his discussion about how hyper-personalization was directly shaping the information an individual received. Tracking is not limited to just advertisers. Sites such as Google and Facebook use it to modify and “personalize” the information you receive.

Pariser noted a mini experiment where he asked two friends to search the same word on Google from their respective computers. The information that was returned was relevant to the search term, but was vastly skewed in different directions. What came back could not have been more disparate. A couple of months ago, we had independently done a similar experiment with a handful of people around the country and were equally shocked by the results. Not only did different information come up based on geography, but the results were tailored to age, gender and even category (news, images, etc.).

Advertisers suggest they want to provide more “butlered” service, presenting you with products more suited to your tastes while Google wants to make it easier for you to find the services or information you are looking for.

It is this nexus of online tracking, behavioral profiling and hyper-personalization that truly threatens the future and possibility of the Internet. While it may be more convenient in some ways, the fact that our choices and information are being limited by algorithms and computer profiling means we are presented with fewer options. Pariser argues that hyper-personalization is limiting our viewpoint, our lens, to the world and that a marketplace of ideas and viewpoints is an essential component to democracy. If liberals are not exposed to conservative ideas and conservatives aren’t exposed to liberal ideas, how will they ever find common ground? Just because I lean to the left politically hardly means that I don’t want to hear conservative ideas or news stories.

As a citizen and as a programmer, the most frustrating thing to me is the fact that we don’t even know the profiling is occurring or that our information is being reshaped based on some hidden algorithm. While our company provides a free plug-in (and soon an iOS app) to free people of online tracking, it would be just as simple for Google and Facebook to create a button that turns off the “personalization” algorithm.

The best way to protect and even promote democracy is to protect the freedom of the Internet. While SOPA has created quite a stir publicly, we must also be vigilant about even some of the “conveniences” we are presented with, lest we all break the law of unintended consequences.

This article was first published by the Huffington Post.

On International Data Privacy Day it’s appropriate to ask ourselves, are we too connected? I used to own just my laptop and my cell phone, and that was good enough. Now, I’ve got a plethora of devices, and every one of them is connected to the Internet. I’ve got Facebook on my TV and phone, I’ve got Google Voice on my laptop and tablet, I have photo stream and GPS on my camera and my iPod. I even have Internet radio on my desktop and in my car.

As these new devices allow us to become ever more connected to the world, the opportunity for access to personal information is also increased. 

The demand for (and availability of) all these devices has made Internet privacy and security one of the most pressing issues facing us this year. While several bills have been introduced to address the issue – Do Not Track Kids and Do Not Track, for instance – this is baseline legislation that cannot keep up with the technologies that allow for more and more sophisticated tracking. It is the private sector that is coming up with the solutions that allow consumers to control how much information they share and how to keep their devices and networks secure.

I don’t think we need to choose between the convenience of these devices and privacy…consumers just need to know about the tools such as Cocoon now available in the marketplace that can keep their data secure and their personal information private.

1. Cybercriminals
2. Hacktivists
3. Governments

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is also gathering information on what printers may be revealing and exploring privacy implications of this technology.

“In a purported effort to identify counterfeiters the US government has succeeded in persuading some color laser printer manufacturers to encode each page with identifying information. That means that without your knowledge or consent an act you assume is private could become public. A communication tool you’re using in everyday life could become a tool for government surveillance. And what’s worse there are no laws to prevent abuse.”  -EFF

 

At Cocoon, we appreciate and support all efforts against SOPA. Thousands of Cocoon’s users rely on the Cocoon Service to contend with some of the most brutal dictatorships on Earth to exercise their freedom of speech. We encourage everyone to speak out against SOPA to protect free speech and privacy online. Below are links you can forward to friends with educational info as well as opportunities to send messages to Congress.

More info about SOPA/PIPA and how you can help stop the bills:

• Learn more about SOPA – watch this video
• Change your profile picture to protest SOPA
• Write to Congress to kill these bills