Sunday, October 31, 2010
Picture Representations
It was incredibly difficult trying to take photographs that would represent the concept of technology in developing countries so I will be the first to admit that both of these photographs are at best only tangentially related to my blog topic. In the first, there is a photograph of an upside down poster cutout of a young African girl taped to the elevator in my dormitory. In the second, I am using a cell phone while wearing a bracelet that I actually got as a gift in Southern Sudan.
My Reflection on Panel of Eleven Middle Eastern Journalists
This past Thursday's discussion panel featuring the eleven Edward R. Morrow Fellows was very interesting for a variety of reasons. The eleven journalists were very eager to answer our questions and to share their own experiences and this made for a very lively and intriguing class.
The first thing that struck me as soon as I walked into the class was how different all the journalists were from one another. Despite my own Middle Eastern background, I also often forget what a large and diverse region it is. I thought that showing the map of the different countries the journalists hailed from further illustrated this point. The journalists came from as far as Mauritania which is in Northwest Africa all the way to Oman, the easternmost country in the Middle East. I felt that the journalists' visit not only helped to educate us on topics pertaining to journalism, but it also helped bridge a few cultural gaps and furthered cultural understanding. One of the most culturally enlightening parts of the panel was listening to the female journalist from Saudi Arabia speak about the difficulties facing women wishing to pursue careers in journalism in her country. I had been somewhat familiar with the issue of gender inequality in Saudi Arabia (and the Middle East in general), I wasn't aware of the scope of the discrimination. I also was surprised when the journalist from Saudi Arabia was introduced and I found myself looking at an attractive young woman in a pantsuit. My mental image of a Saudi Arabian woman was a woman dressed in the abaya (black cloak) and with her entire body covered except for her eyes so the pantsuit and uncovered hair came as a surprise to me. It was quite interesting to me to see just how easily my stereotypical perception of a specific sort of person/nationality/culture could be challenged.
The part of the panel which was most strongly tied in with my blog topic was the discussion on freedom of the press and censorship in the home countries of the journalists, especially since virtually all of them came from countries which could be deemed as "developing". It seemed as if the biggest "red-line" that these journalists could not cross in their reporting was politics and religion. Censorship of governmental criticism seemed to be especially strong in the Middle Eastern countries where there was a monarchy or the remnants of one. I was particularly alarmed by the Moroccan journalist's tale of being detained and questioned for six days for his photographs of the queen of Morocco. Another thing that shocked me about the panel was when the Saudi Arabian journalist told us that one could be beheaded for blasphemy in Saudi Arabia. The religious intolerance in Saudi Arabia is widely known but it was still chilling to hear confirmation of it from an actual Saudi Arabian.
Despite some of the less uplifting tales that the journalists told us, overall the panel did a wonderful job of reaffirming my interest in the vocation of journalism. The journalists seemed to remain committed to their jobs of reporting the truth despite all of the difficulties and obstacles they face on a daily basis. I know they probably won't read this but I would like to thank them from coming from the bottom of my heart.
The first thing that struck me as soon as I walked into the class was how different all the journalists were from one another. Despite my own Middle Eastern background, I also often forget what a large and diverse region it is. I thought that showing the map of the different countries the journalists hailed from further illustrated this point. The journalists came from as far as Mauritania which is in Northwest Africa all the way to Oman, the easternmost country in the Middle East. I felt that the journalists' visit not only helped to educate us on topics pertaining to journalism, but it also helped bridge a few cultural gaps and furthered cultural understanding. One of the most culturally enlightening parts of the panel was listening to the female journalist from Saudi Arabia speak about the difficulties facing women wishing to pursue careers in journalism in her country. I had been somewhat familiar with the issue of gender inequality in Saudi Arabia (and the Middle East in general), I wasn't aware of the scope of the discrimination. I also was surprised when the journalist from Saudi Arabia was introduced and I found myself looking at an attractive young woman in a pantsuit. My mental image of a Saudi Arabian woman was a woman dressed in the abaya (black cloak) and with her entire body covered except for her eyes so the pantsuit and uncovered hair came as a surprise to me. It was quite interesting to me to see just how easily my stereotypical perception of a specific sort of person/nationality/culture could be challenged.
The part of the panel which was most strongly tied in with my blog topic was the discussion on freedom of the press and censorship in the home countries of the journalists, especially since virtually all of them came from countries which could be deemed as "developing". It seemed as if the biggest "red-line" that these journalists could not cross in their reporting was politics and religion. Censorship of governmental criticism seemed to be especially strong in the Middle Eastern countries where there was a monarchy or the remnants of one. I was particularly alarmed by the Moroccan journalist's tale of being detained and questioned for six days for his photographs of the queen of Morocco. Another thing that shocked me about the panel was when the Saudi Arabian journalist told us that one could be beheaded for blasphemy in Saudi Arabia. The religious intolerance in Saudi Arabia is widely known but it was still chilling to hear confirmation of it from an actual Saudi Arabian.
Despite some of the less uplifting tales that the journalists told us, overall the panel did a wonderful job of reaffirming my interest in the vocation of journalism. The journalists seemed to remain committed to their jobs of reporting the truth despite all of the difficulties and obstacles they face on a daily basis. I know they probably won't read this but I would like to thank them from coming from the bottom of my heart.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Visual Information
This photograph would not be a good way to illustrate my topic because very little meaningful information pertaining to my topic can be gathered by seeing this photograph. By looking at this photo you can understand that this man (who is an Indian monk) has the ability to use a cell phone. While this is marginally related to my topic, it has such a dearth of meaningful visual information it cannot be considered a good photograph to illustrate my topic.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Cell Phone Fraud
In an increasingly digitized world, our private information is becoming more and more public and identity theft has become a very real danger in today's high tech modern society. An important way in which we access and exchange information is through the use of mobile phones, thus making mobile communication, a very susceptible target for identity theft. In this day and age, proper knowledge about cell phone information safety is a vital component of any education regarding information technology.
Cell phone fraud is defined by the Federal Communications Commissions as the unauthorized use, tampering or manipulation of a cell phone or service. As you can imagine, this definition covers a wide range of illegal cell phone activity, including cell phone hacking, cloning, tapping, and subscriber fraud (to name a few). The diversity of the different avenues through which cell phone fraud can be committed makes the likelihood of cell phone fraud being committed much greater. Therefore, a comprehensive education on secure cell phone usage and privacy requires knowledge of many different types of cell phone fraud.
With each type of cell phone fraud we hope to include a brief overview including how the fraud is committed, some statistics related to the topic, and hopefully a summary of a few preventative measures that can be taken against this fraud.
The first form of cell phone fraud that we will be examining is cell phone tapping. Cell phone tapping is unauthorized electronic eavesdropping on a telephone transmission. It is generally the form of cell phone fraud that most often comes to mind when one thinks of cell phone fraud. This is due to cell phone tapping's portrayal in film and television where it is often used as a plot device. Cell phone tapping however is very much a reality as there currently exists for -purchase spyware that allows you to listen in on cell phone conversations. These services are generally purchased over the Internet from websites specializing in spy technology and the customers are usually people eavesdropping on cheating spouses, employees wasting company time, and worried parents trying to keep tabs on the babysitter at home watching over their kids. Users of cell phone tapping technology can also be high profile targets, such as those involved in politics and legal cases . The websites are usually based in Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom and the prices vary from $60.00 to $3,000. The purchase of this type of spyware is legal but the unauthorized use of them is not. Joe Farren, spokesperson for the Wireless Association, says, “It's very clear, without their express permission, you can't listen in on someone's phone calls, you cannot read their text messages, you can't track their movements. You can't do any of those things and there are numerous laws being broken.” If your phone line is being tapped, the phone company has the ability to stop it. Before stopping it however, they are required to verify whether or not the wiretapping is legal or not. If it is illegal, then the phone company will inform you and law enforcement to remove the device. However, if it is indeed legal, then you will not even be informed that your phone is actually being wiretapped. The federal government can be given authorization to wiretap a phone line by an official court order and by having just cause. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 USC 2516 also stipulates that any of these “legalized intrusions to privacy” must involve felonies and are limited to monitoring only unlawful activity. Any irrelevant information that is gathered during the wiretap cannot be utilized. The average time limit to these types of legal wiretaps is about a month. Cell phone tapping has only recently been being used for the express purpose of identity theft. Cell phone owners sometimes transmit sensitive personal information over the phone and identity theft fraud relies primarily on these lapses in security. There are physical signs that can help you tell whether or not your phone is being tapped, namely a warm battery, hearing unexpected beeps or clicks during conversations and the cell phone turning on unexpectedly even when it is not in use. It is almost virtually impossible to detect a wiretap without the help of your phone company so consumers should be wary of products that say that they can. Traditional wiretap detectors attempted to measure voltage drop and changes in the characteristics of the phone signal but more recent tapping devices do not alter the characteristics of the phone signal at all, making these detectors obsolete and useless. There are ways people can protect themselves against having their identities stolen via wiretap. One way is keeping tabs on where your phone is at all times and making sure no one has a chance to download spyware onto it. Installing a security password and taking the battery out of your phone whenever it is not in use are also very good preventative measures against wiretapping, although this method may be a little inconvenient. Using new prepaid cell phones also helps protect against identity theft because these phones are less susceptible to having personal information accumulate on them because they are limited-use and inexpensive. Consumers should keep in mind that more expensive top-of-the-line cell phones are the most vulnerable to identity theft due to their wireless capabilities and Internet access.
Cell phone fraud can also be committed when a phone is lost or stolen. Most people store sensitive information on their cell phones, information which could be abused if it falls into the wrong hands. Many people often record private information such as their debit card PIN numbers, social security numbers and credit card PIN numbers on their phone. More commonly however, people store pictures of themselves and their family and friends, information that could be used to easily identify the owner of the phone and to determine a lot of other information about them. Sensitive private information could also be gathered from text messages. One method of collecting private information through text messages is texting questions inquiring after private information to the contacts present on a stolen phone. An example of this is sending a text to the owner of the stolen phone's spouse asking, “Hey honey, I forgot our PIN number for the bank again. Can you text it to me? Thanks!” More and more personal information is accumulated onto your phone with every use so losing your phone or having it stolen is a very dangerous thing to happen. To protect yourself from this form of cell fraud, you can avoid storing sensitive information on your phone. Also, it might be wise to avoid using names like Mom and Dad and instead use their proper names in your phone book. In addition, any pictures that may give a cell phone hacker valuable information should be removed. Finally, if you lose your phone, be sure to cancel the service immediately.
A third type of fraud is cell phone cloning, which involves someone making an illegal clone of a legal phone and using the same serial number so that the legitimate cell phone service subscriber is billed. Essentially, the “thief” can make all the calls they want without any cost. This method of cell phone fraud has been found to be prevalent in areas with a high immigrant population because immigrants want to avoid the high cost of calling home. A method of cell phone fraud that provides for the same outcome as cell phone cloning is subscriber fraud. This is accomplished by someone using another person’s name and serial number to subscribe to a cell phone plan and then having the plan billed to the person’s name on the account. Paying close attention to your cell phone bills can catch both of these types of cell phone fraud. For cell phone cloning, make sure you do not have any unknown charges on your account and for subscriber fraud be sure to not pay for any services you did not actually subscribe to.
We hope that you now feel a little more informed about the ways in which you can protect yourself from cell phone fraud. The most important thing is that you are aware of the methods in which your cell phone privacy can be abused. For further information on this topic we have included some links below.
The first form of cell phone fraud that we will be examining is cell phone tapping. Cell phone tapping is unauthorized electronic eavesdropping on a telephone transmission. It is generally the form of cell phone fraud that most often comes to mind when one thinks of cell phone fraud. This is due to cell phone tapping's portrayal in film and television where it is often used as a plot device. Cell phone tapping however is very much a reality as there currently exists for -purchase spyware that allows you to listen in on cell phone conversations. These services are generally purchased over the Internet from websites specializing in spy technology and the customers are usually people eavesdropping on cheating spouses, employees wasting company time, and worried parents trying to keep tabs on the babysitter at home watching over their kids. Users of cell phone tapping technology can also be high profile targets, such as those involved in politics and legal cases . The websites are usually based in Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom and the prices vary from $60.00 to $3,000. The purchase of this type of spyware is legal but the unauthorized use of them is not. Joe Farren, spokesperson for the Wireless Association, says, “It's very clear, without their express permission, you can't listen in on someone's phone calls, you cannot read their text messages, you can't track their movements. You can't do any of those things and there are numerous laws being broken.” If your phone line is being tapped, the phone company has the ability to stop it. Before stopping it however, they are required to verify whether or not the wiretapping is legal or not. If it is illegal, then the phone company will inform you and law enforcement to remove the device. However, if it is indeed legal, then you will not even be informed that your phone is actually being wiretapped. The federal government can be given authorization to wiretap a phone line by an official court order and by having just cause. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 USC 2516 also stipulates that any of these “legalized intrusions to privacy” must involve felonies and are limited to monitoring only unlawful activity. Any irrelevant information that is gathered during the wiretap cannot be utilized. The average time limit to these types of legal wiretaps is about a month. Cell phone tapping has only recently been being used for the express purpose of identity theft. Cell phone owners sometimes transmit sensitive personal information over the phone and identity theft fraud relies primarily on these lapses in security. There are physical signs that can help you tell whether or not your phone is being tapped, namely a warm battery, hearing unexpected beeps or clicks during conversations and the cell phone turning on unexpectedly even when it is not in use. It is almost virtually impossible to detect a wiretap without the help of your phone company so consumers should be wary of products that say that they can. Traditional wiretap detectors attempted to measure voltage drop and changes in the characteristics of the phone signal but more recent tapping devices do not alter the characteristics of the phone signal at all, making these detectors obsolete and useless. There are ways people can protect themselves against having their identities stolen via wiretap. One way is keeping tabs on where your phone is at all times and making sure no one has a chance to download spyware onto it. Installing a security password and taking the battery out of your phone whenever it is not in use are also very good preventative measures against wiretapping, although this method may be a little inconvenient. Using new prepaid cell phones also helps protect against identity theft because these phones are less susceptible to having personal information accumulate on them because they are limited-use and inexpensive. Consumers should keep in mind that more expensive top-of-the-line cell phones are the most vulnerable to identity theft due to their wireless capabilities and Internet access.
Cell phone fraud can also be committed when a phone is lost or stolen. Most people store sensitive information on their cell phones, information which could be abused if it falls into the wrong hands. Many people often record private information such as their debit card PIN numbers, social security numbers and credit card PIN numbers on their phone. More commonly however, people store pictures of themselves and their family and friends, information that could be used to easily identify the owner of the phone and to determine a lot of other information about them. Sensitive private information could also be gathered from text messages. One method of collecting private information through text messages is texting questions inquiring after private information to the contacts present on a stolen phone. An example of this is sending a text to the owner of the stolen phone's spouse asking, “Hey honey, I forgot our PIN number for the bank again. Can you text it to me? Thanks!” More and more personal information is accumulated onto your phone with every use so losing your phone or having it stolen is a very dangerous thing to happen. To protect yourself from this form of cell fraud, you can avoid storing sensitive information on your phone. Also, it might be wise to avoid using names like Mom and Dad and instead use their proper names in your phone book. In addition, any pictures that may give a cell phone hacker valuable information should be removed. Finally, if you lose your phone, be sure to cancel the service immediately.
A third type of fraud is cell phone cloning, which involves someone making an illegal clone of a legal phone and using the same serial number so that the legitimate cell phone service subscriber is billed. Essentially, the “thief” can make all the calls they want without any cost. This method of cell phone fraud has been found to be prevalent in areas with a high immigrant population because immigrants want to avoid the high cost of calling home. A method of cell phone fraud that provides for the same outcome as cell phone cloning is subscriber fraud. This is accomplished by someone using another person’s name and serial number to subscribe to a cell phone plan and then having the plan billed to the person’s name on the account. Paying close attention to your cell phone bills can catch both of these types of cell phone fraud. For cell phone cloning, make sure you do not have any unknown charges on your account and for subscriber fraud be sure to not pay for any services you did not actually subscribe to.
We hope that you now feel a little more informed about the ways in which you can protect yourself from cell phone fraud. The most important thing is that you are aware of the methods in which your cell phone privacy can be abused. For further information on this topic we have included some links below.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The Nigerian Letter: Examining Internet Fraud in Developing Countries
Imagine a stranger sends you an email asking for your bank account information and all sorts of other personal information. It seems like a pretty obvious thing to ignore and relegate to the spam folder doesn't it? Now imagine the stranger is a high ranking Nigerian civil servant who needs your help transferring millions of dollars from a suspended account in Nigeria into a foreign account and is willing to compensate you handsomely for your assistance. The email immediately becomes much more appealing and much easier to fall for. In fact, findings at the 2002 International Conference for Advance Fee Fraud indicate that millions of people have received this type of message or messages similar to it and that of the people who receive them, one percent actually end up acquiescing and sending in their personal and financial information, perhaps blinded by thoughts of instant fortune. The 2002 International Conference for Advance Fee Fraud also estimated that yearly losses to these types of scams (referred to as 419 scams because 419 is the part of the Nigerian penal code which addresses fraud schemes) total more than $100 million in the United States alone and global losses may be in excess of $1.5 billion.
There has been some research done into the psychology of the 419 scam victim and the results are fascinating. Observers have argued that people are more likely to believe something that is written in a formal manner and adorned with an official looking letterhead is more likely to be authentic, regardless of the content of the text. This could be considered an extension of the human tendency to yield to authority and overestimate the accuracy of information expressed from a position of authority. Other possible explanations offered are feeling a sense of adventurism entering the high stakes realm of international business and feeling indebted to the scammer because they extended such a gracious offer of instant fortune. These explanations account for why someone would enter such a shady business relationship but the reasons that someone would maintain such an relationship despite its obvious perils are different. The victims are given various explanations as to why the money hasn't changed hands yet, reasons like delays in paperwork and electronic processes being stalled and this serves to further their false hope. Victims also feel trapped in this scheme by all the money that they have already invested into it and feel there is no turning back after a certain point. Perhaps the victims find it too difficult to come to terms with the fact that all their efforts have been in vain and that they are ashamed that they had been duped into sending money to a complete stranger. The shame can be so unbearable in fact, that it has driven people to take their own lives. A university student named Jaiyue Wang hanged herself after losing more than 6,000 British pounds to a Nigerian 419 scam. Wang, not knowing much English and lured by the promises of quick financial gains, was tricked by an email telling her she had won 500,000 pounds in a lottery she hadn't even entered. The case of Jaiyue Wang and many others like her falling for the promise of a modern day "get rich quick scheme" illustrates the dangers of giving out your private information on the Internet and remaining vigilant to spam and the dangers of high tech information exchange.
In the process of writing this blog post I referred to these websites:
http://www.scambusters.org/NigerianFee.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/nottinghamshire/7380093.stm
http://www.caslon.com.au/419scamnote.htm#statistics
There has been some research done into the psychology of the 419 scam victim and the results are fascinating. Observers have argued that people are more likely to believe something that is written in a formal manner and adorned with an official looking letterhead is more likely to be authentic, regardless of the content of the text. This could be considered an extension of the human tendency to yield to authority and overestimate the accuracy of information expressed from a position of authority. Other possible explanations offered are feeling a sense of adventurism entering the high stakes realm of international business and feeling indebted to the scammer because they extended such a gracious offer of instant fortune. These explanations account for why someone would enter such a shady business relationship but the reasons that someone would maintain such an relationship despite its obvious perils are different. The victims are given various explanations as to why the money hasn't changed hands yet, reasons like delays in paperwork and electronic processes being stalled and this serves to further their false hope. Victims also feel trapped in this scheme by all the money that they have already invested into it and feel there is no turning back after a certain point. Perhaps the victims find it too difficult to come to terms with the fact that all their efforts have been in vain and that they are ashamed that they had been duped into sending money to a complete stranger. The shame can be so unbearable in fact, that it has driven people to take their own lives. A university student named Jaiyue Wang hanged herself after losing more than 6,000 British pounds to a Nigerian 419 scam. Wang, not knowing much English and lured by the promises of quick financial gains, was tricked by an email telling her she had won 500,000 pounds in a lottery she hadn't even entered. The case of Jaiyue Wang and many others like her falling for the promise of a modern day "get rich quick scheme" illustrates the dangers of giving out your private information on the Internet and remaining vigilant to spam and the dangers of high tech information exchange.
In the process of writing this blog post I referred to these websites:
http://www.scambusters.org/NigerianFee.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/nottinghamshire/7380093.stm
http://www.caslon.com.au/419scamnote.htm#statistics
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