Social networks posing security threat

By SYAHRIR MAT ALI

 

IMMINENT DANGER: According to a Sophos survey in December 2009, 60% of the respondents believed that Facebook presents the biggest security risk compared to other social networking sites - way ahead of MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn. - AP

THE Internet is a lot more than just a means of staying informed. It has evolved into something much more than what it was originally intended to be.

For some, it is an avenue to avoid the long queues at banks and service counters. For others, it is a place where you can work collaboratively.

But for most, the Web is a communication tool that connects them with family and friends via the many social networking tools.

Most Internet security experts conclude that cyberattacks on social networking sites will increase over the years. Since 2008, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, and other such sites have been in the limelight as social networking grew and grew.

These services compete with each other to increase their user base by coming up with mobile tie-ups, applications and games.

All these efforts are worthwhile because social networking sites are the biggest thing on the Internet at the moment, and perhaps for many more years to come. Unfortunately, this trend has also been attracting all sorts of security threats.

New year, new threats

In its 2010 Threat Predictions report, McAfee Labs said it anticipates an increase in threats related to social networking sites such as Facebook.

It also said that criminal tool kits will be evolving rapidly this year to capitalise on new technologies that increase the sophistication of the attack on unsuspecting users.

And, as a result, there is a good chance of an increase in rogue services that exploit Internet users' eagerness to download and install the various and freely available Web 2.0 applications.

According to a Sophos survey in December 2009, 60% of the respondents believed that Facebook presents the biggest security risk compared to other social networking sites - way ahead of MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Cisco Systems' 2009 Annual Security Report mentioned that the Facebook user base has tripled from 100 million users in 2008 to 350 million in 2009.

There is no doubt that such a huge increase in the number of users within a year's time is phenomenal, and it is attracting cybercriminals from all over the world to migrate their attacks to Facebook
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Mitigating threats

In order to stay safe while using social networking tools (or in fact, other Internet-based applications), users are urged to observe the following practices:

1. Never click on any URL links in unsolicited e-mail (i.e. e-mail that you are not expecting nor asked for);

2. Never log in your online credentials through pages opened up by the URL links you get from any e-mail. In order to be safe, type the URL yourself in the browser. If you have been using shared PCs, be sure not to click on the links provided by the browser bookmarks;

3. Never jot down your online login credentials in an e-mail, even if you think of it as a note to yourself. e-Mail is not the proper place to store your online login credentials. This is to minimise the risks should your e-mail system be compromised;

4. Always verify the validity of the services or links you get via e-mail, even if it appears to be sent by a social networking tool you subscribe to. Google it or better yet, e-mail the service administrators and ask them. Pay extra attention to the given URL as a slight difference would mean a different site altogether;

5. Change the passwords of your online credentials from time to time and do not use the same password for all of them. For a secure password, use a combination of uppercase and lowercase alphabets and numbers, and try to use words that do not exist in any dictionary; and

6. Do not arbitrarily download any updates for your applications. If you really need them, visit the official website and get more information.

Conclusion

It is imperative that Internet users understand that the threats and security issues which come with social networking tools aren't necessarily caused by vulnerabilities in the software or the user's PC … at least, not all the time.

Software vulnerabilities are reported from time to time and they will always be the cornerstone of cybercriminal activities. But for them to work, they have to be initiated by the users themselves in one way or another.

(Syahrir Mat Ali is senior executive of the cybermedia research department at CyberSecurity Malaysia - the national cybersecurity specialist under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. These are his personal views expressed here.)

Ideas for positive energy,Tips on harmonising bad vibes, Spiritual activity heightens

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 Spiritual healer gives talk on home decoration

SPIRITS are everywhere so even if your home is next to a cemetery, you should be able to sell it if the price is not too high, said spiritual healer Master Ong Q Leng.

She was speaking during the question and answer session after her talk themed ‘Protecting Your Property From Bad Energy’ at the Star Property Fair 2010.

Master Ong giving feng shui tips to the crowd

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“Spirits are everywhere all the time, day or night, you just can’t see them.

“There are people who are not superstitious and they will be willing to buy the property, especially if they can make a profit from it,” she said, when asked if it was okay to leave an apartment empty if there were cemetery plots on both sides of the property.

“If a property does not sell, it is not necessarily because of bad feng shui. You may be asking too high a price. A buyer will already have scouted the area for the right price. Try lowering the price, and you might be able to sell it off.”

To a question on colour schemes, Ong said certain people suited certain colours and people should observe how they felt or how things fared when they chose a certain colour to wear.

Asked if it was really suay (unlucky) to wear all black or black and white, Ong said that it was true that the colours did not suit many people:

“Try it for one or two days, if it does not feel good or things go wrong, then the colours are probably not suited to you,” she said.

Speaking in Hokkien and Mandarin, with English translation provided by master of ceremonies Por Joo Tee, Ong also advised the crowd to try not to wear red or use too much red.

A couple then told how they fell in love with a painting of a tiger and bought it for their home only to be told by a medium that the tiger would “eat up” all their fortune.

Ong said paintings of animals had no bearing on people but reminded them to place them only in the hall and not in the bedrooms, and that the paintings had to face another wall and not the main door or balcony.
“It is only a painting, and cannot harm us. But if you feel unhappy after putting up any decoration, then just take it down,” she said.

Asked on the best stance or image to choose when buying idols of deities, Ong said what mattered more was the idol’s condition.

“If after some time praying to the idol, you feel that things are going well, then it should be fine. If you feel that things are falling apart, then it’s probably not right,” she said.

Asked if the idols of Hok Lok Siu (three Chinese deities representing good luck, status and longevity) could be placed inside the house, Ong said they could only be placed as decorative pieces but not as idols to pray to because they were only supposed to reside at temples and not at houses.

She also told the audience to pray from the heart and not out loud and face the sky with eyes closed and hands clasped together, preferably between 6am and 11am, and to say please when praying.

“Don’t be too greedy but remember to pray for your own health and strength first before praying for your loved ones,” she added.

Ong’s talk received a great response from the large crowd.

Source: Starmetro

Tips on harmonising bad vibes

By PRISCILLA DIELENBERG
prisdberg@thestar.com.my

TECHNICALLY, there is no house with bad feng shui, according to spiritual healer Master Ong Q Leng.

“Even houses with the worst chi (vital energy) can be corrected,” claimed Ong, 34, who offers healing, spiritual cleansing, feng shui tips and general consultation services.

Ong: Her talk will be in Hokkien and Mandarin.

She said some old houses had bad chi because of spirits that co-habited the space over the years.

“There are three types of spirits - those that are wandering as they could not move on after death, those that chose not to move on though they could, and the bad ones that go around causing trouble,” she said.

Ong added that proper cleansing had to be done to appease the spirits that caused distress or unrest to those who occupied the house.

“When I enter a premises with bad chi, I use my sixth sense to get a clear picture of the situation and instructions from my spiritual master, and take it from there,” said Ong.

She will share her thoughts on a combination of feng shui and paranormal phenomena during her talk on ‘Protecting Your Property From Bad Energy’ at 4.30pm on Sunday at the Star Property Fair 2010.

Her talk will be in Hokkien and Mandarin, with a smattering of Bahasa Malaysia and English. There will be a translator on standby to help with the question-and-answer session. The talk is for non-Muslims only, and admission is free.

Ong will also be giving tips on auspicious locations within a house, choosing colour schemes and how best to arrange certain furniture.

The talk will be among the highlights of the three-day fair to be held at G Hotel and Gurney Plaza from 10am to 10pm starting today until Sunday.

More than 20 major developers, including some from Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh, will offer an array of property launches, special packages and attractive rebates during the event, organised by Star Publications (M) Bhd in collaboration with Henry Butcher Malaysia Penang.

Spiritual activity heightens

By PRISCILLA DIELENBERG
prisdberg@thestar.com.my, 10/9/2010

THE seriously ill are more susceptible to death during the Phor Thor or Hungry Ghost month, according to spiritual healer Master Ong Q Leng.

Ong, 34, said in the recently concluded seventh lunar month, a few of her patients, who were on the road to recovery, simply gave up and succumbed to their illnesses rather than burden their loved ones who had to care for them.

“One patient was progressing well. The colour had returned to her cheeks but she had a change of heart and told her daughter who was bathing her one morning to hurry up as ‘they’ were waiting for her.

“She suddenly passed on in the middle of her bath,” said Ong, who also noted that there had been many cases of murder and suicide during the period.

She said those, who had seriously ill loved ones, should provide them with more love and care during the seventh month.

“You can tell that it is time for them to depart if they can no longer eat and sleep, the face has turned pale and yellowish, and the eyes are lifeless,” she added.

The Hungry Ghost month had always been a busy time for Ong, who offers services of healing, spiritual cleansing, feng shui tips and general consultation.

“One client sought my services after friends spotted two young children in the back seat of her car. It turned out that she had two previous abortions and the boy and girl spirits were her two children.”

Ong said spirits were at their most powerful during the seventh month but those released from the gates of hell were not harmful.

“The harmful spirits are the wandering ghosts that roam the earth freely throughout the year.”
During the Hungry Ghost month, she said it was best that children, aged below five, stayed indoors after 7pm, and adults low on luck did the same after 9pm.

She also advised people not to consume too much alcohol or speak nonsense during the seventh month, and not to quarrel or fight at home as that would attract an “audience” to watch the drama.

“Don’t scold but be more loving to your spouse and children, and smile more to avoid misfortune,” she said.

Ong also advised those who observed the Hungry Ghost festival to burn smaller offerings for their departed loved ones during that month.

“When you burn too many things, it will attract greedy evil spirits who come and snatch the offerings from your loved ones.

“Smaller amounts attract less attention and that means more chances that your loved ones will receive them.

“You only need to burn offerings for someone once a year and it should be done during the day, that is between 8.30am and 7.30pm,” she said

Cosy auditors

GOVERNANCE MATTERS

By SHIREEN MUHIUDEEN

ONE of the big questions we faced in the recent spate of annual general meetings (AGMs) is that whether companies should renew the contract or replace the audit firms. And, how does a company decide when appointing an auditor?

An auditor is supposed to be the company’s best friend, the sort that tells it what it needs – not wants – to hear, especially when the chips are down. But when listed companies in South-East Asia recently held their AGMs, these meetings exposed the annoying reality that the auditors of some of these companies have been unreliable friends.

To be sure, an auditor is in an unenviable position from the start. He is the company’s disciplinarian and so is there not only to ensure that the company complies with financial reporting standards and other best practices, but also to forewarn it of anything risky that might suddenly blow up.

These responsibilities have become even more complex in recent years, as there are now so many different industries and companies with complex structures; an audit firm needs to have sector specialists to manage the audit function effectively. One would presume that gone are the days when auditors should be able to just rubber-stamp a company’s finances.

Even so, we wonder how many auditors tell their client companies hard truths as well as red-flag their transgressions? Will they lose their clients if they push them too hard on tough issues? How far can they push their clients? Should they resign if clients stop taking their advice? From our experience, one thing is very clear: “There are auditors, and then, there are auditors.”

Recently, we reviewed a company that was supposedly recovering. We noted in our review that this company and all its subsidiaries after 10 years were still in the red as at Dec 31, 2009, and the board and management didn’t seem to know how to reverse that. We dug further and found that its share premium rose significantly over the decade because its fixed assets - primarily land for development - had been revalued.

What was very clear is that each time the land was developed and the properties sold, there were writedowns on the value of the assets. This suggested that the existing assets on its balance sheet were overvalued.

These seedy activities raise obvious questions:
● Where were its auditor’s red flags?;
● What was the auditor’s advise before the writedowns?; and
● Did the auditor assess the risk sufficiently before the company revalued the land or did he just bow to its wishes?

This company also cut deals with related parties, and every year for the last seven years wrote these transactions off, which cost it millions of dollars. These losses were too large and too often to be dismissed as occasional business risks.

To get some answers, we reviewed the composition of the company’s board of directors and audit committee. We zoomed in on the audit committee as the obvious source of the oversight. It has three members, or so-called independent directors, two of whom are in their 70s, and have been on it since 2000.

The third is an ex-politician who is well-connected.

While all three have had fairly successful careers, they seem to no longer be able to insist that the company desist its loss-making moves. That’s because these audit committee members must have been aware of all the company’s related-party transactions and write-offs for almost seven years.

We also compared the total audit fees paid. This company paid audit fees which were considerably lower than the average fees paid in the same sector. One wonders if the choice of the auditor was based primarily on fees and not on the best practices that the firm abides by.

We also wondered whether the audit committee discussed any of its real concerns with the external auditors. After all, the company’s annual report states that its board of directors and audit committee will meet every quarter “to acknowledge and monitor” its performance outcome, with “the counterbalance and revision” of the independent directors.

In the same report, this company also stated that it “believes in a good management system” and avowing that its directors and executives had “vision”, were responsible and had a “balance of power mechanism to ensure and monitor transparent management and equitable treatment for its shareholders.”

How can a company state all these when it is consistently losing money, does not have a single subsidiary that is profitable, indulges habitually in related-party transactions and then, consistently writes them off?

We can only wonder how its audit committee members and its other independent directors discharge their duties amid all of the above activities. For now, their profiles and records of attendance at meetings give us neither relief nor belief that they really are, as the annual report puts it, “adhering to the principles of the stock exchange for the optimal benefit of the Company”.

What is very clear to us is that the investment community should stand up and question companies that vote in auditors purely based on fees and cosy friendships.

● Shireen Muhiudeen is managing director of Corston-Smith Asset Management in Malaysia, a fund management company that makes investment decisions based on corporate governance.