Happy Monday! Recently, LinkedIn members have noticed an uptick of suspicious direct messages on their accounts, mostly coming from “friends.” The messages have been containing malicious links of some sort, in one case, a link for a job opening with the message asking if the person was interested in applying. In that case, the recipient of the message knew right away that something was wrong, as the sender (their friend) used their full name instead of the nickname they usually go by. In any case, please be aware of messages you are receiving from people you know, or even those you don’t. If there is a link, safest bet would be not to click it, but if you think it is legitimate, investigate a little bit beforehand.
In other news, your Instagram “selfies” may leave you vulnerable to predators, especially if you are a well-known person, such as a celebrity, online influencer, or you just have a lot of followers. In a recent case, a Japanese pop star was stalked and attacked by a predator who used her online photos to find out where she lived and what her routine was. He zoomed in on her eyes in each photo to observe the landmarks in the reflection of her pupils. The predator was able to figure out what bus stops she used, what building (and floor in the building) she lived in, and more. As scary as it is, we all have to be careful about what we put online. The smartest thing to do is avoid posting pictures altogether, but if that’s not possible, take photos away from windows if you’re in your home, and do not take photos near any major landmarks or street signs near your home.
Lastly, Australia has come up with the greatest idea for a hackathon. About a week ago, ethical hackers in Australia came together to host the first hackathon solely for the purpose of finding missing persons. During the six hour event, 100 leads were generated every 10 minutes. A group called “Adelaide” won the hackathon event, as they uncovered 97 new pieces of information about cold cases which will be provided to the Australian Police. What really helped the ethical hackers uncover information, was the increase in social media profiles and information put online by the population.
That’s all for today! Thank you for tuning in to this week’s segment of “Mondays With Miranda!” Keep up to date with current news by following NeQter Labs on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. We love comments and questions, so drop me an email [email protected]. Enjoy your week!