The Importance of Social Media

Nearly everywhere you look, advisers are admonishing us to “like us on facebook”. In many ways, it is quite annoying. Do I really want all of my friends and followers know that I like so-and-so pizza or some brand of clothing? And, while the answer to that may be “no”, the reality is that social media marketing is brilliant. When you consider the piles of money that marketers will put into print, television, or internet marketing, word-of-mouth (or perhaps word-of-click would be more appropriate) marketing via social media is only a fraction of the cost.

And, marketers are no dummies. For effective marketing, the marketer must place the product in front of the potential customers, therefore, the marketer must be aware of where the customer is or is going. Right now, the marketers are placing a lot of attention on social media.

Drew Hendrick on Forbes posted an interesting article titled “3 Ways Social Media is Driving a Business Revolution”. His third, and for this conversation – best, point is that the change in marketing is driven by the customer. Amazingly, the “folks” are pulling the marketing to where they are and marketers are compelled to oblige by this move. Further, even greater that compelling us to purchase some product or other, social media is also being used to pull people toward attitudes and services. You may recall how the 2008 national elections had one party deeply involved with social media resulting in a hammering of the competition. This move was called “revolutionary” and “genius” at the time.

Indeed it was. So no surprise that when you look at what is important to people, the push now is to drive marketing to social media. Emily Holbrook writes in LifeHealthPro.com “Industries such as telecommunications, consumer products and media and entertainment have already harnessed digital to attract and retain new customers. It is time for insurers to evolve and respond” (“Why social media is too important to ignore” http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2014/02/13/why-social-media-is-too-important-to-ignore).

Recently, social media has going through a phase that could be described as “throw it against the wall and see what sticks” and is now using analytics to target specific marketing to specific groups.  If you ever had the thought “hmm, my sister likes [product]. I should give it a try”, you are seeing it in action. Thus, it is critical to understand the demographics of the users of social media so that you can appropriately target your audience. A simple Google or Pinterest (ta-daa) search on “Social Media Demographics” will reveal a ton of hits from people who are very interested in the topic. One fun infographic was published last year Michalis Michael on CareerAddict.com called “Social Media Demographics: Who Uses What?” and is a good start.

As I am in Oregon, how Oregonians are using social media in of importance to me. This year, the Oregon Broadband Advisory Council sponsored a survey of broadband usage across the state. You can find the pdf of the survey here (http://www.oregon4biz.com/The-Oregon-Advantage/Telecommunications/oregon-broadband-council/2014meetings.php). Go to June 26 and click on “Pivot Oregon Survey Presentation”. In the data – which as of this writing continues to be mined – is a huge revelation of not only who is using what, but on what kind of devices people are doing it on. The short answer is this” focus on young people using mobile devices.

No duh.

CyberWatch Updates its Curriculum -- It looks a lot like ours!

If you have been a follower of my blog or series of weekly messages, you will know that much of the foundational curriculum for the MHCC CyberSecurity and Networking (CS&N) degree came from our friends at CyberWatch. CyberWatch, as you may know, was founded back east using some serious grant money from NSA and others with the intention of enhancing the number of cyber security experts via dedicated training in the nation’s community colleges and universities. MHCC has enjoyed this support in terms of training, travel, collaboration (and how), as well as curriculum.

When Paul Morris and I begin building the CS&N degree in 2010 and 2011, the curriculum was in a transition period and some of the direction we all needed was yet to be fully established and there were many unknowns. As a result, Paul and I looked at what we considered would be training appropriate for this yet-to-be-defined career path. And, with the serious input from our industry-based Advisory Committee, we came up with our first degree design with which we have graduated our first cadre of cyber security professionals.

What is most interesting and validating is that CyberWatch has updated their suggested Information Systems Security Curricula and it looks a lot like ours.

[click here to see CW’s curricula page]
[click here to see MHCC’s program of study page]

And there is more. MHCC is again forwarding our security program to include exploding new technologies in mobile device security and VoIP. Keep watching MHCC’s CyberSecurity program and our site Web Page at http://www.occ-sec.com as we continue to grow with this very exciting field.

Epic Fail: Selective Service and MM/DD/YY

Well, apparently in Pennsylvania there was a file transfer of personal records between their Department of Transportation and Selective Service. Then, when it came time for Selective Service to send out the letters demanding enrollment to those men who had not already registered, the clerk culled the database looking for all records with a DOB between '93 and '97.

Unfortunately, the "clerk" did not specify if he wanted eighteen-93 or nineteen-93. As a result, a whole lot of people born in the 1890's received the threat letter from Selective Service. That is, their grandchildren got the letters [!].

Here's the story on Fox: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/11/were-really-sorry-us-sends-14000-draft-notices-to-men-born-in-1800s/

The story is funny and it's not. You see, "we've" known about Y2K issues since the '80s (that is, the nineteen-80's) and significant work had been done to prepare for the event. So, it's bemusing that here we are in the middle of the second decade of the 21st century, and there are still file structures in existence which can succumb to this kind of error. Seriously, this should give all of us pause.

And, while a letter from Selective Service to one of your ancestors might produce a serious "face palm", I'm actually quite glad it was Selective Service who caused the error. Here's why. First, the error demonstrated clearly a vulnerability in the file structure. This is good. You want to expose structural errors whenever possible. And second, there is not much damage that can be done with a draft notice sent to someone 117 years old beyond the clerk's pride and maybe several thousand postage stamps.

Imagine if a similar error was revealed by, oh say, the IRS? or any other agency or business. It could have resulted in serious trouble. But, because it was Selective Service, it did not. And that is also a good thing.

So, as we face what could be the warmest July weekend in nearly a year, we can take a moment to reflect on the poor clerk in some cubicle someplace who will never live this down.

At least they will have a great story to tell for the rest of their lives.

Is Oregon the next "Land of Opportunity" for Tech Workers?

If you are looking for a career in technology, come to Oregon (?)(It's true!)

This morning's OregonLive.com published an article by Mike Rogoway about a new technology survey done with the participation with the Technology Association of Oregon. This study of Oregon tech companies found that 80% plan to increase hiring for technical positions.

Here is the link: http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2013/11/oregon_tech_survey_finds_unive.html#incart_river_default

This is huge as it indicates that the "pent-up demand" for technicians -- across the spectrum -- is finally at the breaking point and hiring MUST begin. 

Additionally, the survey also revealed that the average annual wages for tech positions in Oregon is at $94,000 per year -- or TWICE the state average. 

But wait -- there's more.

"Talent availability" is one of their biggest concerns. This means that there is not enough people in the pipeline to fill all the positions. 

Or, another way of saying it is like this: For technology workers in Oregon, Demand is High / Supply is Low.

For the colleges and universities in Oregon, our challenge is not simply to turn out graduates; but, to turn out graduates who are trained in skill sets relevant to the need of the companies in our State. At MHCC, we believe we are doing just that with training in everything from Help Desk, to Heath Informatics, to Networking, to Cyber Security -- and points in between! 

Want to know more? (click here and look for "Computer" and "Cyber")

They got me! The DoSearches.com "virus"

As an instructor in Cyber Security, I was a little disappointed -- although not surprised -- that I caught a virus on my home computer. What was disappointing is that I downloaded it myself. The truth is, I wanted to watch streaming video of the San Jose Sharks game and the only free streams were coming out of Europe, and... you can guess the rest.

The net result was that I downloaded a nasty little PUP ("Potentially Unwanted Program", technically NOT a virus but sure does act like one) that hijacked every one of my browsers and some shortcuts, and redirects me to their search engine at DoSearches.com which in turn displays a Google knock-off home page but with advertisements. And, it is a rootkit so it dig deep into your operating system.

After some quick research, I located this web site (http://malwaretips.com/blogs/dosearches-com-virus/#adwcleaner) by Steven Pilici posted in September of this year. On this page, he discusses the dosearches.com PUP and provides a 5-step approach to getting it off.

I did the 5-steps and not only did it remove the dosearches, it found and removed a whole lot more. Naturally, you are always responsible for your own computer. And, if you think you have some viruses (and you probably do), here are some nice, free apps which can help you out.

NSA On My Mind

I remember 1968. I was living near Chicago at the time and watched the Democratic National Convention on our new Zenith black-and-white TV. If you are old enough to remember that time, you might still have images in your minds about the Hippies and the Hard-hats, the war, the protesters, and the police.

 

Imagine you are there right now in the midst of it all. Then imagine that in the front, Richard Nixon stands up to address the crowd and says: “You will all be given a device that you are required to wear at all times. This device will track your every movement to within 32 feet of your actual location. It will record every communication, message, and purchase. And if you look up any information, computers will track your every search, and government analysts and marketing professionals will track your every move and make decisions about what you can see and what you should buy.”

 

“And best of all, you will stand in line for hours – even overnight – just for the privilege of being one of the first to purchase this device.”

What do you think would happen next? Pandemonium? Riots? Or subservience?

 

Forthy-five years later, the Smart Phone is all the rage and tracking your every move is exactly what it is designed to do. Yet, this should not come as a great surprise. We have known for years that devices on the Internet have been tracking searches, purchases, and such; and the massive amounts of data gathered is used to customize marketing, guide political campaigns, and determine what kinds of foods you like. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) monitors Google searches to determine where viral outbreaks are occurring – seriously. And amazingly, people seem to be willing to share their most intimate thoughts on a variety of social media. In Web Design, we call this “folksonomy” where the actions of the “folks” are monitored to make predictions (using analytics) about what the “folks” are likely to do next.

 

So, it should be no surprise that the federal agencies assigned to provide our protection, would use the very same tool for capturing terrorists that marketing people have been using to capture sales. In fact, it is surprising that people are surprised. And of you are concerned about the loss of your civil liberties, forget about it. Take one look at your cell phone and realize our civil liberties were not taken from us – we purchased the product that gave them away.

 

Thus, when one considers the impact of agencies like the NSA purchasing hacker tools on the black market, one has to wonder “do the ends really justify the means”? After all, the tools were used to catch child pornographers. Today, young girls are safe because of it. Think like this: if the NSA is mandated to provide security, and we are in a time of limited budget and staff. So, if a tool is needed one basically has two choices: build it or buy it. Building it would be expensive and maybe outside of the skill sets of your team. And, if you buy it, well, you won’t find many good hacking tools at Office Depot.

What would you do?

Peek-A-Boo. I See YOU

In case you missed it, there is a breaking story today about a family who had a webcam as the baby monitor. A hacker was able to locate the camera (easy to do), but then was able to move the camera to see around the room, and then actually spoke to the child through the camera!

For the complete story, click [here]. 

Clearly this is disturbing for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is the fact that a criminal or predator now has the ability to “see behind closed doors” and know exactly what you are doing, when you are doing it, and with whom; and, with sight and sound.

The second very disturbing aspect of this story is that the hacker could have come in through the Internet connection (in which case, he could be anywhere in the world), or he could have come in through the wireless access point (in which case, he is out front right now).

In Cyber Security, there is a technique called “war driving” where basically you drive around a neighborhood looking for any wireless signal that is not secure. It is very easy to do and most smart phones do it automatically (amazingly enough).

And, just in case you think your WAP is just too obscure to be noticed, take a look at this website at wigle.net. This site contains maps of wireless access points with accompanying information. Go to the home page, click on Web Maps and then enter in a location.  Be prepared to be amazed.

Getting back to the webcam matter, while webcams are a neat tool not only for Skype-like communications and general security, unless you secure your webcam, you are only providing access to a well-organized enemy. Check out this story by Amar Toor on The Verge about “an interactive map of insecure webcam feeds”.

Now the best part is that nearly all phones, tablets, and laptops come with camera and microphone installed. Which means that no matter where you are or what you are doing, a committed hacker can find you and activate your camera and mic.

But wait, it gets worse. As we “discovered” only last week, Federal agencies are using hacking tools to locate potential terrorists. If that is true, is it possible they would even …[fill in the blank]?

Seriously, put some electrical tape over your webcam. And if you do need a baby monitor, lock it down!