Identity Theft … online email account vulnerability
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A friend of mine has used Hotmail email for a long time and yesterday her identity was stolen and an email was sent to everyone in her address book asking each person to send $700 via Western Union to an address in Reading, PA (see complete message below). The message included her email signature and looked legitimate.
My friend had to close her Hotmail account, losing a lot of information she had stored there, AND they got hold of account information for Amazon.com and Ebay, wreaking even more havoc. She had to alert the State Police and Attorney General.
Lesson Learned: Do not save account information and passwords in an online email account!
**************** EMAIL MESSAGE *****************
SUBJECT: Urgent Need!!!
Hi…how’re you doing, please I need an urgent help from you, I’m at the moment in need of a loan which I will pay back on Monday when I get back in town. I am presently in Reading. I need you to help send $700 through Western Union Money Transfer to Name, Full Address (in Reading, PA). As soon as you’ve done that get back to me with the following information:
1. MTCN NUMBER
2. TOTAL AMOUNT SENT
3. SENDER’S FULL NAME, ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER.
4. SECRETE QUESTION AND ANSWER (IF NECESSARY).I want you to note that I need this done as soon as you get this mail, and I promise to pay you back as soon as am back by Monday.
Thanks.
Friend’s Name
Friend’s Address
Friend’s Home Phone and Cell**************** END EMAIL MESSAGE *************
Browsershots - A Web Testing MUST HAVE
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Okay, another exciting find that I must share.
“Browsershots makes screenshots of your web design in different browsers. It is a free open-source online service created by Johann C. Rocholl. When you submit your web address, it will be added to the job queue. A number of distributed computers will open your website in their browser. Then they will make screenshots and upload them to the central server here.”
I used this to test my own website, Projects by Peggy. The screenshots are available for 30 minutes (you can extend the time) and can be downloaded to your computer. The screenshots are full sized, thus fairly large in size.
I used all 19 browsers - the first 9 screenshots showed up very quickly but beyond that is a long wait time. I think in the future, I will concentrate on one platform at a time: Linux, Windows, and Mac Os.
Here’s a screenshot of my test:
And 51 minutes later … still waiting for the last screenshot! I have a high speed DSL connection. You may want to limit each test to just a few browsers.
P.S. I tested a client website and found the site failed in IE6 - I was able to add a bit more space between divs (padding/margins) and now it is working fine in all browsers tested! What a great way to avoid site failure surprises!
COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act)
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Information you should know about kids’ privacy and data collection when developing websites for an audience under age 13, COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) is overseen by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and sets the requirements and protections for collection and use of private data for children under age 13.
For more information, you can download How to Comply With The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, a PDF guide from the FTC, the Direct Marketing Association and the Internet Alliance.
PLEASE NOTE: COPPA should not be confused with COPA (Children’s Online Protection Act), a law in the United States of America, passed in 1998 with the declared purpose of protecting minors from harmful sexual material on the Internet.
Exciting Changes in HTML 5
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I haven’t found any news that is exciting enough to take time from my busy schedule to post to this blog for quite some. Today is a different story … I found the article, “A Preview of HTML 5″, over on the A List Apart website. This is a must read for any web developer!
HTML 5 introduces and enhances a wide range of features including form controls, APIs, multimedia, structure, and semantics.
Most exciting to me is the fact that commonly used “div elements can be replaced with the new elements: header, nav, section, article, aside, and footer.”
Beyond the obvious of this being good in enabling us to more easily construct pages, there are benefits to the user, as well. Read more …