Chain Letter Scam

Ever since email it is now very prevalent through the Internet community and practically everyone has seen this type of scam in their inbox.

How it starts off is someone is to send a little cash to each of the names listed in the email and to send it to their address.  Than after you send that money to those people, you put your name and address on the line and send it out to everyone you know.  They are supposed to do the same thing and in this return every time someone sends money to everyone on the list everyone gets paid.


Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about Chain Letters

Chain letters that involve money or valuable items and promise big returns are illegal. If you start one or send one on, you are breaking the law. Chances are you will receive little or no money back on your "investment." Despite the claims, a chain letter will never make you rich.  Some chain letters try to win your confidence by claiming that they're legal, and even that they're endorsed by the government. Nothing is further from the truth.  If you've been a target of a chain email scam, contact your Internet Service Provider and forward the email to the FTC at spam@uce.gov.

copyright for Education sectors

Rights of education sector before the amendment

Section 38
Allows the use of copyright works, to a reasonable extent (fair dealing), for research and private studies.

Section 39
Allows the use of copyright works, to a reasonable extent (fair dealing), for criticism, review and news reporting.

Section 40
Allows the incidental inclusion in an artistic work of sound recording, film, broadcast or cable programmes.

Section 41
Allows teachers (but not students) to use copyright literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works in the course of giving instruction and for the purpose of examinations (e.g. setting questions).

Section 42
Allows the inclusion of a short passage from a published literary or dramatic work in a collection for educational purposes, provided that the collection comprises mainly materials in which no copyright subsists and the copyright work is probably acknowledged.

Section 43
Allows schools to use literary, dramatic or musical work in a school performance attended by teachers and students only.

Section 44
Allows schools to record broadcast or cable programmes provided that there are no licensing schemes available.

Section 45
Allows teachers to make photocopies of copyright printed works, to a reasonable extent, for the purpose of giving instruction provided that there are no licensing schemes available.

Impacts of the copyright Bill 2007 on Education Sector

Section 35B

• Educational establishments (including their libraries) may now import or own parallel imported copies of copyrighted works.

• No liability as long as the copies are only used by the educational establishments for their own internal educational or library purpose.

Section 40C

To allow the making of specially adapted copies of copyright works for persons with a print disability without infringing the copyright of the works concerned on condition that:

(a)  The adapted copies cannot be obtained at a reasonable commercial price;

(b)  The relevant copyright owner is notified within a reasonable time before or after the specially adapted copies are made or supplied to persons with a print disability. 

Section 41A

“Fair dealing” provisions added to allow teachers and students to use copyrighted materials, paying attention to these conditions:

• The purpose and nature of dealing (non-profit?)

• The nature of the work (what it is)

• The amount and substantiality of the portion compared to the work as whole (how much used?); and

• The effect of the use on the potential market for or value of the work.

Section 43

• Previously only teachers and students could watch or listen. The scope of the audience has now been extended to:

• Parents or guardians of the students

• Persons directly connected with the activities of the educational establishment.

Section 51

Librarian or Archivist may make a copy from any item in the permanent collection

• To preserve or replace that item; OR

• To replace an item that has been lost, destroyed or damaged. On condition that it is not reasonably possible to purchase a copy of that item in the market.

Tip for identity theft

Identity Theft

In general terms, identity theft is the misappropriation and fraudulent use of a person’s personal or confidential information.
Examples of  personal, confidential information are:  SSN, drivers license number, names, addresses, dates of birth, credit card numbers, PINS, bank account numbers.

Electronic Fund Transfer Act – offers  protections for persons using electronic means (such as a debit card) to debit or credit an account.

Fair Credit Reporting Act – requires that a person’s credit record only be provided for legitimate business needs
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) – requires employers to protect confidential medical records which may contain an employee’s identifying information.

Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act – makes it a crime to transfer or use another’s personal information with the intent to commit, aid or abet in any unlawful activity.

Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) – requires employers to take reasonable measures in disposing of an employee’s credit report obtained as part of the employer’s hiring process. This can also include background checks on applicants which are obtained by the employer regarding the applicants and employees.

Denial-of-service (DDoS) attack

It's not pleasant to be on the receiving end of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.

Malicious hackers can commandeer thousands of computers around the world, and order them to deluge a website with traffic - effectively clogging it up, preventing others from reaching the site, and bringing the website to its knees.

As described before, DDoS attacks are the equivalent of "15 fat men trying to get through a revolving door at the same time" - nothing can move.

For instance, in the UK, anti-DDoS laws have been in place since 2006 and could result in you being sent to jail for up to ten years. Similar laws have also been present in Sweden since 2007.

It's the same story in the USA, where they take a tough line on those who engage in denial-of-service attacks against websites. For instance, last year saw the jailing of a man who launched a DDoS attack against the Scientology website.

Safer Passwords

How long does it take a hacker to guess your password? Less time than you might think.

Length	Lowercase	+ Uppercase	+ Number & Symbol
6 Characters	10 minutes	10 hours	18 days
7 Characters	4 hours	23 days	4 years
8 Characters	4 days	3 years	463 years
9 Characters	4 months	178 years	44,530 years

The best way to keep your password safe from hackers is to use numbers & symbols in your password. For example, "password5&" is much more secure than "password", in terms of hackability. Even if you just use a common/proper noun as your password, adding numbers, symbols or uppercase characters (ie "susie74!") can help keep your password from being easily cracked.

For even better passwords, create a sentence that you can easily remember and then combine the first character of each word with a series of numbers or characters.

For example, "Seven dogs ran around the lake & played with 3 geese. Weird!" as a password becomes "7dratl&pw3g.W!".

Remember, the better your password, the safer your data!

Source:  http://blog.kevindonahue.com

Spam Act

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 16, 2003, establishes the United States' first national standards for the sending of commercial e-mail and requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce its provisions.

CAN-SPAM defines a "commercial electronic mail message" as "any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service (including content on an Internet website operated for a commercial purpose)."

Computer hacking

Computer hacking is broadly defined as intentionally accesses a computer without authorization or exceeds authorized access.

source: http://definitions.uslegal.com/c/computer-hacking/

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We have heard many hacking reports, which attacked organizations, individuals, and governments. Thus, looking for a sustainable framework to control and reduce this kind of attacks seems to be imperative. Many governments enact several laws and regulations to harness attackers; The question is whether these laws are effective or not. Most of the hackers are young, so they try to investigate new things, and test their abilities. I believe passing new rules can't merely prevent them from doing such activities, so providing structured facilities for youths to experience hacking and let them to be white hat hackers can be a better way accompanied by strict rules.