Mobile devices can be easily lost or stolen. One application, which works with both Apple and Android platforms, can quickly and accurately track devices and offers a host of additional security features at relatively low cost.

To begin using iHound, users must download the application to their phone or iPad. Once launched, the application can then be set to run in the background, sending regular location information to iHound’s servers via Wi-Fi, 3G, or GPS.

Users also need to register for an iHound account at the iHound Software Web site. If any device goes missing, account holders can log into this site and track and manage their device through the iHound Security Dashboard. In the Dashboard, one window shows a history of last known device locations. If the device is connected, its location will also be displayed in another window.

Users can take advantage of several security features in the Dashboard. These include sending a push notification to the device that relays a message of the account holder’s choosing. Users can also make the device sound a loud alarm. Other options include remotely wiping the data from the device, a feature that could be especially useful for small business users. The Dashboard offers a remote locking option as well. Users can manage numerous devices from the site after each has been registered and outfitted with the application.

One unusual feature of the application is the Geo-fence function. In the Dashboard, account holders can choose a location on a map in the Geo-fencing tab. They can then select a perimeter distance. Users can choose to be notified when the device leaves the area; notification can be via e-mail, Facebook, or other social networking sites, for example.

Available for iPhones, iPod Touches, iPads, and Android phones and replete with a handful of security features, iHound could be an application worth considering.

Pros. Works for Apple and Android devices. A low-cost device tracker with numerous other security features that can be controlled from any browser.

Cons. Recently became a paid service. Users who have just Apple devices can use a free tracking program called Find My iPhone instead, which has strong security functions including remote data wiping, and works on multiple devices. For more information, go to apple.com.

Where to get it. iHound can be downloaded from the company’s Web site or the Apple App store. The application is free to download, but costs $3.99 for three months of service, $5.99 for six months, and $10.99 for 12.

Up to 1,000 city police officers will be in the stadium and on the street, carrying smartphones and other electronic hand-held devices that will enable them to feed situational awareness information including photos and video to a new operations center on the city east side, or to cruisers driven by officers providing backup, according to the city’s public safety director.

One concern has been a series of explosions in the Indianapolis Power and Light IPL underground network of utility cables. Eight explosions have occurred since 2010. The latest, November 19, turned a manhole cover into a projectile that heavily damaged a parked car. Since December, IPL has spent about $180,000 to install 150 new locking manhole covers, primarily in the Super Bowl village and other areas expected to see high pre-game traffic.

Security Magazine security blog.

The Super Bowl is not only one of the most anticipated sporting events of the year but one of the biggest party weekends as well. The gathering of family and friends with a large focus on eating and drinking can definitely yield some unexpected challenges. All Hands Fire Equipment is reminding Football Fan’s to use common sense and consider some important Safety Tips for the big game.

Super Bowl 46, a rematch between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots is scheduled for February 5, 2012. The Super Bowl is among the most watched television events worldwide. Family and friends gather in what could arguable be described as a hybrid holiday-like / party-like atmosphere.

During national-events that create an impact the magnitude of the Super Bowl, it is more important than ever to be “safety conscious”.

“The Super Bowl is an exciting and fun event, however, people should maintain a level of situational awareness, especially when out among large crowds or when cooking and frying up hors d’oeuvres”, said Donald Colarusso, President of All Hands Fire Equipment, supplier of firefighter boots and a veteran firefighter of 24 years.

To experience a fun and safe Super Bowl experience there are a few key safety tips that should be observed and followed:

When attending parties, in homes, sports bars or other locations including the actual venue it is always advisable to have a designated driver or plan on taking a taxi home.

At large gatherings, awareness of exits and egress can save lives. There are hidden dangers at parties and large events during Super Bowl weekend. these dangers include carelessness with cigarettes, under attended barbeques and even fireworks.

When cooking, frying or barbequing, care should be taken around open flame and when using grease, oil and related cooking products. Wearing an apron or tucking in that NFL jersey is suggested. Fire Extinguishers should definitely be on hand.

Smoke detectors in homes should always be in working order. If chicken wings or hotdogs are burning and smoke detectors sound, batteries should not be removed. The correct procedure is to clear the smoke and get that smoke detector back in service immediately.

Super Bowl 46 should be a spectacular event. Two rival teams with a memorable journey meeting in an epic game – it is likely to be the most watch sports game in years. “Be sure to not only have fun but stay aware and be safe this weekend”, suggests Colarusso, expert supplier of firefighter gear, ESS goggles, and public safety equipment throughout North America and abroad.

From (PRWEB).

Officers apprehended two suspects inside the Fraternal Order of Police in Tallahassee after central station detected activity on January 23,2012.

Central Station Operator Tamkea Manuel received the alert from inside the building just before 2:00 am. She immediately dispatched the Tallahassee Police Department and let them know of the movement inside.

Officers quickly arrived on scene, located the two suspects and determined they had gained entry through the roof. Both suspects were apprehended.

James Preston, of The Fraternal Order of Police, stated:

“The apprehension prevented a serious theft that could have devastated our business. We extend our sincere appreciation for a job well done.”

Online shoe retailer Zappos.com has been targeted by hackers, company CEO Tony Hsieh reported on Sunday. Personal information—including e-mail addresses, names, phone numbers, and shipping addresses—for more than 24 million Zappos customers may have been compromised, Hsieh wrote in an e-mail to employees.

In an additional and separate e-mail to customers, Hsieh said:

“ The database that stores your critical credit card and other payment data was NOT affected or accessed.”

The attack against Zappos, a unit of giant online retailer Amazon, is still being investigated. As a safety precaution, Zappos has automatically expired passwords for its customers’ accounts, requiring returning users to create new log-in codes to access their accounts.

Here are some hints for safer online shopping:

• Never use the same password for multiple sites. Minimize the chance that a hacker can gain access to your other online accounts from the information cracked.

• Create and use separate e-mail addresses. Specific e-mail accounts for specific shopping sites—say, “MyAmazonAccount@gmail.com”—will limit your data exposure if only one particular online retailer gets hacked.

• Never use any part of your name or any other easily guessed word in your password.

• Use a strong password. These are phrases that are a mixture of letters and numbers. Substituting numbers for letters might help you remember your login a well—”pa55w0rd” instead of “password,” for example. Some websites will allow the use of symbols, such as ! and #, as well as distinguish letter cases. For more information, see: How to create a strong password (and remember it!)

For more ways on how to protect your information while surfing the Internet, see Consumer Reports’ Guide to online security.

—Paul Eng

From the Securitymagazine.com blog.

It pays to advertise, maybe.

A Palisades Park, New Jersey man admitted January 9 he ran an identity theft ring that peddled Social Security cards to scores of Korean clients who used them to steal millions through fraudulent bank loans, credit card bust-outs, and other schemes. The defendant confessed he directed frauds out of Bergen County storefronts and advertised his illegal services in Korean language newspapers. He pleaded guilty to five felony counts, including three counts of conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering.

Also pleading guilty was an accomplice who admitted his role in three conspiracies that caused more than $2.5 million in losses to lenders. He admitted he fraudulently established credit scores for customers and obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in commercial and personal loans for unqualified borrowers. He pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and faces about 3 years in prison. Both men face deportation once their sentences are served. The men were among 54 people arrested in September 2010. About half of the defendants have pleaded guilty. The scheme centered on legitimate Social Security cards, issued in the 1990s to Chinese nationals who came to work in American territories in the Pacific. The defendant admitted he purchased the cards from blackmarket brokers and sold them to customers in Bergen County. He said ring members escorted more than 100 customers to various states so they could fraudulently obtain ID cards and drivers licenses using the Social Security cards and other documents, such as counterfeit Chinese passports.

The ring built up credit scores by adding the Chinese identities as authorized users to the accounts of co-conspirators, who received a fee for the service. Once they had obtained scores of 700 to 800, the customers were coached to open bank and retail credit card accounts and take out lines of credit and loans including loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration using the fraudulent identities. The ring busted out the credit cards by buying expensive liquor, designer clothes, and other high end goods they resold for cash. They also had a network of collusive merchants who rang up sham charges. Other schemes included check kiting, leasing luxury cars and selling them, and filing fake tax returns. In total, the scheme defrauded various credit card companies, banks, and lenders out of about $4 million.

By Giselle Smith on msn.com.

 

Forget fingerprinting, iris scanning and face recognition — soon, your car may know you by a more, ahem, dominant feature: your backside.

Research over the past year at the Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology in Tokyo is offering hope that car-seat sensors may be available as an anti-theft measure for passenger cars in two to three years, according to TechCrunch.

Apparently, the way you sit is akin to a fingerprint, so you would be able to start your car simply by sitting in the driver’s seat.

The experimental bucket car seat is fitted with 360 sensors, which measure applied pressure to generate a 3-D image of weight distribution, Mobile Mag reported. Each sensor is able to measure downward force on a scale of 0 through 256, and the resulting stored data map is 98% accurate in experiments, says InventorSpot.com.

The success of the project depends on carmakers getting on board with the research, according to Physorg.com. “The car-seat team led by associate professor Shigeomi Koshimizu wants to commercialize their work as an anti-theft product … if automakers agree to collaborate.”

The researchers say traditional biometric security techniques, such as iris scanners and fingerprint readers, are stressful for users, whereas simply sitting down carries less psychological baggage. Technologies such as fingerprint scanning can also be compromised by dirt or debris on the sensor.

Koshimizu foresees several other uses for the seat sensors, says InventorSpot.com: “For example, office workers and home computer users may someday log into their computers simply by sitting down at their desks.”

Will it work in the real world?

Online skeptics abound, with commenters criticizing everything from the 98% effectiveness (“does 98% = 1/50 days error for 1 user, or 0 errors for 49 people, 1 person never recognized?” queried TechCrunch reader “John Kucera”) to the impracticality of being unable to loan a car to a friend or family member.

And what if you gain weight or carry a wallet in your pocket? (“My butt changed a lot these past 4 years making babies. Take that into account guys,” posted TechCrunch reader “Yoo Dekker-Lee.”)

 Some readers, however, see future opportunities beyond even those imagined by the research team.

 ”Now that I think about it, this would be a great diet aid,” Physorg.com reader “isaacsname” commented. “‘I’m sorry, you’ve exceeded the allowable weight for this vehicle’s seat, today you’ll be walking to work.’”

 Given that researchers don’t expect the seat scanners to be commercially available before 2014 at the earliest, one can only assume they’ll work out some of the bugs by then.

The U.S. Healthcare Industry Facing More Threats

The Second Annual Benchmark Study on Patient Privacy and Data Security, conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by ID Experts, surveyed 72 healthcare organizations and found the average cost of data breaches to these organizations rose from $183,526 in 2010 to $2,243,700 in 2011. The absolute number of breaches is also increasing: up 32 percent year over year, with 96 percent of providers surveyed reporting at least one data breach in the past 24 months. Ponomon estimates data breaches could be costing the U.S. healthcare industry between $4.2 billion and $8.1 billion a year, or an average of $6.5 billion. The majority of breaches were not caused by sophisticated hacks or so-called advanced persistent threats. The survey found most were the result of employees losing or having their IT devices stolen or other unintentional, but ill-advised, employee actions. Shoddy security from partners and providers, including business associates, according to 46 percent of participants, was another significant reason. Also, the percentage of respondents who had breaches discovered by their patients dropped from 41 percent to 35 percent.

The move is, in part, to address the growing trend of security attacks targeted at smartphones, which have rapidly become an integral part of the workplace. However, current face recognition security measures on existing handsets leave a lot to be desired. Some Android-based devices can even be unlocked with a photo of the person who uses the phone.

But during the Christmas period, Apple applied for a new patent relating to Low Threshold Face Recognition. Apple Insider was quick to pick up on the patent application and claimed that the company’s next-generation phones could use a forward-facing camera to recognise users and automatically customise apps and user settings to suit.

So, as well as providing security, the new technology could leverage virtualization to ensure workplace devices can be shared between users.

Recently, Cisco claimed that passwords were one of the cornerstones of modern IT security, alongside data encryption and remote management for mobile devices.

News Article from onestopclick.com.

Here’s a new concept: battling the bad guys with Bougainvillea? Foil felons with Fuchsias, and chase criminals with Camellias? Can flowers actually help prevent crime at your property? The answer is “yes.” Flowers and landscape plants can not only beautify your property, but can be an effective crime fighting tool as well.

Historically, we have relied on methods of security that are of the “target hardening” variety such as locks, gates and iron bars to prevent crime. These visible security devices are valuable, but sometimes limited in their effectiveness. Today, many are turning to the softer side of crime prevention, and complimenting locks and deadbolts with landscape plants, flowers and other design features to provide an additional layer of safety and security.

CPTED focuses on how the environment contributes to the crime rate, and incorporates design features to remove the opportunity for crime. Crimes occur because there is opportunity for the criminal to commit the crime. Many times the physical design of one property offers more opportunity than the next for the criminal to operate. By incorporating CPTED, you can lessen the opportunity for crime, making your property a less attractive target for criminals.

The one aspect of CPTED, Natural Surveillance, is that criminals feel less comfortable in areas where they are being watched, or may be seen. Keeping shrubs and trees trimmed to maintain the feeling of openness and visibility makes the criminal element feel like they are at risk of getting caught. On the other hand, legitimate users of an area feel safer because they can see what is going on around them and can see potential threats and respond quicker. A property with overgrown and unkempt landscape is an invitation for criminals.

Natural Access Control utilizes landscape plants and other natural design elements to channel people away from unauthorized areas. For instance, a paved walkway lined with flowers strongly suggests the approved route to a proper entrance. A thorny vine or rose bush can restrict access to windows or a graffiti-plagued wall, and add beauty to the property as well. The goal of using landscape plants is not necessarily to prevent, but to discourage trespassing into unauthorized areas. This is accomplished in a more subtle way rather than overwhelming the environment with the presence of “hard” security measures.

Territorial Reinforcement is based on the idea that criminals feel less comfortable operating in areas where they perceive someone is in control. Territorial Reinforcement utilizes “Pride in Ownership” to send a clear message that the people responsible for a property take pride in it and will challenge someone coming there to commit crimes. Utilizing decorative pavers or colored concrete and freshly planted flowers to identify private property gives residents a sense of territoriality and projects the image that someone is responsible for the property. Criminals are less likely to commit crimes where they feel that there are people who take an interest in the property and will protect it.

Take a look around your property and decide if it offers added opportunity for crime. Is it an attractive target for criminals due to the lack of a little TLC, or does it project the image that care has been taken to maintain it? Remember, an overgrown ficus tree can offer opportunity for a criminal to operate unnoticed. On the other hand, a delicate row of daisies can be a subtle but powerful guardian, protecting your property, while looking good doing it.

By Harry Erickson at Security Magazine