What does it mean to practice safe web surfing?  Here are seven points I adapted from a poster that my colleagues at the NewYork City Metro InfraGard chapter developed to comunicate what you should do to practice “safe web surfing.” 

1. Use passwords that have at least eight characters, and mix it up a bit–lowercase, uppercase, numbers and special symbols. Here’s an example: rather than “amysmith” as a password, use “@mySm1th”…get it?  For more information on strong passwords, click here: Strong Passwords.  To generate r-e-a-l-l-y strong passwords, use this tool: Password Generator
2. Contrary to what you’ve heard before, write your passwords down and store them (somewhere other than under the keyboard on your desk).  There is a greater chance that an easy to remember password will be cracked than there is for someone to break into your house or office and steal that sticky you wrote them down on.  Bruce Scheiner talks about this in his blog here: Write Down your Passwords
3. Use virus scanning and spyware software–Microsoft has a free one available.  Also, make sure your virus scanning software is turned ON and that it’s signature files are up-to-date.
4. Only open email attachments from people you know.  No matter how enticing they appear to be…Free Cell Phone…Make Your (whatever) Bigger (or Smaller)…Verify Your Bank Account! …DO NOT open the attachment.
5. Do NOT click on any web links in emails from people you do not know–if there’s a web address you want to go to, type web address directly into your browser–www.goodsite.commay actually take you to a malicous website.
6. Parents can use the administrative capabilities of Microsoft Windows to lockdown sites/domains you don;t want you kids to visit. See instructions for doing this here: Block a Website
7. Be very careful downloading and installing toolbars from non-reputable sources. They might offer you all kinds of need smiley faces and cool tools, but they could also be stealing your personal information and doing other nefarious things.  Here’s one article that talks about a fake toolbar for a very well known website: Dangerous Toolbar

Let me know if you have other ideas I should add to this list…comments and thoughts welcomed..r/Chuck

Chuck Georgo
chuck@nowheretohide.org

The IJIS Institute announces the appointment of Chuck Georgo, founder of NOWHERETOHIDE.ORG, as the Chairperson of the IJIS Institute’s Security and Privacy Advisory Committee. 

The purpose of the IJIS Institute’s Security and Privacy Advisory Committee is to provide advice and counsel to the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), as well as other national organizations, on issues of information system security and privacy as applied to integrated justice and public safety information systems, and to develop materials and seminars to educate industry and government staffs on security and privacy measures, designs, and related issues. 

The Security and Privacy Advisory Committee strives to be vendor agnostic in all activities and work products and to be the authoritative source for establishing effective privacy and security measures throughout the justice, public safety, and homeland security information sharing community. Additionally, the committee’s goals include increasing government and industry awareness and understanding of technical and non-technical privacy and security requirements and improving the privacy and security posture for federal, state, local, and tribal justice information sharing efforts. In order to achieve these goals, the committee performs research, issues white papers, develops and conducts training, participates in advisory working groups, and supports technical assistance projects.

Chuck Georgo, regarding his appointment, noted that, “Successful information sharing requires trust. I believe that to get trust you need two things—honorable motive and reliability. Organizations must know that your motives benefit the social good and that your means to protect shared information from compromise is achievable and durable. While honorable motive is in the hands of law enforcement and justice agency executives, I believe that the IJIS Institute, through the Security and Privacy Advisory Committee, can help government and industry to employ effective ways for achieving the reliable means to protect that information. I look forward to working with my fellow committee members to further advance the cause of information sharing through robust security and privacy principles and practices.” 

Chuck Georgo has nearly 28 years of experience in intelligence, national security, defense, and law enforcement arenas. He has served as a strategic planner, business analyst, and technologist supporting the National Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Naval Security Group, and many other public and private sector organizations. 

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About the IJIS Institute — The IJIS Institute serves as the voice of industry by uniting the private and public sectors to improve mission critical information sharing for those who protect and serve our communities. The IJIS Institute provides training, technical assistance, national scope issue management and program management services to help government fully realize the power of information sharing. Founded in 2001 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation with national headquarters on the George Washington University Virginia Campus in Ashburn, Virginia, the IJIS Institute has grown to more than 240 member and affiliate companies across the United States. For more information visit www.IJIS.org.

About NOWHERETOHIDE.ORG – NOWHERETOHIDE.ORG, LLC, was established to help federal, state, and local law enforcement, justice, and homeland security agencies to better achieve their public safety and national security objectives. As our name implies, we want to help these agencies become so effective that criminal elements have nowhere-to-hide from justice. We offer planning, assessment, and technology consulting services to help law enforcement, justice, and national security agencies identify and resolve the issues that currently stand in the way of achieving high performance standards. For more information visit www.nowheretohide.org.