Google - Two Factor Authentication (Two-step Verification)

If you have been following my blog recently, you know that I am in India now.  I thought that I had changed all of my accounts to invoke enough security, but NOT!  My Facebook account was hacked yesterday.  The hacker did not spell my name correctly and from what my friends have shared, had poor writing skills.  I was able to create two-factor authentication for the account this morning and have added a new level of security.  Of course, it also meant changing the email passwords for other accounts.  I have written about the importance of two-factor authentication before, but the Google video from YouTube below explains additional information.  Hope that you find it helpful.

Hacking Medical Equipment and Security Risks

The news of the death of a 35-year-old hacker, Barnaby Jack (http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/infamous-hacker-barnaby-jack-dies-black-hat-convention-6C10760881), made me reflect on a presentation about the security of medical equipment at the 2013 SINI meeting. Barnaby Jack was a "white hat hacker" meaning that the purpose of his hacks was to demonstrate security risks so that they could be addressed.

According to the new article "Jack had planned to demonstrate his techniques to hack into pacemakers and implanted defibrillators at the Black Hat hackers convention in Las Vegas next Thursday. He told Reuters last week that he could kill a man from 30 feet away by attacking an implanted heart device."

I honestly had not considered security risks associated with medical equipment such as pacemakers, implanted defibrillators, or intravenous pumps.  Perhaps the reason is that I do not think like a cyber criminal.  However, we as healthcare professionals, need to understand that remote control of computerized medical equipment is possible.  We need to support the manufacturing companies that are working to eliminate security risks that may endanger the lives of our patients.  

Two-Factor Authentication for Online Accounts

If you have been following the news, you will note that the stock market lost $200 BILLION dollars in two minutes after the AP Press Twitter account was hacked with an erroneous posting about a bombing at the White House.  You can read more about the hack in the article, The power of one wrong tweet, at http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/23/tech/social-media/tweet-ripple-effect/index.html?hpt=te_r1 The common person probably would not be sought out to hack, but it could happen.

PC World has an excellent article, How to set up two-factor authentication for Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and more, at http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036252/how-to-set-up-two-factor-authentication-for-facebook-google-microsoft-and-more.html

You may have already set up two-factor authentication without realizing it.  When a website, such as Facebook or Google sends a code your cell number and requires you to enter it in addition to the login and password, you have two-factor authentication.  So if your account it hacked, the hacker may have your login and password, but not the second authentication code.

Facebook and Security Issues

Facebook (FB) security issues have been in the news recently.  The topic peaked my interest because I have been a victim of Facebook spam.  As an example, I recieved two wall postings (identical) from friends (see figure below). 

I have been so consumed with grading and finalizing courses for fall semester, that I had not checked by FB page until I was double-checking security settings.  I did notice the Remove button and quickly removed the postings.  The last time my FB was spammed was in the FB email.

FB displayed a pop-up window with information about security this morning (see figure below).

All of us who are FB users should take a few minutes to educate themselves about social networking security.  Start with reading the FB Guide to security at http://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation.php

PC World has an excellent article entitled Protect your Privacy on Facebook and Twitter in the  December 2009 issue.  It is available online at http://www.pcworld.com/article/172604/protect_your_privacy_on_facebook_and_twitter.html

Finally, I noted a CNET article this morning about FB suing three men under three laws: the Can-Spam (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing) Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and the California Anti-Phishing Act and the California Computer Data Access and Fraud Act. One of the accused had a company name of Choko Systems and another had a company named Harm.  Clearly, the company names were advertising the malicious motives.  The article is online at http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10416265-245.html?tag=mncol