Browsing Safely on an Unsecured Network

Today I was requested to provide a few recommendations for safely browsing the web while on a public wifi.  Always happy to oblige...here it is.

Unsecured networks - such as a public WiFi hotspot - can be absolutely great for saving you money.  However, these networks are not always the safest to use without some additional protection.

Besides making sure to have updated Firewall and Anti-Virus software, you should also consider setting up a virtual private network (VPN).  A VPN creates a private "tunnel" to route your internet traffic securely.

Facebook Graph Search and OSINT

Facebook Graph Search is one of the newest features of Facebook.  It allows you to data-mine every person and page on the entire social network.  You can get an introduction at this page.

It's not available for everyone yet...but you can sign up for early access if you'd like.  It is extremely powerful as an OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) tool.  A tumblr site called Acutal Facebook Graph Searches show some of the more interesting search results.

Identity of @th3j35t3r Revealed

While this post is not directly related to security...I felt it was worth sharing with others.

Who is th3j35t3r?  That's the million dollar question now isn't it?

For those not familiar th3j35t3r is a cyber-activist known for attacking known terrorist websites as well as Westboro Baptist Church and factions of Anonymous.

There have been many attempts to identify the true identity of th3j35t3r...but according to him none have been correct.

The endless attempts to find th3j35t3r's true identity has become a humorous game for him...to the point that he has set his Twitter background picture to supposedly contain an encrypted version of his full identity.

White House to Issue Cyber Security Executive Order

According to TheHill.com the White House will release an executive order this week to address cyber security and critical infrastructure.

I'd like to share with everyone a letter I wrote in January 2012 as part of an application to the White House Fellowship program (my application was turned down).