ADT Working With IP-based Phone Providers

ADT Security Services has announced that it is joining forces with cable and telecommunications providers to help ensure its security systems will continue to be able to communicate with its monitoring centers if a customer switches to an IP-based telephone service. ADT outlined a set of characteristics that this next generation of phone services providers must meet in order to be a primary method of transmitting alarm signals to ADT's 24-hour a day monitoring centers.

IP-based telephone providers Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Charter, Cox Communications and Bright House Networks have confirmed that their networks meet the characteristics required by ADT to be a primary method of alarm transmission. Cable IP-based phone services provider's calls travel over privately managed networks, rather than the public Internet used by many other IP-based phone services.

"ADT recognizes the customer benefits associated with alternative phone services including VoIP, digital phone and other IP-based phone services," said ADT's Chief Operating Officer John Koch. "We also recognize that not all of these services are created equal. The safety and security of our nearly six million monitored customers across the United States and Canada continues to be our chief focus as we review these new communication technologies and the potential differences in their ability to transmit alarm signals reliably to our customer monitoring center network."

Koch said over the past several months, ADT has brought together numerous parties from both the cable and telecommunications industries to better understand the differences among IP-based phone providers in how they set up and maintain their networks. The result is a set of phone network characteristics that ADT has taken into consideration in determining how to best serve the interests of its customers. Traditional telephone services already have acceptable characteristics in place and therefore are not affected by this change.

The characteristics outlined by ADT include whether the provider has a managed and maintained physical facilities network with major and minor disaster recovery plans in place that include specific network power restoration procedures, whether the provider makes available professional installation of its IP-based phone service that preserves primary line seizure for alarm signal transmission, and whether the provider's physical facilities network provides real-time transmission of voice signals, carrying alarm formats unchanged. If an IP-based phone services provider has not informed ADT that it meets these characteristics, ADT will continue to require its customers using such phone services to either keep their traditional phone line or to install a cellular transmission system.

Regardless of the type of phone service used, ADT always recommends that customers use an additional back-up method of communication to connect their alarm system to ADT's monitoring centers, Koch said.

"One of the key findings is that technology has moved extremely quickly regarding these phone services and how they operate with alarm systems," Koch said. "As the industry leader, we took the initiative to outline these phone network characteristics so that we can continue to provide our customers with high quality alarm monitoring services regardless of their phone service type."

EarthLink Catches Spammers

Evidence gathered by EarthLink's fraud and abuse team has led to the arrest of individuals who allegedly sent over 25,000 e-mail messages using PeoplePC accounts. PeoplePC is a leading provider of high-quality, value-priced Internet service and subsidiary of EarthLink.

R. Alexander Acosta, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, has charged Jared Cosgrave and Mohammed Haque with fraud and related activity in connection with electronic mail in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act. Both have pled guilty to the charge filed.

"Spammers who set up PeoplePC accounts for the sole purpose of sending spam will be dealt with harshly. EarthLink is committed to cracking down on any abuse of our networks," said Lindsey Wegrzyn, EarthLink's operations security enforcement advisor. "We commend the South Florida Attorney General's Office and Miami FBI for helping to shut down this spamming operation."

The arrests and charges come after a month long investigation last year by EarthLink's fraud and abuse team. In November of 2005, the team discovered thousands of unsolicited e-mails with the subject lines "I'm finally back home" and "I just got back in town." They also became aware of another stream of messages promoting herbal supplements.

Upon further investigation, the abuse team determined that both types of e-mails were being sent through PeoplePC accounts originating from Miami, Florida. The team acted quickly to close the accounts and alert the FBI. FBI agents tracked the source of the emails and a search warrant was issued that led to arrests of the alleged spammers.

"Having the support of EarthLink's fraud and abuse team is one more reason that PeoplePC is able to deliver high quality, value-priced Internet service," said David Rowland, PeoplePC's group vice president and general manager. "Catching spammers who sent thousands of e-mail messages using a PeoplePC account is key to helping our 1.4 million members have a hassle-free Internet experience."

EarthLink continues to take a tough stance toward spammers. Since 1996, the company has sued hundreds of spammers and won more than $200 million in judgments, including two criminal convictions against spammers who received prison sentences for their offenses.

EarthLink Fights Spam with Anonymous E-mail

With EarthLink's New ProtectionPack featuring Anonymous E-mail Addresses, EarthLink subscribers can protect their identities and reduce the amount of spam they receive. EarthLink's Anonymous e-mail is the latest protection tool to be introduced by the company, which has been an innovator in creating and delivering security products for its customers over the past twelve years. EarthLink was the first ISP to offer spamBlocker, a permission-based e-mail solution that enables subscribers to better manage their inboxes, and ScamBlocker, which helps protect users from phishers.

"Most of us get about 200 e-mails a week, and some of it is still junk mail sneaking past our blocking tools," said Stephen Currie, EarthLink's director product management, communication products. "EarthLink's ProtectionPack featuring Anonymous E-mail adds another layer of protection that helps subscribers out-smart spammers and cut-down on the bogus e-mail messages that clog inboxes and can lead to fraud."

EarthLink subscribers can activate this service by visiting www.protectionpack.net and enter their EarthLink e-mail address and password. After verifying the security code and clicking "submit," five new Anonymous E-mail Addresses will immediately be provided and linked to the subscriber's account. A ProtectionPack folder will automatically be created in the subscriber's EarthLink Web Mail account, with a folder for each Anonymous E-mail Address. Subscribers will have immediate access to these separate addresses for Web site registrations, online shopping, or sending and receiving e-mail without exposing their identity.

Moving 101: How to Avoid Moving Scams

Moving is stressful enough without having to worry about being taken advantage of by a disreputable moving company. The typical moving scam begins when you are offered a much lower estimate than what a legitimate moving company would quote for the same move. But when they arrive at your new home, scammers refuse to unload your belongings unless you pay them a much higher price than you were originally quoted, usually demanding to be paid in cash.

Here are a few of the dead giveaways the American Moving and Storage Association suggests you look for to avoid being scammed:

Beware of prices based on anything but the shipment's weight
Legal interstate moving estimates are based on the weight of your shipment, but scam movers often base charges on the cubic feet your goods take up in the truck, and then adjust them to their advantage. Under law, shipment weight must be determined on a scale certified by a state agency.

Never rely on a price estimate made over the phone or online
Federal rules require a legitimate interstate mover provide a written estimate. While some legitimate movers may offer a survey over the phone, it is a good idea to request that they send a trained, experienced estimator to your home for a more accurate estimate, if possible.

Watch out for required deposits
A legitimate mover generally doesn't require a deposit before moving you except in extraordinary circumstances; however, scam movers frequently require significant deposits even for the simplest moves. If a mover requires you pay a significant deposit before your move to "hold your dates" or to insure "prompt service," you may want to use another mover.

If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is
While honest movers are competitive and their prices differ, they will be within a reasonable range. If a mover comes in with an estimate way below all the others, that should send up a red flag that you should probably avoid them.

Check out Moving 101: How to Choose a Mover for tips on how to find the best professional mover. You can also read more about how to avoid moving scams in the American Moving and Storage Association article Smart Moving: How to Take the Stress Out of Moving.

Viruses, Spyware Cost Users Billions

According to a new Consumer Reports survey, consumers paid as much as $7.8 billion over the last two years to repair or replace computers infected with viruses and spyware. While the figure is down from a similar survey a year ago, the new survey shows that people are still paying a high price to deal with those problems.

The magazine found that spam e-mail is the biggest computer-security problem. However, viruses are the most expensive, with a price tag of $5.2 billion in 2004 and 2005 to repair or replace infected computers. Consumers also reported losing $630 million in 2004 and 2005 to phishing scams, the fake e-mails and Web pages that ask for private information such as account numbers and passwords.

Read more about the survey in the article Viruses, Spyware Cost Users $7.8 Billion or check your newsstand for the Consumer Reports issue in September.

A tale of identity theft from an unexpected source

We often hear identity theft victims horrible stories of the crimes committed against them, but what about the perpetrators of these crimes? Why do they do it and what happens to them once they've been caught? Tom Zeller, Jr. wrote an article about one identity thief recently in the New York Times. In the article, Zeller attempts to answer these questions, at least in the case of Shiva Brent Sharma.

At the age of 20, Sharma had stolen over $150,000 through identity theft schemes. Sharma says the ease of identity theft, coupled with the thrill of getting away with it, are some of the reasons that he committed his crimes. Although he is currently in prison serving a two to four year sentence, Sharma says he is worried that the world of easy money might lure him back in. To find out more about Sharma, you should read the article Identity thief finds easy money hard to resist.

EarthLink helps defend against scammers

Yesterday, EarthLink announced that they have launched www.scamblockers.com to give consumers another source of information on how to avoid being scammed. On the site, you can learn how to spot a phisher, read an Internet Security FAQ or take a "Spot a Scam" Quiz. Also, you can download the EarthLink Toolbar which includes the EarthLink Scamblocker. The EarthLink Scamblocker alerts users to possible scam Web sites. According the Scamblocker Web site, "in addition to the list of our known list of phisher Web sites [Scamblocker] automatically block, ScamBlocker also analyzes each page you visit, according to a set of security rules.

Qwest addresses ID Theft

As mentioned in this blog before, young adults between the ages of 18-29 are most likely to be targeted for identity theft. Qwest, in their effort to raise awareness about identity theft, hired an individual who knows personally that this statistic is true. Zach Friesen of Denver, Colo., was actually first a victim of identity theft at age 7, though he didn't know about it until he tried to get his first job at 17. After seeing Friesen lobbying the Colorado State Legislature on the issue of identity theft, Qwest executives chose to hire Friesen to speak to high school kids about the dangers of identity theft. To find out more about Friesen's story, you can read Child victim shares ID theft tale.

VoIP phishing attacks

I'm sure you've heard that VoIP can save you lots of money in telecommunication cost, but did you know that VoIP inadvertently helps out phishers? In a current scam, phishers are sending emails to individuals asking them to dial a number and enter in personal information to get to their financial information
In the article Phishing Attacks Cast Shadow over VoIP, Cloudmark, a provider of messaging security solutions, warns that "VoIP services can reduce the costs associated with conducting such attacks, providing the perpetrators with less risk of discovery." By using new technologies, Cloudmark has been able to identify and block these "spoofed-number attacks."

The lengths that these phishers are willing to go to deceive individuals is amazing. Adam J. O'Donnell, Ph.D., senior research scientist at Cloudmark, is quoted in the article as saying:

"We've seen two separate VoIP attacks hit our network this week, the first we've been able to analyze in detail. In these attacks, the target receives an email, ostensibly from their bank, telling them there is an issue with their account and to dial a number to resolve the problem." Callers are then connected over VoIP to a PBX (private branch exchange) running an IVR system that sounds exactly like their own bank's phone tree, directing them to specific extensions. In a VoIP phishing attack, the phone system identifies itself to the target as the financial institution and prompts them to enter account number and PIN. The result can be personally financially devastating."

Importance of wireless safety

Both Stas and I have mentioned the importance of wireless safety in the past (check out Stas' article Protect your wireless home network); I recently read an article in PC World that reinforces the need for wireless security. According to the article Got Wireless Security?, leaving your wireless home network unsecured is just as dangerous as leaving files of your most important personal documents on a street curb for all to see. Hackers can easily get into an unsecured wireless network and get financial information, business records or sensitive e-mail.

Symantec and the Internet Education Foundation (IEF) as well as other Internet industry corporations have joined together to educate consumers on the dangers of leaving their wireless networks unsecured through the Wireless Security Initiative (WSI). You can go to the GetNetWise site to find out more about the initiative and wireless Internet security.