In 2006, a laptop and external drive was stolen from the home of a Veterans Affairs’ data analyst. This person had taken the computer home without permission. The names, dates of birth, and social security numbers of 26.5 million active duty troops and veterans were housed on the machines.

Fortunately, the FBI later found the equipment, the theives were apprehended, and the VA announced with certainty that the information had not been compromised in anyway. The VA released a statement stating: “We want to assure veterans there is no evidence that the information involved in this incident was used to harm a single veteran.”

As for the settlement… the Department of Veteran Affairs has recently earmarked $20 million dollars to help aide any military personel or veteran that can show that they have been harmed by the data loss. Included in covered costs will be expenses for credit monitoring services (LifeLock & TrustedID) and/or physical manifestations of emotional distress. Estimated individual payments are expected to be about $1500. The agency’s spokesperson, Phil Budhan, states that the funds will come directly from the Treasury and will not deplete any resources used for VA programs.

No formal claim process has been identified by the VA as of the time of this article.  However, if you are a military person or a veteran, it is highly recommended that you contact the Department of Veteran Affairs and see about staking a claim on your fair share of these funds.  If you have recently enlisted the services of a credit monitoring agency or have distress from this data breach, you could qualify.

Since identity theft doesn’t normally occur for years after the data has been breached, at the very least it would probably be wise to sign up for a credit monitoring service and let the Treasury foot the bill for a few years. And of course, you can check out SmartSecurityPeople.com’s top ten ways to keep your identity safe and secure…

The Berkman Center at Harvard University sponsored a task force to research and report upon the safety and security issues for young people in regards to their participation with online social networking. MySpace, in particular, appears to be the main focus of the report. However, the same findings could easily be applied to Facebook, Twitter, etc…

The Internet Safety Task Force released their final report on January 14th and it is available online here.

The Task Force’s research has been able to surmise the following:

• Sexual predation on minors by adults, both online and offline, remains a concern. Sexual
  predation in all its forms, including when it involves statutory rape, is an abhorrent crime.
  Much of the research based on law-enforcement cases involving Internet-related child
  exploitation predated the rise of social networks. This research found that cases typically
  involved post-pubescent youth who were aware that they were meeting an adult male for
  the purpose of engaging in sexual activity. The Task Force notes that more research
  specifically needs to be done concerning the activities of sex offenders in social network
  sites and other online environments, and encourages law enforcement to work with
  researchers to make more data available for this purpose. Youth report sexual solicitation
  of minors by minors more frequently, but these incidents, too, are understudied,
  underreported to law enforcement, and not part of most conversations about online safety.
• Bullying and harassment, most often by peers, are the most frequent threats that minors
  face, both online and offline.
• The Internet increases the availability of harmful, problematic and illegal content, but does
  not always increase minors’ exposure. Unwanted exposure to pornography does occur
  online, but those most likely to be exposed are those seeking it out, such as older male
  minors. Most research focuses on adult pornography and violent content, but there are also
  concerns about other content, including child pornography and the violent, pornographic,
  and other problematic content that youth themselves generate.
• The risk profile for the use of different genres of social media depends on the type of risk,
  common uses by minors, and the psychosocial makeup of minors who use them. Social
  network sites are not the most common space for solicitation and unwanted exposure to
  problematic content, but are frequently used in peer-to-peer harassment, most likely
  because they are broadly adopted by minors and are used primarily to reinforce pre-existing
  social relations.
• Minors are not equally at risk online. Those who are most at risk often engage in risky
  behaviors and have difficulties in other parts of their lives. The psychosocial makeup of
  and family dynamics surrounding particular minors are better predictors of risk than the use
  of specific media or technologies.
• Although much is known about these issues, many areas still require further research. For
  example, too little is known about the interplay among risks and the role that minors
  themselves play in contributing to unsafe environments.

The final recommendations of the Task Force are as follows:

• Members of the Internet community should continue to work with child safety experts,
  technologists, public policy advocates, social services, and law enforcement to: develop
  and incorporate a range of technologies as part of their strategy to protect minors from
  harm online; set standards for using technologies and sharing data; identify and promote
  best practices on implementing technologies as they emerge and as online safety issues
  evolve; and put structures into place to measure effectiveness. Careful consideration should
  be given to what the data show about the actual risks to minors’ safety online and how best
  to address them, to constitutional rights, and to privacy and security concerns.
• To complement the use of technology, greater resources should be allocated: to schools,
  libraries, and other community organizations to assist them in adopting risk management
  policies and in providing education about online safety issues; to law enforcement for
  training and developing technology tools, and to enhance community policing efforts
  around youth online safety; and to social services and mental health professionals who
  focus on minors and their families, so that they can extend their expertise to online spaces
  and work with law enforcement and the Internet community to develop a unified approach
  for identifying at-risk youth and intervening before risky behavior results in danger.
  Greater resources also should be allocated for ongoing research into the precise nature of
  online risks to minors, and how these risks shift over time and are (or are not) mitigated by
  interventions. To allow for more systematic and thorough research, law enforcement should
  work with researchers to help them gather data on registered sex offenders’ use of Internet
  technologies and technology companies should provide researchers with appropriately
  anonymized data for studying their practices.
• Parents and caregivers should: educate themselves about the Internet and the ways in which
  their children use it, as well as about technology in general; explore and evaluate the
  effectiveness of available technological tools for their particular child and their family
  context, and adopt those tools as may be appropriate; be engaged and involved in their
  children’s Internet use; be conscious of the common risks youth face to help their children
  understand and navigate the technologies; be attentive to at-risk minors in their community
  and in their children’s peer group; and recognize when they need to seek help from others.

We at SmartSecurityPeople.com applaud the efforts of the Internet Safety Task Force in compiling this data and providing it to the public. It is certainly a great service that they have done and we appreciate the education and information.

Very cold temperatures, like very hot ones, can be hazardous to your health. Proper dress and some sensible practices can prevent a lot of the problems associated with cold weather. In addition, knowing the symptoms of danger and how to treat them can keep problems that do occur from becoming disasters. The American Red Cross recently released the following tips to help provide guidance for surviving the winter season.

GENERAL HAZARDS

The most common hazard in the cold is frostbite. Your body doesn’t get enough heat and the body tissues freeze. Body parts most often affected by frostbite are the nose, ears, cheeks, fingers, and toes.

In very bad cases, frostbite can cause permanent tissue damage and loss of movement in the affected body parts. In the worst cases, you could become unconscious and stop breathing. You could even die of heart failure.

The other cold hazard is hypothermia. That’s what it’s called when you’re exposed to cold so long that your body temperature gets dangerously low. Just like frostbite, the worst case results are unconsciousness and death.

With both cold hazards, you’re more at risk if you’re older, overweight, or have allergies or poor circulation. Other factors that raise the risk are smoking, drinking, and taking medications such as sedatives.

IDENTIFYING HAZARDS

It is very important to know the symptoms of frostbite and hypothermia so that you can do something before it is too late.

Frostbite can occur from being in a cold area or from touching an object whose temperature is below freezing. In many cases, people don’t have any idea that it’s happening. That’s why you have to be familiar with the symptoms.

Frostbite victims usually start by feeling uncomfortably cold, then numb. Sometimes they also get a tingling or aching feeling or a brief pain. The recommended practice is whenever you feel numbness, take action!

Hypothermia can also take you by surprise because you can get it even when the temperature is above freezing. Windy conditions, physical exhaustion, and wet clothing can all make you prone to hypothermia.

With hypothermia, you first feel cold, then pain in the extremities. You’ll shiver, which is how the body tries to raise the temperature.

Other symptoms include numbness, stiffness (especially in the neck, arms, and legs), poor coordination, drowsiness, slow or irregular breathing and heart rate, slurred speech, cool skin, and puffiness in the face.

As you can see, many of these symptoms are not unusual and could mean different things. But if you’re exposed to very cold conditions, take them seriously and take steps to relieve them.

PROTECTION AGAINST HAZARDS

The best way to deal with cold problems is to prevent them in the first place. The most sensible approach is to limit exposure to cold, especially if it’s windy or damp.

If you know you’re going to be in cold conditions, don’t bathe, smoke, or drink, alcohol just before going out.

• Dress for conditions in layers of loose, dry clothes. The most effective mix is cotton or wool underneath, with something waterproof on top.
• Get dried or changed immediately if your clothes do get wet.
• Be sure to cover hands, feet, face, and head. A hat is critical because you can lose up to 40 percent of your body heat if your head isn’t covered.
• Keep moving when you’re in the cold.
• Take regular breaks in warm area. Go where it’s warm any time you start to feel very cold or numb. Drink something warm, as long as it doesn’t contain alcohol or caffeine.

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

As you know, prevention doesn’t always work. So it’s important to know what to do if you or someone you’re with shows symptoms of cold problems.

The first thing to do is to get where it’s warm. Get out of any frozen, wet, or tight clothing and into warm clothes or blankets. Drink something warm, decaffeinated, and non-alcoholic.

For hypothermia, call 911 for medical help and keep the person covered with blankets or something similar. Don’t use hot baths, electric blankets, or hot water bottles. Give artificial respiration if necessary and try to keep the person awake and dry.

For frostbite, first be aware of the don’ts:

Don’t rub the body part, or apply a heat lamp or hot water bottle.

Don’t go near a hot stove.

Don’t break any blisters.

Don’t drink caffeine.

Do warm the frozen body part quickly with sheets and blankets or warm (not hot) water.

Once the body part is warm, exercise it-with one exception: Don’t walk on frostbitten feet.

It’s dangerous to underestimate the health hazards you’re exposed to in the cold. But if you take some precautions before you’re exposed and know what symptoms can spell trouble, you substantially reduce your risk.

PROTECT YOURSELF AT HOME

• Be careful with candles - do not use candles for lighting if the power goes out. Use flashlights only.
• Inspect fireplaces and wood stoves yearly - use a sturdy fire screen with lit fires. Burn only wood - never burn paper or pine boughs.
• Use generators correctly -never operate a generator inside your home, including the basement or garage. Do not hook up a generator directly to your home’s wiring. The safest thing to do is to connect the equipment you want to power directly to the outlets on the generator.
• Prevent frozen pipes - when the weather is very cold outside, open cabinet doors to let warm air circulate around water pipes. Let the cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes. Running water through the pipe - even at a trickle - helps prevent pipes from freezing because the temperature of the water running through it is above freezing. Keep the thermostat set to a consistent temperature.
• Check smoke alarms once a month by pressing the test button and replace batteries as necessary.
• Don’t overload your electrical outlets.
• Don’t forget your pets - bring them indoors.  If you can’t bring them inside, provide adequate shelter to keep them warm and make sure they can get to unfrozen water.
• If you plan on using an alternate heating source, never use a stove or oven to heat your home.  Keep a glass or metal fire screen around the fireplace and never leave a fireplace fire unattended.  If using a space heater, follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how to safely use the heater.  Place it on a level, hard, nonflammable surface.  Turn the space heater off when you leave the room or go to sleep.  Keep children and pets away from your space heater and do not use it to dry wet clothing.

We hope these tips help to keep our readers at SmartSecurityPeople.com safe and sound during the winter weather season.

Homeland security has been a hot topic ever since 9/11. It has been the focus of a number of books, movies and congressional funding debates over the course of the past 7 years. Conspiracy theorist are still “uncovering” little known facts about 9/11 and are chiming in with their opinions regarding homeland security.

Given all of this attention, it was only a matter of time before the media sources found a different way to profiteer from the public interest in homeland security. ABC is the first to introduce a reality tv show entitled Homeland Security USA.  It debuted this last Tuesday evening and will continue for the next 13 weeks. It is estimated that it will do quite well. However, ratings are expected to take a hit when Fox begins airing season 8 of American Idol on January 13th and 14th.

Those of us at SmartSecurityPeople.com that saw the previews for Homeland Security USA, quickly discounted it as another reality tv show gone bad. We made no plans on watching it. However, given a boring night  of tv and no real competition in that time slot, curiosity won over and we watched the new series. I can honestly say that we were intrigued.

The show did a fine job of representing the men and women that work on our borders every day and the challenges that they face. Nothing appeared to be embellished or exaggerated and the situations were very serious and quite unlike what you would expect. It is just amazing the amount of drugs, illegal aliens, and unauthorized materials that are attempting to cross the borders and into our country every day. Homeland Security USA only provides coverage on the ones we catch, so who knows how much goes by without notice.

You can watch the show on Tuesday nights and decide for yourself if it is worthy of evolving into one of your regularly watched shows. As for us at SmartSecurityPeople.com, we will probably TIVO it and peruse the episodes in our free time (of which there is usually very little).

Paris Hilton was recently the target of a home robbery that netted the burglar nearly 2 million dollars in jewelry. Detectives working the case state that the thief had a working knowledge and familiarity of the home’s security surveillance and layout.  Based upon this information it is probably someone that has close ties to the socialite or did at one time.

Paris Hilton has requested that all of her stolen items be returned immediately. She states that they can do it anonymously by sending it in a taxi cab to her home. If the thief does return the jewelry in the near future, Paris states that “They won’t get in trouble, but if all this goes on for much longer, they’re going to get in more trouble.” Some of the Jewelry is claimed to be very distinct and will be of no value to the robber because they will not be able to pawn it off easily.

So.. as readers of SmartSecurityPeople.com what can we learn from the Paris Hilton situation to help better safeguard our valuables in our home? If you have not already read our article for making your home safe and secure, please take a look.  But for now here are some additional tips that we can gain from Paris Hilton’s situation:

1. Always keep your personal valuables in a secure and atypical place in your home. As in Paris Hilton’s case, you can see that the bedroom was ransacked and her jewelry found. Keep your Jewelry anywhere but in your bedroom. Put it in a freezer, the back of the fridge, the laundry room, etc… If you can afford to do so, get a wall safe. Thieves are not going to waste their time looking in these places.
2. When you have people (especially people that you don’t know very well) at your home, don’t show them where you keep your valuables. I think that goes without saying but my guess is that Paris flaunted her wares to a number of people coming and going from her home over the years.
3. Paris Hilton obviously has a security system. However, the intruder seemed to know exactly what type of system she had and knew how to get around it and keep their identity hidden. If you have a security and surveillance system on your home, don’t give anyone a detailed tour of what you have and where. You can make as many people aware as you want just be very vague in describing your security and surveillance system. Don’t reveal all your secrets.

Hope this information is helpful to our readers at SmartSecurityPeople.com. If you have any additional tips to help keep our homes and valuables safe and secure, please be sure to share and leave a comment below.