We’d like to remind all our High-Speed Internet customers of the dangers of illegal downloading of music, movies, and television shows from the Internet. Hawaiian Telcom is receiving notices that some of our customers are copying or sharing songs, movies, and television programs from the Internet in violation of the copyright laws. These notices identify the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the alleged violators and threaten to take legal action against the violators. There are legal ways to find movies, television shows and music on the Internet. Learn more...

 

Online advertising is big business. In 2013, U.S. online ad revenue reached $4.28 billion, surpassing broadcast television ads for the first time in history. That’s a 17% increase over the prior year. Unfortunately, as advertisers scramble to claim their slice of this growing pie, they sometimes leave the door open to cybercriminals who exploit weaknesses in the ad ecosystem to spread viruses and other malicious software through malicious advertisements or “malvertisements.”

This article was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on May 20, 2014 

In recent columns I've advocated for the general use of password managers as a mechanism to improve your password hygiene. Password managers generate strong passwords on a per-site basis and store them, eliminating the need for you to remember dozens of passwords for the different websites that you regularly visit. It also should eliminate the more common and very unsafe practice of reusing the same password on different websites. Naturally the question has come up: How safe are password managers? Aren't they the digital equivalent of putting all our eggs in one basket?

This article was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on April 22, 2014

With the recent Heartbleed vulnerability blowing up in the news, it's a good time to remind everyone that good passwords, and good password hygiene, are critical for the long-term protection of you and your online accounts. Site operators have a huge role to play in keeping their systems secure from hackers, but if you use weak passwords or don't change them often, you can weaken the site's security.

Here are some key tips for making sure you are doing your part in keeping your accounts secure...

This article was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on March 25, 2014

Since word broke last month that Target was ultimately breached through a connection it had established with one of its vendors, many businesses are taking a hard look at what kind of access they've granted to their own vendors.

And with good reason. It will be a tough year or two for Target's shareholders, but Target will survive this. The sobering reality is that most small and medium businesses don't survive such events. With the average cost of a data breach spiraling to $188,000, 60 percent of small businesses shutter their doors within six months of a data breach.

So, what steps can small and medium-size businesses take to reduce the risk of a breach coming from an established connection with a vendor or business partner?

This article was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on February 25th, 2014

Many folks can't wait for tax season to kick off at the end of January so they can file their tax returns and get their refunds. But there's another group of people who are anxious to get started on your taxes, too: scammers.

The Internal Revenue Service incorrectly issued a massive $4 billion in fraudulent tax refunds in 2012, according to a report released by the Treasury Inspector's Office in 2013. The money was largely sent to people who stole Social Security numbers and other personal information about U.S. citizens and then filed fraudulent tax returns in their names, claiming huge refunds.

This article was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on October 8th, 2013

This October marks the 10th anniversary of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, which was launched by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance to promote awareness about using the Internet responsibly.

This year’s theme -- “Our Shared Responsibility” -- notes that the Internet is a shared resource and securing it is our shared responsibility. The simple message is “STOP. THINK. CONNECT.” Understanding the consequences of your online actions and behaviors will greatly reduce the hazards of using the Internet.

On the National Cyber Security Alliance’s website staysafeonline.org, weekly themes deliver awareness education in different focus areas:

This article was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on November 5th, 2013

Last year’s “Cyber Monday” -- the Monday following the Thanksgiving holiday -- was the heaviest spending day of the year for the third straight year, ringing up nearly $1.5 billion in online sales. It was the first time that online sales had topped the $1 billion mark. This year, the National Retail Foundation projects a 13 to 15 percent increase in online sales.