Yes, our normal Tuesday tech blog is running today. Yes, it’s Thursday. We have been so embedded in our upcoming website that we postponed, but this one is worth the forgiveness. It’s all about Anonymous: Who are they, what are their targets, and what do they hope to accomplish?

Who are Anonymous?

On the surface, Anonymous is a group of cyber hackers that have been responsible for cyber attacks on large organizations and government entities. But why? What is their purpose in attacking the groups they do? And who are the members of the group?

It might surprise you to know that one of them could unwittingly be you.

Anonymous is a group of “hacktivists,” brought together through various online chat rooms, Internet memes and online forums. They claim to be of all ages and from all walks of life, although often accused of being young tech wizards. The difficulty with identifying members is that they are self identified, i.e. they call themselves Anonymous, therefore they belong to the group.

4chan.org is considered the main forum used by the group due to the lack of rules on that site. According to 4chan: “4chan is a simple image-based bulletin board where anyone can post comments and share images. There are boards dedicated to a variety of topics, from Japanese animation and culture to videogames, music, and photography. Users do not need to register an account before participating in the community.”

The group came to public notoriety after the WikiLeaks incident. Following the arrest of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, Anonymous launched an attack called Operation Payback, attacking sites that cut ties with WikiLeaks, such as MasterCard and PayPal, through a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) assault, in other words, by overloading those sites with visitors, causing the sites to jam.

“The pro-WikiLeaks vengeance campaign appeared to be taking the form of denial of service attacks in which computers are harnessed — sometimes surreptitiously — to jam target sites with mountains of requests for data, knocking them out of commission.”

Anonymous believes in freedom of information, including sharing of information online. As part of SOPA, new regulations were being considered to identify copyright infringement online. In retaliation to arrests, Anonymous targeted the entertainment industry as well as media organizations by jamming various websites, but most notably, the group claims to have taken down the FBI and the Department of Justice sites.

SOPA was suspended, but the war is far from over, with ACTA now taking center stage. In response, Anonymous has threatened many groups, including Facebook, promising in a video uploaded to YouTube (since removed) to shut down the site this week and asking for volunteers to help. But this attack has shown some dissension in the ranks, as various Anonymous hackers respond negatively to the video through Twitter. After all, why would Anonymous shut down the tools that it uses to engage members?

And this brings us to how you may already be a member of Anonymous.

Approximately 5,600 people clicked links that were posted by Anonymous during the SOPA assault, through Twitter and various other sites, leading to “a free HTML code-hosting site, which in turn executed some JavaScript to fire LOIC [Low Orbit Ion Cannon] at Anonymous-designated targets” according to Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant with U.K.-based antivirus vendor Sophos. In layman’s terms, if you clicked the link, you essentially helped attack the target site by overloading the site’s server and helping to block other users from getting in.

What are your thoughts? Do you think Anonymous may falter as a result of hitting those it should consider supporters, or perhaps as a result of becoming so widespread that the game of hacking will become more than the message?

Sources:
twitter.com/YourAnonNews
twitter.com/AnonymousIRC
rt.com
latimesblogs.latimes.com
venturebeat.com
theatlanticwire.com
heraldsun.com.au
latimesblogs.latimes.com
theatlanticwire.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous
gmanetwork.com
wikipedia.org
4chan.org
computerworld.com
computerworld.com

This morning, at my local Dunkin’ Donuts, mayhem ensued. The manager told me that Wednesday is their busiest day and this Wednesday was the busiest since before the holidays. Looking around, I saw many somber faces, tired eyes and dragging feet. My own included.

Although this Monday was a holiday for 30% of the workforce, many of us may find this week to be one of the longest working weeks of the year. In England, where Martin Luther King Day is not a celebrated holiday, the Monday that leads off this week is considered Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year! Why? The winter weather is one factor, but it also is the second full week after the holidays, all catching up with co-workers is done and the noses are expected back on the grindstone. For us, in the US, this hump day is the equivalent. Read the rest of this entry »

What is it?

SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act is a bill that has been brought in front of the US House of Representatives in an effort to stop online piracy, including copyright infringement. Many people in the technology industry are protesting the act due to the way it proposes that the Internet is policed in order to uphold SOPA.

If passed, the bill would allow the “U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement.” Internet Service Providers would then be required to shut down that site, and search engines would be required to remove the site from public searches.

Supporters of the bill include the Hollywood movie industry and the music industry who often see their works pirated. Protestors include tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter, eBay, AOL (see more) and Wikipedia and Reddit who will both shut down their US sites on Wednesday in protest of the bill.

So, what’s the big deal?

Tech companies are afraid that the legislation is infringing on freedom of speech and that sites will be shut down on a simple complaint, rather than with due process. For example, one blogger recently critiqued ABC (and parent company Disney) and included clips of the language he found offensive from an ABC show in his critique, as well as sharing them with the show’s sponsors. Disney claimed copyright infringement and the blogger’s site was hastily removed by his Internet Service Provider. Another instance: YouTube hosted a video on behalf of one mother that posted a 29-second video of her son dancing to the song, “Let’s Go Crazy.” No big deal, right?  According to the record label, Universal Music Publishing Group, that’s copyright infringement. Both cases are now in the legal process.

Policing the Internet is possible, and no one can fairly argue that sites that share movies illegally or that entire books can be shared without the author’s permission, but this bill appears cumbersome and too hasty. Perhaps we should start with a clear definition of what copyright infringement or piracy is as it pertains to online content? Is quoting someone on your blog without their permission copyright infringement? Is using a clip of a song in your YouTube video piracy? A picture posted on Facebook? An image from a movie posted on Pinterest? We could see a lot more blackouts if we don’t know, including our own social networking pages.

Sources:

http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/13/10151672-sopa-opponents-gaining-momentum-wikipedia-google-join-protest

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/

http://www.publicdomainsherpa.com/fair-use.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/quickerbettertech/2012/01/17/how-to-fix-online-piracy/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/20/spanish-novelist-quits-piracy-protest

What a way to start off the New Year!

The 2012 International Consumer Electronic Show officially starts today, although AT&T and Microsoft grabbed the spotlight early by unveiling the upcoming the first 4G Windows Phones during the press conferences yesterday.

Affectionately dubbed “Leak Week,” the last week has unveiled tons of information before the show, much of which focuses on the latest in televisions. With so many new tools and so much to follow, I will not focus on CES today, but instead take a look at some interesting stories that may have been overshadowed.

1. Instagram is allowing full sized photos on Facebook
Source: Instagram

Could it be that the one complaint Instagram users have may be overcome in 2012?
Instagram photos are small (low resolution) and while the app can be addictive, many users drop off because they are unable to “use” the art they create through Instagram. This new development allows users to post full-sized photos and provides a link to the full sized photo in Instagram.

Next I wonder if we’ll see Keepsy and other sites that use Instagram using the full-sized photos.

2. Social Media is restricted by Olympic volunteers, although it looks like the rules are already broken.
Source: BBC and Facebook Gamers page

London Olympic volunteers, called “Gamers” have been given a manifesto laying out what they can and cannot talk about on social media. The directions include:

• not to disclose their location
• not to post a picture or video of Locog backstage areas closed to the public
• not to disclose breaking news about an athlete
• not to tell their social network about a visiting VIP, eg an athlete, celebrity or dignitary.
• not to get involved in detailed discussion about the Games online
• but they can retweet or pass on official London 2012 postings.

Of course, the rules are meant to keep the volunteers, among others, safe, but it looks like the rules have already been broken on Facebook. The Gamers have their own Facebook page on which they discussed the rules, therefore breaking a few – by having a detailed discussion.

How are the authorities going to keep a handle on these kind of leaks?

3. Tom Hanks is bringing his show to Yahoo
Source: Yahoo and Mashable

I know I said I wasn’t going to talk about it, but Tom Hanks is making his own unveiling at CES. The Oscar winner will be bringing an interactive animated scripted program to Yahoo. He’ll be unveiling the show at CES today, but Yahoo says viewers will get to interact with the cast and a 3D map, play casual games, watch behind-the-scenes clips, discover back-stories, join discussions and post commentary on their social networks.

If anyone can bring a TV series to Yahoo, it’s Tom Hanks. What do you think?

4. Industrial Design scores
Source: Mashable

The CNET preview of CES (there I go again mentioning it!) talked about how most new gadgets continue to be small, flat-ish, boxes, usually with black screens and that the only excitement was what went on them. It seems like all phones, TVs, tablets and computers are starting to look the same. So, when I saw this post from Mashable about beautiful industrial design, I was excited… and if anything can be exciting when connected with the word industrial, then you know it must be worth a glance!

Amongst the beautiful things, an iPhone controlled coffee maker that can make 4 cups in one minute. Who doesn’t need 4 cups of coffee in one minute? Well, it would be pretty to look at! Hopefully we’ll see something this sleek and different in phones, tablets or computers this year.

Vivek Wadhwa, a columnist for Bloomberg Businessweek and the Washington Post, talks about the outlook for the top technology stories of 2012. Many of his predictions are contentious – what are your thoughts?

Thank you for making 2011 such a great year!

We look forward to working with you in 2012!

Image courtesy of parisleaf.com

2011 was a huge year for Technology news, both good and bad. We gained the robot we dreamed of as kids when Siri was introduced this fall, but we lost one of the greatest minds technology has known just one day later with the passing of Steve Jobs.

The top three technology stories of 2011 (in our opinion):

1. SOCIAL MEDIA MOVES THE WORLD.

This year we saw social media bring together rioters, protestors and the clean up crews. First, the protests in Tunisia and Egypt were spurred along by images of protestors portrayed through social media and ultimately acted as a method of organization and even a reason for protesting once freedoms such as Internet and cell phone service were taken away by the government.

“One could make an argument, and I think there’s [reason to believe] that a lot of young people view the freedom to connect as a fundamental human right and, when the government shuts everything down, and you’re completely unable to communicate with your peers, and get access to information, and each other, you run the risk as a government of turning something into an issue for people that would have otherwise watched on the sidelines.” Jared Cohen, Director of Google Ideas.

In London, Blackberry Messenger was used by participants in the riots, and the following days saw citizen clean up crews brought together by Twitter. Finally, ongoing protests from the 99 percenters are reported more frequently on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube than on mainstream media.

“We exist at the intersection of technology and social issues.” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg summed up at the Facebook annual conference.

2. GOOGLE+

As Facebook takes on more and more attention on the Internet, with 20 million applications installed per day, more searches are also being performed on the social media giant. In April, Google hinted that they would enter the social media contest as they announced a + button. But Google+ was hinted around, and then opened by invitation only, then exclusively by invitation… eventually it opened to the public in September and then to companies in November.

But was the wait too much? The social media site showed quick initial registrations and then lackluster growth. By the time company pages were announced, “61% of the top 100 [US] brands have established Google+ Pages, no brand other than Google had more than 50,000 Google+ fans, and more than two dozen of the top 100 brands had zero Google+ fans.”

3. THE BATTLE OF THE TABLETS

The iPad 2 was announced, HP put their tablets on ebay and Kindle Fire heated up the competition.

Who will win this battle is yet to be seen, but the price of Kindle Fire versus the speed and capabilities of the iPad 2, it seems like a middle ground could take the lead in the new year.We’re definitely excited to see what happens!

In 2012, SkillStorm will unveil its new website. Please visit us at www.SkillStorm.com to compare before and after.

On Behalf of All SkillStorm Employees, We Wish You Happy Holidays and a Safe and Prosperous New Year!

Lauderdale Xmas Party

The Fort Lauderdale team celebrated the holiday season this week by donning 80′s garb and teasing their hair!
Yes, that’s right, an 80s themed holiday party.

IBM predicts that mind reading machines could be on their way.
Source: FoxNews.com

“From Houdini to Skywalker to X-Men, mind reading has merely been wishful thinking for science fiction fans for decades, but their wish may soon come true,” IBM said. The prediction came as part of IBM’s annual outlook for future innovations. IBM suggests that this could be helpful in asking machines to do tasks, like dial someone for you.

Two thoughts came to my mind when I read this story. 1 – in this season of giving, of receiving, of family and in-laws, of receiving ugly sweaters from in-laws, I am really grateful no one can read my mind. 2 – I am guessing there are plenty of times when people think about dialing someone and actually follow through on that thought long enough to realize that it’s a terrible idea; at what point would the computer recognize a final decision?

Social Media updates to Google+ and Facebook
Source: eweek.com, DailyMail, SimplyZesty.com, & BrightEdge.com

As Facebook unveils yet another round of updates, Google+ also announced its own updates, including noise filter, photo redesign and page management. The latter seems most helpful for companies as multiple managers can own one page allowing each to make updates, keeping company pages constantly updated.

But how are the changes going over?

Facebook – The reviews on timeline are mixed. The interface is considered attractive, but the idea has been received as somewhat creepy, given that the feature delves into life even before Facebook. What are your thoughts?

Google+ – Sadly, the business page numbers for the newest social network are lackluster. “61% of the top 100 [US] brands have established Google+ Pages, no brand other than Google had more than 50,000 Google+ fans, and more than two dozen of the top 100 brands had zero Google+ fans.” Are you active on Google+? Why or why not?

Tune in every week for more blogs like this. Our blog topics include hiring trends (especially in IT), corporate culture and tech news, reviews and opinions.