George Bardissi

It seems that every day I am running into a story about privacy issues on the internet and the trend, in my opinion, seems to be that we shouldn't even expect it any more. With sites such as Facebook becoming the number one most visited sites on the internet; it is safe to say that technology has become a cornerstone in everyday life. Did you ever think that using a computer would basically shut down your right to privacy?

I am sure that most people at some point have heard or read stories about how someone's identity was stolen from the internet or that someone's email has been hacked into. In recent memory, the story that comes to mind, on an email account being illegally accessed, was Philadelphia's own Alicia Lane, former news anchor at CBS 3. For those of you that may not have heard of the story, a fellow anchor Larry Mendte accessed Ms. Lane's e-mail account several hundred times over a few years which ultimately brought about private information being leaked to the public that wasn't necessarily favorable.

I just recently read a story about a former employee of a company down in Texas that uses a black box in vehicles to annoy customers who are behind on their car payments by setting off their horn randomly over and over again or to disable the starter so that the car was unusable as an alternative to other repo and collections methods. The former employee was let go, but did retain the password for another employee's login information to the web-based system that had access to the black boxes. He ended up causing chaos for over 1,100 vehicles while illegally accessing the system which caused many drivers to miss work and have to call for tow trucks.

A few weeks ago we found out that a suburban Philadelphia school district, who issues the students of their two high schools laptops to create a high tech learning environment, accessed the web cams of several students' laptops without any permission or notice that this technology even existed or was being used by the school district. Parents immediately began to complain and the family of a student that was photographed by the web cam, on his computer, off school property, after school hours in his bedroom taking what school officials thought where drugs that ended up being candy set in motion a federal law suit. The student was then approached by an assistant principal who confronted him about the photos and that's when the fire literally started. The school district claims that this webcam system was meant to track down stolen or missing computers however the school district was in complete control of the remote access system and did not require any police report or outside authorization to "track the computers down", which is required by systems like LoJack. So what does all this mean? I'll start to break it all down and give you insight into what it's all about next week.

I could go on and on about stories that are creeping up day after day about issues relating to computer and internet privacy. Did you know that search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc. actually keep a rolling log of all internet searches and your profile as well? They hold the information which can then be accessed by the government and could quite possibility show up in court if local prosecutors believe that the information about your search history is relevant to an investigation against you? This is an extreme example of course. However, you should be getting the drift of what I am trying to get across. What should you then reasonably expect regarding computer privacy moving forward?

First, except that anything you do online is basically public information. This goes from online searches, to social media such as Facebook, Twitter, etc, to potentially your e-mails. Be careful on who you open emails from or what pictures you are accessing because you may get a virus that then logs every keystroke you enter onto your computer which could lead to someone gaining access to credit card numbers and bank access information and ultimately lead to identity theft!

Second, make sure to change all your passwords for any online account and your computer frequently. I know that every website has a different way they want you to create your password which leads to a long list of passwords you need to remember. However, if you want to avoid someone accessing your information regardless of the system you are logging into, it may be a good idea to reset your passwords every 3 to 6 months. Remember, if you make your passwords easy then it will be easy to figure them out. Mix numbers and symbols into your password and remember that passwords are case sensitive so you can throw in some capital letters too!

Third, when you are logging into important websites or even if you are logging into an email account look for the beginning of the link to start with HTTPS not HTTP. Why? HTTPS means that the site is secure and usually has some sort of encryption so that information traveling from your computer to the website isn't open to be intercepted by someone actively looking to steal information. If you travel to a HTTPS website and it says the site's certificate is not valid think twice before continuing to that page unless you know that the page is ok to access already.

Fourth, actively clean out the internet history and cookies from your computer. I know it's never fun to remember websites and it's very convenient to just drop down and click on a link for a website you have already visited, but that information is just sitting there for someone to see where you have gone online and that isn't necessarily information you want people accessing!

Fifth, now that mobile phones are basically the norm, remember that they are computers too! Everything that we have talked about applies to your internet enabled phones as well.

So to recap, computer and internet privacy is something that, at this point, I would say not to expect. Remember that and start taking steps to protect yourself rather than find out after the fact that your information is hanging on the laundry line in the front yard for everyone to see. As time and technology move on expect more and more of your information to be widely available.

Bardissi Enterprises would like to extend our sincere thanks to our new customers who have contracted with us for the provision of managed information technology solutions and service. We are pleased to be providing IT Solutions for the following new companies:

• SRT Technologies
  Phoenix, AZ
• Doctor Co
  Ridgewood, NJ
• Souvenir World
  Washington, DC

Therm- Omega- Tech of Warminster, PA is this month's business in the spotlight. This is a company that has been in existence since 1983 and manufactures highly reliable and cost effective freeze valves for the railroad industry. The freeze valve, that Therm-Omega-Tech manufactures is the industry standard for the North America Railroads.

The company has taken the same technology that is utilized in railroad freeze valves and developed valves and systems for the industrial market. These include valves for freeze protection, scald protection, steam traps, ambient sensing, surface sensing as well as many other applications. There are mixing valves for both water/water and steam/water applications. These valves have also been incorporated into Hose down Stations for warm water wash down and Instantaneous Hot Water Heaters to provide tempered water for safety showers/eyewashes.

The technology utilized in Therm-Omega-Tech's products is referred to as phase change technology. It dates back to the 1930's when a particular paraffin wax that changed phases from a solid to a liquid at a very specific temperature was discovered. The temperature at which this wax changed phases was so repeatable and so reliable that to this day the wax is utilized to calibrate temperature instrumentation. This is a company that is definitely on the cutting edge of creating innovative technology for most of the top industries in the USA and the world. If you would like to learn more about Therm-Omega-Tech, you can visit their website at www.thermomegatech.com.