pokemon go security

Pokemon Go: Global Craze or Huge Security Risk

If you see people, adults and kids alike, walking around town with their eyes locked on their phones – chances are, they’re playing Pokemon Go. The game, which was released on July 6, has been a massive success. It’s been downloaded millions of times, already overtaking the dating app Tinder, and set to shortly overtake the social network Twitter.

Using augmented reality technology, Pokemon Go fuses the real world and digital world together, allowing you to see and catch virtual Pokemon alongside real-world objects right from your phone screen. For instance, a Doduo could be peeking out from a tree just outside your house.

However, due to the app’s immense popularity, users have experienced problems such as crashing servers, freezes, and delays. On top of that, security issues have been raised. According to Adam Reeve, the principal architect at the cybersecurity analytics firm RedOwl, when users sign into Pokemon Go using their Google account (instead of registering for an account), they risk granting the game access to their entire Google account – allowing the app to see and modify nearly all the information in your account.

In response to the security issues, Niantic Labs, the company that developed the game for Nintendo, said the app’s request for full account access was a mistake. In fact, they’ve addressed the security concerns with a new update that is live in the app store.

The update fixes some security bugs that stops the popular app from requesting full access to your Google account. Now the game will only ask for basic information such as your name and email address. The update also promises more stability and patches such as:

  • Resolved issues causing crashes
  • Fixed Google account scope
  • Trainers do not to have to enter their username and password repeatedly after a force logout
  • Added stability to Pokémon Trainer Club account log-in process

Fixing the Security Issues Ahead of the Update

To revoke the full account permissions access, Pokemon Go users should go to their “My Account” Google page. From there, navigate to “Connected Apps and Sites” under “Sign-in and Security.” Then select “Manage Apps,” click on the Pokemon app, and select “Remove Access.”

Security-Technology-for-Guns

The Latest Security Technology for Guns

At the start of the new year, the White House announced plans for executive action in an effort to curb shooting deaths. President Obama directed the Departments of Justice, Defense, and Homeland Security to analyze and research various means to accomplish this mission. One approach that has been met with much controversy and debate is gun security technology.

This broad term covers a variety of devices intended to secure guns so that they will be inert if they fall into the wrong hands and prevented from firing altogether except by their lawful owners. While pro-gun factions initially opposed this security technology, claiming how this step toward gun control threatened their Second Amendment rights, both sides did agree on one aspect: the importance of gun safety.

Security technology for guns today is increasingly associated with “smart guns.” Smart guns are employed through electronic devices to ensure that they cannot be fired unless the lawful user is authenticated through pass codes, fingerprint scans, or similar methods. This technology has been around for decades, but there had never been any sort of widespread adoption of smart guns, largely in part due to opposing groups such as the NRA. Here are some new security technologies that have arrived in the gun market.

Smart Gun Technology

Armatix, a German gun manufacturer, sells a .22 caliber pistol that can only be fired if the shooter is wearing a watch that transmits a signal. The shooter must also enter a PIN number to activate the weapon while a delay timer automatically deactivates the pistol after a period of disuse. This renders the gun useless to anyone who does not know the PIN. Armatix also sells a lock inserted into a gun’s barrel that can only be removed by entering a passcode.

Winchester Safes

Venerable gun maker Winchester proudly proclaims how they “Won the West” with their line of firearms, and now offer new versions of the traditional method for storing guns – the home safe. Different sized models with names like Bandit and Big Daddy are large enough to store many guns, including longer rifles, along with ammunition or other valuables. High-end models like the Legacy Premier stand six feet tall and weigh 1,600 pounds. The safes are opened or closed with a hand crank, and locked or unlocked with a passcode.

GunVault

GunVault is a Las Vegas-based company that provides smaller safes to secure individual weapons. However, it’s upcoming ARVault is only large enough to store a rifle once it has been disassembled. The real innovation behind this invention is in the locking mechanisms, which rely on a biometric scanner to verify the owner’s fingerprints.

Identilock

Identilock is another promising device using biometrics, this time as a lock that fits over the trigger guard, leaving the gun unusable. A handy fingerprint scanner above the trigger verifies the user for easy release. This security technology allows the owner to add or remove other shooters via fingerprint scans. A friend at the gun range could be easily added and removed later. Another family member could be added for home defense, or removed if showing suicidal or violent tendencies.

3 True Urban Legends

Every year on and around Halloween, families and kids look forward to Trick-or-Treating, Halloween parties, haunted houses, and other festivities to celebrate this ancient Wiccan holiday. Every year we also hear about the urban legends told by someone who swears they’re true. They heard it from a friend, who heard it from a friend, who – you get the idea.

The majority of urban legends are false. After all, how can Goat Man be real? There are a few such urban legends that do have some truth to them, and you should be worried.

 

Slender Man

The origins of Slender Man tie directly back to the forums of Something Awful, a humor site for people who enjoy joking about Dungeons & Dragons, tricky Photoshopping, and general prankery. On June 8, 2009 Slender Man was created by Victor Surge when he Photoshopped an image of a tall, shadowy figure with tentacles for arms haunting two small children.

Since then, Slender Man has taken on a proverbial life of its own and has now become a true urban legend. In some stories Slender Man preys solely on children, in others he kills indiscriminately, disemboweling his victims and bagging up their organs. Still in others, Slender Man simply compels his victims to kill each other.

That’s just what happened in Waukesha, WI on May 31, 2014. Two 12-year-old girls lured another 12-year-old girl, their friend, into the woods and stabbed her 19 times with a large kitchen knife, allegedly in order to impress Slender Man and prove he was real. The 12-year-old girl survived the attack but it goes to show – an urban legend doesn’t have to be based on ancient myth or story to be taken seriously and be given a life of its own.

 

The Hitchhiker

We’ve all heard the stories. A woman stops at a gas station to get gas, goes inside to get something and then drives away not realizing a murderous hitchhiker has stowed away and is hiding in her backseat. She doesn’t realize it until it’s too late and her body is found several days later in a ditch nearby.

Versions of this story almost always stay true to the hitchhiker’s target being female. Some versions tell of a Good Samaritan driving behind her flashing his headlights and trying to warn her. Other versions involve some sort of gang initiation. Either way, this is something that does happen, just not the way you think. A woman was strangled to death in her car just after dropping off her daughter at daycare. A man snuck into the backseat of her car while it was unattended and waited for her to return. Once she did, he killed her and escaped with her car.

The moral? Always lock your doors.

 

Poisoned Halloween Candy

It’s every parent’s worst nightmare and a child’s deepest fear. Who doesn’t enjoy rummaging through their bag of goodies at the end of a good Halloween night, but fears not waking up the next morning after eating a few pieces of candy. Most of these stories consist of hidden razor blades and lacing candy with poison. Though this doesn’t happen as often as one would think, it has happened. Please be vigilant about checking your child’s candy.

In 1974 Ronald Clark O’Bryan of Waco, TX laced pieces of candy with cyanide. He, however, was no stranger to his victims. O’Bryan was having serious financial troubles and decided his way out from under his mountain of debt was collecting on a $20,000 life insurance policy he had taken out on his children. He gave the poisoned candy to his son, daughter, and two other children. He helped his son, Timothy O’Bryan, ingest the cyanide-laced Pixie Stick. Timothy died as a result. O’Bryan was nicknamed “The Candyman”, and was caught and put to death via lethal injection.

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We’re pleased to announce our new and improved website!

We’ve been working hard to make sure that we’ve made the necessary adjustments to make this a more aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly version of our website.

Since the announcement of our original site, several things have changed, and we’ve learned that our presentation and documentation needed a little updating, so we’ve spent significant time improving our site with more modern tools and principles in mind.

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Useful blogs

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Free eBooks

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You can also check out our new website to discover:

  • How to start saving money with the strategic use of your technology
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We hope you enjoy the new website, and that it better reflects the direction we’re heading, and our dedication to helping you and your business grow.

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