WTI (Wireless Technology, Inc.)

A few more tips to safeguard yourself, your identity and your loved ones. Part 3 of 3.

 

Criminals are always looking for new ways to catch people unawares and take advantage of them. They will use any means necessary to commit whatever crime they have in mind and a lot of the technology we use everyday leaves everyone open for a possible attack. There are quite a lot of things you can do to protect yourself and your family from becoming victims.

 

Part 3: Medical records, credit reports, junk mail and documents.

 

 

Your medical records contain your entire family history as well as your personal contact information. It details your relationships (husband, wife, children, etc), your sexual behavior, any illnesses, diagnosis, treatments, prescriptions, you name it! Unfortunately even these records aren’t that difficult for a savvy criminal to obtain, especially since most medical providers now keep their patient records digitally. You can keep an eye on your records by visiting the Medical Information Bureau’s web site or calling them.

 

Always keep an eye on your credit reports. You are entitled to a free credit report once a year thanks to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Never assume that your credit report is accurate, human beings enter the data into these reports and errors happen. Plus, if you know what is on your report you can identify possible identity theft or credit card fraud since information of that nature will be detailed in your report.

 

When you need to dispose of bills or bank statements – never simply throw them in the trash! Criminals frequently “dumpster dive” for these documents. Shred everything. Everything! Credit card statements, bills, old debit or credit cards, bank statements, old pay stubs, anything of that nature. Cross-cut shredders are very inexpensive and can save you a lot of hassle.

 

Do not fill in any personal information that you do not absolutely have to when filling out documents. If the fill-in box states that it is optional – keep it to yourself. If you must fill in something, keep it as brief as possible. For example, don’t fill in your full legal name – use your initials. A lot of junk mail comes from people filling in all of their personal data when they really did not have to.

 

Lastly, to keep telemarketers from calling you – simply include your name in the Do Not Call Registry (www.donotcall.gov).

 

Protecting yourself from victimization truly is in your hands. Making small changes in your life and keeping an eye on your assets, your information and your technology can keep you and your family from identity theft or other problems.

 

~ K. McMillan-Ralph, Graphics & Marketing Manager

 

 

 

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WTI (Wireless Technology, Inc.)

 

Video Surveillance Products Dedicated to the Broadcast, Global Security and Transportation Markets!

 

www.gotowti.com

 

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Merry Christmas! : 2011

Have a wonderful Christmas!

 

 

“Christmas is the gentlest, loveliest festival of the revolving year - and yet, for all that, when it speaks, its voice has strong authority.”

~W.J. Cameron

 

Whether or not you celebrate the holiday of Christmas, we hope that the joy and wonder of the season fills your life and brings you happiness and peace.

 

 

 

“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.”

~Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

~ The WTI Team

 

 

 

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WTI (Wireless Technology, Inc.)

 

Video Surveillance Products Dedicated to the Broadcast, CCTV, Global Security and Transportation Markets!

 

www.gotowti.com

 

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A few more tips to safeguard yourself, your identity and your loved ones. Part 2 of 3.

 

Criminals are always looking for new ways to catch people unawares and take advantage of them. They will use any means necessary to commit whatever crime they have in mind and a lot of the technology we use everyday leaves everyone open for a possible attack. There are quite a lot of things you can do to protect yourself and your family from becoming victims.

 

Part 2: Computers, spyware and deleting files.

 

 

Your personal computers contain a wealth of your most personal and valuable information as well as avenues for exploitation and theft by savvy criminals. The easiest way for a criminal to steal information off of your computer is to actually physically steal the computer. Laptops are prime targets for theft and you should never leave it unattended. Never leave them in your car, do not stow them in overhead bins while traveling and even when you are home, store them someplace that they are not readily seen by everyone in your home.

 

On top of that always secure your computers with good, strong, not-easily-guessed passwords. Do not use common words, do not use sequential numbers or letters and never use personal names or dates of important events. If you can remember them it is best to use alphanumeric passwords, passwords that contain a random set of numbers and letters – both uppercase and lowercase. If that isn’t do-able for you, use an odd sentence. Keep in mind that the longer your password is, the more characters it contains, the harder it will be to guess.

 

Other ways to safeguard your computer include making sure your firewall is always running, make sure that you have a good spyware program installed on your computers and that you run them at least once a week and never click on any links you do not recognize or are unsure about. Criminals are very good at embedding malicious software into seemingly innocuous programs that can wreak havoc on your computer and your personal life.

 

Truly deleting files is not as easy as it sounds. You may think that once you delete something from your computer that it is gone forever. A lot of times that is not the case. Unless you go through the trouble of wiping your hard drives or physically destroying them, it is possible to recover that “deleted” data. There are quite a few programs on the market that will “wipe” a hard drive truly clean... but be careful! USB thumb drives or flash data cannot ever be truly wiped clean.

 

Next week: Medical records, credit reports, junk mail and documents.

 

 

 

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WTI (Wireless Technology, Inc.)

 

Video Surveillance Products Dedicated to the Broadcast, Global Security and Transportation Markets!

 

www.gotowti.com

 

~~**~~**~~

A few more tips to safeguard yourself, your identity and your loved ones. Part 1 of 3.

 

Criminals are always looking for new ways to catch people unawares and take advantage of them. They will use any means necessary to commit whatever crime they have in mind and a lot of the technology we use everyday leaves everyone open for a possible attack. There are quite a lot of things you can do to protect yourself and your family from becoming victims.

 

Part 1: Landlines, cell phones and leaving on vacation.

 

 

Always keep private conversations private. In order to ensure that private conversations are not being spied on these types of conversations should really be done in person and in a private location. Using any sort of telephone (landline or cell) your conversation can be easily spied on. You can purchase cheap devices at places like Radioshack that will allow you tap into any landline telephone.

 

Same goes for your cell phone. When it is not in use you should keep in unplugged and powered off. Cell phones are even less secure than landlines are and with the right technology your cell phone signal can be intercepted from just about anywhere. When your cell phone is on it can be tracked and even remotely activated so that the person snooping can hear everything being said around the phone. Also, there is quite a lot of personal information stored on your cell phone – from your social security number, your full name, your address, and even bank accounts and credit cards.

 

When you leave your home for any length of time, say for a vacation, always have the post office hold your mail. On that same note, if you do not have a mailbox with a lock on it – get one! Your mail is a goldmine of information for criminals to use to steal your identity; bills, checks, credit card offers, bank statements, you name it. Some people even go as far as renting secure mailboxes inside of their local Post Office to make sure their mail (and in turn their identity) isn’t being stolen.

 

Pay close attention to what is happening in your neighborhood and around your home; installing simple things like flood lights and security gates can deter a possible break-in. If you feel that you live in a less-than-safe neighborhood, consider purchasing firearms, pepper spray or stun guns to keep around your home in case of a break-in.

 

Always keep valuables hidden in your home; don’t leave things like jewelry boxes sitting on top of dressers in plain sight. Small portable fire safes are great for keeping your valuables safe from fire… but if a criminal finds one in your home, you saved them the trouble of having to collect your valuables in one place. They will simply pick up the tiny safe and take it home to break into later. If you need a fire-proof safe install one that is large enough to not be lifted easily by one person and make sure it is bolted secure into concrete.

 

Next week: Computers, spyware and deleting files.

 

 

 

 

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WTI (Wireless Technology, Inc.)

 

Video Surveillance Products Dedicated to the Broadcast, Global Security and Transportation Markets!

 

www.gotowti.com

 

~~**~~**~~

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! : 2011

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

 

 

“For each new morning with its light, for rest and shelter of the night, for health and food, for love and friends, for everything thy goodness sends.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year where we take time to give thanks for the bountiful food we have to fill our bellies with and express gratitude in general for life, family and friends. Be good to those you love and those who love you

 

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“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

 

~ The WTI Team

 

 

 

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WTI (Wireless Technology, Inc.)

 

Video Surveillance Products Dedicated to the Broadcast, CCTV, Global Security and Transportation Markets!

 

www.gotowti.com

 

~~**~~**~~

Cell Phone Trackers

 

Phone trackers work by mimicking a cellular phone tower which tricks the cell phone into connecting to the tracker which allows the tracker to send a signal to the phone and trace its location. The cell phone simply needs to be turned on to allow this to happen. The tracking devices vary in size and shape but most are small enough to be carried by hand or mounted in a car. The devices can only locate cell phones; they cannot hear any conversation made with it nor see any data contained on it.

 

 

Phone trackers help law enforcement and government agencies in a variety of ways including helping them find and capture dangerous criminals and aiding in search-and-rescue operations. This sort of new technology isn’t covered by our constitution but should they be included? Should finding someone in this manner be considered a violation of their rights?

  

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WTI (Wireless Technology, Inc.)

 

Video Surveillance Products Dedicated to the Broadcast, Global Security and Transportation Markets!

 

www.gotowti.com

 

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V2V Testing in the United States

 

Vehicle-to-vehicle communication is about to undergo its first major real-world test in the United States. The University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute was awarded millions of dollars to move forward with a test in the Ann Arbor area which will get 3,000 short range radio equipped cars on the road.

 

 

The Department of Transportation (DOT) believes that if cars can effectively communicate with one another and with the road that we can reduce serious collisions and other traffic issues by about 80%. The cars can tell their drivers if it is unsafe to pass, whether a car is approaching at an unsafe speed, or even when a car ahead of them slams on its breaks. The cars that can share information will not only be more efficient but they will also be much safer for everyone on the road.

 

~ K. McMillan-Ralph, Graphics & Marketing Manager

 

 

 

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WTI (Wireless Technology, Inc.)

 

Video Surveillance Products Dedicated to the Broadcast, Global Security and Transportation Markets!

 

www.gotowti.com

 

~~**~~**~~

Heat Hacking

 

Another thing to watch out for at your local ATM: The heat from your fingertips is actually leaving behind traces of heat that can be seen with a simple digital infrared camera. The camera can pick up which keys were pressed with about 80% accuracy even a full minute after you have left the ATM behind.

 

A criminal can definitely determine which keys you pressed but thankfully it is rather difficult to figure out in what order the keys were pressed. This sort of key identification only works well on plastic keypads as well since metal retains too much heat noise to allow the camera to accurately pick up which keys were recently pressed.

 

 

At the moment this sort of crime is in its infancy and there isn’t a large chance that you will be caught unawares but as technology gets better and better this sort of theft will become easier and more wide-spread. The ATM is not the only place technology of this nature could be used to infiltrate – keypad safes, security doors, keypad activated garage doors and car doors, and basically anything that uses plastic keypads is potentially vulnerable.

 

Right now, to prevent any possibility of reading which keys you have recently pressed, simply place your hand over the entire keypad for a few seconds once you are finished – then every key will be just as warm as the one next to it.

 

~ K. McMillan-Ralph, Graphics & Marketing Manager

 

 

 

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WTI (Wireless Technology, Inc.)

 

Video Surveillance Products Dedicated to the Broadcast, Global Security and Transportation Markets!

 

www.gotowti.com

 

~~**~~**~~

Happy Halloween! : 2011

Happy Halloween!

 

 

Hark! Hark to the wind! 'Tis the night, they say,

When all souls come back from the far away-

The dead, forgotten this many a day!

~Virna Sheard

 

Halloween has been celebrated far longer than most other holidays that we continue to celebrate today and has origins in and has taken influences from many different cultures over the centuries. The Halloween that is most commonly celebrated today takes pieces from All Saints Day, Pomona’s Day, the festival of Samhain and quite a few icons from the Day of the Dead.

 

Basically they all revolve around the same principles – summer has ended, the harvests are done and it’s time to celebrate and remember ancestors long gone.

 

Initially “trick or treating” started with poor folks begging for food and given “soul cakes;” over time the children took up the begging, going door to door and receiving food and money.

 

 

A gypsy fire is on the hearth, Sign of the carnival of mirth; Through the dun fields and from the glade Flash merry folk in masquerade, For this is Hallowe'en!

~Author Unknown

 

Be safe and have a wonderful Halloween!

 

~ The WTI Team

 

 

 

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WTI (Wireless Technology, Inc.)

 

Video Surveillance Products Dedicated to the Broadcast, CCTV, Global Security and Transportation Markets!

 

www.gotowti.com

 

~~**~~**~~

Cool New Tech: Flexible OLEDs

 

The researchers at UCLA have created the very first actual working stretchable OLED display. The major struggle they had with creating this technology was figuring out how to maintain conductivity while the panel is being flexed and stretched. The end-product of their intensive research uses two layers of carbon nanotube electrodes with a layer of plastic in the middle, fused together, which continued to display even when stretched as much as 45% from its standard configuration.

 

 

~ K. McMillan-Ralph, Graphics & Marketing Manager

 

 

 

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WTI (Wireless Technology, Inc.)

 

Video Surveillance Products Dedicated to the Broadcast, Global Security and Transportation Markets!

 

www.gotowti.com

 

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