Underground Web Designs Blog

Is your confidential business information secure? Kevin Mitnick might not think so.

I’ve recently been re-reading one of Kevin’s two books, The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security. In The Art of Deception, Kevin talks about one of the most overlooked elements of any security system: the people who use it.

No matter how much technological security you may have, if the people who use the systems are not trained to recognize when they are being deceived a skilled social engineer can still easily infiltrate your company and steal anything he wishes… often without you even noticing that there’s been a security breach.

As an accomplished hacker and social engineer himself, Kevin Mitnick knows what he’s talking about. He’s broken into many companies and has used many of the techniques in the book time and time again (and done the jail time for it too!). Just by reading his book you’ll find yourself nodding as you realize that most of the stories he presents, though fiction, could just as well be real — with your business as the victim.

If you do any sort of business on the internet — even just buying something now and then — you should read Kevin’s books, especially The Art of Deception. The internet is now a huge part of our lives, and it pays to at least be aware of how computer hackers and social engineers think and work. Most of the attacks Kevin describes can be easily guarded against, but only if you know what to look out for.

 For those interested, both books can be found on Amazon.com:
The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security
The Art of Intrusion: The Real Stories Behind the Exploits of Hackers, Intruders & Deceivers

Full Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon.com. Should you decide to purchase any of the books mentioned by following a link in this article I will receive a small commission.

Hands on Disaster Response is a different kind of charity. As their website states: 

Hands On Disaster Response is a US-based, volunteer-driven, non-profit organization with 501(c)3 tax-exempt status, dedicated to timely disaster response and relief. We strive to provide hands-on relief to survivors of natural disasters with maximum speed and minimum bureaucracy. Our projects focus on applying volunteer resources and expertise to disaster-affected communities around the world.

To me this is a wonderful goal, and one that HODR is meeting well. I have been watching their website for many months now, and they do no focus on raising funds… they focus on raising volunteers. It’s easy to give money to charity, it’s much harder (but usually more rewarding) to actually go and do the work yourself.

At the same time, the world needs more volunteers. HODR fits an ideal niche by making it easy for volunteers to just go and work quickly. Each project has an extensive “Volunteer Info” page that lists location concerns, local weather, food, housing details, packing lists and much more. The only requirements are that you agree to a statement of volunteer understanding and that you notify HODR of your arrival date.

HODR is also unique in that it is a ‘response’ organization, not a ‘reconstruction’ organization. This means they’re focused on getting in quickly and meeting urgent needs. HODR supplies the manpower required to clean up after an earthquake, flood, earthquake or other disaster, and leaves reconstruction to government projects and larger disaster groups. Rather than a weakness I see this as a tremendous strength. Not only does this allow anyone to volunteer (no special skills required) it places volunteers where they can make the most difference: restoring houses, schools, roads and other necessary buildings and infrastructure as quickly as possible.

If you’re looking for a unique adventure and don’t mind getting your hands dirty, I’d strongly suggest checking out Hands On Disaster Response. Whether you can volunteer for a week or a few months they will be glad to have you, and you’ll be right on the front lines… literally changing lives.

This is the first of my “Link Love Sundays” articles. As I mentioned in my post National Day of Service, every Sunday I will take some time to go “off topic” and promote a small business, organization, or individual that is doing something good for the world. These posts are all 100% free… I’m not compensated in any way.

Couchsurfing.com -- Got Couch?

If you travel a lot, there is a chance you’ve already heard of Couchsurfing.com. If you haven’t, couchsurfing is essentially a social network that helps travelers find a place to stay while on the road by connecting them with other members of the site who are willing to host them. Hosting is not elaborate - accommodations range from a cozy spot on the floor to a spare room, though in most cases the traveler sleeps on the couch (hence the name). 

Couchsurfing is much more than just a free place to sleep, however. In fact, the official couchsurfing mission statement - “Participate in Creating a Better World, One Couch at a Time” - has little to do with travel at all. Instead, the focus is to “networking people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance and facilitate cultural understanding” (Couchsurfing Mission page). 

As a member of Couchsurfing.com for just over a year, I have seen that mission expressed in a huge variety of ways, both at home and abroad. During a 6 week backpacking trip in Europe in the Summer of 2008 I couchsurfed in the UK, France, Italy, Greece, and the Netherlands, and was always welcomed not only by my host but also by the local couchsurfing group and often the host’s non-couchsurfing friends. No matter where I went, couchsurfers were more than willing to host me if they could, show me around when they had time, and help me out in any other way they could. One of the highlights of my trip was a 5 day camping trip on Naxos in Greece, with over 100 other couchsurfers. The entire trip was organized by volunteers, and attendees came from all over the world. 

Back at home in Canada, I have been experiencing another facet of couchsurfing… being part of a local group. Many medium / large cities around the world have a local couchsurfing group. This group takes the form of a dedicated forum on Couchsurfing.com where members can post and organize events, parties, or just about anything else. Besides a weekly meeting on Tuesday nights there is always 1 or 2 other events created on the spur of the moment and opened up to any couchsurfers who want to come.

Yet another example of the couchsurfing mission in action are groups for people who are all interested in a particular thing. As of this writing there are over 15,000 groups on the couchsurfing site focused on everything from marital arts, to vegan diets, to theater. Any member can join a group and participate!

Probably the most important part of Couchsurfing, and the part that makes everything else possible is the references system. Every couchsurfer can leave references about other couchsurfers he has interacted with, either positive, neutral, or negative. This produces a self-policing system similar to Ebay’s feedback. If you’re a jerk, everyone will quickly know about it, and nobody will invite you to anything — or host you. Couchsurfing is a very liberal, open place. You’re free to say just about anything you want (as long as it isn’t abusive, defamatory, etc) but you also have no anonymity. The site will tie everything back to your profile.

So, whether you’re a young backpacker, retired traveler, or are just looking to meet new people from around the world, Couchsurfing.com is - in my opinion - one of the best places to do it. If you’re open minded and willing to expand your horizons and step out of your comfort zone you’ll have a blast.

Just one quick tip: don’t use it as a dating site… that’s one of the fastest ways to get negative references!

Seth Godin’s blog should be required reading for every entrepreneur and small business owner, not because of his great business tips or amazing ideas, but because he makes you think. I was reminded yet again of why Seth is worth my reading time today, when he posted National Day Of Service. Go read it. It’s worth the 3 minutes.

As internet businessmen, we have so much potential to change the world. We spend every day using the most advanced form of communication in existence to network, promote ourselves, and make money. What if we took just a fraction of that knowledge, a fraction of that time and devoted it to helping those less fortunate than us? What a difference we could make!

Starting Sunday, I’ll be taking up Seth’s challenge. Every Sunday I will post about and promote an organization that is making a difference, a cool new startup, an artist without a web presence… whoever most needs the help.

Will you join me?

Adobe produces all kinds of great applications to help web developers, from Photoshop to Flash. However, they also offer several smaller apps that can be equally useful. My favorite of these is Kuler. Located at http://kuler.adobe.com, Adobe Kuler is a simple, free tool for creating and sharing color themes (groups of 5 colors that go together) easily.

To me kuler is invaluable whenever I’m starting a new project, as each color theme is named and tagged, and a quick search will usually bring up several color themes that could work well with the project I’m doing. Kuler also has a download feature (as long as you have logged in with a valid Adobe ID, something many designers will already have from registering any Adobe product). Downloaded kuler themes can be imported into Photoshop or Illustrator, allowing you to quickly reference them as you work.

Users can also create their own color themes in Kuler as well, so if you like playing with colors and seeing how they look together, why don’t you give it a try? When you’re done you can save your theme to the library for anyone to see, or make it private for your own personal use.

Kuler is certainly a simple program, not near as complicated as Photoshop or Dreamweaver, but it is still incredibly useful. Next time you find yourself stuck for what colors to use in your latest project, try a quick search on Kuler, the results will surprise you.