Lets Go Fishing/Phishing?

Twitter has become so popular, there is a phishing scam going on right now. BEWARE!!! Phishing happens when a user clicks on a unsuspicious and authentic looking link from someone they trust, (usually in an email from a friend) and the unsuspecting and trustworthy user is unknowingly redirected to a site which has been created to duplicate the look and feel, “100% the same” as the original site. The fake website disguising itself as an authentic website, will request your username and password (pin #) in order to enter the site. Often financial institutions fall victim of such a scam. However, Twitter users all over the world are currently victims of such a phishing problem. The information provided by the user, is then used by the malicious phishing scam for unauthorized transactions.

The person sending the phishing link to their friends generally are unsuspecting of such an occurrence. A user which has been infected by this malicious phishing scam, sends out URL links to their friends containing the phishing scam with catchy verbage (”hay look at this funny blog”). Usually, the unsuspecting users e-mail contact list is distributed with the malicious phishing link. However, with Twitter it appears to be our “followers” distribution list that is being utilized in the form of a DM (direct message).

As with any phishing scam, preventative measures can be followed.

1. Clear your browser cache/history (Google it if you do not know how)
2. Make sure the site your logging into doesn’t have extra characters with it. Do not enter any information into the fake URL link (see below)

3. Do not click on links asking you to “go see.”

4. If you are feeling uncomfortable and insecure about the Twitter phishing panic created, it is advisable to change your Twitter password.

Does It Matter What Twitter Client I Use?

Currently I am using TweetDeck as a Twitter client, and do not see a choice within the application to clear the cache. TweetDeck uses Adobe Air application. On a side note; I have noticed when I delete (using the garbage can icon) a column in TweetDeck (ie: DM’s), after closing the application and opening at a later date - the column which I had deleted reappears. I am just saying… If the information is never really deleted, perhaps information is being stored somehow?

TweetDeck is not to blame!

This is not an isolated issue within TweetDeck. I have reported instances occurring through the use of the Twitter Website.
When I received my first phishing DM from a follower, I clicked on the link and noticed in the URL it had that person’s name as a referral link, which was then redirected to a bogus Twitter.com website (see above).

While visiting other websites, and clicking on their authentic (like ThemeForest.com) “sponsor” pages, I have noticed the same type of referral link being redirected. Although, this was not for a “sponsor” page, I believe this information is tied into how we will continue to receive more DM messages - if you do not clear your cache/history.

Don’t Stop Reading Your DM’S

I am noticing a large hysteria on Twitter. Individuals are refusing to read their DM messages, for fear of getting a virus or something worse. This is NOT the case. You will NOT be affected by the phishing from reading your DM messages on Twitter. The only way you will be effected is if you enter your Twitter username & password in the bogus website - which was created to steal your information.

UPDATED ALERT!!!

Since this post first was wrote, I have received another phishing link. It is from someone I would trust 100% and communicate frequently with, but have not talked to in about 2 weeks because they are unavailable. I am unsure if this is a factor in who is targeted or not. My point is, this phishing scam has made even me paranoid!

It is a shame, Twitter is a place filled with valuable information freely flowing in the form of a shortened URL. Now, there is this uneasy feeling when we wish to click on a link which may be informative - or may be a malicious link.

Firefox Plugin-in Helps Detect Phishing

Firefox has a plug-in to lengthen those shortened URL’s so you can see right through them. http://www.longurlplease.com/ is the website you can use to download the Firefox “LongURLplease” plugin from.

TWEET THIS AND SAVE A FRIEND-ASAP

Now that you have been educated on what not to do - do not let this phishing scam stop you from networking with your friends. If anything, DM them with this link and stop the panic! RETWEET -> RETWEET -> and RETWEET THIS ASAP

CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD- NOW

You should not only change your password for Twitter, but if your like some trusting individuals - they use the same password for numerous accounts. Change other existing accounts which correspond to the same password used on Twitter for security sake. Better safe than sorry. Don’t be foolish and careless. It is a gut wrenching feeling to be violated, but the control is currently in your hands, so go change those passwords!

Phishing Site Created 12/16/08

Domain registration information and other relative information can be found on http://think.alifr.com/phishing-is-still-spreading website.

Help Others by Commenting

If you have any further information which may be helpful, regarding the Twitter phishing delimma - please leave a comment and share with others.

Thank you for visiting and Happy Twittering!

Tags: Blogging, Graphic Design, Social Networking, Twitter, Virus // Comments

Shhhh, promise not to tell? I will let you in on a few secrets to make your website prettier! Some designers like to keep this information all to themselves, however I believe in networking and helping others. How else are we to learn if we do not share information with each other? We were not all born in our jobs, we had to start somewhere in our profession. So, whether you like to blog, create websites, or just enjoy photography - I have just the information for you.

It is a new year which symbolizes it is time for a make-over. We all need to get into shape. So, I am going to let you in on the perfect places to do just that. Ready, here we go…

Stock Image Sites

Dreams Time http://Dreamstime.com
Fotolia http://us.fotolia.com/
Bigstockphoto http://www.bigstockphoto.com/
Shutter Stock http://www.shutterstock.com/
123rf.com http://www.123rf.com/
iStockPhoto http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php
CanStockPhoto http://www.canstockphoto.com/
Feature Pics http://www.featurepics.com/
Photostockplus http://www.photostockplus.com/

More Must Haves

Speckboy.com 30 FREE Resources for Photoblogging & Image Galleries (WordPress)
twentybytwenty.com  Free Icons, Typefaces (my favorite), and WordPress Themes
LayersMagazine.com  “Adobe How-To for Everything Adobe”  this one is a Lightroom Tutorial
Nicolesy- a photographer at work on Flickr, while taking a picture of a child (adorable work)

Fun Fonts

ilovetypography.com  If your going to go all out with your make-over, then you’ll need to play with some fonts. I have just the luscious place for you to hunt down that special font.

http://www.groan-zone.net/delphi.html Great little website with Freeware tools. I personally enjoyed the Font Viewer. You can type in a phrase and it will easily change with each font selection for better selection choices.

Mr. Tweet?

Check out @MrTweeton Twitter. He is your own personal assistant for discovering the great followers and influences in my network! Try him out for your network.

The Ultimate Twitter Icon List

randaclay.com 
soulvisual.com
Webfruits.it

Photography & Lighting

Lightroom Tip: Backing Up Huge Lightroom Files
Free List of LightRoom Presents

Is Your Username Available in the Social Media?

http://usernamecheck.com/   - This awesome website will go through every Social Media website you can (and can’t) think of to check to see if your username is taken. For example, if you use “MrTweet” as your username, this website will tell you if it is available on MySpace, FaceBook, Flickr, etc. Try it!!  Special thanks to jimmacleod last week leaving a comment, I found out about this useful tool. I am slipping this one in here, but it pertained to last weeks post on “How to Make Yourself a Brand.”

Share the love…

I would love to add to this list of information to pass on to others like yourself. Please leave a comment so we may share information with others and pass on a good thing. Everyone has a bit of creativity at heart, and lets share the love and pass it on.

Tags: Blogging, Graphic Design, Mac, PC, Photography // Comments

From all of us to all of you…
Happy New Year!!

Tags: Blogging, Social Networking // Comments

The primary purpose behind the creation of this site is to share and educate others in areas of weakness, or provide informative information which will in turn allow our readers to “make your websiteDazzling;” hence the name “WebDazzling.” With that said, there’s more to making your website “dazzling” than the content and graphics.

Brand Identity

It is important to think of yourself as a brand. What does that mean? Today’s technology allows anyone the ability to search the Internet for information. Potential employers/clients in today’s market are making use of Google and other search engines to find out information about you. Your name is a brand.

What is Your Online Identity Score

Online Identity Calculator  provides you with a quick rating of your name as a “brand.” Look to the right sidebar on this site for an example of their widget (put one on your site too if you like). It uses information proved through Google in order to determine if your “Online Identity” is positive, negative, or non existent. Credit to @marenhogan from Twitter and http://marenated.com/ for bringing this to my attention.

How to Create a Brand

Create a FaceBook account with your name. FaceBook, unlike MySpace seems to be where the “professionals” hang out. I have an account on both; however I use my FaceBook for more professional acquaintances and socialization. With that said, my advice to anyone on either of these two sites would be to use caution and be careful who you accept as a friend. I had a bad experience on one of these sites. Someone created a fictitious profile and decided to send horrible messages and make profound comments regarding my family. So, if you are always wondering why there is only 1 photo of Chris Hebert on any given site – this is the reason. I immediately pulled any personal information pertaining to my family and made all social media 110% professional.

Kicked to the Curb

The best advice I can give is this: do not make friends with people you may be embarrassed to expose to other potential employer’s/clients. In other words, if your 30 something years old and have a bunch of friends showing themselves naked and drunk on the floor passed out, you may wish to evaluate your selection of friends. I try to carefully research each person prior to accepting a friendship. Also, do not be afraid to terminate a friendship if they are potentially dangerous to your image. Put yourself in the employer/client’s shoes. Would you hire yourself giving the negative media exposure surrounding your name? If you answered “no,” it is time to re-evaluate and make some serious changes.

FaceBook Guru

@marismith on Twitter is who you should follow for exceptional tips & advice pertaining to FaceBook. Mari Smith, also quite a few wonderful sites as well:
http://whyfacebook.com/
http://facebook4pros.com
http://marismith.com
Mari Smith is recognized as an expert on giving helpful information pertaining to FaceBook, go ahead and subscribe to one of her blogs & tell her Chris Hebert said “hello.”

Put Your Face On

Basically, choose your photo (avatar) carefully – it is a representation of yourself. In addition, be cautious which friends you allow into your social media life. When creating social media accounts – try to use your name as a “user name,” in order to continue to create a brand for yourself. Lastly, make wise choices in life and use common sense. If it would embarrass you in front of your children later in life, DON’T DO IT NOW!

One final thought, go to http://www.godaddy.com and see if your name is available for a domain name. I didn’t jump at the chance when I was advised to, and now my name has been taken by a gentleman with the same name. The early bird gets the worm, as they say.

Continue down the brand identity path, and good things will follow.

Drop us a line and let us know what you have done to benefit yourself as a “brand.”

Tags: Misc, Social Networking // Comments

Ahhh yes January. Time for New Years resolutions, weight loss commercials, and exercise equipment. It’s also a reminder of what we have been too relaxed about in our lives, and what we need to reclaim for next year.

The end of 2008 is quickly approaching. There’s a great deal of blogs displaying their New Years reflections and 2009 wish lists. For me, I have never been one to make a New Years resolution; it seems pointless to promise to do something that will not be. Instead, New Years is a time to be more organized. Out with the old, and in with the new. I am a computer geek chick, for those of you who are unfamiliar with me. The beginning of the New Year is a time for a fresh start (on my computer).

Whether you’re a Mac or a PC owner:

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I just love that saying. It has saved my butt many times over.

Isn’t it funny how we spend more time caring for our car, than we spend on preventative maintenance for our computer? Most individuals spend at least 8 hours a day on their computers and tend to take for granted it will always startup without any technical issues. Let’s start the New Year by giving a little TLC to our friend, “The Computer.”

Organization of files

Clear off that desktop. Come on, I can see the mess from here. How many times have we quickly downloaded something from the Internet and plunked it on our desktop? How many times have we copied something from a USB stick and dragged it onto our desktop? The list goes on, and on. So, your personal challenge is to dispose of the unneeded files on your desktop, and create a new “STUFF” folder for everything else you don’t want to deal with - for now. Or better yet, choose a specific day and sort through EVERYTHING 110% and move things into their rightful place (ie: new folder, recycle bin, external hard drive).

Backup-Backup-Backup!!!

Or else you may regret it sooner than later. Backup frequently and regularly. Backing-up computer files is a task most people dread completing. If you’re like me, I tell myself “I will do it later.” Although, “later” never comes around here much. So, January is when things are put into perspective and “later” is recognized as “right now.”

Uninstall

Now is a great time to uninstall those games your kids put on your computer that’s occupying prime hard drive real estate and causing it to slow down (especially if your a PC user). Also, uninstall any programs you no longer use, have not used, disliked once you installed them, and have no future plans of utilizing. Don’t be afraid - uninstall those unwanted programs.

Virus/Malware

Once you’ve organized, backed-up, and uninstalled unnecessary programs; I would highly recommend running a virus/malware scan on your PC computer. Refer to my prior post “Make Your PC Run Faster,” for tips, software recommendations, and web sites.

Not for the Light Hearted

This isn’t for everyone. I once read an article years ago which suggested formatting your PC and reinstall your operating system. Starting fresh each year is a great way to start fresh and get the bugs out. Without getting to technical, this is a very complex job. Not only because of the reinstallation of the operating system, but because of the reinstallation of all the files that were backed-up. Restoring music into iTunes is what I dread most. I find myself praying to the iTunes Gods. This is not for the simple hearted, however it is my preference and New Year practice.

If you are contemplating this route, make sure you have all of your recovery discs prior to completing this task. More and more companies are hiding a partition on PC hard drives, which contain everything needed for this task. Unfortunately, step-by-step instructions are beyond the scope of this post. Due to the various types of computers, it would be virtually impossible for me to address each individual circumstance completely.

What is on “YOUR” Computer?

Drop a comment and let me know what your preventative maintenance habits are for your PC/Mac. Please share with others what programs you tend to use & what works for you. I do realize the PC has more virus/malware software available than the Mac (we all know why, shhhh “big brother” is watching), however we would be very interested in knowing what you enjoy running on your computer. Through the sharing of information, we can all help each other.

Happy New Year

I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I hope everyone finds time to give their trusted friend, “The Computer” a whole bunch of TLC this holiday.

Thank you for stopping by, and thank you for sharing!

Happy Holiday’s

Tags: Computing, Mac, OS, Operating System, PC // Comments