SOMEWHAT FRANK

Google GMail Hacked: It happened to me

I read a report last week about software being created to hack into Google GMail accounts and it brought back memories of my early summer misfortune. I actually had a similar experience as my GMail account was hacked. Not only was it hacked but some of my personal information related to hosting packages I owned was used to take control of my hoting packages. It was to the point I had to file an FBI report. In doing so I typed up this brief synopsis of the events. Please note: some of the name and descriptions have been changed slightly to protect my privacy.

I first realized I was dealing with a hacker situation on 6/6/05 after trying to access my Google GMail account for over week to gain access to 3 different Internet hosting agreements and the login information. I could not get into my Google GMail account so I contacted Google several times to alert them but only got auto response emails. Finally, I visited one of my website addresses that I have a hosting package only to find a hacker had left me the message as follows:

HACKED BY MAT_RONG VN 

ME KIEP DAM HACK VNDROP CUA TAO A OJVDO DO CON CHO

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

So this is when I knew I was in for an interesting ride of uncovering what this hacker had done. So I went on contact my hosting company and lock my accounts down. They were extremely helpful in doing so. These accounts included two professionally hosted websites.

I contacted Google GMail via phone and got their abuse and support email addresses and sent them another email explaining the situation. 

I continued to go into my hosting accounts via FTP and started deleting the over 2000 files this hacker had placed on each website account. The hacker had started his own sites as well with domains purchased on my dime.

On 6/7/05, I received another email back from the GMail team with additional questions in an effort to verify my identity. I replied with all the details.

On 6/8/05, I received a call from the fraud department of my banking agent letting me know of some mysterious charges for hosting for at total of $5.99 and $11.93. At the time I did not connect them to this situation since I did not think my credit card information was saved by the hosting company nor did I recall having any information regarding addition website URL packages purchased with information being sent to my GMail address.

On 6/9/05, I finally received word via email from Google that my GMail account had finally been turned off so that they could further investigate the claims I had made. 

On 6/10/05, I received word that Google had finished its investigation and had reset my secondary email address. They sent to that address a link to reset my password and re-take control of my GMail account. Upon doing so, I started to investigate my email account. At first glance I saw nothing strange but then noticed that this hacker had used my current hosting accounts to purchase additional URLs. The hacker also attempted and seemed to deem successful on changing all of the mailing contact information on my account from my current address to something else. I promptly contacted my hosting company again.   

Further investigation of my GMail account found that the hacker had tried to purchase the a $156.00 hosting package from another hosting provider using my email address and billing information. The hacker was denied on the first attempt but was successful on the second according to the support department employee at the hosting company. She sent out an alert and shut down the account with the URL.

On 6/11/05, between 2am and 3am I received 2 emails from GMail's password assistant which meant that someone was trying to retrieve my password again. Then later that morning I recieved the email below from the email address ([email protected]): 

On 6/11/05, aaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaa <[email protected]> wrote:

I was use your mail and your host in some day ago

I verry sorry .I don't want do it but I must do the website for my class

I was buy a host is catbionline.net

and I use your mail

now Ican you unsuspend my account

ok? I'll give your acc in 1and1

please

Though it was nice of the hacker to contact me and the hacker was polite by saying "please", this is when I decided I had enough information to come to the FBI and file a report. The hacker had now not only stolen my identity to use my email address and credit card to purchase items, the hacker has stolen my hosting services to host his or her own sites, and tried to bribe me with the one remaining hosting account he or she had access to with 1and1.com.

So there you have it. Google GMail was hacked and I was the victim and it led me on a wild ride to reclaim several accounts and ultimately my identity.

With Google Analytics, Google Is Watching

I was surprised yesterday (November 14, 2005) to hear Google's move to make the previously pay metrics offering called Urchin free with the change of the name to Google Analytics. I really do not know why Google's move would surprise me. It shouldn't. It just seems like Google has a project underway relating to every aspect of the Internet and life, so that they can continue to release a new product every other week, forever.

I found Google Analytics grand once I got past the idea that by participating I was enabling Google  easier access to traffic information related to my blog, thus Google is watching. Though I began to realize Google already has similar access in a different format with Google Sitemaps, Adsense and Search result metrics. So I guess the new analytical offering just ads another item to Google's arsenal of information. Does it bother you that Google is watching? Or am I just being overly sensitive to my online freedom and privacy?

To see some other perspectives from the blogosphere on the new Google Analytics offering check out these posts on Roblog, Geekzone, netgeek.com, A Different Perspective and Jesse Newland.

Create Your Own Ringtones

Tired of paying $1 or $2 every time you want to get your favorite song as a ringtone for your cellphone? Thanks to software like Xingtone and Ringtone Media Studio you now can make your ringtones whenever you want. The software is abut $20 and can be downloaded online, however, I just recently spent way over $20 order ringtones for my Verizon phone. I just think it is somewhat addictive to order ringtones. Now, I am compelled to buy the software and make my own. A little bit of as musical interest and background, I actually have written a few songs of my own that I have sung and performed on my guitar at local bars around the city of Chicago. I think it would be fun to be able to make my own songs into ring tones since I never can seem to be able to find my own songs when I try and buy them online. Imagine that.

Visit Xingtone and Ringtone Media Studios to find out more information. You might also want to check out what some of the bloggers are saying about these and other ringtone products by reading these posts on 3D2F.com, Freebie Hunters Blog, Todd Chanko @ Jupiter research, Uveal Blues, Somewhere Out There and Mobile Stories.

Splog Reporter Highlighted On Wired News

An article titled How to Fight Those Surging Splogs was written by Nicole Lee of Wired News and published online yesterday (October 27, 2005). I conducted the interview about a week ago and appreciate the mention of our splog efforts. I am also pleased to announce the creation of Freedom Jump, L.L.C. as the owner and operating limited liability corporation of Splog Reporter.

Splog Reporter is continuing to evolve and anticipate to see something new soon from Freedom Jump. Also please continue to send your feedback, we love to hear your perspectives as much as I like writing my candid perspective on Somewhat Frank so please keep sending us comments.

Companies Censoring Out Blogs?

Chris Null of Wired News reported yesterday that some companies are starting to block blogs from view by their employees. According to the report companies censor out blogs via the use of a firewall as follows:

"If nothing else, the corporate firewall can simply add the word 'blog' to the company's list of verboten phrases that trigger blocking, alongside 'games,' 'warez' and 'britney spears sex tape.'"

I was shocked to see this type of move in the United States. It reminded me of some recent news about Internet censorship in nations, like China and a few others, that are governed by communism.

I have found that the blogosphere reports on trends and breaking news more quickly than conventional media. I use blogs as my primary news source since many of them link back to articles anyway, so reading blogs saves time in getting the news. We will see how long the blog blocks last before someone takes some action against corporate censorship.

Delaware Ruling Protects Anonymous Blogger's Freedom Of Speech

A ruling in favor of an anonymous blogger in Delaware will help to build case law to further protecting the freedom of speech. The ruling reversed a defamatory case Smyrna town councilman Patrick Cahill filed against bloggers from the by Independent Newspapers Inc., publisher of the Delaware State News. According to an AP report posted on First Amendment Center News the Delaware case:

"...the Delaware Supreme Court yesterday reversed a lower court decision requiring an Internet service provider to disclose the identity of an anonymous blogger who targeted a local elected official."

How does this affect the blogosphere?  Bloggers who anonymously post can now rest assured and continue ranting on any topic that they see fit with less fear of the legal ramifications. I am not saying go out and post defamatory remarks about someone and you are in the clear if you post them anonymously. Since this ruling is one of the only rulings of its kind there are questions as to if it will hold up across state lines. However, Delaware law may be respected enough that it may help protect anonymous bloggers across the country. It is definitely a ruling in favor of our first amendment right. 

To read the entire opinion check out John Doe 1 vs. Cahill.  Also get the blogosphere's perspective by reading the posts on Pocosin, Diane's Stuff, Slowlink, Rebuilding Media, and Contains 33% Juice. The washingtonpost.com also covered the ruling.

Yahoo and Open Content Alliance Building Online Archive

Yahoo has announced today on the Yahoo! Blog that they have created the Open Content Alliance in an effort to help build a permanent archive of multilingual digitized text and multimedia content.

This announcement comes a week after Google was slapped with a copyright lawsuit for trying to digitize book content. So how will the Open Content Alliance get around the copyright obstacle? According to the OCA website they will only make items available that have been authorized by the copyright holder. So it appears Yahoo has pulled ahead slightly in the race with Google to offer book content online. Additionally, wikiBooks has begun to offer a collaborative approach to bringing textbooks to the online space thus further adding competition to the book to online migration.  For more information on wikiBooks check out the wikiBooks About page.

These press articles on Yahoo and the Open Content Alliance on the washingtonpost.com, USA Today, NY Times and PaidContent.org offer more information.

Find out the blogosphere’s perspective by checking out post on Online Marketing Blog, Ben Metcalfe Blog, achievable ends and Agregador.

How Influential Is The Blogosphere?

According to a report titled "Firms in the dark over blog threat" by Guardian Media two-thirds of the businesses are totally in the dark of the power and influence of the blogosphere and its possible negative affects on their brand. They do not realize that bloggers could cause their business harm by planting seeds in blog posts which could send ripples through the blogging community of over 18 million bloggers.  Hugh Fraser, the co-author of the report and a former journalist for the BBC World Service said:

"Public relations companies have long experience in dealing with appeasing journalists, but with bloggers they're often not sure how to react."

I think that this could be said for the media industry as well due in part to the denial to accept bloggers and citizen journalists as another part of the media industry who are in some cases becoming just as popular as professional writer. Political figures also should realize the strength of the blogosphere and in some cases they have. This recent "Beltway vs. the Blogosphere" article explains how political bloggers could sway the opinion of the blogosphere.  I would have to agree because I cannot tell you how many times I have seen "Impeach Bush" and "Bush Indictment" as top Technorati searches in the last month which due to editorial standards would have trouble making a top media outlet's main headline.  So how influential is the blogosphere?

To read some recent posts in blogosphere check out the post on Web of Influence which dissects a recent Kathy Gill paper titled "How Can We Measure The Influence Of The Blogosphere?".  Also check out this post on the The Editor's Blog as it highlights how companies should measure the influence of the blogosphere.

Music Industry Should Reward, Not Sue Baidu

Chinese search engine Baidu.com was served with a copyright infringement lawsuit yesterday by a local affiliate of global music giant EMI, Shanghai Busheng Music Culture Media Co. Baidu has an mp3 music search at mp3.baidu.com that searches the Internet for mp3 files and returns them in results.

So why are they getting sued? That is wonderful question since really they are just offering a search service just like Google or Yahoo. However, it appears that the music industry disagrees. When it comes to enabling users to search on music that is on the Internet it appears you have to get permission from individual Music Company’s whose content you are returning in your results. This does not make sense and I do not think Baidu is doing anything illegal by offering mp3 search results. If anything, Baidu is doing the music industry a great service and should be rewarded since they should really be filing lawsuits with each individual website that hosts the illegal music downloads not a search company that finds and returns them in results. I guess Baidu is going to have its day in court to decide if the legal system agrees. If Baidu loses the lawsuit they may have to remove the mp3 search from its site or rework the search to make sure it returns pay-per-download results like a GoFish music search result does. You can check out a  GoFish search here.

Pluck Offers New Citizen Journalism and RSS Products

Pluck recently made its InSite Blogging and InSite RSS products available to publishers by announcing the launch of two Cox Newspaper's Austin, Texas websites:   

statesman.com
austin360.com

Both sites have completed an initial implementation of the InSite Blogging product. InSite Blogging offers publishers a way to promote citizen reporting and journalism. It offers publishers to integration options which include a fully hosted solution as well as more of a wrapper solution for publishers that do not want to rely on Pluck hosting the product for them. With this service publisher can offer its users their own personalized blog space within the publisher’s website. Users can then write blog posts that will appear in their blog space. So in essence they are writing content for the publisher offering user commentary.

The next phase for these sites is to implement InSite RSS. InSite RSS gives publishers the ability to offer their users a space to manage the feeds they see on the publishers site. Users select and subscribe to any of the millions of news and content feeds Pluck aggregates and caches daily. With Pluck, users can view and read the feed item titles and summaries from their favorite sources right on your site. So it is acting as a repository for users to store links to their favorite RSS feeds. I could see this being an especially attractive option to users that do not currently use another RSS feed aggregator.

Additionally, Pluck offers other services related to RSS and blogging and now even is offering its award winning RSS reader to be customize with it's Private Label RSS Reader option.

To find out more about this citizen journalism approach  check out this article on MediaPost which was mentioned on Micro Persuasion.  Also visit the Pluck Services page on the Pluck website to explore all of their offerings.

Google Offers Students A Pizza Eating Gig

I recently stumbled upon this Google job listing for college students and I found it rather intriguing. Students who meet the following criteria can become a Google Pizza Ambassador at their respective college or university.

• Computer science major or related fields
• One-year commitment
• Undergraduate and graduate students eligible
• Strong pizza-eating skills, and ability to recruit other pizza-eaters

I did a few searches and here are some schools where I found Google Pizza Program websites:

NC State University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rutgers
Stony Brook University
UC San Diego
University of Maryland
University of Minnesota

What is the catch? I really don't think there is a catch other then you need to take study breaks and eat pizza on Google. Brilliant! What will Google come up with next?

Remembering 9/11 Four Years Later

It was a gorgeous  September day with a fresh fall breeze as I departed for work near the Sears Tower in downtown Chicago. I remember getting a call that morning at work from one of my best friends who was driving to work and listening to the radio. He was telling me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center and my first thoughts were that it was a small private plane. Of course that all changed as I watched the live Internet feed of the second plane slamming into the WTC. People in the office got nervous and so they let us out immediately. I remember running down the streets with many other business men and women like Chicago was the city being attacked. Fear and tension had now joined that cool fall breeze in the air. I tried to catch a train but they were all jam packed at noon. Finally, I squeezed on one and after a short ride returned home safely only to find out more horrific information about the attacks. I was glued to the television and CNN.com for days.

Today is the four year anniversary of the horrible terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York, an event that has forever changed America. Be sure to take a moment today to remember all the firefighter, government workers, rescue workers and business men and women that lost their lives on 9/11 four years ago today.

Yahoo Accused Of Acting As Informant

After reading the BBC News report today which accused Internet and search giant Yahoo of supplying information to the Chinese government which led to the jailing of a journalist for "divulging state secrets" I wondered how this story could be true. Would Yahoo give up a user's personal information? The article went on to say that Yahoo acted as a "police informant" by giving the Chinese government and investigation teams with information that helped link journalist Shi Tao and his personal email account and the text of the message to his personal computer. So according to Reporters Without Borders Yahoo collaborated with the Communist party in China to be a police informant to help further control and censor the Internet in China.

I use a Yahoo personal email account everyday, and this story gives me the the sick feeling that Yahoo would stop at nothing give up my personal information if asked. Is this an invasion of privacy?

Keith Oberman Sounds Off About Katrina

Keith Oberman says he has kept silent long enough and recently expressed his editor opinion on the handling of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans by the United States government. It has been many years  since his ESPN days of light hearted sports highlights but this is the most serious Keith Oberman I have ever seen on television. Check out his entire recent editorial rant here. 

Kanye West's Rant Video

Kanye West has a new video out and it is not hip-hop or rap in nature. In case you missed the Red Cross Relief telethon over the weekend that was loaded with celebrity appearances Chicago born rapper Kanye West decided to accuse President Bush of racism. This was obviously not an appropriate time to express his feelings for the U.S. President but he showed some real guts in using his resources to get his message out by stealing the spotlight from the actual fund raising drive. Judging by the look on Mike Myers face, he was just as shocked as anyone when his co-host started to rant about the way the U.S. has handled the Katrina relief effort, the war in Iraq, and the President. Here is a link to the Kanye West video in case you missed it.