EFF's Advice on How to Deal With the Latest Phishing Scam

["DAVID FARBER" <dfarber () me com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: EFFector List <editor () eff org>
> Date: August 17, 2018 at 09:23:33 GMT+9
> To: dfarber () me com
> Subject: EFF's Advice on How to Deal With the Latest Phishing Scam
> Reply-To: EFFector List <editor () eff org>
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> What to Do If You Find Yourself With a Phishing Scam in Your Inbox - EFFector 31.13
>
> In our 739th issue:
>
> Updates
> Announcements
> MiniLinks
>
>
> Members make it possible for EFF to fight for your rights. Become a member today.
>
> In our 739th issue:
>
> Updates
> Announcements
> MiniLinks
>
>
> Members make it possible for EFF to fight for your rights. Become a member today.
>
> Top Features
>
> Sextortion Scam: What to Do If You Get the Latest Phishing Spam Demanding Bitcoin
>
> You may have arrived at this post because you received an email from a purported hacker who is demanding payment or 
> else they will send compromising information—such as pictures sexual in nature—to all your friends and family. You’re 
> searching for what to do in this frightening situation.
>
> Don’t panic. Contrary to the claims in your email, you haven't been hacked (or at least, that's not what prompted 
> that email). This is merely a new variation on an old scam which is popularly being called "sextortion." This is a 
> type of online phishing that is targeting people around the world and preying off digital-age fears.
>
> The first and foremost piece of advice we have: do not pay the ransom.
>
> If the scammer emailed you a password that you still use, in any context whatsoever,  STOP USING IT and change it 
> NOW! Consider employing a password manager to keep your passwords strong and unique. Moving forward, you should make 
> sure to enable two-factor authentication whenever that is an option on your online accounts. You can also check out 
> our Surveillance Self-Defense guide for more tips on how to protect your security and privacy online. You may also 
> want to apply a cover over your computer’s camera. We know this experience isn't fun, but it's also not the end of 
> the world. Just ignore the scammers' empty threats and practice good password hygiene going forward!
>
>  
>
> Internet Publication of 3D Printing Files About Guns: Facts and What’s at Stake
>
> When it comes to guns, nearly everyone has strong views. When it comes to Internet publication of 3D printed guns, 
> those strong views can push courts and regulators into making hasty, dangerous legal precedents that will hurt the 
> public's ability to discuss legal, important, and even urgent topics ranging from mass surveillance to treatment of 
> tear gas attacks. In its responses to 3D printed guns, the U.S. Department of State and state Attorneys General have 
> sought to brush aside the legal protections that ensure your right to dissent and to publish technological 
> information and software for privacy and other purposes. That’s why we’re working to make sure that 3D printing cases 
> don’t set precedents that chip away at your freedoms to speak and learn online.
>
> If the states in this case are successful, they will bypass legal doctrines that we rely on to protect your right to 
> encrypt and your right to advocate for social change. Their arguments are dangerous because they threaten to empower 
> current (and future) U.S. government officials to play pre-publication gatekeeper of what information you can publish 
> online based on the barest, unproven claim of national interest or the possibility that others might use your 
> information to further crimes. It could bar us from publishing and discussing artificial intelligence technologies, 
> something that has increasing importance to our online lives and even how the government makes decisions about bail 
> and sentencing. It could censor information about how to survive a chemical weapons attack. It could force us to 
> compromise our secure communications technologies, making our personal information vulnerable to unlawful 
> surveillance and identity theft.
>
>  
>
> EFF Updates
>
> How to Improve the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018
>
> California has enacted the Consumer Privacy Act (A.B. 375), a well-intentioned but flawed new law that seeks to 
> protect the data privacy of technology users and others by imposing new rules on companies that gather, use, and 
> share personal data. There's a lot to like about the Act, but there is substantial room for improvement. Most 
> significantly, the act allows businesses to charge a higher price to users who exercise their privacy rights, does 
> not provide users the power to bring violators to court (with the exception of a narrow set of businesses if there 
> are data breaches), does not require user consent for data collection, only requires users to opt-out (rather than 
> opt-in) to data being sold, and the "right-to-know" language is not specific enough and does not avoid news gathering.
>
> The CCPA is just a start. Between now and the Act’s effective date in January 2020, much work remains to be done. EFF 
> looks forward to advocating for improvements to the Act in the months and years to come.
>
>  
>
> EFF Amicus Brief: The Privacy Act Requires the FBI to Delete Files of Its Internet Speech Surveillance
>
> U.S. law makes clear that the government cannot keep surveillance records on a person or group because of their 
> political views or the way that they express their First Amendment rights. Unfortunately, the FBI has flouted these 
> laws by maintaining records of its probe of two people whose website criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East.
>
> In this case, plaintiffs Mr. Raimondo and Mr. Garris ran the website antiwar.com, where they wrote pieces criticizing 
> U.S policy in the Middle East in the early 2000s. After reposting a widely available FBI document, they caught the 
> notice of the FBI, which began tracking the website and the two men through a practice called “threat assessment.” 
> The FBI did not find any wrongdoing or basis to further investigate. Nonetheless, the FBI maintained for many years a 
> record of the postings on this advocacy website and its writers. The First Amendment clearly protects their online 
> journalism and advocacy. Now they are requesting that the FBI expunge their surveillance files.
>
> EFF is urging a court to make this right and filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support 
> of the plaintiffs.
>
> Eight AT&T Buildings and Ten Years of Litigation: Shining a Light on NSA Surveillance
>
> Two reporters recently identified eight AT&T locations in the United States—towering, multi-story buildings—where NSA 
> surveillance occurs on the backbone of the Internet. Their article showed how the agency taps into cables, routers, 
> and switches that handle vast quantities of Internet traffic around the world. Published by The Intercept, the report 
> shines a light on the NSA’s expansive Internet surveillance network housed inside these sometimes-opaque buildings.
>
> EFF has been shining its own light on NSA Internet surveillance for years with our landmark case, Jewel v. NSA. In 
> more than 10 years of litigation, we’ve made significant strides. Despite the government’s years-long stonewalling, 
> EFF is committed to continuing its fight against the NSA’s mass, warrantless surveillance. Multiple newspapers and 
> publications, like The Intercept, are equally committed, too. We thank them for investigating and writing stories 
> that confirm what we’ve said in our Jewel suit, and for continuing to expose the enormous breadth of NSA surveillance 
> to the public.
>
> Stupid Patent of the Month: Upaid Sues “Offending Laundromats” For Using Prepaid Cards
>
> When patent trolls threaten and sue small businesses, their actions draw the public's attention to the worst abuses 
> of the patent system. Upaid Ltd., a shell company based in the British Virgin Islands, has been filing patent 
> infringement lawsuits throughout 2018, including 14 against laundromats—yes, laundromats—from California to 
> Massachusetts.
>
> Upaid says that laundromats are infringing U.S. Patent No. 8,976,947. Claim 1 of the patent describes a computer 
> system that performs “pre-authorized communication services and transactions,” after checking an account to see if a 
> user “has a sufficient amount currently available for the … transaction.” It’s essentially a patent on having a 
> prepaid account for—well, anything.
>
> Behind the Octopus: The Hidden Race to Dismantle Global Law Enforcement Privacy Protections
>
> Last month, 360 cyber crime experts from 95 countries gathered in Strasbourg to attend the Octopus Conference. 
> Octopus is one of the more open and transparent elements in the world of global law enforcement and cybersecurity. 
> Civil societies like EFF and EDRI were invited to speak, and this year it was our primary chance to comment on a new 
> initiative by the event’s organizers, the Council of Europe: an additional protocol to their Cybercrime Convention 
> (also known as the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime), which will dictate how Parties of the Convention from around 
> the world can cooperate across borders to fight Internet crime.
>
> Our conclusion: the Council of Europe (CoE) needs to stand more firmly against a global trend to undermine everyone’s 
> privacy in the pursuit of faster and easier investigations. As conversations at Octopus showed, the many long arms of 
> the world’s law-enforcers are coming for user data, and the CoE needs to stand firm that they obey international 
> human rights, in particular article 15 of the Budapest Convention, when they reach across borders.
>
> EFF to the FCC: Don’t Let AT&T and Verizon Get a Chokehold on Internet Access Competition
>
> The majority of Americans do not have a choice when it comes to high-speed Internet. People living in rural areas 
> have poor quality and coverage when it comes to even mid-range broadband, and America is lagging behind other 
> countries in fiber optics. There are very few things in place that help address these problems, and big ISPs are 
> asking the FCC to end one of them. But EFF is stepping in to ask the FCC to deny AT&T's and Verizon’s petition to 
> give them a further chokehold on Internet access choice.
>
> Announcements
>
> Discussion Hosted by TA3M Portland
>
> A local organization in the Electronic Frontier Alliance will host this event: In this session, Tiberius Hefflin, 
> Founder of Go Boldly, will delve into the basics of digital forensics. Attendees will learn what digital forensics 
> draws from forensic science, how the law informs what a forensic investigator is ethically able to do, the many uses 
> of digital forensics, evidence collection methods, anti-forensics methods, what the incident response process should 
> look like, and how they can maintain crime scene integrity until investigators can carry out an assessment.
>
>  
>  
>
> EFF at Dragon Con 2018
>
> EFF returns to Dragon Con to participate in a series of panels about technology, civil liberties, activism, and pop 
> culture.
>
> Crypto 2018: Global Overview of Developments in Encryption and Surveillance Policy and Law
>
> For folks attending Crypto 2018, the 38th International Cryptology Conference, don't miss this 
> internationally-focused panel on surveillance and encryption. Organized by the International Association for 
> Cryptologic Research (IACR), EFF Executive Director Cindy Cohn will examine recent international and U.S. 
> governmental efforts to control encryption and limit user security.
>
> Help Send EFF to SXSW 2019
>
> Help EFF get to SXSW by voting for our panels in the SXSW Panel Picker. And share the blog post so your friends can 
> vote, too!
>
> Meeting Hosted by Privacy Lab
>
> A local organization in the Electronic Frontier Alliance (not EFF) will host this event: An exploration of the 
> emerging technologies and implementations coming out of the Digital Identity Foundation (https://identity.foundation) 
> member organizations, with a focus on Hyperledger Indy and the privacy preserving properties of these new identity 
> networks.
>
> MiniLinks
>
> Alex Jones Is Far From the Only Person Tech Companies Are Silencing
>
> The content moderation debate should be about urging companies to apply their rules consistently and provide clear, 
> accessible avenues for meaningful appeal, says EFF's David Greene. (Washington Post)
>
> Mind the Gap: Drone Privacy Falling Through Regulatory Cracks
>
> Eighteen states have laws requiring warrants for drone surveillance—but others have not kept up with the rapid pace 
> of drone technology. (Bloomberg Government)
>
> Banks and Retailers Are Tracking How You Type, Swipe and Tap
>
> As companies begin to use "behavioral biometrics" to track users, EFF's Jennifer Lynch says there's good reason to 
> worry: "It’s a very small leap from using this to detect fraud to using this to learn very private information about 
> you." (The New York Times)
>
> SAS Turns to Texas for Help in Copyright Battle, Suing British Company and Pizza Hut
>
> Are copyright holders following patent holders to the Eastern District of Texas in search of a friendly forum for 
> infringement lawsuits? (The News & Observer)
>
> Ohio Council Member Wants to Implant Microchips in People Awaiting Trial
>
> Besides being in poor taste, a proposal in Toledo, Ohio City Council to switch from electronic ankle monitoring to 
> microchips misses the point. (The Appeal)
>
> Facebook's Plan to Partner With Banks Raises Privacy Concerns
>
> “Facebook already has mountains of information about our social networks, physical movements, and activity online. Do 
> we really want to give Facebook greater insight into our finances and purchases, too?” asks EFF's Gennie Gebhart. 
> (Fortune)
>
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>
> Administrivia
>
> Editor: Katharine Trendacosta, Policy Analyst editor () eff org
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