Smishing Defined.

     Merry Christmas, and have a happy new year.

     Stay safe.  This is the prevalent part of the year for attackers of all sorts to look for an easy score.  Easy can mean by phone, or online. When you're out and about, shopping, pay attention to your surroundings.  Enable the security on your phones.  Attacks come at the moment when you're most vulnerable.

     We get comfortable walking around, in our virtual world, emailing and texting.

     Texting leaves you vulnerable to scam attacks.  The texts can come from people you know and also people you don't know.  This is smishing.  Scammers sending scam texts to individuals.

     There are quite a few ways to acquire personal information from people.  Some types are smishing, vishing, and phishing.  Smishing uses social engineering to get personal information about someone using text messaging.  

     "Smishing is the fraudulent practice of sending text messages purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords or credit card numbers." (Languages.oup.com)

     "These fake texts are an attempt to get your personal information by pretending they come from sources you know and trust, like your boss, the IRS, or a bank.  Users should also report all spam texts to their wireless carrier for them to investigate.  You can send any suspicious or spam messages to 7726 (which spells SPAM) if your carrier is AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon." (Ryan Prejean, Help desk lead, IT support, Guardian Computer, New Orleans) 

     Some text examples of Smishing Attacks are: (msn.com)

• They've noticed suspicious activity or log-in attempts.
• There is a problem with your account or payment information.
• You must confirm personal information.
• You need to click on a link to make a payment.
• You're eligible to register for a government refund.
• You're being given a coupon.
• Your child is hurt and personal information needs to be sent for their treatment.
• You've been overcharged for something and you're being offered a refund.
• You've won a prize and you need to claim it.
• You have won $5,000. The prize needs to be claimed ASAP. Please reply with your bank information so we can deposit the money into your account.
• Your package has been lost. Please click here for more information: http://bit.ly/12345.
• Your IRS tax refund has been denied. Click here to file a review in 24 hours: http://bit.ly/$.

     Smishing goals are:

• Gain personal information.
• Social security numbers.
• Bank information.
• Credit card details.
• ID theft.
• Steal bank account.
• Charge credit cards.
• Take out loans.

     Similar to other online scamming activities, smishing is easy.  The attackers execute smishing with a few phone numbers, and get valuable information in return.  

     "As technology becomes more advanced, the cybercriminals' techniques being used are also more advanced." (Phishing.org)

     Attackers understand that people are used to text messaging.  95% texts are opened and read in 3 minutes.  Only 20% emails are opened and read at all.  Victims rarely reply.  Theives like smishing.

     The texts aren't easy to identify.  The company's name isn't present.  Short links are used; bit.ly.  The smishing texts are labeled as urgent.

     Smishing can be defended against by setting up SPAM FILTERS and BLOCKING UNKNOWN SENDERS in your text settings menus. Also, don't reply to them if they're suspect.  Block the numbers.  Keep them from using you in another attempt.

     Immediate defensive actions:

• Change all of the passwords that are associated with the information you gave out.
• Contact the real company you thought you were texting to let them know what happened.
• Run a malware check on your phone to ensure the link didn't allow malicious code to be downloaded on your phone.
• Try Malwarebytes or Avast Antivirus.
• If you gave out bank or credit card information, contact the bank or credit card company to report suspected fraud.
• Cancel the card that is prone to attack.
• Find more ways to stop spam texts on an iPhone or Android.

     Stay safe; remain cyber aware. (Consumer.ftc.gov).  Personal information is valuable.  It can get stolen.  Protect it. There are lots of cyber scams out there.  Some types are smishing, vishing, and phishing.  Smishing uses social engineering to get personal information about someone using text messaging.

Economic Outlook; May 22, 2020; COVID-19 Era

     What is the outlook for our economy?

     In the wake of economic reverberations, we are witnessing the adverse side effects, or results of the pandemic.

     The adverse effects are supply shock. Pre-COVID-19, everybody was good.  Evidently, the economy had been functioning as normal.  In the U.S. market economy consumers and producers were determining what was sold and produced. Producers owned what they made and decided their own prices.  Consumers owned what they bought and decided how much they were willing to pay. (nbcnews.com)

     The news had begun discussing the virus.  Corona virus then became COVID-19 and intensified under it's new name.  Globally, 333,000 people have died (5/22/2020).  Hospital systems have been flooded with patients suffering from COVID-19.  Some patients have symptoms some have very mild symptoms, but they have been confirmed COVID-19 positive.  The pandemic gave the government no other logical choice except to lock down the economy. (https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/)

     Now, stay at home work orders are in the process of being removed. Governments that previously inhibited, then prohibited people from going to work, are reestablishing rush hour standards. 

     Supply is the measure of what our economy collectively produces.  The virus single handedly caused a sudden contraction of the labor force. Our ability to produce goods and services was slam dunked.  Supply shock.

     Inside of a supply shock, policies like those used during the Great Recession function properly.  Currently, the secondary shock to consumer confidence, the demand shock, is contained. Fiscal and monetary front responses are keen. The key is that the government doesn't add any additional shocks on top.  These could detrimentally damage overall ability to work and produce.  The government should continue to function as such. It was mentioned that under another pandemic flare up, the government will not lock down.

     Labor force depletion is taking up ground.  The labor force participation rate, tapping bottom, is the sum of all workers who are employed or actively seeking employment divided by the total noninstitutionalized, civilian working-age population.  

     Too many citizens are out of work, subsequently being forced to seek positions they're easily over qualified for.  Underemployment is veering out of control.  It's the underuse of workers where a job does not use their skills, is part-time, or leaves the workers idle.  

     Widespread underuse of the labor force is the effect caused by the downcast 20% unemployment rate.  The unemployment rate is the number in the civilian labor force divided by the number of unemployed.  Everyone without a job isn't necessarily unemployed, at least according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  To be counted in the unemployment rate, you not only have to be without a job, you have to have actively looked for work in the past four weeks. If you were temporarily laid off and are waiting to be called back to that job, you're still counted. If you've given up looking for work, you're not counted in the unemployment rate.  

     The supply shock is huge. It's the unexpected event, COVID-19, that changed the supply of products or commodities resulting in an unforeseen change in prices. Supply shocks can be negative, resulting in a decreased supply.  Supply shocks can be positive, yielding an increased supply; however, they're often negative. Assuming aggregate demand is unchanged, a negative (or adverse) supply shock causes a product's price to spike upward. A positive supply shock decreases the price.  

     The supply shock ignited from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.  All non-essential employees in the area were ordered by government to work from home and to remain indoors as much as possible.  The order was an effort to slow the spread of the virus.

     COVID-19 was the coronavirus disease of 2019, when it was first identified. Originally called the "2019 novel coronavirus," the highly contagious disease spread across most parts of the globe. It is believed to be spread primarily by respiratory droplets from infected people. Fever, cough and shortness of breath are hallmark symptoms. Currently there is no vaccine or proven treatment for the virus that may cause severe respiratory disease.  Severe typically means pneumonia.  Pneumonia requires hospital intensive care and can quickly turn lethal. Many people experience few or fairly mild flu-like symptoms within a week or two.  It rapidly surged passed an epidemic.  Pandemic is an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population of the world.  Thus, our current state. (M. William, Macroeconomics, 2019, isbn: 9781137610669)

     This is the outlook for our economy.  We will rise out of supply shock, or fall back into it.  

Covid Cleaning

Cleaning And Disinfecting Your Home; COVID CLEANING.

     No one likes to do it, but it is one of those duties that has to be carried out.  Humanity is polluting the Earth. We are cleaning up our own mess, simultaneously.  On a personal basis, if you make a mess and clean it up, there is no mess in the first place.  There are isles, in virtually every store, dedicated to cleaning merchandise.  You can find an "as seen on TV" aisle with limitless items dedicated to the upkeep of your own living space.

     Now that COVID-19 is here, these items are flying off the shelf at record pace. "How to" videos are going viral. Holistic health is on an upswing. Some products that had lost their luster are back in the limelight. Hand soap has become golden. Who knows, you might be able to find some personal Binaca on the shelf, too.

How to clean and disinfect:

• Wear disposable gloves to clean and disinfect. They are called disposable for a purpose. Make sure you aren't using them to the point where they break. Use them, change them, throw them away.
• Clean surfaces using soap and water.  Soap is the ultimate product. It has a really nice scent.
• Practice routine cleaning of frequently touched surfaces.  (Tables, doorknobs, lightswitches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, sinks).  These surfaces carry an absurd amount of bacteria.

Disinfect

• Clean the area or item with soapy water, or detergent if it is dirty.  Detergent is great when you need a gritty medium.

Then, use a household disinfectant.

• Use EPA-registered household disinfectant.  If it's not EPA registered it could literally be water diluted.
• Wet the surface. Leave for one minute.  Leaving disinfectant on for one minute will give you optimum strength.
• Have good ventilation during use of the product.  Fumes from cleaning solutions are dangerous.
• Diluted household bleach solutions may also be used if appropriate for the surface.  Make sure the surface is compatible.

• Check expiration date.  Expired solutions will change consistency, in some cases.
• Unexpired household bleach will be effective against coronaviruses when properly diluted.  Pay attention to your dilution technique.
• Never mix household bleach with ammonia or any other cleanser.  Remain vigilant, but smart.

Bleach solution, mix:

• 5 tablespoons (1/3rd cup) bleach per gallon of water.
• Or, 4 teaspoons bleach per quart of water.

Alcohol solutions:

• at least 70% alcohol.

Soft surfaces (carpeted floor, rugs, and drapes):

• Clean the surface using soapy water, or with cleansers appropriate for use.  These sufaces are sensitive to cleaning solutions.

(CNN.com); (GOODHOUSEKEEPING.com)

     There are tons of ways to clean and disinfect properly. You may add sanitizer to the list.

     In order to figure out different ways to clean and prevent the virus, you have to understand the virus.

     The coronavirus or COVID-19 is similar to influenza.  There are a variety of symptoms including fever, cough, shortness of breath, gastrointestinal problems, diarrhea, etc. To diagnose a potential case, healthcare professionals may run tests to rule out flu and other infections.

     Symptoms of COVID-19 may appear within 2-14 days after exposure. Many people experience mild symptoms.  The virus can lead to severe illness, or possibly death.

     Cleaning and disinfecting your home/ work environment is very important.

1. Gloves- www.softscrub.com
2. Soap- www.palmolive.com
3. Detergent- www.tide.com
4. Disinfectant- www.lysol.com
5. Bleach- www.clorox.com
6. Alcohol- www.walgreens.com
7. Covid 19- www.cdc.gov

"THE RHINOCEROS" ink on paper, gonbup productions©2020

(artwork)