The Security Skeptic

Recognizing and Avoiding Situational Harm from Social Voyeurism

Image by Ryan Albrey

Recently, I observed three passengers enjoying a bottle of beer at a kiosk at Brisbane Airport. Shortly, they headed for their departure gate, leaving behind three empty bottles. A pilot occupied the table they vacated. Engrossed with an app on his mobile phone, he seemed oblivious to the beer bottles.

From my vantage point - and if one had not observed the passengers who earlier occupied the table - an observer might wrongly or meanly conclude that the empties were the pilot's. Imagine if the observer, for prank or intending malice, took a photo and Tweeted or otherwise socialized the "bottle and throttle" offense. 

A photo of this kind often trends or goes viral. The pilot and carrier are then unfairly subjected to criticism and scrutiny. While eye witnesses and video would exonerate the pilot in this case, some residual harm will persist: at the very least only some of those who saw the photo or social media post will learn of the pilot's exoneration and  some of these may choose another carrier when they next book a flight.

I mentioned this to a colleague and he said, "there's nothing the pilot could do about this". 

I disagree.

We now spend a great deal of time in a socially voyeuristic society.  Friends, follower, mail list lurkers, and others trend, track or surveil throughout our day. We share with or observe others more obsessively perhaps than at any time in human history. Some of this is by choice and online safety groups such as Stop.Think.Connect. publish helpful guidelines to help us make informed choices about sharing. Some occurs without our notice or consent; here, Privacy by Design and others explain the implications or consequences of third party data collector behavior.

Social voyeurism creates a situational risk that is less often discussed; namely, that our observable actions or speech may cause us, our families, or employers harm, or cause authorities to look upon us with suspicion. 

Situational risk is not new, and we many of us adopt defensive behaviors to place ourselves less at risk of purse or wallet snatching, car jacking, inappropriate contact or violent attacks. To reduce risks arising from social voyerism, we should pay no less attention to how our publicly observed behavior might affect us, our communities of interest, or our employer; for example:

1. Hold your temper. Choose to silently stew rather than express road rage, fan outrage, or gesture rudely in public.  
2. Mind your location. Observe what's going on around you and whether your surroundings or the actions of people around you put you at situational risk.
3. Consider who's watching (you). Take a moment to note potential social voyeurs and whether you're in their frame and range. 
4. Consider what data collectors can deduce. Being caught on TV at a ball game when you've called in sick at work is a tired sitcom meme but social voyeurs may make you more accountable to be you where you claim to be.

While we all may not be as strictly regulated as airline pilots, we do have some risk of embarrassment or inconvenience should a social voyeur record our activity and publish it with incorrect or meanly intended context. Be situationally aware!

 

Top 5 #infoSec Reads June 23-30

by Matt Piscitello

Snowden-inspired anonymity software, wearables security, remote control software for iOS and Android, Luuuk campaign affected by Tovar, and GoZ plays Lazarus are this week's top 5 #infosec reads.

Edward Snowden inspired anonymity software, OnionShare, launches

Promising massive file sharing across the TOR network with complete privacy, Micah Lee introduces OnionShare, which allows users to transfer encrypted information directly to each other. Lee, who appears to have the right intentions - protect user privacy rights – says peer-to-peer is the best way to avoid surveillance. OnionShare can be game-changing for people living under oppressive regimes, but it also offers cyber criminals yet another way to subvert the law and evade detection, which is a ramification we should bear in mind when approaching projects like this.

Google Glass launch raises questions on wearable security

Slated to change the way we use the web, Google Glass carries with it the same concerns as anything else in the Internet of Things: how secure is it? and how secure can we make it? Google is one of the biggest data collectors, and is frequently criticized by privacy advocates, so Glass will be watched with some concern for the direction it may set formobile devices in the security world.

iPhone, Android open to remote control malware

Galileo hit Blackberry phones earlier this year. The infected devices were targeted and concentrated towards users with specific occupations. Many more Android phones and jailbroken iPhones are now believed to be infected, with plenty more at risk.

Luuuk crime gang likely hit by Gameover takedown

Operation Tovar was a resounding success, and as we've said before, law enforcement officials should take pride that combined efforts produce results, especially considering the ripple effect that the takedown had on other criminal organizations. But Kaspersky Lab principal security researcher, Vicente Diaz claims that unless the gangs behind the crimes are taken out of play, we’ll simply see new botnets and new malware strains.

Gameover Trojan rises from the dead

Gameover ZeuS isn't eradicated. New variants of the Gameover Trojan are attacking financials and law enforcement admit to the possibility that the GoZ gang has a new infrastructure. ZeuS based malware is popular, easy to obtain on the undergroud and unlikely to go away any time soon.