Cell Phones A Reputation Management Crisis

Cell phones are everywhere these days and 91% of Americans use cell phones on a daily basis. One thing that many people do not realize or even talk about is how your cell phone can damage your online and real life reputation. There are dozens of ways a cell phone can cripple your reputation, and in some cases it is not even your cell phone doing the reputation damage.

Keep in mind that 91% of Americans or even more have cell phones and most if not all cell phones these days have cameras and video ability. So in reality 91% of Americans can snap a shot or video of you at the worst time ever and post it online. Taking video with your phone and posting it to YouTube or Facebook only takes a few minutes at the most. Be aware that you could be on Video during a private conversation or during an act of stupidity!

Your cell phone itself poses a Reputation Management risk also. How many times have you or someone you knew left a cell phone behind at a restaurant or public place to return later and retrieve it? If your cell phone was not locked with a password and someone was able to access your files and online accounts via your mobile device, could this cause you any problems? For most people the answer is yes.

Lets say someone found your cell phone and you had a few “Private Photos” or “Videos” on the device and these private files were made public online, this can cause major damage to your online reputation. Also if someone has your phone they could possibly access your web accounts like email, facebook, and other social media accounts.

One story I recently heard in my area is how a guy left his cell phone at home and his girlfriend went through his phone and found evidence of him cheating on her. She took the photos of both him and the “mistress” and posted them to photo sharing sites and other sites along with a long story of how he cheated on her with this girl. She tagged all the photos with his name and the girl’s name. Now when you search Google and other major search engines using their name as a keyword this entire embarrassing event along with images show up on page 1 of Google. This has damaged both of the parties reputations online and maybe their future love life.

The bottom line is safeguarding your cell phone as much as possible because there are many ways it could be used against you and your online reputation. Your cell phone is a window in to your REAL life and some things about your real life are not for the public to see and lets face it, everyone has something about them or something that they have done that could harm their online reputation in one way or another.

Do you need help with online reputation management? Contact ReputationLion.com at 202-599-8448

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Motorola Droid Razr Won’t Turn On – White Light

Droid Razr - droid razor Won’t Turn On

Droid razr wont turn on and has a white light when plugged in to charge? Here is the fix and the problem…

The problem is you most likely let your Droid battery run down past 5% charge, and not your battery is so low it is literally dead. You might be trying to charge it on a laptop also, DONT! When the battery is this low you need to either plug in to a car charger or wall charger (best).

OR You can try to reboot your droid razr by holding the power button and volume down button down for about 15 sec and this will reboot it.

Since you can not remove the droid battery the only way to restart it as if you removed the battery is to reboot using the button method above…

Hey leave me a comment and tell me and the world what you think about Droid and the Razr!

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One million Chinese cellphones infected with zombie virus

 

Viruses havebeen making the rounds on cellphones for quite a while now, but it looks like China has now been hit by a particularly troublesome one. According to Shanghai Daily, a so-called zombie virus disguised as an anti-virus app has infected more than one million cellphone users in the country, and it’s left users’ phones vulnerable to the malicious hackers that created the virus. They’ve naturally taken advantage of that access to not only spread the virus further, but cash in by spamming the phones with money-making links and other general annoyances — all of which has also added up to about $300,000 a day in added text message charges for the users affected. What’s more, while authorities have apparently tracked down the company that created the anti-virus application, it apparently insists that it had nothing to do with the virus, and that it’s actually a victim of it as well.

 

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New 80′s Style iPhone Case

New iPhone Case From The 80′s

Looking to transform your iPhone in to a throwback? Here is an article I found on GeekTech at PCWorld.com – It is a good idea and sort of a neat case for those that like to be different and standout from the crowd.

Full Article:

If nostalgia brings a smile to your face–and makes you kind of wish you still had a brick phone from the 1980s (but one with modern guts)–check out this 80s Cell Phone Case from Urban Outfitters.

The black plastic case is a chunky 2.5 inches deep by 7.5 inches high, so it’ll definitely protect your iPhone–and give you that hard-to-hold-with-one-hand feel again. Your phone just slides in, and the case gives you full access to the touch screen and home button. The $20 case is compatible with the iPhone 3, 3GS and 4 models.

Of course, you won’t be able to stick it into your pocket (or purse) any longer. Plus, you can get at the screen and home button, there’s no mention of how you would be able to access the headphone jack, volume controls, or dock connector port without removing your phone from the case.

What do you think of this new case? Would you get one or are you going to get one? Do you have one yet? Leave a comment and let us know!

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What is a QR Code?

Quick Response Codes

They come to us from Japan where they are very common. QR is short for Quick Response (they can be read quickly by a cell phone). They are used to take a piece of information from a transitory media and put it in to your cell phone. You may soon see QR Codes in a magazine advert, on a billboard, a web page or even on someone’s t-shirt. Once it is in your cell phone, it may give you details about that business (allowing users to search for nearby locations), or details about the person wearing the t-shirt, show you a URL which you can click to see a trailer for a movie, or it may give you a coupon which you can use in a local outlet.

Here is a Sample QR code that you can scan with your SmartPhone that will direct you to our website. Feel free to make stickers of the image and stick them all over the world for us :)

Sample QR Code For PhoneVirus.org:

The reason why they are more useful than a standard barcode is that they can store (and digitally present) much more data, including url links, geo coordinates, and text. The other key feature of QR Codes is that instead of requiring a chunky hand-held scanner to scan them, many modern cell phones can scan them. The full Wikipedia description is here.

 

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5 Mobile Phone Security Tips

The cell phones of politicians, celebrities and business professionals have been hacked or compromised, so how can you protect your cell phone data, and contacts?

Smart phones like Android are easier to hack than computers, and that weakness has been exploited by reporters and techs across the globe in recent months.

Here are a few tips on how to protect your mobile phone:

  • Use a password. Various phones allow for a single finger swipe to unlock them and those phones are at risk. Call your own phone, if it goes straight to voicemail without needing a password, a hacker only needs to pretend to call from your phone to access the same information. Check voicemail instructions to turn password skipping off. The same goes for any apps that require passwords especially when they contain personal information. Entering a password puts another barrier between hackers and your personal information.
  • Password Part II: Don’t make it easy. Avoid passwords with numbers as they appear on a keyboard like 1234 or 4444. An easy approach to take is to repeat one of the numbers. If the phone is stolen, there will be tap prints on only three buttons leaving the hacker to try and guess the non-existent fourth number. For added security, change the password every few months.
  • Keep Updated. When occurrences of iPhone tracking and malware on the Android market surfaced, both companies released patches on operating system updates to fix the problem. “I don’t think that any OS vendor would claim to have fixed every flaw upon release” said Scott Frees, assistant professor of computer science at Ramapo College. “The companies and other security firms are constantly trying to find flaws.”
  • Be Aware of your surroundings. When surfing, be sure you are on a secure website, which means it starts with h-t-t-p-s. This means the data that’s being sent from your computer to the servers that host the data is encrypted, it makes it far, far less likely to be viewed by someone else. Also take notice of the wi-fi network you use. Unsecure networks mean others can see what you are doing on your phone.
  • Common Sense. Don’t download an app from sites other than your service provider’s website. The android marketplace has had some Trojan horse attacks which sent location and user information to hackers. Also, monitor your phone usage whether online or on paper statements in case anything suspicious occurs.

 

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Kids and Cell Phone Radiation

Is Cell phone radiation a threat to children? Grassroots Environmental Education is warning parents about how cell phones can be dangerous to kids health. Here is a snippet of the article below:

kids and cell phone radiation

A New York non-profit group is urging parents to teach their children five simple rules to limit their exposure to cellphone radiation.

“With a new school year upon us, the list of back-to-school supplies may include a new cellphone, typically one that has more power and can perform more functions,” Patti Wood, executive director of Grassroots Environmental Education, says in a statement.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/08/22/Kids-should-hold-cellphones-away-from-head/UPI-65041313988586/#ixzz1VlBIoKJ7

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Android Trojan Virus Warning

Attention all Android users, a new Android Trojan has been found that can record your phone conversations and we would love to know if this has happened to you yet.

Dinesh Venkatesan, CA security’s researcher reports that the new malware will run on Android devices after they have installed it without knowing about it, once it is on your device it will record phone conversations and mimics a standard installation screen for legitimate applications.

If Android users click on the “install,” a configuration file will be to the mobile phone with some sort of key information about the remote server and the parameters,” suggesting that the phone calls can be accessed over the Web by the malware’s creator according to

Once the Trojan is on your device the malware will come into play and record conversations onto the device’s installed SD card in a directory called “shangzhou / callrecord.” CA Technologies reports that the malware saves the conversation as an ARM file.

Because Android is becoming ever so popular it will always encounter more Trojan infections that any other operating system, malware is being found quite often lately such as the DroidDream Trojan.

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What is Smishing? Are you at risk?

Smishing is a form of criminal activity using social engineering techniques similar to phishing. The name is derived from “SMs phISHING”. SMS (Short Message Service) is the technology used for text messages on cell phones.

Similar to phishing, smishing uses cell phone text messages to deliver the “bait” to get you to divulge your personal information. The “hook” (the method used to actually “capture” your information) in the text message may be a web site URL, however it has become more common to see a phone number that connects to automated voice response system.

The smishing message usually contains something that wants your “immediate attention”, some examples include “We’re confirming you’ve signed up for our dating service. You will be charged $2/day unless you cancel your order on this URL: www.?????.com.”; “(Name of popular online bank) is confirming that you have purchase a $1500 computer from (name of popular computer company). Visit www.?????.com if you did not make this online purchase”; and “(Name of a financial institution): Your account has been suspended. Call ###.###.#### immediately to reactivate”. The “hook” will be a legitimate looking web site that asks you to “confirm” (enter) your personal financial information, such as your credit/debit card number, CVV code (on the back of your credit card), your ATM card PIN, SSN, email address, and other personal information. If the “hook” is a phone number, it normally directs to a legitimate sounding automated voice response system, similar to the voice response systems used by many financial institutions, which will ask for the same personal information.

This is an example of a (complete) smishing message in current circulation: “Notice – this is an automated message from (a local credit union), your ATM card has been suspended. To reactivate call urgent at 866-###-####.”

In many cases, the smishing message will show that it came from “5000″ instead of displaying an actual phone number. This usually indicates the SMS message was sent via email to the cell phone, and not sent from another cell phone.

This information is then used to create duplicate credit/debit/ATM cards. There are documented cases where information entered on a fraudulent web site (used in a phishing, smishing, or vishing attack) was used to create a credit or debit card that was used halfway around the world, within 30 minutes

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Norton Mobile Security Might Protect Your Android

Anti-virus giant Symantec has thrown its hat in the ring to keep Android’s millions of smartphone owners safe and secure.

Symantec has released Norton Mobile Security Lite, a free Android app that automatically scans downloaded apps and app updates for potential threats, detects and blocks phishing websites or other compromised sites, and “eliminates mobile threats before they can infect your phone,” according to its description in the Android app market. Norton Mobile Security Lite is currently available for download in the Android Market.

 

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