What in the World is Pod Slurping?
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It sounds a rude teen party game but pod slurping is not just rude, it’s criminal.
Pod surfers use a portable data storage device such as an iPod to illegally download large quantities of data. Pod surfers plug directly into the by computers where the data is held and may be on the inside of a firewall. This puts companies at risk from data theft and individuals at risk for identity theft. With an estimated 123 million iPods and mp3 players being shipped, the potential threat will be everywhere. iPods aren’t the only devices that can be used to slurp up your private information.
Pod surfers can access and slurp up your private information using:
*iPods and other MP3 players
*mobile phones
*digital cameras
*PDAs
*thumb drives
*other plug and pay devices
Security expert, Abe Usher, coined the term “pod slurping” in 2005. Dennis Lloyd, publisher of iPod fan site iPodlounge, said ” I can see how easy it would be to do,” and added that it was a shame that such a low act would bring bad press to “the insanely great iPod.”
These top-selling portable devices store up to 80 gigabytes and while their storage load has increased, their size has decreased, making them less noticeable. Pod surfing puts individuals at risk for identity theft and poses threats companies and agencies. While companies and individuals invest in antivirus programs and intrusion prevention services to stop corporate and identity thieves from accessing data via the internet, pod slurping makes it possible to slurp up private information from the USB connection on the outside of your computer.
How Easy is Pod Surfing?
* No one thinks a thing about seeing a person with an iPod, camera, phone or other psd.
*It only takes minutes.
*It is a simple automated process that requires no technical expertise.
*The small devices used to pod surf can still be in the thief’s pocket while they work.
Many reports on pod surfing revolved around possible scenarios; thieves dressed as janitors and armed with iPods. But we soon learned that pod surfing wasn’t just possible, it was happening. An employee unhappy with performance review pod slurped and the excel spreadsheets of all employee salaries and e-mailed them to the all the other employees. This and other incidence put companies on alert.
While it is corporations and agencies that seem that the likely target for pod slurping, individuals also need to protect themselves from the risk of identity theft through pod surfing.
Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft by Pod Surfing
Pod Surfers need access to your computer to plug in their device so the best advice- keep your computer inaccessible to others. Whether you’re stepping out of your office or dorm room or walking away from a café’ table for a refill, remember it only takes about a minute (actually 65 seconds in test) to download everything on your computer to an iPod. That puts a new perspective on “Oh, I’ll just be gone a minute,” doesn’t it?
Avoiding identity theft prevention begins with being aware of all of the ways identity thieves steal, or slurp, your private information.
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Source by Lisa Carey
