A Text in the Middle of the Night

This is a reprint of a post from 2012 but is very relevant today.

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. We are allowed to have and to express opinions on any subject. 

Since you are reading this post, you are using the internet. While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, internet safety is a very important thing you need to understand. There are many wolves out there who basically see you as food. They would love to drain any of your bank accounts and use your credit card numbers as their very own piggybank. Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, and as a first-century Jew, he knew nothing of the internet but his words are applicable to our modern concerns. We really are surrounded by dangerous predators.

Here is the original post:

Last night at one-thirty AM my wife's smartphone received a text message.  We have someone in the hospital so we burst out of bed to read the message.  It was a text of an internet scam which has been active for over a year.  The text says that the receiver has won $1000 and to get the money one needs only go to a link provided in the text.  The link loads a virus which steals a person's private personal information (passwords, account numbers, social security number, etc.) from a computer or smartphone. This is a criminal activity.

The person who sent the text does not care why you might respond, whether it is out of greed or anger at the late-night text. Either way, they have you. If you send them any information, they have you.

And, they may have you even if you do not send them any information. Just opening the link may install MALWARE, malicious software that will run in the background without your knowledge. One of the things this might do is to give to the predator the names and contact information of everyone in your contact list. If you have stored sign-on information, the wolf can now sign on as you on any of your online accounts. The predator will also search your phone for banking and credit card numbers. 

Attacks on personal information are rampant. In just the same way, Christians are constantly under attack from The Evil One and his servants, especially when they are distracted by life's worries or worse, are spiritually asleep.  It is not currently popular to think of Satan as a person but the Bible clearly does.  Most people, including Christians, do not need his help in falling short of the mark.

Remember, if you resist the devil in the power of the Lord, the devil will run away! James 4:7.

A Few Internet Safety Tips

 

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Since you are reading this post, you are using the internet. While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, internet safety is a very important thing you need to understand. There are many wolves out there who basically see you as food. They would love to drain any of your bank accounts and use your credit card numbers as their very own piggybank. Some may even be stalking you personally. 

Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, and as a first-century Jew, he knew nothing of the internet but his words are applicable to our modern concerns. We really are surrounded by dangerous predators.

Some unknown person wants you to open an unknown link. Opening the link, or sometimes, even calling the sending number, installs malware in your devices, giving that person access to all of your personal and financial accounts, probably not a very good idea.  

Here are some useful internet safety tips:

 Be highly skeptical of unsolicited emails.

R    Restrict your accounts so that only people whom you choose can view your posts and photos.

Tu  If a phone call comes from someone not on your contacts list, send it to voice mail.

 Make sure your social media profiles are set to private.

Use complex passwords and have a totally different password for each online account. If you are like me, you will need to keep a small notebook to remember them all.

4.      Add a second layer of security (like a time-sensitive code sent to your phone or authenticator app) for banking, email, and social media. This is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

5.      Never Share any access codes with anyone else. Delete them from your phone after you use them.

6.      Turn on automatic updates for your operating system, browsers, and applications to patch any newly discovered security vulnerabilities.

7.      Always use a VPN on public Wi-Fi. If you can, avoid public Wi-Fi entirely.

8.      Be highly skeptical of unexpected messages claiming you won a sweepstakes or have been hacked. 

R      Turn off any location services. They do not need to know where you are.

D    Do not post your schedule of when you will be at home alone, and especially, do not tell them when you will not be at home.

R    Remember that anything that is posted online will be online forever.

Internet Safety: Confirm Who Has Sent You a Mesaage

 This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Since you are reading this post, you are using the internet. While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, internet safety is a very important thing you need to understand. There are many wolves out there who basically see you as food. They would love to drain any of your bank accounts and use your credit card numbers as their very own piggybank. Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, and as a first-century Jew, he knew nothing of the internet but his words are applicable to our modern concerns. We really are surrounded by dangerous predators.

We recently received a text message which read:

            A quick reminder to check the email from

            us regarding some important insurance 

            updates!

This text made no sense to us. Who sent it? Was it legitimate? Was it an attempt to get us to make a return call to the sending phone number? Why was the sender not identified? It is possible that merely responding to the text could install malware on your cell phone. Be very suspicious of text messages which come from senders not on your contacts list.

Often, an unknown person desires for you to open a link within their text. When you open the link, or sometimes when you even call the number, malware is installed on your device, giving that unknown person access to all of our personal and financial accounts, probably not a very good idea. 

After much investigation, we determined that this message came from our dentist and was not malicious. It was merely clumsily composed. The sad part was that our dental expenses may be increasing!

Internet Safety: Unexpected e-mails

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Since you are reading this post, you are using the internet. While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, internet safety is a very important thing you need to understand. There are many wolves out there who basically see you as food. They would love to drain any of your bank accounts and use your credit card numbers as their very own piggybank. Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, and, as a first century Jew, he knew nothing of the internet but his words are applicable to our modern concerns. We are surrounded by dangerous predators.

Recently my wife and I received an e-mail from our son, who lives in a different state from us, telling us that he had some new photographs for us to see. This was surprising since he communicates with us almost exclusively by phone calls and text messages. So, we texted him to ask if the e-mail came from him. It did not.

Some unknown person wanted us to open the e-mail, which probably contained a link which we would be instructed to open in order to view the photographs. Opening the link would have installed malware in our devices, giving access to all of our linked devices, probably not a very good idea. 

Internet Security

On 3 May 2016, Google Security sent out this message,

Your HTTPS settings have changed. All visitors are now able to view your blog over an encrypted connection by visiting https://saintsontheloose.blogspot.com. Existing links and bookmarks to your blog will continue to work.

HTTPS is fundamental to internet security; it protects the integrity and confidentiality of data sent between websites and visitors' browsers. Last September, we began rolling out HTTPS support for blogspot domain blogs so you could try it out. Today, we’re launching another milestone: an HTTPS version for every blogspot domain blog. With this change, visitors can access any blogspot domain blog over an encrypted channel.

Existing links and bookmarks to your blogs are not affected by this launch, and will continue to work. Please note that blogs on custom domains will not yet have HTTPS support.

The important thing for the reader to take from this is that “Existing links and bookmarks to your blog will continue to work.”

Film Comment: Megan is Missing

One commenter on Netflix calls Megan is Missing, “Maybe the most disturbing thing I have ever seen.”  Another says, “Everyone with young teen children should watch this and take the warnings to heart.”  Many commenters just said, “Don’t watch this.”  At least one commenter makes the absolutely ludicrous claim that the film amounts to victim blaming. Some criticize the film saying that it is nothing more than "torture porn" and that it capitalizes on pedophilia and child abduction.  The reason I think that it is not intended to be exploitive is the included video statement by Marc Klaas, whose young daughter Polly was abducted, raped, and murdered.  Klaas seems to be a hardened, driven man.  I do not believe that he would put his endorsement on a film which exploits the very thing against which he has battled for years.

http://www.klaaskids.org/about/pollystory.html

http://www.pollyklaas.org/

A few Netflix commenters, who totally missed the point, said that the film is not a very good horror film. This is true and not true.  As a "horror film," Megan is Missing is technically not up to current standards; the acting is substandard, the special effects are minimal, there is little actual plot, and the "horror" does not appear until the last twenty minutes.  For caring, but naive, parents or for the clueless or careless teenager, this film can produce wide-eyed horror!

A warning: I would say that you should not watch this film. Once you have chosen to seen this film, you will be unable to “unsee” it; it will frighten, disgust, and militarize you. This film can be psychologically damaging to some people.  Two sixteen year old viewers reported being "mentally scarred" by the film, but another said, "I wish more girls my age would watch this; maybe they wouldn't go missing." The film contains near constant profanity, teenage sexuality, teenage drug use, rape, physical abuse, pedophilia, abduction, murder, fetishism, gore, and other disturbing elements.

The film is about two girls.  Fifteen year-old Megan is a sexually promiscuous drug-using party girl who maintains a close friendship with an unlikely partner, the sweet, naive, and innocent Amy, who is rejected by the other girls in town precisely because she is sweet, naive, and innocent. Megan's family life is terrible: her father is absent, her stepfather is in prison, and her mother's only parenting skill is to yell.  Amy's parents are loving, sweet, affectionate, conventional parents who know absolutely nothing about her personal life. Both sets of parents are totally unaware of what is happening to their girls.

Megan has met an interesting young man on line (she has never actually seen him because his "webcam is broken"). She agrees to meet him behind the local diner. She goes alone and disappears.

Amy is sure that something bad has happened to Megan and is afraid that the young man whom Megan met online is involved.  She contacts the young man online and during their argument, he insults and threatens her.  She takes her fears to the police and then suddenly disappears.

The last twenty minutes of the film are so intense and horrible that they disturbed even some of the long-time horror gore-hounds who complained about this film.  

There is no mention of Christianity or even of religion in this film.  That does not mean that there is nothing that Christians can take from this movie.

1. Be aware of who your children's friends are.

2. Be aware of your children's cell phone and internet activities.

3. Try not to frighten your children but make sure that they are aware of the tactics used by sexual predators.  As I have told my grandchildren, "Don't be afraid, just be smart."

Jesus said, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves." Matthew 10:16 (KJV)

We are to be confident and wise and not do stupid things. We should teach our children also to be confident and wise and not to do stupid things.

……………………………………

Information about Internet safety.

http://christianity.about.com/od/practicaltools/tp/christianisps.htm

http://www.covenanteyes.com/2013/11/20/internet-safety-christian-solutions/

http://www.internetsafety.com/press-internet-safety-solution-safe-eyes.php

Excellent, detailed child internet safety information.  Adults would do well to also follow these rules.  The information was reviewed by Steven Dowshen, MD

http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/net_safety.html

http://kidshealth.org/parent/misc/reviewers.html