SHOULDER SURFING

What does Shoulder Surfing mean?

Shoulder surfing refers to the act of obtaining personal or private information through direct observation. Shoulder surfing involves looking over a person's shoulder to gather pertinent information while the victim is oblivious. This is especially effective in crowded places where a person uses a computer, Smartphone or ATM. If shoulder surfing occurs when there are very few people, the act becomes suspicious very quickly. Binoculars, video cameras and vision-enhancing devices also are used, depending on location and situation.

As defined by Techopedia;

Because of our data and identity driven society, personal security keys, like username and password combinations, are critical personal and private data safeguards. Unfortunately, technical savvy is not always required for hackers to gain information. The most commonly stolen data through shoulder surfing includes credit card numbers, personal identification numbers (PIN), important personal information (like middle name and birth date used in password recovery) and usernames/passwords. This type of information may be used to login to accounts and steal other information, such as money, in the case of bank accounts.

The following are simple ways to protect yourself from shoulder surfing when entering or accessing personal data on an electronic device:

Look for an area where your back is against a wall.

Spend more for a screen filter or protector to obscure the visibility of the display.

Never give your password or any vital information to anyone.

Locate a quiet spot away from the crowd.

As much as possible, never open personal accounts in public.

Please stay Safe

Intelligent Network (IN)

An Intelligent Network (IN) is a network that provides specific technical capabilities or services outside the conventional network standard spectrum. This term is often linked with telecom networks, as recent innovation has expanded telecom's capabilities beyond itsoriginal primary function of facilitating phone calls.

 

Definition according to Technopedia;

The IN concept is becoming more well defined with the introduction of more sophisticated networks by telecom companies. A leader of this type of innovation is Bellcore, a company with an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) that is often viewed as an IN model for telecom. These networks can separate extra services from the call switching system, making it easier to add new user services.

By using additional technology, such as a Service Control Point (SCP) and a Service Management System (SMS), these advanced networks can accommodate services like call screening or call waiting, as well as more complex services like variable charging, caller ID services and international messaging.

 

In terms of how an IN operates with conventional telephony, the extra services use the seven-layer Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model common to different types of networks. Experts have noted that because the standard telecom system implements much of this model, INs primarily work with a single layer known as the Intelligent Network Application Part (INAP).

Additional IN standards are maintained by the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T)

Thanks to

Cory Janssen