Public libraries provide access to technology to many visitors through shared devices. However, there are people looking to exploit these services through stealing sensitive personal information of other visitors, often through the practice of keylogging. But what exactly is keylogging? Is it a relevant threat to all libraries? How can you prevent it? Read this […]
Kathy McFadden (right), a staffer at Sussex County (Del.) Libraries, hands out rapid, at-home COVID-19 testing kits during a drive-through distribution event at Seaford (Del.) District Library in August 2021. Photo: Delaware Department of Libraries Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, libraries have served both informally and officially as public health partners, from 3D-printing […]
A visualization of the Internet made using network routing data. Image: Barrett Lyon, opte.org. Imagine being able to disconnect or redirect Internet traffic destined for some of the world’s biggest companies — just by spoofing an email. This is the nature of a threat vector recently removed by a Fortune 500 firm that operates one […]
As a second pandemic holiday season rolls in, even the cheeriest folks are fraying a little around the edges. This year, give them effortless presents that will make their lives gentler, simpler, and sweeter. And since you could probably also use a little break, we’ve done most of the work for you by rounding up […]
Before I joined LC Labs, I was an English teacher. In my classroom, the word “derivative” had a negative connotation. To be derivative was to be overly indebted to another idea and thus to lack ingenuity and creativity. When applied to datasets, however, “derivatives” abound. In fact, as you’ll see, derivative datasets sometimes serve a […]
In August, KrebsOnSecurity warned that scammers were contacting people and asking them to unleash ransomware inside their employer’s network, in exchange for a percentage of any ransom amount paid by the victim company. This week, authorities in Nigeria arrested a suspect in connection with the scheme — a young man who said he was trying […]
Introduction The Selected Datasets Collection was publicly launched June 2020 as part of the Library’s ongoing efforts to support emerging data-driven styles of research. Since then, our initial offering of twenty datasets has grown to nearly 200 unique items, and we’ve continued to refine the technical workflows by which content is prepared and delivered to […]
One of the more common ways cybercriminals cash out access to bank accounts involves draining the victim’s funds via Zelle, a “peer-to-peer” (P2P) payment service used by many financial institutions that allows customers to quickly send cash to friends and family. Naturally, a great deal of phishing schemes that precede these bank account takeovers begin […]
It’s that time again: another By the People anniversary! To celebrate the third birthday of crowd.loc.gov, we thought we would share some highlights from this past year. Interested in our previous anniversary posts? Check out our Year 1 and Year 2 celebrations on the Signal. As a quick recap, By the People (BtP) is a volunteer engagement and collection enhancement program at the Library of Congress that […]
On this week’s Princh Library Blog, we share a fun infographic, created by Expert Editor, that will provide you with the ultimate guide to finding your next book to read. Check out the infographic below to see which book fits your interest perfectly! This infographic originally was posted by Expert Editor. You can access the […]
The CEO of a South Carolina technology firm has pleaded guilty to 20 counts of wire fraud in connection with an elaborate network of phony companies set up to obtain more than 735,000 Internet Protocol (IP) addresses from the nonprofit organization that leases the digital real estate to entities in North America. In 2018, the […]
As in past years, American Libraries and the Public Library Association have again partnered to track library ballot measures and council actions across the country. In 2021, we followed 78 referenda items; results were positive for libraries in nearly 90% of cases. Ohio remains a national leader in supporting libraries at the ballot box, passing […]
Contributors to this issue: Cathy Aster, Hannah Frost, Dinah Handel, Andria Olson and Michael Olson.As always, we are grateful for our many collaborators! Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain digitization project In October, the Digital Production Group began a project to digitize a selection of materials from the Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain papers. Comhaire-Sylvain was the first woman Haitian anthropologist, and conducted anthropological […]
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed today that its fbi.gov domain name and Internet address were used to blast out thousands of fake emails about a cybercrime investigation. According to an interview with the person who claimed responsibility for the hoax, the spam messages were sent by abusing insecure code in an FBI online […]
Today’s guest post is from Hana Beckerle, a 2021 Librarian-in-Residence at the Library of Congress. I graduated with my MSLIS from Catholic University of America (CUA) in May 2021 and joined the Library’s Digitization Services Section (DSS) as a Librarian-in-Residence in June. While at CUA, I worked as an Electronic Resources Assistant at the University […]
Libraries are great and trustworthy sources of knowledge, and most of the time, part of the backbone of our communities. Their existence ensures that knowledge and technology are available to everyone, not just to those who can afford them. Libraries have survived and thrived through the expansion of digital media, the rise of e-books and […]
Most of us have probably heard the term “smishing” — which is a portmanteau for traditional phishing scams sent through SMS text messages. Smishing messages usually include a link to a site that spoofs a popular bank and tries to siphon personal information. But increasingly, phishers are turning to a hybrid form of smishing — […]
Today’s guest post is from Abby Shelton, a community manager for the By the People crowdsourced transcription program. Launched in 2018, By the People is a volunteer engagement and collection enhancement program at the Library of Congress that invites the public to explore and transcribe Library of Congress digital collections. When transcriptions are completed by […]
Microsoft Corp. today released updates to quash at least 55 security bugs in its Windows operating systems and other software. Two of the patches address vulnerabilities that are already being used in active attacks online, and four of the flaws were disclosed publicly before today — potentially giving adversaries a head start in figuring out […]
The U.S. Department of Justice today announced the arrest of Ukrainian man accused of deploying ransomware on behalf of the REvil ransomware gang, a Russian-speaking cybercriminal collective that has extorted hundreds of millions from victim organizations. The DOJ also said it had seized $6.1 million in cryptocurrency sent to another REvil affiliate, and that the […]
