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Articles by Robert Siciliano

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650 articles by Robert Siciliano · showing 50

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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

Ins and Outs of Call Center Security

Companies that want to employ at-home workers for their call centers to save money and reduce the hassles of office space have to look at security considerations. In addition to thorough vetting of the agents and their equipment, organizations also need to ensure that the security is top-notch. A cloud-based contact center combats these issues. Here are some considerations:

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

Is It Fraud or are You just Crazy?

What would you rather have happen to you? A Russian ring of hackers has infiltrated your computer and smartphone and is hell-bent on taking control of your finances, social media life, even the smart gadgets in your house…OR…you've just been diagnosed with paranoid psychosis, and in fact, nobody's out to harm you at all.

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

Don't's and Do's when using Public Wi-Fi

Curl up in a chair at your favorite coffee house, the aroma of premium coffee filling the air, take a few sips of your 700 calorie latte, and then enter cyberspace. Little do you know that you could have a stalker. Or two. Or 3,000. Because public Wi-Fi is there for the picking for hackers. Online transmissions can be intercepted. The credit card number that you enter onto that retailer's site can be "seen."

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

Retirees Prime Targets for Identity Theft

Is it easier for crooks to prey on senior citizens, or is it that most targets are the seniors? Well, one thing's for sure: A disproportionate percentage of identity theft complaints come from people 50-plus (though I'm sure some readers would hardly consider 50-somethings to be seniors—but you get the point).

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

Craigslist Rental Scams in Your Town

Craigslist is one of my favorite sites on the Internet, though I admittedly have a love/hate relationship with it. One reaso I love it is because of the deals and variety of items and services available, but I hate it because some of the people who use it are scammers and the site has some major security issues.

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

8 ways to avoid holiday shopping scams

So what will you be doing this holiday season to avoid getting scammed? The scammers really come out of the woodwork during the holidays, waiting to snatch their victims. It's easier than you think to avoid getting ripped off or getting your entire bank account sucked dry. Here's how to avoid getting tangled in a scammer's net:

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

How to plan for Digital Disasters

In this day and age, we should never hear someone proclaim, "Oh my God, my computer crashed! I lost everything!" You can't lose something that's been properly backed up. So many people, including ones with businesses that rely upon cyber communication, continue to avoid backing up their digital data. Nobody is exempt from the No. 1 rule of backing up your data. Anything could happen:

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
1,006 views
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

What is Shoulder Surfing?

The next time you're in a public place and glued to your smartphone or tablet — whether it's at the gym, a coffee house, the airport, or just a park bench— know that someone might be peering over your shoulder to see what you're doing. The snooper could just be curious, or they could be trying to capture your login information so they can use it to access your accounts impersonating you later on.

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

Protect from Personal Loan Scam

Are you thinking of getting a personal loan? Hopefully you have a high credit score, as this will give you a better chance of getting the loan through a legitimate company. But even if your credit is excellent, you need to be aware of the personal loan scams out there. Not Respecting Your Limit

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

UL to launch Cybersecurity Cert

UL in this case stands for Underwriters Laboratories. An article on darkreading.com notes that a UL official, Maarten Bron, says that they are taking part in the U.S. government's plan to promote security certification standards. The U.S. government is interested in developing a UL-type program directed at computers and smartphones. This initiative will encourage the private sector and the government to create the standards.

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
1,067 views
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

Keyloggers log wirelessly

Gee, it sounds like something out of one of those 1970s TV shows about government spies, but it's reality: Plug this little thing into a wall socket and it records the keystrokes of a person nearby typing into a Microsoft wireless keyboard. The little gadget sends the information back to the gadget's owner over the Internet.

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

Products to keep Kids safe online

Some people believe that monitoring your kids' online activities crosses the line of privacy or trust. But monitoring and controlling online activities is, essentially, no different than controlling access to the cookie jar or TV or even locking a liquor cabinet.

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

7 Ways to protect Yourself Online

The biggest mistake that you can make to threaten your online safety is to treat the online world different—as far as your private information—than you would treat the physical world. In other words, if someone walked up to you and said, "Hi, can you please provide me with your name, address, birth date, home phone, cell phone, email, use ames, passowords all your friends names and all their contact info?" I think not.

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

Protect Yourself from Phishing

Everyone has received very obvious "phishing" e-mails: Messages in your in-box that have outrageous subject lines like "Your Account Will Be Suspended," or, "You Won!" While some phishing attacks are obvious, others look harmless, such as those in a person's workplace in-box, seemingly from their company's higher-ups.

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

Beware of Hot and Cold Reading Scams

Many so-called psychics are frauds. But so are some auto mechanics, lenders and roofers. There's fraud in just about all lines of work. What we do know is this: There's not enough evidence to refute paranormal phenomena. Nor enough to prove it beyond a doubt. And we also know this: There exist scams involving hot and cold readings.

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
1,187 views
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

How to Choose a Home Security Safe

Home safes aren't just for expensive jewels and wads of $100 bills. They can be for anything you'd be crushed about if it were stolen, lost or burnt in a fire. This could be a birthday card that your child made for you when they were five, or a photo of you and your grandmother.

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

What are Bug Bounties?

A bug bounty refers to the reward a bad-guy hacker gets upon discovering a vulnerability, weakness or flaw in a company's system. This is akin to giving a reward to a burglar for pointing out weaknesses in your home's security. But whom better to ask than a burglar, right? Same with a company's computer systems: The best expert may be the black hat or better, white hat hacker.

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

How to safely travel in a Car

Before embarking on a road trip with a car full of kids, make sure everything about the vehicle is in top working condition, including the windshield wipers, A/C, heat, fluid levels, seatbelts and lights (exterior and interior). Hopefully you'll have a GPS; make sure that works, too; they've been known to malfunction. Have a backup mobile GPS app too.

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

Beware of Vacation Rental Scams this Summer

Talk about getting taken to the cleaners: Imagine you spot a great summer rental property advertised online. Looks wonderful. The deal sounds too good to be true, but the owner tells you (via e-mail or even phone) that the fee is correct. You apply for the rent and send in the required upfront payment.

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

Can an App really act as a Bodyguard?

In the event of an attack, new smartphone applications can be used to send an alarm to a pre-chosen person. And the potential victims location can then be tracked. But is this faster and more secure than a woman whipping out pepper spray and blasting a drunken buffoon who has her cornered in a parking garage at night? No.

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
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By Robert SicilianoRecently published1 topic

Can Two-Factor Authentication actually fail?

You've probably read many times that two-factor authentication is a superb extra layer of protection against a thief hacking into your accounts, because gaining access requires entering a One Time Passcode (OTP)—sent via text or voice—into a login field. In other words, no phone, no access. But CAN a hacker get the phone? Ask Deray McKesson, an activist with Black Lives Matter. Hackers got his phone.

Primary topic: General Self Help
General Self Help
910 views
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