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Browse every published article connected to Robert Siciliano, with exact attribution and full-archive search.
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Browse every published article connected to Robert Siciliano, or search within this exact expert archive.
If you were to design the ultimate security system for a house, what would you focus on? These days, many people would immediately think in terms of the most technologically advanced alarm system—one that's voice activated, detects motion anywhere, can be remotely controlled and allows remote viewing of the home, etc.
It's hard to keep track of the news of politics these days, and even if you can, how do you know it's even real? The political landscape has greatly changed since January, and there have been a lot of laws passed that will affect us all, including the repeal of a law that protected your privacy on the internet. Basically, with this repeal, your internet service provider, or ISP, can sell your browsing history to anyone.
Imagine a lifeguard at the beach sitting on his perch. His job is to patrol and monitor for signs of trouble. He sees a surfer being attacked by a shark. Wow, a lot of good it does that he's in a completely helpless position; by the time he scrambles off his perch and runs towards the water, the victim has bled out. Ouch.
At the start of the year, we all made our resolutions for 2015. Now it's March—how are you doing on your resolutions? If you've already broken a few, no worries; New Year's doesn't have the monopoly on making goals to better yourself. This is especially true with digital safety. At a time when there are so many security breaches, it's important to commit to strengthening your digital defenses year-round.
The Internet has almost as many videos as there are stars in the heavens. And you know that some have to be hoaxes. Sometimes it's obvious, while other times it's easy to be fooled. For example, the hoax of the "angel" intercepting a truck just about to run over a bicyclist is obviously fake. Isn't it?
If someone is "borrowing" your Wi-Fi service, there's more to this than just the nerve of someone secretly mooching off of you.
These days, who doesn't travel with their laptop? But commonality doesn't make it inherently safe for your sensitive information that's stored in the device. In fact, traveling with your laptop is inherently unsecure. Whether you're traveling for business or to visit family this holiday season, here are some ways to protect your laptop and your personal data:
It can be tough being a responsible adult sometimes, and managing these responsibilities isn't always a chore that I want to deal with. Can you relate? Managing life takes focus and effort, and managing your online life is no different. Most of us are lazy with our online accounts, especially when it comes to our passwords. It is easy to use the same password for every account, but this also makes it very easy for hackers to access your passwords.
You have undoubtedly seen tips for protecting your home, but you might not have seen them all. In no particular order, here are 40 tips that you can use today to keep professional burglars from targeting your home and keep safe from hazards:
Between half and three quarters of all employees have downloaded personal apps to company tablets and phones, according to surveys. At the same time, people are increasingly using use personal phones for work purposes like email, document-sharing and the list goes on.
If you're planning a lengthy road trip, there are many things you'd never think to bring with you that could get you out of a crisis situation. You need way more than just that blanket in the trunk, car jack and spare tire, umbrella, rainproof poncho, utility tool and fire extinguisher. Weather
All of us have cell phones these days, and if you are like the vast majority of the population, you access everything from social media to banking information right from your mobile phone. However, if you do this, which everyone does, you are putting yourself in the position to get hacked. With only your mobile phone number and a couple other pieces of information, a hacker can get into these accounts and your life could drastically change.
A Massachusetts man is on trial. His crime? Stalking. But, it's probably not what you think. The 48-year-old was chatting and sharing photos with a 16-year-old girl, and these chats and photos were "sexual in nature." The pair met on social media, and when the girl asked to stop these exchanges, the man threatened to send the shared photos to her friends. This is a case of sextortion.
Criminals often rely on tricking their victims to gain access to their passwords and other account information. This act of tricking is called social engineering, also known as a confidence crime, and it comes in many forms.
Having a house run like the Jetsons' is becoming increasingly possible: It's called home automation. If you're not familiar with the futuristic cartoon family, the Jetsons, just about everything in their house was automated. Today, we can have the following:
The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) movement has in some ways saved companies money, but in other ways put customer data at risk. Employees are onsite, telecommuting or traveling on business. This means their devices, and company data could be anywhere at any given moment.
Are you a small business? Do you know your business's credit score? The range is zero to 100 for most credit reporting agencies, with at least 75 being desirable if you want to be approved for financing and trade credit (business loan or line of credit), says a report at nav.com and from Gerri Detweiler's new book, Finance Your Own Business.
Ever wonder how a motion detector works? How can some inanimate object "know" you're creeping nearby, even if you're as quiet as a mouse? This amazing technology can be broken down into several types. Active Ultrasonic
Fa la la la la, la la la la. Yes that's me singing, but thank goodness you can't really hear me (I save that for the shower). If you can believe it, it's that time of the year again (even though it seems like we just finished Halloween). Time for holiday parties, family traditions, ugly sweaters, and… scams? Yes, that's right. Now that the holiday season has begun, many of us are sharing, shopping and booking travel online— even more than we normally do.
Most people have heard of storing information in "the cloud," but do you know what this means, and if it is even safe?
Fake news is a problem that is taking the internet by storm, and it ran rampant during the 2016 Presidential Election. In fact, many believe that fake news stories had a strong impact on the outcome of the election. In a survey following the election by the Pew Research Center, a whopping 64 percent of polled Americans said that fake news has given them a "great deal of confusion" about current events.
You need not be a celebrity or some big wig to suffer the devastating fallout of your online images (and videos) being stolen or used without your permission. So how does someone steal your image or use it without your permission? Hacking
Hackers can take over someone's life in a matter of hours. Just ask Patsy Walsh.
"Wes" is a professional man who, if you saw walking on the street, you'd easily imagine being jumped by a few teen punks and getting beaten up for his wallet. Wes is nearing retirement age, has a potbelly, doesn't work out, has grey hair—hardly an imposing figure. But look out when he gets behind the wheel of his car. Cut him off and he'll give you the finger and holler out obscenities.
Do you ever use the same password over and over again for different accounts? If so, you are not alone. However, this is quite dangerous. It's best to use a different, unique password for each account, and to make it easier, you should use a password manager.
I put an ad on Craigslist to sell a refrigerator that I no longer need. Within a few minutes I'm happy to report Micheal responded to buy it! SCAMMER: Hi am Micheal I like to ask if this item is till available for sale and what the present condition it. ME: Still for sale, someone is interested tho, its like new, 5 months.
When you go traveling, I'm sure you make a point to protect the various things you bring with you—including your laptop, children, even spouse. But what about something you left behind? Your home? Is that being protected too? Before Leaving
My interview with CNN has been trending all over the internet, and that makes me so happy because we talked about a very important topic-personal security. I'm so passionate about this subject that I wanted to provide some followup commentary. Use this link to view my most recent discussion, but this is not for the faint of heart…
Burglars love doors; they frequently gain entry by kicking them down and even using less aggression to get into a house—and that includes simply opening the door because it's not locked.
Gee, it used to be just your desk computer that needed protection from cyber thugs. Now, your connected thermostat, egg tray monitor, teen's smartphone, garage door opener, even baby monitor, are all game for cyber creeps.
WARNING: Removing this video surveillance camera to kill evidence of your robbery will do you chickenfeed because the video of you is being stored in the cloud! Today's security systems are so much more evolved than they were 20 years ago, even 10 years ago.
It's up to the potential victim—the user—YOU—to make your computer or smartphone very difficult for Joe Hackster to infiltrate. Passwords
Your home should have multiple layers of protection. You've certainly heard that before. Motion detection is a critical layer of protection, and this is comprised of the simple act of unauthorized movement sensed as the result of breaking and entry. Glass break is similar in concept. One detects movement the other detects sound.
Have you heard of iDict? It's a tool that hackers can use to get passwords via what's called brute force attacks. It's designed to crack into iCloud's passwords, and supposedly it can circumvent Apple's anti-brute force attack security.
When it comes to online security, don't let your guard down just because the holiday shopping frenzy has passed. In fact, this may be the very time to put your guard up even higher. Though it's smart to have your radar on for the scammers during the holidays, the scammers don't exactly go slithering back under their slimy rocks once the New Year is here. So here's how to be safe online during, and after, the holiday season.
Well, you know that old saying: The viciousness of an online bully's attack is inversely proportional to the size of his (you fill in the blank), I was thinking ego. Many online bullies are female, but in the case of former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's daughter, the trolls are collectively male.
Whatever the appeal of sexting is to kids (attention), it's definitely there, and won't be going away too soon. Of all the things that teens can do in their daily lives, why spend time sexting?
You've see TV commercials and print ads about identity theft, and the "victim" is always an adult. That's not realistic. The actor-portrayal should be that of a child. Yes, a kid. Children are 51 times more likely than adults to have their identity stolen, says research from Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab.
There are really so very many ways to protect and make your home safe as well as secure—ways you'd never even think of, so here they are, as well as the classic ways that many people still neglect to implement.
Part of my role as security guy is to keep tabs on the crime climate around the globe. Recently I kept seeing article after article about burglaries with one common theme: "door kicked in". Don't believe me? See below. But before you do, probably all of these could have been prevented with Door Reinforcement Technology.
Any industry involving wiring transfers of large sums of money is vulnerable to this new type of hack. Purchasing a car, home or piece of art are large transactions and are not usually done in cash. In well-established industries like real estate, there are some checks and balances, but while one would think it would be very tough to pull off this scam in real estate, it is just as easy. I do not know how many billionaire art collectors follow my blog (they should!), but most of you are regular people like my family and friends.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, an identity database, was attacked by hackers rather recently, and they hit the jackpot: More than 21 million federal workers are at risk of identity theft for perhaps the rest of their lives, reports an article on forbes.com.
What's one billion? That's about the number of possible permutations of the Social Security number. Which begs the question: What happens to an SSN when someone kicks the bucket?
Here's one for the know-it-alls: Kids are 35 percent more likely to become victims of identity theft than are adults. Betcha didn't know that! This startling news comes from a 2015 Javelin Strategy & Release study.
Have you ever used Facebook to sign onto another site? Many of us do this pretty blindly simply because it is very convenient. But, this convenience could come at a cost.
Recently I got a puppy for my child. We decided to name the puppy 4wgu23x5#9. My wife,8yysH3m, thought we should name the dog 0x2%#b5. But I'm sure she'll get over it. Meanwhile, I'm helping my older child with setting up a few social media accounts, and I suggested the two passwords: Rover and Spot. Is there something wrong with this picture?
When is the last time you checked your credit report? If it has been more than a year, you can get a free one. The issue is, however, is how to really understand it. Here's some information about obtaining and reading your credit report. Obtaining Your Free Credit Report
Who does this? Morna Brennen did this when she was 22. She and a few friends went to a bar and stayed there late. At some point while they were there, a man took an interest in Mo a. But she was creeped out by him and pretty much ignored him. Later when it was time to leave, Morna and one of her friends went out into the biting cold and dark parking lot.
I hate to say this, but…any dummy can learn to pick a lock. This means that the locks on your house's doors are probably very "pickable" unless you have a top-flight lock system—which few homes actually have.
So just how are hackers able to penetrate all these huge businesses? Look no further than employee behavior—not an inside job, but innocent employees being tricked by the hacker.