Articles
Browse every published article connected to Robert Siciliano, with exact attribution and full-archive search.
Articles
Browse every published article connected to Robert Siciliano, or search within this exact expert archive.
You may be putting your company at risk simply by hiring a new employee. Why? Because that person could have a hidden, malicious agenda. This is known as an inside threat, and it means that someone within your organization is planning or conducting activities meant to harm the company.
You may have been scammed after you responded to an e-mail that appears it came from Apple. When hackers send e-mails that appear to come from a legitimate company like Apple (or Google, Microsoft, PayPal, etc.), with the objective of tricking the recipient into typing in passwords, use ames, credit card information and other sensitive data, this is called phishing.
Well, we certainly can't blame Dennis Nicholl for breaking the law. Frankly, had I been nearby him when he did it, I would have kept silent and let him continue breaking the law—unless, of course, I was engaged in some loud, planet-moving discussion with a world leader.
When you subscribe to an online service, be careful of how much information you give out about yourself.
"Nobody likes to do it, but it has to be done." You've heard that before. This time, it applies to 26 documents that you should have all bundled up in a folder that trusted family members have access to (someplace where fire and water won't damage them). But first let's go over some details about what should be in that bundle. Essential Documents
2015 brings us no closer to putting the lid on hackers as any other year has. The crime of Criminal hacking will prove to be as big as ever in the new year. Here's what we have to look forward too: Bank Card Breaches
Gunman Storms Building, Shot Dead by Receptionist Wouldn't it be great to see a headline like this for once? More than ever, employees are being trained to react tactically should a gunman go on a rampage.
Whoever thought that one day, paying with green paper would be viewed as primitive as a horse and buggy? We seem to be getting closer to that time, especially since the security of making payments via smartphone is always being improved.
If you want to know the latest on "any topic", just sign up for Google Alerts. Google will e-mail you notifications of new information coming online. I have Google Alerts for "Home Invasion" "Identity Theft" "Burglary" "Computer Security" and many more.
To those of us consider Tom Cruise the movie star of our day or even Grunge as the music we grew up with, looking at millennials, and the way they view life, is fascinating. These "kids" or young adults, many are brilliant. They really do define "disruption".
There should be more TV commercials for preventing identity theft—it's nearly epidemic. But also epidemic is the lack of identity security that people have when traveling. Here are some ways to avoid having your identity stolen while traveling:
It's amazing how ingenious cybercriminals are, but the victims also need to take some responsibility for falling for these ruses, especially when the victim is a business that has failed to train its employees in cybersecurity measures. Ransomware
Disasters happen every day. Crashing hard drives, failing storage devices and even burglaries could have a significant negative impact on your business, especially if that data is lost forever. You can avoid these problems by backing up your data.
The holiday season is ramping up. And so are burglars. Even if you don't get very festive, burglars may still target your home. Your dark, unlit home among all the dazzling festive homes will stick out like a sore thumb. Whether you have 10,000 decorative lights on or none, here's what to do:
Gone are the days of the fat wallet bursting at the seems, since smartphones can now contain most anything that a wallet does—except the driver's license. But don't write that possibility off just yet.
You're dreaming of a white Christmas, and hackers are dreaming of a green Christmas: your cash in their pockets. And hackers are everywhere, and are a particular threat to travelers.
Small businesses are hardly immune to attacks by hackers. - The illusion of low attack risks comes from the publicity that only huge corporations get when they are breached, like Target, Sony and Anthem. These are giants, so of course it makes headline news. - But when a "ma and pa" business gets attacked, it's not newsworthy.
Bad news for users of the Xfinity home security system: It can report locked doors and windows that have been bypassed by an intruder and miss an intruder's movements, says an article on wired.com.
You'd think that it would be as easy as pie to avoid getting reeled in by a phishing scam. After all, all you need to do is avoid clicking on a link inside an email or text message. How easy is that? A phishing scam is a message sent by a cybercriminal to get you to click on a link or open an attachment. Clicking on the link or attachment downloads a virus, or takes you to a malicious website (that often looks like real site).
Do you work for a corporation, especially in the U.S.? You may be at risk for tax return fraud.
Just because a job recruiter says he's from (fill in blank—any huge corporation) doesn't mean the job can't be a scam. Anyone could say they're from Microsoft or Google. Impersonating a representative from a big-name company is one way to fool gullible job seekers.
One of mankind's greatest inventions (besides the wheel) is the Internet. Unfortunately, with this marvelous invention comes the drawback of privacy—or shall we say, lack of.
Gone are the days when social media is only used to share what you had for dinner or announcing to the world that you are headed to the gym. But social media has become a platform for any and everyone to say what's on their mind, and sometimes that's great, but all too often it isn't. Social is significantly lacking in decorum. But at least some are using social for good.
Many, including me, have reported for years about all the "work at home" scams. And frankly, there are still plenty out there, unless you know where to look. There has never been more opportunity to legitimately earn a living working at home, and NOT get scammed. Mothers with young kids aren't the only ones working at home (telecommuting) these days. The "WAHMs" have lots of company.
If you have a teenager, you probably have a battle in play: do you or do you not manage your teens mobile devices. Though some parents see this as an invasion of their child's privacy,(which, frankly, is stupid) there are many reasons why you should start managing what they are doing online.
There are numerous subspecialties within the booming cybersecurity field[i]. Here are some of the most in-demand professions:
A man was assaulted by three or four men when he arrived home, through his garage door at 5:40 a.m. It's very apparent that the attackers knew he'd be arriving home at around this time and decided to wait for him, says a report at ksla.com.
There are scammers out there targeting conference exhibitors and attendee. What are they looking for? Credit card numbers, money wires and personal information that they can use to steal identities. One of the ways that scammers get this information is by using invitation or list scams.
Malevolent advertising is called malvertising. The "ad" is placed on a website by cybercriminals who want control of your computer for financial gain. And the real scary thing about malvertising is that these trick-ads have appeared on trusted, popular websites like the Weather Network, BBC, NFL and the New York Times.
Ever consider the possibility that a person gets a job as a bank teller…for the sole purpose of stealing a patron's identity? Do you realize how easy this would be?
A well done New York Times article recently re-introduced this topic to the masses. Being "owned" isn't new, but the term is not becoming part of popular culture. If you use the internet or are often on social media, odds are good that you have bee OWNED. Whether you are called out for a misspelling on your latest Facebook post, or you were proven wrong after sharing a "fact" or post from another site…you have probably been owned.
Scams targeting older people are probably very under-reported, as seniors don't want to appear senile. The most vulnerable group is educated men over 55, because, quite frankly, they think they know everything. Sweepstakes/Lottery
It is September and it's National Preparedness Month—a great time to get involved in the safety of your community. Make plans to stay safe, and this includes maintaining ongoing communications. National Preparedness Month culminates September 30th with National PrepareAthon! Day.
Okay, so you're 18 or 19 and in college, and are stressed because you have to be 21 in order to gain entry to a night club or bar where you'd like to drink up a storm and mingle with a "more mature" crowd. Or really, you just want to meet someone.
As part of Gemalto's #ChipAwayAtFraud campaign, I'm being tasked with numerous tasks, some tacky, some essential to living. Gemalto, one of the world's leaders in digital security, wants a real-world take on the EMV card experience. Which includes the security benefits EMV cards presents. You know EMV; it's the "chip" credit card that by now, you should have. EMV by the way stands for Euro/MasterCard/Visa. The Euro part essentially means that's where the card was first deployed.
It's easy to scam someone who did something wrong by telling them they need to fix their mistake. This is why thousands of people get scammed into paying back taxes to the IRS—the IRS has nothing to do with these scams, of course, but the predators prey on peoples' fear of Uncle Sam. It all begins with the fraudster making a phone call, pretending to be an IRS employee.
If you are the parent of a child or teen who uses the internet, here are some stats you need to know: Stats About Teens and the Internet
The proliferation of mobile devices means that we can work or play online from almost anywhere, so it’s no surprise that public Wi-Fi networks have become more common. From hotels and coffee shops, to universities and city centers, Wi-Fi is widely available, but is connecting to these networks safe?
In July, more than 15,000 security pros, hackers, hobbyists, and researchers met in Las Vegas for the Black Hat Conference 2017 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. This was the 20th year that the security conference was held, and both black and white hat hackers joined together to discuss security.
Do you have children? How do you talk to them when something like a mass shooting happens? What about a robbery in your neighborhood? Do you talk about nuclear weapons? If you are like most parents, you don't know where to start. Here's 10 tips that you can use to talk to your kids about our screwed up world: Young Kids - Ages 2 to 6
Do you know what ATM stands for? For crooks, it stands for A Thief's Moneymaker. A new report from FICO says that "skimming" crimes have made their biggest spike in the past 20 years. This includes ATMs on bank premises, but of course, public ATM kiosks have seen the biggest spike.
What a very interesting experiment: Researches randomly deposited 297 USB drives (aka USB stick, flash drive, thumb drive) around the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. They wanted to see just how many, and how soon after dropping them off, they'd be collected by people.
Think about your keychain. It probably holds the necessities: car keys, home keys, work keys, miscellaneous keychains you bought on your previous vacations. Now, imagine you have a keychain full of these keys that all look the same, but each only opens a specific door.
Traveling is fun, exciting, tiring and depending on your destination, generally safe. But bad things can happen. The best thing you can do before you go, is prepare. Safety Tips
It's been said that nobody can make you feel bad about yourself without your permission. Well bah! Some people don't wait for your permission to denigrate you. They are toxic. Lifehacker.com offers some ways to deal with such people. Love Yourself
What do you do if you have a "Plan A" for survival, but you realize that it's a bad plan. Do you have a "Plan B?" Forget about doing things like running to the grocery store right before the snow storm of the century hits. Everyone else in your town or city will do the same.
Myth: Most burglaries occur at night when nobody can see the intruder. Fact: Most burglaries occur during the day because criminals know that's the most likely time that people are away at work. Myth: Most burglaries are random and spontaneous. Fact: Most burglaries occur after the thief has "cased" a residence and pre-meditated an intrusion and getaway plan.
This post isn't exactly a "how to" but if your current employment isn't bringing in the bacon, I'm sure your criminal mind can figure it out. In the biggest digital advertising fraud in the history of the U.S., it was recently found that a group of hackers is bringing in from $3 million to $5 million a day from media companies and brands. That's some scratch!
Think about how great this would be: Imagine that all of your company data is safe from hackers. Your hardware is totally safe and secure. You have IT specialists at your disposal at all times and have a constant flow of cash to pay them.
The season to give is also the season to steal. Burglars are always looking for great deals—you know—the house that looks like nobody's ever home; the house that has lots of shrubbery crowding out the doors and windows so that nobody can see the prowler spending 20 minutes trying to break in; the house with the huge Christmas tree in the window and a three-foot-high pile of gifts engulfing it.