The Benefits of Multifactor Authentication - 07/29/11 12:46 AM
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), a formal government interagency body empowered to prescribe uniform principles, standards, and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions, recently issued a supplement to the 2005 document “Authentication in an Internet Banking Environment” effective January 2012. The FFIEC has acknowledged that cybercrime is increasing and financial institutions need to increase their security and that of their customers.
Specifically the FFIEC states: “Since virtually every authentication technique can be compromised, financial institutions should not rely solely on any single control for authorizing high risk transactions, but rather institute a system of layered … (3 comments)

Device Intelligence Helps Stop Scammers Targeting Social Media Sites - 07/29/11 12:25 AM
We’ve heard this story before, but unfortunately it happens over and over again. Social media and dating sites are overrun with criminals who pose as legitimate, upstanding individuals, but are really wolves in sheep’s clothing.
In Florida, a man named Martin Kahl met a 51-year-old woman and they developed an online romance. A quick search for the name “Martin Kahl” turns up many men with the same name and no obvious signs of trouble.
This particular Martin Kahl told his online girlfriend that he would soon be working in Nigeria (red flag) on a construction project, but a short time later … (0 comments)

Victim Jumps from Second Floor in Home Invasion - 07/29/11 12:06 AM
In Illinois in an apartment building that just happens to be in yelling distance from a police station, a man jumped from his second floor window screaming for help. Fortunately the police were able to catch the two guys who invaded his apartment.
Apparently he didn’t have a home security alarm system, which is an option in an apartment and something to consider.
Two men kicked in his door threatening the man with a gun and proceeded to tie the guy up. When they left to kick in the door of another apartment he was able to break free and that’s … (0 comments)

Hacking Voicemail is Scary Easy - 07/28/11 11:50 PM
Imagine someone jeopardizing your home security system by hacking your phone’s voicemail. There’s been a widely reported story of a British tabloid newspaper accused of accessing voicemail messages of murder victims, government officials, celebrities and possibly victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack.
The story broke in response to the tabloids manipulating voicemail of a 13 year old girl who was a murder victim and soldiers who fought in Iraq and died. The FBI is apparently investigating.
It seems there is a flaw in many telecom systems that allow the snooper to check a targets voicemail as long as the voicemail believes … (1 comments)

Disclosing Data, Despite Breaches - 07/27/11 12:41 AM
The ticker tape of data breaches in the last few months has been astounding. Many have called 2011 “The Year of The Hacker“ and that prognostication has rung true, without question. Halfway through the year, data breaches are an incessant news story.
And despite the constant stream of bad news, consumers continue divulging a tremendous amount of data to retailers, auction sites, dating sites, and gaming sites. While awareness of fraud and cybercrime is at an all time high, consumers seem to feel they don’t have much of a choice but to provide all their data.
People have grown to love … (4 comments)

5 Security Considerations for a Mobile Phone - 07/27/11 12:31 AM
Nielsen reports “We are just at the beginning of a new wireless era where smartphones will become the standard device consumers will use to connect to friends, the internet and the world at large. The share of smartphones as a proportion of overall device sales has increased 29% for phone purchasers in the last six months; and 45% of respondents indicated that their next device will be a smartphone.”
Mobile users have recently captured the attention of cyber criminals. The Department of Homeland Security and the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. program recommend the following tips to help you protect yourself and to … (3 comments)

Home Invasion Murder Happens Close to Home - 07/27/11 12:23 AM
All this scribbling I do about home security cameras and home alarm systems is actually part of a business I run so it requires me to have an administrator to perform certain duties that she’s better at than I am. Earlier this week I reached out to her via text and briefly she wasn’t responding.
Then I get this text: “I’m in New Hampshire at a friend’s. My girlfriend was murdered Saturday night by her fiancés son. Then he shot himself. The kid that killed her broke into the neighbor’s house and tried to shoot him”
Eeesh. When people hear these … (1 comments)

15 Social Media Security Tips - 07/26/11 12:04 AM
1. Realize that you can become a victim at any time. Not a day goes by when we don’t hear about a new hack. With 55,000 new pieces of malware a day, security never sleeps.
2. Think before you post. Status updates, photos, and comments can reveal more about you than you intended to disclose. You could end up feeling like some silly politician as you struggle to explain yourself.
3. Nothing good comes from filling out a “25 Most Amazing Things About You” survey. Avoid publicly answering questionnaires with details like your middle name, as this is the type of … (9 comments)

Make Criminals Cry UNCLE - 07/25/11 11:48 PM
A Neighborhood crime watch, also called a crime watch or neighborhood watch, is an organized group of citizens devoted to crime and vandalism prevention within a neighborhood. A neighborhood watch may be organized as its own group or may simply be a function of a neighborhood association or other community association.
In South Carolina a group of concerned citizens created a crime watch organization called UNCLE. That stands for United Network of Communities on Law and Enforcement.
The members of UNCLE drive around reporting suspicious behavior. If something looks out of place, they write it down and call the police. If … (1 comments)

Standards Will Bring Mobile Payment - 07/25/11 05:36 PM
Mobile payment has been around for years in numerous forms for purchases such as downloading music, ringtones and various other services and is now gaining traction for retail purchases in the U.S. But its implementation in the U.S. is a bit slower due to a lack of standardization of payment methods and the overall security concerns of mCommerce. Some consumers in the U.S. have had bad experiences with criminal hacking and data breaches and are concerned about their security and are waiting for the various handset manufacturers (those who make the phones), mobile carriers (those who provide mobile service) and third … (1 comments)

McAfee Reports Most Malware Ever in Early 2011 - 07/20/11 11:38 PM
Malware refers to malicious software, which includes computer viruses and rootkits. McAfee recently released the McAfee Threats Report: First Quarter 2011. With six million unique samples of recorded malware, the first quarter of 2011 was the most active in malware history.
In February alone, approximately 2.75 million new malware samples were recorded. Fake antivirus software had an active quarter as well, reaching its highest levels in more than a year, with 350,000 unique samples recorded in March.
Mobile malware is the new frontier of cybercrime.
Malware no longer affects just PCs. As Android devices have grown in popularity, the platform has … (5 comments)

Bump Keys Are Today’s Skeleton Keys - 07/20/11 11:23 PM
Locking your doors is a first step to securing your home.
However after conducting thousands of seminars on personal security I’m amazed at how many people do not lock their doors. That one simple act can prevent a door jiggling burglar from choosing your home. However if you do lock your doors, the quality of your locks can impact your security.
Lock bumping as its known is a lock picking method that involves inserting a modified key similar to the original and lightly bumping or hitting the key with a hammer or other blunt instrument. As the key is bumped the … (2 comments)

Security Cameras Catch Intruder - 07/19/11 12:55 AM
Video is a great thief repellant. It is one layer of security that must be incorporated into every home security system. However there is no such thing as 100% security. And while video often catches a thief in the act, it can’t actually catch a thief. That’s what police are for.
In Des Moines Iowa, which I’ve been to a few times and is a very cool place, lots of Bald Eagles, a bar owner was awoken to a phone call from ADT Security calling to tell him the alarm in his bar was going off. At the same time the … (7 comments)

Talk To Your Kids about Teen Dating Violence - 07/19/11 12:45 AM
Teen dating violence is a difficult and touchy subject. But approaching the issue, or not, can mean the difference between life and death. Some studies show as many as 1 in 3 teens are affected.
Both young men and women are capable of acting out in abusive ways, and parents need to be aware of any signs of trouble.
Teen angst can be a low level annoyance or escalate to dangerous uncontrollable anger. I was a teen once and can attest to both ends of the spectrum. Ultimately teen domestic violence is about one person controlling another person when the controller … (2 comments)

Social Networking Security Awareness - 07/19/11 12:42 AM
One in five online consumers has been a victim of cybercrime in the past two years. Social networking is a direct link to the problem. While social networks allow you to keep in touch with family and friends, there are issues to be concerned about.
Most concerns revolve around online reputation management, identity theft, or physical security issues. Social networking creates a risk of posting content that will be damaging to yourself, your profile being hacked or your credentials being compromised, or inviting burglars to your home by publicizing your whereabouts.
Facebook faces a security challenge that few companies, or even … (1 comments)

Your “Status” is Important to Others - 07/19/11 12:31 AM
People have always paid attention to your status. Now they do it on social media. Status is your “standing” in society. It could mean whether you are married, employed, rich, poor, saving the world, up to no good, home or not.
Status in terms of home security begins with your whereabouts.
By now we should all know posting your whereabouts (or where you aren’t) can be an invitation for criminals to break into your home while you are gone. It’s simply not a good idea to post you are not home and your house is vacant. On the other hand it … (6 comments)

This Doesn’t Happen In Small Towns - 07/14/11 02:55 PM
If you have children you know what worry is. If you have a daughter you worry times ten. I have 2 daughters and I worry times 10,000. Worrying is unproductive however, but taking action can and putting your worry to work can create positive results.
In a small Massachusetts town a recently graduated and talented 18 year old woman got off work and went to the beach to meet an 18 year old man she was in some type of relationship with.
She was supposed to check in with her dad early evening and never did. Her father got worried and … (1 comments)

15 Tips To Better Password Security - 07/14/11 02:50 PM
Protect your information by creating a secure password that makes sense to you, but not to others.
Most people don’t realize there are a number of common techniques used to crack passwords and plenty more ways we make our accounts vulnerable due to simple and widely used passwords.
How to get hacked
Dictionary attacks: Avoid consecutive keyboard combinations— such as qwerty or asdfg. Don’t use dictionary words, slang terms, common misspellings, or words spelled backward. These cracks rely on software that automatically plugs common words into password fields. Password cracking becomes almost effortless with a tool like John the Ripper or … (6 comments)

What The FFIEC Is Doing to Protect You and Your Bank - 07/14/11 02:44 PM
FFIEC is the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council which is a government body empowered to prescribe uniform principles, standards and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions by and for numerous other government, public, private and financial entities.
If there is a “good” place for your tax dollars to head, it’s to the FFIEC. And very recently the FFIEC has issued updated guidelines for financial institutions in regards to their cyber security and new threats your bank needs to counter.
Over the past decade as we have all (mostly) have banked and bought stuff online, criminals have formed organized … (0 comments)

How to Reset Your Gmail Password After Being Hacked - 07/11/11 06:59 PM
I finally got one of those “I’m stuck in London” emails. My friend Kate’s Gmail account was hacked, and everyone on her contact list received an email from a hacker posing as Kate:
“Hi, Apologies, but I made a quick trip, to London,United Kingdom and got mugged, my bag, stolen from me with my passport and credit cards in it. The embassy is willing to help by authorizing me to fly without on a temporary identification, instead of a passport, I just have to pay for a ticket and settle Hotel bills. Unfortunately,I can’t have access to funds without my credit … (5 comments)

Spear Phishing Leaves a Bloody Wound - 07/11/11 06:51 PM
Once criminal hackers get a person’s username and email address, they can begin to launch a targeted spear phish scam. Scammers copy the design of each breached entities outgoing email campaign and blast the breached list with “account update” or other ruses.
Gaming site Sega Pass was hacked. On the Sega Pass website it states, “we had identified that unauthorized entry was gained to our Sega Pass database.” Numerous outlets report hackers stole Sega Pass members’ email addresses, dates of birth, and encrypted passwords.
The recent Epsilon data breach resulted in a similar loss of data. Epsilon is a marketing company … (1 comments)

Security Threat Concerns ATM Industry - 07/11/11 06:45 PM
Today, there are over 2.2 million ATMs worldwide, and by 2015 there will be around 3 million. ATM skimming accounts for as much as 30% of all data theft. That’s about $350,000 in fraud every day in the United States alone, or more than a billion dollars a year.
The ATM Industry Association is now attempting to address the security threat posed by decommissioned ATMs, urging ATM deployers to exercise more caution when discarding old machines.
This is partially in response to recent media reports about criminals who hunt for discarded ATMs in junkyards. Old ATMs sometimes contain stored card data. … (0 comments)

Home Invader Says God Told Him to Do it - 07/07/11 07:55 PM
Of all the things God would tell you to do, would it be break into someone’s house? Probably not. He might tell you to go invest in a home security system to prevent a home invasion but otherwise….no, I don’t think so.
Gawker reports “The Connecticut native was arrested for breaking into a stranger’s home, telling the owner that God made him do it, and then proceeding to smash statues of Roman soldiers and a marble table with a fireplace poker. Then he took a shower and dressed himself in the clothing of a deceased man who used to live there. … (3 comments)

Judge Says Its OK to Post Social Security Numbers Online - 07/06/11 12:58 AM
B.J. Ostergren is a proud Virginian. She’s known as “The Virginia Watchdog,” but I like to call her “The Pit Bull of Personal Privacy.” She is relentless in her efforts to protect citizens’ privacy, and her primary concern is the posting of personal information online. To make this point, she finds politicians’ personal information, usually Social Security numbers, on their own states’ websites, and republishes that information online.
Publicly appointed government employees known as Clerks of Courts, County Clerks, or Registrars are responsible for handling and managing public records, including birth, death, marriage, court, property, and business filings for municipalities. Every … (7 comments)

Woman Bites Off Attackers Tongue - 07/06/11 12:51 AM
Years ago my childhood hero was this Chicago cop named JJ Bittenbinder. He would say “If all else fails, let them kiss you, then bite down on their lips until your teeth meet.”
The Boston Globe reports a woman was attacked in an alley and her attacker lost a big chunk of his tongue. The cops found it on the ground in an alley near a church after she defended herself. Maybe she read my book.
The guy fled and ended up in a clinic where police had already sent a bulletin.
It is important to understand that in any attack … (4 comments)

Data Breaches Up, Lost Records Down - 07/06/11 12:29 AM
According to a recent report from Verizon, data breaches are on the rise. There were 760 data breaches recorded in 2010, compared to 140 breaches in 2009. However, there were approximately four million records stolen in 2010, as opposed to 144 million stolen in 2009.
This means there were fewer large-scale data breaches compromised of multimillions of records, and many more data breaches that compromised fewer records at a time.
Criminals have shifted their focus away from large corporations that have implemented multilayered security measures to protect mass amounts of data, and are now targeting smaller companies with smaller databases, who … (1 comments)

Canadian Charged in Ticket Scams – Auction Sites Need to Step Up Fraud Prevention Techniques - 07/06/11 12:22 AM
Online classified advertising site scams are typically conducted by scammers in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Romania, Korea, Israel, Columbia, Argentina, the Philippines, or Malaysia, who spend their days targeting consumers in the developed world.
Scammer grammar and general awkwardness make these scams relatively easy to detect. But when a scammer is local, the ruse becomes more insidious and effective.
The Toronto Sun reports that a man in Hamilton, Ontario faces “60 charges for allegedly selling thousands of dollars worth of non-existent tickets to concerts and sporting events, mostly at venues in Toronto.” The suspect “allegedly used Craigslist to sell tickets … (2 comments)

Consumer Fraud No Longer Shocking - 07/01/11 11:04 PM
The depth, breadth, creativity, and depravity of scams and the scammers that perpetrate them no longer shock or offend. From grandmother scams to online dating scams, identity theft, data breaches, and any form of phishing or advanced fee scams, when you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. But the bad guys continue to find new ways to skin a cat.
The Better Business Bureau and the Consumer Sentinel Network received 725,000 consumer complaints of fraud in 2010. The defrauded consumers who reported fraud last year lost $1.7 billion.
Beware of the following scams.
Auction Scams: This ruse involves fake profiles advertising … (1 comments)

Home Alarm System Aids Tornado Victims - 07/01/11 11:02 PM
The ADT Pulse alarm system I have has a “Panic” button in case we are in an emergency situation where we need help. I’ve always visualized situations such as home invasion or maybe medical or fire emergency as its intended function.
Well one ADT customer Jarod Stice and his fiancé Jessica Bennett — along with their dog – were huddled under two sheets of plywood and a tarp in the basement of their new Joplin, MO home, while one of the deadliest tornados in U.S. history wreaked havoc overhead.
After emerging from the rubble where his home once stood and uninjured, … (0 comments)

Most Unwanted Criminals: Phishers, Shoulder Surfers and Keyloggers - 07/01/11 11:00 PM
McAfee’s most unwanted criminals have included pickpockets, Trojan viruses, and ATM skimmers, dumpster divers, spies, and wireless hackers and now phishers, shoulder surfers, and keyloggers. Identity theft can happen online or on the ground to anyone with a pulse, and even to the deceased.
The key is awareness, vigilance, and investing in products and services that are designed to protect you.
Tony “Big Phish” Morgan sends emails that appear to come from a trusted source, soliciting login credentials or sending recipients to spoofed websites. Either way, he wants to take over existing accounts and gain access to more data on the … (1 comments)

 

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