identity theft: Social Media Security in a Corporate Setting
- 03/14/10 11:13 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
The load isn’t getting any lighter for the IT manager. While corporations are still trying to figure out the long term marketing benefits of social media, the security issues faced are a right now a problem.
Many companies restrict internal access. Others prevent employees from discussing or mentioning the company in social media during private time.
All of a sudden we’ve gone from print media, radio, television, Internet and now social media. This isn’t a fad or craze that will go away like Beanie Babies or talking Elmo. Social media is the 5th media that … (2 comments)
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identity theft: The $6.75 Million Dollar Laptop
- 02/22/10 12:34 AM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Dan Yost Chief Technology Officer of MyLaptopGPS brought attention to the Ponemon Institute, with sponsorship from PGP, has released their “Fifth Annual U.S. Cost of Data Breach Study.” As usual, the report is a treasure trove of great data (just like most people’s laptops are).
The average cost per breached data record rose $2 in 2009, to $204. That’s actually not too bad. The average cost of a breach was $6.75 million, compared to $6.65 million in 2008.
PC World has a good article to summarize, and thanks to lyger at DataLossDB for the pointer.
Not … (1 comments)
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identity theft: Fostering Awareness & Improving Security Education
- 02/17/10 02:19 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Financial institutions have the most to lose and the most to gain by improving security education of their clients and employees.
A while back I appeared on a local TV show talking about phishing. Amazingly, still, not everyone knows what phishing is. A good friend saw the show and was shocked by what she learned….about her bank.
She received a phishing email and didn’t know what it was. The email asked her to update her account. It was confusing so she called her bank. She spent 20 minutes on the phone with a bank rep discussing … (1 comments)
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identity theft: EFT Point of Sales Hackers Net $50 Million
- 02/13/10 12:26 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Readers of these posts are familiar with ATM skimming. ATM skimming is a billion dollar problem and growing. A relatively new scam over the past few years is electronic funds transfers at the point of sale (EFTPOS ) skimming. People commonly swipe both credit and debit cards through the in-store machines to pay for goods and services at these outlets. In Australia, Fast-food, convenience and specialist clothing stores are bearing the brunt of the crime. McDonald’s is among the outlets whose EFTPOS machines have been targeted.
Last year, legitimate EFTPOS devices at McDonald’s outlets across Perth … (0 comments)
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identity theft: Citizens Need to be More Involved in Cybersecurity
- 02/13/10 05:42 AM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
In the University of Cincinnati’s Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, the authors write “The general population must be engaged as active security providers, not simply beneficiaries of security policy, because their practices often create the threats to which government responds.” Somebody is saying to take personal responsibility and start doing things securely opposed to expecting it to all be done for you. What a revelation!
Just because everyone has access to the Internet, doesn’t mean they are using it securely. If a person decides to login, they should take some basic courses or read … (0 comments)
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identity theft: How Banks Fail to Provide Effective Online Security
- 02/11/10 10:38 AM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
A Texas bank is suing one of its customers who was hit by an $800,000 online bank theft that could determine who is to be held responsible for protecting their online accounts from fraud.
Computerworld reports Romanian and Italian based criminal hackers launched numerous wire transfers out of the client’s back account. The bank recovered $600,000 of the $800,000.
The victim wanted all its money back and sued the bank to be reimbursed of the $200,000. The bank in turn filed a lawsuit requesting the bank certify it had adequate security that was considered “commercially reasonable”. … (1 comments)
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identity theft: 3 Nabbed in Massachusetts ATM Skimming Ring
- 02/07/10 09:56 AM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Police believe they may have uncovered an international ATM “skimming” ring responsible for stealing money from hundreds of local accounts. Izaylo Hristov, 28, of Ontario, Canada, a Bulgarian citizen, was arrested at an ATM in the Boston area along with Viadiclav Vladevo and Anton Venkov. Venkov had $99,100 in $20 bills in his car when he was arrested. One of them had Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards and American Express cards with post-it notes that had “PIN’’ and various numbers written on them. These cards were used to write the stolen data on, and then used to … (0 comments)
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identity theft: My Identity Thief Loves Me (PTI)
- 02/02/10 08:20 AM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
I have a very weird job. I explore aspects of society that people read about but would never consider exploring themselves. I go places where others may be led to because they didn’t know any better. And I like too expose the flaws in the system that make us vulnerable. Much of my “research” or “antics” as some would call it is prompted by my desire to learn more about the scumbags of society or predators that prey on other people.
My research has taken me down a dark seedy road into online dating scams, where … (0 comments)
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identity theft: Crimeware: Do It Yourself Criminal Hacking
- 01/25/10 12:40 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
For $400-$700 you too can be a criminal hacker. Phishing hacking and spoofing software has been around for a few years. Heres what may be an example.
The ease and availability of this good for nothing other than crime software has made it easier, cheaper and more user friendly than ever to get into the cybercrime business.
Anyone with moderate computer skills that can navigate around the web and upload or download files is pretty much capable of accessing and implementing the crimeware.
Todays crimeware kits are designed so a person who is new to the … (0 comments)
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identity theft: Meet Raoul Chiesa: UN Interregional Crime & Justice Research Inst.
- 01/24/10 03:21 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
In my quest to learn more about what makes a criminal hacker tick, I came across Mr Chiesa when he commented on a blog post I wrote “How I Wasted 4 Hours with a Criminal Hacker”. He warned me I was treading on dangerous ground due to the fact that when communicating with the blackhat, I used my real name and provided my web address. His concern was a revenge hack that would clear the hackers name amongst his hacker peers.
I’ve danced with the devil a few times in my life and don’t mind the … (1 comments)
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identity theft: 10 Business Identity Theft Risks in 2010
- 01/23/10 06:44 AM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Advancements in technology over the past decade have created a tremendous amount of opportunity for the savvy businessperson. Whether it’s mobility, streamlined processes, marketing, or the ability to sell to a global market, there’s never been a better time to be in business.
Like anything good, there is always a negative. While there are certainly many negatives in technology, like the headaches when something doesn’t work correctly and the constant learning curve we must all endure, the biggest negative is security issues.
So for the SMB (that’s you, the savvy businessperson), here are ten considerations for … (0 comments)
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identity theft: Forget Privacy, Think Security
- 01/20/10 02:42 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Everywhere you go there is a privacy advocate screaming to protect your privacy. Privacy advocates, bless them, are a dying breed. They fight for whatever privacy rights there are left and do their best to remain watchdogs. If your gig is privacy, my guess is you have lost all your hair and are popping Prozac to relieve the stress of todays anti-private society. And you are fully employed and very very busy.
My gripe, people are freaking about full body scanners at the airports and the privacy issues involved. This isn’t a privacy issue, it’s a … (0 comments)
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identity theft: Google Gets Hacked & What It Means to You
- 01/18/10 06:26 AM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Numerous outlets reported that Googles Gmail and 30 other companies were hacked by the Chinese. Ars Technica reports many say the hack was targeted against Chinese dissidents.
The cyber-assault came to light on Tuesday when Google disclosed to the public that the Gmail Web service was targeted in a highly-organized attack in late December. Google said that the intrusion attempt originated from China and was executed with the goal of obtaining information about political dissidents, but the company declined to speculate about the identity of the perpetrator.
McAfee reported evidence that a vulnerability in Internet Explorer … (3 comments)
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identity theft: Why Am I Logged Into Someone-else’s FriendFeed?
- 01/17/10 03:49 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
I have pretty tight controls over my network and access to my 510 usernames and passworded accounts. Yes he just said “510”…and counting. I have full administrative rights over every PC and nobody else has access to my home or office. So it came as a surprise to me when I went to log into my FriendFeed account to make an adjustment and I discovered I was logged into someone-else’s account. Serious, no joke, I’m not stupid. I have FULL access.
The account is owned by Canadian who sells diet pills and skin care. There are … (0 comments)
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identity theft: Protect Yourself from Social Engineering
- 01/14/10 04:30 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Social engineering is the act of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. While similar to a confidence trick or simple fraud, the term typically applies to trickery or deception for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or computer system access; in most cases the attacker never comes face-to-face with the victim. But in many cases the attacker certainly does come in contact with the victim.
You may be doing all you can and should to protect yourself from hackers and scammers. But a response to a simple email that looks exactly like your … (0 comments)
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identity theft: Data Breaches: The Insanity Continues
- 01/12/10 02:11 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
The Identity Theft Resource Center Breach Report also monitors how breaches occur. This task is made more difficult by the scarcity of information provided (publicly) for approximately 1/3 of the recorded breaches. For the remainder, those events that do state how the breach occurred, malicious attacks (Hacking + Insider Theft) have taken the lead (36.4%) over human error (Data on the Move + Accidental Exposure = 27.5%) in 2009. This was a change from all previous years, where human error was higher than malicious attacks. One theory for this change is that the organization and sophistication … (1 comments)
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identity theft: 2009 Data Breaches: Identity Theft Continues
- 01/11/10 02:40 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
The Identity Theft Resource Center® Breach Report recorded 498 breaches, less than the 657 in 2008, more than the 446 in 2007. Are data breaches increasing or decreasing? That is the question no one can answer. This fact will not change until there is a single data breach list requiring mandatory public reporting. With some breaches not being reported publicly, and some state Attorneys General not allowing public access to reported breaches, we doubt that anyone is in a position to answer the question above. When we allow laws to be created requiring breach reporting but … (1 comments)
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identity theft: Data Security Predictions For 2010
- 01/11/10 01:39 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Forrester Research, Inc. in Cambridge, MA is an independent research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology.
They released their 2010 data security predictions. Heading into 2010, they are predicting five new data security trends:
1) Enterprises will keep their data security budgets relatively flat;
2) Market penetration for data loss prevention (DLP) tools will increase even as prices fall by half;
3) Cloud data security concerns will begin to dissipate;
4) Full disk encryption will continue its steady march into the enterprise, spurred on by breach disclosure laws; … (0 comments)
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identity theft: Impostor Poses as Secret Service Agent and Police Officer
- 01/10/10 08:06 AM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
A bunch of us recently celebrated a 40th birthday of a friend. The conversation at one point revolved around my ATM scam and how easy it is to con people. A new boyfriend of a friend began to tell everyone how he often cons people to get in bars and clubs. “I NEVER wait in lines” he said, “and I always get VIP treatment”. I hate lines too, but I have a hard time lying to get what I want. Anyway the guy is 6 foot 8 inches, which in many ways is a handicap in … (37 comments)
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identity theft: Pair Accused Of Stealing TSA Workers Identities
- 01/09/10 07:54 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
In my early 20’s I bought real estate in a depressed area north of Boston in Lynn Massachusetts. At 20, that’s all I could afford. Lynn was then and is now known as “Lynn Lynn the City of Sin, you don’t go out the way you come in.” Lynn’s a hard city known for drugs and prostitution. It’s also the home of various biker gangs known as “one percenters” The theory is 1% of all people come out of their momma just bad.
No surprise that the Boston Channel reports a Lynn couple was accused of … (1 comments)
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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
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