identity theft: Identity Theft Is Really No Big Deal. Idiot.
- 10/14/09 03:08 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
I make a portion of my living talking about identity theft. Admittedly, I profit from the crime. I don’t steal identities of course, but I get paid because others steal. I’m not FBI, CIA, Secret Service or a cop. But you wouldn’t disparage any of those entities for doing their jobs to protect you from bad guys.
I talk about this issue all day, every day to whoever will listen. I’m obsessed with this and all issues regarding personal security. It’s what I do, and it seems to be “my purpose.” I may sometimes go a … (0 comments)
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identity theft: How to Prevent Phishing Scams
- 10/14/09 04:30 AM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Recent reports abound of consumers email account being phished and American and Egyptian authorities arresting dozens of people in an online fraud crackdown for phishing scams. Its time to revisit the fundamentals of how to prevent phishing. Nobody can do this better than the Anti Phishing Work Group
Phishing Defined
Phishing is a criminal mechanism employing both social engineering and technical subterfuge to steal consumers’ personal identity data and financial account credentials. Social‐engineering schemes use spoofed e‐mails purporting to be from legitimate businesses and agencies to lead consumers to counterfeit websites designed to trick recipients into … (26 comments)
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identity theft: Operation Phish Phry Nabs 100 Identity Thieves
- 10/10/09 04:13 AM
Identity Theft Expert Robert Siciliano
US and Egyptian officials have charged 100 people with orchestrating a phishing scam that robbed a$1.5m from Bank of America and Wells Fargo customers.
53 criminals from CA, NV and NC were named in an indictment. This is the largest ever charged in a cybercrime case. Officials in Egypt nabbed another 47 people.
Egyptian criminals phished account numbers and accessed bank accounts. The Egyptians and the US phishers transferred money into mules accounts.
This is an example of the sophistication of criminal identity theft rings and organized global web mobs fully ramped up and knocking off … (3 comments)
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identity theft: Up to 1 Million email Accounts Phished for Identity Theft
- 10/08/09 02:45 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Hotmail, Earthlink, Google, Yahoo, Comcast and other web-based email users have been giving up al their login details to phishers and current estimates are as many as 1 million accounts may have been compromised.
News of the scam broke when technology blog neowin.net reported an anonymous user had published confidential details on pastebin.com. Internet users are urged to change their passwords regularly and ensure anti-virus software is up to date to protect themselves from fraudsters.
While phishing emails keep pouring in, their methods are changing rapidly. Posing as a Nigerian prince is still common, but not … (1 comments)
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identity theft: I Want to Punch Passwords in The Face
- 10/07/09 01:15 PM
Robert Siciliano identity theft expert
Passwords and forms harass and mock me every day of my life. Everywhere I go there is a big burly bouncer who is the password gatekeeper and he needs a beating. He won’t let me in or by the velvet ropes unless I know the secret code. Most of the time I know what he wants, but because I have so many passwords to remember (last count is 456, but less than 200 active/weekly sites), I sometimes forget. Then I try 2-3 other passwords that I think will work before I get locked out. I can’t … (2 comments)
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identity theft: Obama; Cybersecurity and Identity Theft Protection Starts at Home
- 10/06/09 05:13 AM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Whether you realize it or not one of the biggest threats to your personal security is your computer. And the Obama administration is bringing to light the fact that they believe, and you should too, that one of the biggest security threats to national security is also your computer.
The message is “Think before you click. Know who’s on the other side of that instant message. What you say or do in cyberspace stays in cyberspace — for many to see, steal and use against you or your government.”
The Internet, and the power it has … (0 comments)
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identity theft: Government Tries to Thwart P2P Identity Theft
- 10/05/09 10:30 AM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Computerworld reports the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the Informed P2P User Act, a law that supposedly makes it safer to use peer-to-peer, or P2P, file-sharing software. Yawn.
The bill now goes to the House for one more round of approval. If passed, the bill requires developers to explain to users how their files will be made available for sharing with others on a P2P network.
The bill would make it illegal for P2P developers to make software that causes files from a computer to be inadvertently shared over a P2P network without a user’s … (0 comments)
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identity theft: 70 Million Veterans at Possible Risk For Identity Theft
- 10/04/09 12:31 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Wired reports the inspector general of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is investigating a potential data breach affecting 70 million records of U.S. military veterans. The issue involves a defective hard drive the agency sent back to its vendor for repair without first destroying the data. Once the drive was diagnosed and found to be faulty, it was sent out for recycling. With millions of records still on it.
A NARA IT manager says 70 million veterans are at risk for identity theft, and that NARA’s practice of returning hard drives unsanitized was symptomatic … (1 comments)
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identity theft: Invest in Identity Theft Protection and a Credit Freeze
- 10/04/09 05:58 AM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
ConsumersUnion provides a resource for consumers to learn what their options are in regards to a “security or credit freeze”.
“There are more than eight million new victims of identity theft each year in the U.S. Many of these victims find that crooks have used stolen personal information like Social Security numbers to open new accounts in their victim’s name. A security freeze gives consumers the choice to “freeze” or lock access to their credit file against anyone trying to open up a new account or to get new credit in their name.”
When a security … (0 comments)
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identity theft: New Identity Theft Virus Steals from Online Banking
- 09/30/09 12:10 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
CNET reports Researchers at security firm Finjan have discovered a new type of banking Trojan horse that doesn’t just steal your bank log in credentials but actually steals money from your account while you are logged in and displays a fake balance.
The virus known as URLZone is controlled by servers in the Ukraine and steals money from the users account based on how much is actually in the account live in realtime when you are logged in. URLZone targets Firefox, Opera and the last three versions of Internet Explorer.
Currently the exploit is only affecting … (2 comments)
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identity theft: High-Tech Harassment in Social Media
- 09/29/09 07:01 AM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Social media identity theft, Facebook jacking, mCrime with mobile phone hacking and harassing, cyber bullying, and the list goes on. I did a spot on the Tyra Banks Show over a year ago and they keep re-running the episode. Every time the show airs I get emails from victims of high tech harassment. In the show a family from Washington, found that several of their phones had been hijacked in order to spy on them. They say the hacker was able to turn a compromised phone on and off, use the phone’s camera to take pictures, … (0 comments)
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identity theft: 8 Ways to Prevent Business Social Media Identity Theft
- 09/27/09 11:17 AM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
There are hundreds, or maybe even thousands of social media sites worldwide such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube. Social media networks are quickly becoming the bane of the IT Manager. Twitter phishing and Facebook jacking are growing rapidly.
Social media is still in its infancy and its security has been an issue since its inception. Facebook has been perceived as an ongoing privacy and security issue and Twitter has become a big target. Users are tricked into clicking links. Viruses enter the network as a result of employees downloading or simply visiting an infected page.
… (0 comments)
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identity theft: Twitter Phishing Leads to Identity Theft
- 09/25/09 07:16 AM
Identity Theft Expert Robert Siciliano
Twitter phishing is a growing problem and is spreading through a virus. Twitter accounts that have been hacked are spreading a link with a request to click on and download a video.
Some Twitter phishing involves Twitter porn. Today Ena Fuentes, who’s definitely a hot little number, started following me on Twitter and wants me to check out her new pics. Problem is Ena is probably controlled by a dude from some little village in an oppressed country who’s using dumb human libido to snare his intended victims.
The Register reports users who follow these links … (2 comments)
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identity theft: National Protect Your Identity Week Facilitates Identity Theft Protection and Education
- 09/23/09 12:53 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
A recent National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) survey conducted by Harris Interactive(R) revealed that 45 percent of all U.S. adults, roughly 101 million people, would feel at most risk for identity theft when making a purchase with a credit card that requires the card to be temporarily taken out of their sight, for example, at a restaurant.
By contrast, consumers are least fearful of falling victim to identity theft when using their credit card to make a purchase in person, for instance at a store. Only 21 percent of U.S. adults listed this as a … (0 comments)
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identity theft: The Scourge of Medical Identity Theft
- 09/22/09 02:23 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Medical identity theft can make you sick. When I was asked by the reporter on the CBS Early Show, “If medical identity theft happens to you”…and I eloquently responded “You’re screwed”, and amazingly it made the edits to air. Because in sum, it’s true.
Medical identity theft occurs when someone uses a person’s name and sometimes other parts of their identity—such as insurance information—without the person’s knowledge or consent to obtain medical services or goods, or uses the person’s identity information to make false claims for medical services or goods. Medical identity theft frequently results in … (0 comments)
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identity theft: Task Force Surprises Registered Sex Offenders
- 09/21/09 12:48 PM
Robert Siciliano Personal Security Expert
While information security is always top of mind, my first passion has always been personal security. There always has been, is, and always will be predators stalking their prey. Unfortunately this is the natural order of life. Predators are a part of many of life’s species. Growing up my dad sat me in front of the TV and made me watch documentaries on animal behavior. “In the animal world”, he pointed out, and then he specifically pointed towards the lion and said “there are predators and their natural prey”. The lion hunts and stalks other animals … (1 comments)
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identity theft: Criminal Hackers Get to Momma and DaDa Via Children
- 09/19/09 11:01 AM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
I’m particularly irate about this. There’s criminal hackers, then there’s complete lowlife scumbag criminal hackers that hack children. InternetNews reports hackers took over sections of the PBS.org Web site earlier this week, installing malicious JavaScript code on the site’s “Curious George” page that infects visitors with a slew of software exploits.
For the uninitiated Curious George is a little happy go lucky bumbling monkey that continually gets himself in a pickle. His curiosity almost kills the monkey in every episode. Thank heavens for “”The Man in the Yellow Hat” which is Georges keeper and occasional life … (0 comments)
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identity theft: Liars Cons and Scammers: How to Recognize Them
- 09/17/09 12:26 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
We talk about criminal hackers, scammers and bold face conmen like they are mysterious creatures from the twilight zone. While they are certainly interesting and mythical creatures, fundamentally they are people. People who lie and do it better than anyone else.
If only our noses grew every time we lied. Life would be so transparent. Social engineering is the act of manipulating people into performing certain 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 … (0 comments)
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identity theft: Couples Online Bank Account Hacked Leads to Identity Theft
- 09/15/09 02:10 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
In 2007, a U.S. couple fell victim to identity theft when a criminal accessed their online bank account and stole $26,500 from a home equity credit line. The money was transferred to an Austrian bank that refused to return the funds to Citizens Financial Bank. So Citizens Financial informed the couple that they were liable for the loss. When the couple refused to pay, the bank notified the credit bureaus that their account was delinquent and threatened to foreclose on their home. So the couple sued the bank, claiming violations of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act … (0 comments)
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identity theft: Cybersquatting Leads to Identity Theft
- 09/11/09 02:38 PM
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Ever click on a link in an email or while browsing online, and something just wasn’t right? The domain name in the address bar was off by a letter or two? Or a word was misspelled? Maybe there was a number tossed in for good measure? This is either cybersquatting or typosquatting, and it’s a problem.
Cybersquatting is the act of procuring someone else’s trademarked brand name online, either as a dot com or any other U.S.-based extension. Cybersquatters squat for many reasons, including for fun, because they are hoping to resell the domain, they are … (2 comments)
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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
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