March 19th, 2010 As mentioned in a previous post I’m a big believer in furry beasts as a layer of protection. My 60lb German shepherd last fall is now a 75lb GSD due to a lazy winter and a busy Daddy who hasn’t taken her out enough.
“Lola” the furriest of all beasts is all bark, love and [...]
February 22nd, 2010 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 [...]
February 21st, 2010 Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Chip and PIN is the name of a government-backed initiative in the United Kingdom to implement the EMV standard for secure payments.
There have been rumblings from Europe over the past year about American based credit cards that solely rely on the magnetic strip not being accepted in the future due [...]
February 20th, 2010 Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
The sheer volume of potential targets coupled with the vast amounts of money to be made has captured the attention of the global criminal hacking community.
Enterprise networks are becoming hardened and they are still vulnerable. Some are being penetrated directly while others are accessed through 3rd parities such as their clients [...]
February 17th, 2010 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 [...]
February 17th, 2010 Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Diploma mills were born along with elearning institutions who are actually legitimate and accredited bodies. Degrees and diplomas issued by diploma mills are frequently used for fraudulent purposes, such as obtaining employment, promotions, raises, or bonuses on false pretenses. They can also be used as a form of fake ID when [...]
February 16th, 2010 Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Botnets are robot networks of computers connected to the Internet that sit in our homes and offices. A botnet is generally banks of multiple PC’s from the 10’s to 10,000’s to millions. There are no hard numbers on botnets but last figure I saw was somewhere between 3-5 million. Another stat [...]
February 7th, 2010 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 [...]
February 7th, 2010 Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
The Internet has made our personal and professional lives very transparent. We now live in the fishbowl. Despite what many will argue, your privacy is no longer fully in your control. Your online identity is also something that others can control, and you need to do your best to manage it. [...]
February 3rd, 2010 Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
Malicious software designed to gather usernames and passwords has been a boon for the criminal hacking community. Spyware as it’s commonly known records almost everything a user does on their PC. The most damaging spyware records all electronic communications via a web browser. That’s where the most damage can be done [...]