Identity Theft Expert http://blogs.transworldnews.com/ http://blogs.transworldnews.com/ Finditt Copyright (c) 2010 Finditt.com en-us http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=179270 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=179270 Tue, 07 May 2013 02:54:03 GMT News This question revolves around whether or not you want or need to head out into the wild, wild web wilderness exposed. By “exposed” I mean letting anyone within 300-500 feet of your device peek at the wireless data packets floating through the airand seeing all your raw data, or revealing who and where you are, what you like and don’t like, or revealing your IP address if you decide to comment on a blog or news article.Most people feel they have nothing to hide or don’t think anyone’s really paying attention. But, in fact, we are all being stalked to a certain degree. Advertisers are watching so they can send you targeted ads; governments are watching to see if you are plotting to take them down or conducting illegal activities; your internet service provider is definitely monitoring your usage and wondering if you are downloading pirated movies, music and software; your employer may be similarly vigilant and criminals are trying to steal your identity or the identities of all your clients.So, to VPN or not to http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=178679 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=178679 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 22:52:09 GMT News South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) is an incubator of cutting-edge technologies. The event, which takes place every March, features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders, and an unbeatable lineup of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer.At the SXSWi conference this year, mobile was a big deal—which meant mobile applications and their security are high on developers’ radars.Mobile SecurityAccess Pointstates, “Developers need to make sure they cover one other major concern when creating a mobile app: security. Consumers need to feel and know that their information is secure at all times, and developers need to lead the chargebeforethey ask for additional measures. Creating simple but effective security checkpoints is a must—just make sure they are not so obtrusive that your users get annoyed and are resistant to adopting your http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177810 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177810 Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:47:05 GMT News Grey charge: When you buy something with your credit card and you get charged for something you didn’t want. Often a merchant will tack on additional products and services to a legitimate purchase you make, and you “sorta” know about the charge…but not really.For example, you might be in the process of purchasing something and a pop-up windowreading “Get 25 percent off your order NOW! CLICK HERE!” comes up. And in the fine print below “CLICK HERE!” it says, “By getting 25 percent off, you are agreeing to get a free month of a one-year membership to our discount clubfor which you will be charged$19.95 per month after the first month. You may cancel at any time, but you are required to give us 30 days’ notice in writing.”Or something stupid like that.Then, a couple of months go by and you get your credit card statement and see this charge for $19.95 and wonder what it’s for. You call the number on the statement and someone answers and puts you on hold for an hour. By the time you are done yelling and pulling http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177808 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177808 Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:30:14 GMT News Wi-Fi was born to be convenient—but not secure.More than anything, though, it depends more on what kind of wireless we’re talking about.Public. Free, unsecured Wi-Fi is the least secure. Shared Wi-Fi in public, at home or in the office lacks encryption of the data packets streaming from the connected devices. In other words, your data is unlocked and free for the picking. Is the threat of data or identity thieves widespread? You bet. Your local coffee shop or airport could easily (and probably does) have a hacker sniffing out data for fun or profit.WEP. Home or office Wi-Fi with Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption offers minimal security. This encryption is 15 years old and has since been compromised to the point where it’s basically useless. As a result, newer routers aren’t even equipping routers with this antiquated security.WPA. Home or office Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) encryption is better than its predecessor, WEP. WPA is a certification program that was created in response to several http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177807 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177807 Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:21:26 GMT News The holidays are over, the Consumer Electronics Show has passed, and now you have all these new shiny wireless gadgets you’re just itching to play with. Now, before you go and connect to the internet, please understand that it’s all fun and games until someone gets hacked. And many times, this means when you are using wireless.But it’s often the security lies that can get us in the most trouble, and today I’m exposing them.Hiding your SSID is bunk. Your router’s Service Set Identifier (SSID) is its broadcasted signal, and by default it might be called “Linksys,” “Belkin,” “Netgear” and so on. Or some people customize the SSID and name it “My Neighbor Should Clean His Yard.” Lots of security articles will tell you that one way to secure your wireless is to hide it or turn off its broadcasting. But really, this doesn’t help. There are a plethora of tools that can detect your hidden wireless network, so this presents a false sense of security. Broadcast your signal, but encrypt it.The idea that Wired Equivalent http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177748 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177748 Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:30:03 GMT News Wireless connections can cost hundreds of dollars annually, so it makes fiscal sense that many people seek out free connections when they are out and about. Butfreedoesn’tnecessarily meansecure.By now you’ve heard all the warnings that publicly connected Wi-Fi, such as that found in coffee shops, airports and hotels, are vulnerable tosniffers. Sniffers read the wireless data as it is transmitted through the air and convert it into words, numbers and computer code so other devices and administrators (including those with poor intentions) can read it.Public Wi-Fi usually means that access is free and not password protected—which often means the Wi-Fi is unsecured, unprotected, unencrypted and just plain open.Here’s how you can protect your data when out on a public network.#1. Turn on automatic Windows Updates. In older versions of the Windows XP operating system, updates were all manual. With Windows XP SP2, updates are automatic by default. Windows Vista, 7 and 8 all have auto updates on by default. Keep it http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177747 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177747 Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:18:49 GMT News A dinner, hosted by Yahoo’s CEO and another 11 CEOs and execs from Twitter, Google, Apple and more, recently took place inSilicon Valley. These major players, responsible for shaping our world of tech, simply sat down to break bread. You gotta wonder what the conversation was like.So this got me thinking: With whom would I want to sit down to dinner, and what would I ask them? The “dinner” part of this dinner is already a problem for me. I’m thinking I’d want to eat ahead of time so I could engage my companions in conversation; otherwise, when I eat, it’s similar to a hyena taking down an antelope in the plains of the Serengeti. While some people do get a kick out of my eating drama and it certainly makes for great entertainment, it might not be the ideal scenario for a repast of this gravity.Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Mark, fascinating platform you’ve built here. When you designed and built it, it was for college kids only. But what happened that made you decide to open it up to everyone? And at what http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177746 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177746 Wed, 27 Feb 2013 19:57:24 GMT News We’ve heard lots and lots about data breaches in the last decade. And with the term “cloud”becoming more prevalent (which, incidentally, just refers to a computer server connected to the internet), people are asking how secure their data is on the various websites they agree to host it.For example, online banking, online backup, social media, email and the various free services you may subscribe to are cloud-based and house lots of personal information. But are they secure? The answer is, “It depends.”For example,BillGuardutilizes bank-level 256-bit AES encryption (the same level of encryption approved by the National Security Agency for storing top-secret data) for all communications and data processing; it also is performed on servers isolated from direct access to the Internet. (That additional level of security is also very important.) BillGuard’s systems are monitored by its own security staff 24/7 and audited daily by VeriSign and McAfee Secure, and a company called Security Art performs regular http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177649 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177649 Sat, 23 Feb 2013 00:10:49 GMT News Whether you are on your home or office network or seeking out a free connection on public Wi-Fi, there are known risks that can be managed simply by using afree VPN.#1.Outdated operating system-critical security patches. When an operating system is released, it often is secure—or at least as it can be for the moment. But once good-guy and bad-guy hackers take a look at iten masse, they discover vulnerabilities. When on an unprotected network, criminals can use software programs that search out vulnerabilities from outdated, unpatched software on your devices; once found, they use whatever tools are available to take advantage of those vulnerabilities and dig deeper into your devices.#2.Unsecured wireless. Unencrypted Wi-Fi networks at home or in the office, or on the road at coffee shops, airports and hotels, are vulnerable tosniffers. Sniffers read the wireless data as it travels through the air and converts it so other computers (and those who administer them) can read it in words, numbers and computer http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177648 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177648 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 23:55:55 GMT News Asnifferis a software program used by IT administrators to monitor network usage, investigate network problems, investigate network misuse and abuse, identify configuration issues and determine the state of a network’s security. Sniffers ultimately decode the data so it is readable in words, numbers and computer code.Note that last part: “determine the state of a network’s security.”That is a big one. This is because while good-guy IT security professionals use sniffers to determine the security of a network, bad guys also use them to see your data as it travels from your device to the router communicating the wireless internet signal.Unsecured, unprotected, unencrypted and sometimes shared wireless internet communications over Wi-Fi in your home, office or any publicly connected Wi-Fi (such as at a coffee shop, airport or hotel) are vulnerable to sniffers. A sniffer employed by a criminal can be used to spy on anything you communicate wirelessly. Criminals can steal your data, get your usernames and http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177647 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177647 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 23:47:13 GMT News If I had a dime for every timeI’vebeen asked, “How do I protect my credit card number?” I’d be living on my own island in the Pacific. My response has always been, “Use your card whenever and wherever and don’t worry about it, but pay close attention to your statements,” because that’s really all you can do. But due to most people not carefully checking their statements, my sage advice has fallen on deaf ears.The good news is, the agony associated with checking credit and debit card statements from different banks and painstakingly reviewing each charge is as close to being solved as ever.BillGuard, a personal finance security service, analyzes millions of consumer billing complaints to find deceptive and unwanted charges that result from misleading sales and billing practiceson your credit and debit card statements all in one place.All you do is register the cards you want protected by granting BillGuard secure, read-only access to the credit issuer’s website that displays your credit card’s transaction http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177646 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177646 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 23:34:33 GMT News Congress and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have taken special steps to ensure that children under 13 years of age don’t share their personal information on the Internet without the express approval of their parents.Congress passed the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in 1998 and the FTC wrotea ruleimplementing the law.The FTC currently is conductinga reviewof what changes, if any, should be made to COPPA to reflect the changes that may have been brought about from technology, such as the rapid adoption of mobile devices.Parents who lack experience with the Internet, computers, or mobile devices must learn the basics before they can adequately monitor their children’s habits. A parent’s discomfort or unfamiliarity with technology is no excuse to let a child run wild on the Internet. In fact, in McAfee’s study, “The Digital Divide: How the Online Behavior ofTeensisGettingPast Parents” showed that an alarming 70% of teens have hidden online behavior from their parents.As with any task, one http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177613 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177613 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 00:28:40 GMT News Do you take a close look at all your bills and statements every month? Do you look at all the charges? Are you familiar with each charge—where, when and to whom? Do you recognize monthly recurring charges? Did you know that nine out of 10 people don’t check their bills, or merely skim them quickly for large purchases?Did you know that by federal law, after 60 days if there is a fraudulent credit card charge or a “grey charge” that you didn’t authorize, you can be held liable and responsible for the charge? Did you know that by federal law it’s only two days where your bank’s debit card is concerned?Did you know that your bank doesn’t protect you from all credit card fraud or from grey charges? Banks use so-called “anomaly detection software” to seek out charges that might not appear to make sense. For example, if you use your credit card at your local gas station at noon and then 10 minutes later your card’s information is used in Russia, your bank will see that as an anomaly and flag the charge. But banks http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177612 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177612 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 00:23:44 GMT News Do you? I do and I’ve been doing it since I said “I do.”And if you are married or at least in a committed lifelong relationship, knowing each other’s passwords is probably expected. Today, sharing passwords has become a sign of commitment, a signal of love and devotion, like a varsity sweater or friendship ring. But what’s happens when the relationship goes sour (with a divorce rate of 50% to back me up here)?Chances are good, that your significant other (if they have your passwords) will engage in revenge tactics with your account after a breakup. Despite public awareness of data leaks and high profile celebrity photo scandals, we continue to take risks by sharing personal information and intimate photos with our partners and friends, thus putting ourselves at risk for a “revenge” situation.28% of people have regretted (once they broke up) sending intimate content and 32% have asked their ex-partner to delete the personal content. But despite these risks, 36% of Americans still plan to send sexy or romantic http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177540 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177540 Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:52:15 GMT News The best thing about the “New Year” is committing to new or old resolutions and starting fresh. Whether you are an individual or a small business, the following applies:Delete.Go through your files, deleting and organizing as necessary. Clutter is confusing. Security and “confusing” don’t work well together. Delete!Back up your data.Back up to a secondary hard drive inside or external of your devices. Utilize cloud-based backups, too. I have my data on four local drives and two cloud-based servers.Reinstall your operating system.Reinstalling your operating system every year or two eliminates bloat and malware and speeds up your PC.Get device savvy.Whether you’re using a laptop, desktop,Mac, tablet, mobile, wired Internet, wireless or software, learn it. Take the time to learn enough about your devices to wear them out or outgrow them.Get social.One of the best ways to get savvy is to getsocial. By using your devices to communicate with the people in your life, you inevitably learn the hardware and http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177535 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177535 Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:46:27 GMT News We’ve seen this before and it never ends good. This time it’s resulting in anidentity theft charge for Ira Trey Quesenberry III, an 18-year-old student at Sullivan Central High School. A few years ago this would have been looked upon as a victimless prank. But times have changed and as social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and others have morphed into much more than just recreational websites, it’s not just unacceptable; it’s a crime.The Twitter account was created with the name and photo of Dr. Jubal Yennie, director of the Sullivan County school district. The account has since been deleted but the tweets sent in Yennie’s name were reported to be of an embarrassing nature and not appropriate for a school administrator. Why would an 18 year old do something like that?The Smoking Gunreports, “Yennie contacted sheriff’s deputies last Friday to report the phony Twitter account. After investigators linked Quesenberry to the account, the teen reportedly confessed to opening it. Quesenberry was booked http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177534 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177534 Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:39:55 GMT News Evaluating risk vs. reward is a process most people go through on a daily basis. For example, you are about to make a left-hand turn but a car is coming. You think you can make it but he’s kind of coming fast. The risk, of course, is misjudging his speed and getting into an accident.At Ready.gov a risk assessment is a process to identify potential hazards and analyze what could happen if a hazard occurs. A business impact analysis (BIA) is the process for determining the potential impacts resulting from the interruption of time sensitive or critical business processes.A business impact analysis (BIA) predicts the consequences of disruption of a business function and process and gathers information needed to develop recovery strategies. Potential loss scenarios should be identified during a risk assessment. Operations may also be interrupted by the failure of a supplier of goods or services or delayed deliveries. There are many possible scenarios which should be considered.Risk is a fundamental part of asmall http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177450 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177450 Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:36:53 GMT News Apps are what make smartphones smart. Without apps, smartphones would just be regular feature phones. Apps are what make our smartphones into our most personal computers. And like our computers, we need to protect our smartphones and apps.Some of the most commonly used apps on the Android platform such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Gmail don’t require a log in each time they’re launched, which is convenient, but from a security standpoint, not smart.In my world I have these 2 little gremlins that constantly pick at me for my mobile so they can play games. But they access different applications and my Facebook status can become “Fubawa%^!aaaaasd;ohjvdasBLADOFIN.” And I look like I’m 4-years old or crazy─definitely, not smart.And what about this scenario? You hand your smartphone to a buddy to show him some pictures and then your phone gets passed around the table and then it eventually makes its way back to you. The next day you find out that someone at the table thought it was funny to post status updates on your http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177449 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177449 Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:25:18 GMT News Australian Prime MinisterJulia Gillardunveils the new cyber education module, which was developed in partnership with McAfee and Life Education Australia.This module expands the Life Education Program that is for primary school children across Australia.Astudycalled “The Secret Life of Teens 2012 report,”(conducted by TNS Research and commissioned byMcAfee) shows an alarming 62% of teens have had a negative experience on a social network and 25% said they had been the victim of cyber bullying. bCyberwise is a program designed to help close that gap. The evidence for developing this program was numerous, but some key points are:Digital media has become a significant and predominantly positive aspect of the education, leisure and social lives of most of today’s children and young people.The use of digital media also poses some risks to the safety and well being of children and young people. The most harmful of these appears to be cyber bullyingOther contact risks include exploitive communication, sexting, http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177448 http://blogs.transworldnews.com/RobertSiciliano/Post.aspx?postID=177448 Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:10:16 GMT News In 2012, security challenges we faced were often the ribbon cuttings and business plans that startup criminal organizations launched. In 2013, those criminal enterprise business plans will come together—and we need to be ready.Social media is high on criminal hackers radar. Criminals scan social media looking for people who they can scam. One such scam seeks out entire families and usually targets a grandparent. Criminals will pose as the grandchild and call granny asking for money to be wired. They are also looking at your page to crack password resets. Only friend those you know like and trust and lock down your privacy settings.With Windows 8 out, criminals have set their sights on this new operating system and are seeking out its vulnerabilities. Old Win XP machines will be as vulnerable as ever. Macs are higher on hackers’ radars, too. Protecting your devices with essential security such asantivirus protectionand keeping the OS updated are critical.Mobile also is high on the hackers’ radar. McAfee