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Robert Siciliano

Security Analyst

Safr.me

Member since

04 Feb 2009

Location

Boston

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Robert's opinions

The Credit Card Fraud Mob Boss

There once was a guy named Albert Gonzalez who dressed like a woman—but not because he got off on this, but because he wanted to conceal his actual appearance while he used a ream of phony cards to steal money from an ATM in 2003. A cop noticed the activity and didn’t quite buy the disguise. The police officer nabbed the thin, disheveled Gonzale...

26 November 2014 /security

How The Internet of Things can go very wrong

The Internet—one of history’s greatest inventions—is also one of history’s greatest platforms for crime. Here are ways things can go very wrong with the Internet of Things. Med-hacking. Researchers have hacked many medical devices. Though it apparently hasn’t happened in the real world, yet, but it looks like it’s only a matter of time before med...

25 November 2014 /security

10 tips to Secure Passwords

Ever wonder just how hackers bust into systems and cause destruction? One reason is because people are still using weak passwords. While your pet’s name and wedding anniversary dates are easy to remember and sentimental to use, this approach makes a hacker’s job all too easy. Here are 10 things you should know about passwords. Never use the sam...

20 November 2014 /security

Study Shows 67 percent of Employees Expose Data Outside

IDC, an IT analyst firm, estimates that the mobile worker population could reach 1.3 billion by 2015, meaning, they access workplace data outside the workplace. This is risky because it exposes data to hackers. In fact, the safety of what’s displayed on the computer screen in public is of huge concern. The 3M Visual Data Breach Risk Assessment S...

19 November 2014 /security

Cloud Data Breaches mo' Money

IT people need to beef up their opinions about cloud security, says a recent report by the Ponemon Institute called “Data Breach: The Cloud Multiplier Effect.” Yes, data breaches occur in the cloud. In fact, it can be triple the cost of a data breach involving a brick and mortar medium. The report put together data from the responses of over 600...

18 November 2014 /security

Hackers and Banks win, Clients lose

Don’t blame the hackers; don’t blame the bank; apparently it’s the victim’s fault that a Missouri escrow firm was robbed of $440,000 in a cybercrime, says a report on computerworld.com. The attack occurred in 2010, but the appeals court’s March 2013 ruling declared that the firm, Choice Escrow and Title LLC, can’t hold its bank accountable. The ...

12 November 2014 /security

How your Webcam may be spying on You

Remember that song from 1984, “Somebody’s watching me?” It was a great foreshadowing of things to come: These days, people really CAN watch you while you go about your business at home…through your computer. So if someone confides in you that “they’re spying on me through my computer,” don’t be too quick to assume your friend went off his meds. ...

11 November 2014 /security

Security is Everyone’s responsibility

In the movies, the good guys always get the bad guys. In cyber reality, no such thing exists. A survey of 5,000 IT security professionals turns up the following: 63% doubt they can stop data breaches. 69% think threats slip through the cracks of their security systems. 57% believe their company lacks protection from advanced attacks. 80% think ...

08 November 2014 /security

Expect all Free Mobile Apps to leak your Data

Mashable.com says that recently over 98,000 photos have been leaked from Snapsaved.com, which has shut down. The Snapchat app makers won’t take any credit, even though previously, 4.7 million phone numbers and usernames were leaked. The company seems indifferent, though this May, they reached a settlement with the FTC. Snapchat blames third-part...

04 November 2014 /security

What is Criminal Identity Theft?

Identity theft gets all kinds of buzz in the news. It’s not hard to see why—in 2012, over 16.6 million Americans were victims of identity theft. What most people don’t know is that identity theft is much more than just stealing your credit card number. In other posts, I discussed how thieves use your identity to get free healthcare or your child’s...

31 October 2014 /security

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