Robert Siciliano Security Analyst at Safr.me
It wasn’t long ago that most phishing emails were from a supposed Nigerian General Matumbi Mabumboo Watumboo. And you and I were flattered that we were the chosen ones to help the general transfer 35 million out of the country, because the Nigerian government was a bunch of jerks and wouldn’t let him keep the inheritance his wife had inherited fro...
20 August 2009 /security /regulation
The Marines recently banned soldiers from using social media sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. This is for two reasons. First, because they fear that these sites’ lack of security may allow malware to infiltrate government computers. And second, they’re concerned about the potential for leaked military data. Military personnel are often...
Hackers hacked hackers at the annual Defcon conference in Las Vegas this past weekend. Defcon is a conference for hackers of all breeds. There are good guys, bad guys, those who are somewhere in between, plus law enforcement and government agents. All kinds of inventive people with an intuition for technology decend on Las Vegas to learn, explore,...
12 August 2009 /security /regulation
Government officials are posting our Social Security numbers on the web, but corporations are required to keep them under lock and key. Congressman Robert Wexler was recently targeted by a Ghanaian extortionist who supposedly obtained Wexler’s Social Security number, as well as his wife’s, from a public record posted at The Virginia Watchdog. Bet
11 August 2009 /security /regulation
Sun Sentential reports that Congressman Robert Wexler, of Florida, was targeted by an extortionist who threatened to turn his Social Security number over to identity thieves. Wexler refused to give in to the extortionist’s demands, and reported the plot to the Secret Service and Capitol Police. Other members of Congress were targeted, as well. The...
07 August 2009 /security /regulation
There are 437,000,000 debit cards in circulation, and their use is on the rise. Criminal hackers are paying attention. Credit cards offer some measure of protection, but when a debit card is compromised, the stolen money is taken directly from the victim’s bank account. Federal laws limit cardholder liability to $50.00 in the case of credit card f...
06 August 2009 /security /regulation
Most people assume that corporate espionage is just James Bond stuff. However, according to USA Today, even small and medium businesses are at risk. Spying has been going on since the beginning of time, and it’s alive and well today. In most cases, spying starts because a person or entity needs or wants information that is otherwise kept confident...
31 July 2009 /security /regulation
You’re traveling on business or vacation and you log into a public computer to check your email. You enter your credentials, read a few emails, delete some spam, fire off a note to a colleague at work, and log out. You think nothing of it, but before you know it, your email account has been hijacked. Your friends, family and business associates
29 July 2009 /security /regulation
Jason Truxel was denied a mortgage because of bad credit. He had no idea that his credit scores were low, so he pulled his credit reports. He discovered a tremendous amount of debt, and accounts he had never opened. One such account showed that a credit card had been opened in his name when he was 13 years old. Jason found out the hard way that he...
Computerworld does a great job of aligning the childhood arcade game of Whac-A-Mole and information security. “If you’ve ever played the silly, maddening game known as “Whac-A-Mole,” you know what futility feels like. As you smack one mole with the mallet, up pops another one. Their speed and number escalates as you flail away, trying to keep up. ...
27 July 2009 /security /regulation
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