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Robert Siciliano

Robert Siciliano Security Analyst at Safr.me

TeamViewer Clients Victims of other Hack Attacks

Get an account with TeamViewer, and you will have a software package that enables remote control, online meetings, desktop sharing and other functions between computers. But recently, customers of TeamViewer have reported remote takedowns of their computers that resulted in different forms of monetary theft, such as bank accounts being cleaned out....

/security

Robert Siciliano

Robert Siciliano Security Analyst at Safr.me

Can Two-Factor Authentication actually fail?

You’ve probably read many times that two-factor authentication is a superb extra layer of protection against a thief hacking into your accounts, because gaining access requires entering a One Time Passcode (OTP)—sent via text or voice—into a login field. In other words, no phone, no access. But CAN a hacker get the phone? Ask Deray McKesson, an ac...

/security

Robert Siciliano

Robert Siciliano Security Analyst at Safr.me

Identity Theft getting even worse

In 2015, depending on the kind and type of identity theft we are talking about, identity thieves impacted 1.5 million people or more, says the Javelin Strategy & Research report. That’s more than double than for 2014. The move from stripe cards to chip cards has motivated crooks to fasten their seatbelts and really take off with an accelerate...

/security

Robert Siciliano

Robert Siciliano Security Analyst at Safr.me

Carders cashing out on Magstrip Cards

Two thousand credit card payment terminals stand to become infected with malware called Trinity point of sales. Ten million credit cards were stolen by hackers, called Fin6, who may end up scoring $400 million. The cards were stolen from retail and hospitality businesses. If each card sells for $21 on secret carder shops, you can see how the hacker...

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Robert Siciliano

Robert Siciliano Security Analyst at Safr.me

Hackers hacking Banks big time

“Anonymous” is an activist hacking group that has recently boasted that it will engage in 30 days of cyber assaults against “all central banks,” reports an article on cnbc.com. And their bite is as big as their bark, as this announcement came soon after several major banks around the world were struck—and Anonymous proudly claimed credit. The banks...

/security

Robert Siciliano

Robert Siciliano Security Analyst at Safr.me

Ransomware Hackers provide Customer Service Dept. to Victims

Yes, believe it or not, ransomware has become such a booming business for thieves, that these cyber thugs even provide bona fide customer service departments to guide their victims! When ransomware infects your computer, it holds your files hostage; you can’t access them—until you pay the hacker (usually in bitcoins). Once paid, the crook will give...

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Robert Siciliano

Robert Siciliano Security Analyst at Safr.me

Three Quarters of a Billion Records breached

Last year, says the security firm Gemalto, over 700 million records were breached. Or, to put it another way, this translates to two million stolen or lost records every day. 2015 Breach Level Report 1,673 hacking incidents 398 were triggered from the inside of the attacked company: employees and even IT staff who were tricked (social engineering)...

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Robert Siciliano

Robert Siciliano Security Analyst at Safr.me

Look out for Shipping E-mail Phishing Scams

Stop clicking on e-mails about your package delivery! Scam, scam, scam! Look, it’s simple: Scammers are also pretending to be from the DHL and FedEx shipping companies, not just UPS. Crooks know that at any given time, thousands and thousands of U.S. people are waiting for a package delivery. So these cyber thieves send out mass e-mails by the mil...

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Robert Siciliano

Robert Siciliano Security Analyst at Safr.me

IRS Identity Theft Prevention Tool hacked

The Identity Protection PIN tool on the IRS.gov site has been temporarily suspended—because it was recently hacked into. The tool provides retrieval of forgotten or lost IP PINs to users who want an extra layer of protection against identity theft. But some users who received the IP PINs recently via the online tool learned that a thief had used th...

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Robert Siciliano

Robert Siciliano Security Analyst at Safr.me

Change Passwords or not; that is the Question

We’re told to change our passwords often to minimize getting hacked. Now we’re told this is a bad thing. But not for any inherent techy reason. It’s because frequent password changing makes many people lower their guard when it comes to creating new passwords. They get lax and end up with passwords like Bear1, Crazy4uand GetHigh1978. Or, they often...

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