Using Video To Catch a Nasty Neighbor

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Living in the Northeast has its pros and cons. We have the four seasons, great food, entertainment, sports, everything is at your fingertips, and for me it’s where business gets done.

Drawbacks include lots of congestions, crime, traffic, bad attitudes and nasty neighbors. Most people I know have a neighbor they are in some kind of entanglement with. It’s everywhere. When houses are stacked on top of each other people get territorial and stuff happens.

A New York Times article highlights a few of these nasty scenarios that I’m talking about. One person from the article was quoted saying “I’m not sure now, whether to worry more about my neighbors or strangers.”

I hear you man. I HEAR YOU!

Installing video surveillance outside your home can be a deterrent to a burglar or home invader. Cameras are another layer of protection. But they can also catch a person doing things they shouldn’t too.

For example:

My cameras caught one of my neighbors attacking another neighbor. The film was used as evidence in court and the attacker moved.

Man catches a neighbor who “had been tossing plastic bags of dog excrement into the sculptured shrubs around a palm tree in his front yard.” Man gets a fine and is shamed on Youtube. He moved.

A former state district judge, is caught scratching the back of his neighbors car. The video, was posted on YouTube. Shamed.

One man used the cameras to document a “neighbor’s cats prowling and fouling the yard around his mobile home. He also discovered neighbors looking in his windows while he was away.” Posted to YouTube.

Another man who had items missing from his home caught his neighbor on film entering his basement and rooting around which was enough for the police to arrest him.

Video is available through ADT Pulse which provides customers with anywhere, anytime access to their home via smart phones or personal computers, including an iPhone application to:

• Arm and disarm their home security system.

• Get notified of alarms and selected events via email and text messages as well as video clips.

• View their home through cameras and watch secure real-time video or stored video clips of events from monitored areas of the home.

• Access lights and appliances or set schedules to automate them.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing Home Security on NBC Boston. Disclosures.

5 Tips to Help Prevent Home Invasion

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Warning: This is about to get very graphic. The Boston Globe reports “A woman hacked to death with a machete and knife in her home was alive for all 32 slash and stab wounds that split open her skull, sliced through bones and pierced organs, a medical examiner testified.”

Steven Spader, 17 years old at the time formed “Disciples of Destruction” a gang, “pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and burglary and witness tampering. He was 17 when prosecutors say he plotted the home invasion and rounded up the three other young men who accompanied him.”

“During the home invasion, Kimberly Cates, 42, was killed, and her daughter was severely injured.”

Prosecution asked the medical examiner if the mother was alive during the attack and he said yes. Meaning she didn’t die upon being bludgeoned, she bled to death.

Spader has a penchant for the “pen” too. He has sent letters to fellow inmates which he calls “bedtime stories” describing the crimes in detail. He has also written songs in rhyme describing his brutal acts.

This young man is obviously an evil person who has no value for human life or remorse for his crimes. He views his crimes like a trip to a theme park, one amusing afternoon.

It is unfortunate that civilized humans must live amongst predators. But there has always been, is, and always will be human predators around us.

Many will recall the horrible home invasion that occurred in Connecticut when the Doctor lost his wife and two daughters. The first of two home invaders in that case was prosecuted and is awaiting sentence.

The chance of something like this happening is very small. But there is a chance. So you should make yourself a tougher target.

Here are 5 tips to help keep you safe and prevent a home invasion:
1. Never talk to strangers via an open or screen door. Always talk to them through a locked door.

2. NEVER let children open the doors. Always require and adult to do it.

3. Install a home burglar alarm and keep it on 24/7/365. With a home alarm system on, when someone knocks on the door, a conscious decision has to be made to turn off the alarm. Most people will keep it on.

4. Not all home invaders knock, some break in without warning.  Just another reason to have that alarm on.

5. Install a 24-hour camera surveillance system. Cameras are a great deterrent.  Have them pointed to every door and access point.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing home invasions on the Gordon Elliot Show. Disclosures

15 Facebook Fiascos to Watch Out For

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The following 15 activities, all of which are facilitated by Facebook and other social networking websites, are causing lots of heartache and headaches:

1. Posting illegal activities. In the little town where I grew up, 30 kids recently faced the wrath of their parents, school officials, law enforcement, and the Boston media, all because someone posted their party pictures, which depicted underage drinking, on Facebook. It’s never okay to show illegal behavior.

2. Account hijacking. Phishers imitate the Facebook email template, tricking victims into believing they have received an official Facebook message. Once you enter your login credentials, criminals can take over your account, pose as you, and ask your friend for money. Always log into your Facebook account manually, rather than going through a link in an email.

3. Facebook bullying. It is so much easier to write something awful about someone than it is to say it to them personally. Words hurt. Vicious words have led to kids committing suicide. Friend your kids and see what their online dialogue looks like.

4. Online reputation management (or lack thereof). I’ve seen teachers, professors, students, officials, police, and others from just about every walk of life get fired because of words or pictures they posted on Facebook. Remember, if what you post wouldn’t pass the potential employer test, don’t do it.

5. Social media identity theft. When someone snags your name, posts a photo as you, and begins to communicate while impersonating you, the effects can be devastating. Grab your name on as many sites as possible, including Facebook. Knowem.com can help speed up this process.

6. Financial identity theft. Bad guys use Facebook to crack your passwords. Most online accounts use “qualifying questions” to verify your identity. These questions tend to involve personal information, such as your kids’, other relatives’, or pets’ names or birthdays. When the bad guys find this information on your Facebook page, they can reset your passwords and steal your identity. So limit what you post, and lock down your privacy settings.

7. Burglaries. Criminals have been known to check Facebook statuses to determine if potential victims are home or not. Publicly declaring that you’re not home creates an opportune time for burglars to ransack your house. Never post this information on Facebook.

8. Geo-stalking. Location-based GPS technologies incorporated into social media are perfect tools for stalkers to hone in on their target. Please just turn these settings off.

9. Corporate spying. By posing as an employee, setting up a Facebook group, and inviting all the company’s employees to join, the bad guy gathers intelligence that enables him to commit espionage from within the organization.

10. Harassment. This goes beyond bullying. In one example, a woman was on a camping trip and unreachable by phone when her Facebook account was taken over. The “harasser” wrote all kinds of desperate status updates posing as the woman, leading concerned friends and law enforcement to her house, where they broke down her door.

11. Government spying. Who is that new friend? The AP reports, “U.S. law enforcement agents are following the rest of the Internet world into popular social-networking services, going undercover with false online profiles to communicate with suspects.” Just don’t be a “suspect.”

12. Sex offenders. Facebook is perfect for sex offenders, who pose as real nice people until they gain their victims’ trust. Always be on guard, and do background checks, at least.

13. Scams. It’s just a matter of setting up a fake Facebook page and marketing it to a few people, who then send it to their friends, who send it to their friends. An Ikea scam hooked 40,000 unsuspecting victims with the promise of a $1,000 gift card. Like mom said, if it sounds too good to be true, it’s probably not true.

14. Legal liabilities. In New York, a judge recently ruled that material posted on Facebook and other social networking websites can be used as evidence in court, regardless of whether the posts were hidden by privacy settings.

15. Zero privacy. If you think for one second that what you post on Facebook is for you and your friends’ eyes only, you simply don’t understand how the Internet works. Many sites are capable of pulling data from the bowels of Facebook, despite any privacy settings you may have in place. And that data can be stored forever, which means that it can come back to bite you long after you’ve forgotten you ever posted it.

Robert Siciliano, personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto, discusses hackers on social media on CNN. Disclosures

Home Security Has Never Been Easier

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Home is where you look forward to towards the end of a vacation. Home is where you rush to at the end of a work day. Home is where you’d rather be when you are somewhere else. After all, as Dorothy said tapping her ruby red slippers, “there’s no place like home”.

Our homes become a place of comfort unlike any other worldly possession. It’s where all our stuff is, in all the places we put it, in the order (or disorder) we create. It’s where our kids sleep, dog naps and where we eat.

Most people take for granted the feeling of safety and security in their home. They expect it as a given. Like a sense of entitlement.

I’ve always believed this is a mistake.  Because when one takes security for granted, they completely have their guard down. This means they are vulnerable to any whacko who jiggles a doorknob looking for the path of least resistance.

If a person’s home is invaded or burglarized, they quickly lose that sense of security and never feel the same way again. Some people even quickly sell below market value just to get out from what has become a perceived black cloud over their property.

Simply locking your doors is a start and taking control like this doesn’t mean you are “paranoid”. Then taking the next steps and installing a home security system is the smartest thing you can do.

Your home is your castle. And it should be treated as such.

Be proactive with the help of ADT Pulse, a new interactive smart home solution that goes beyond traditional home security to provide a new level of control, accessibility and connection with the home.

Connectivity and interactivity are driving the way people live and manage their homes. ADT Pulse provides customers with anywhere, anytime access to their home via smart phones or personal computers, including an iPhone application to:

• Arm and disarm their home security system.

• Get notified of alarms and selected events via email and text messages as well as video clips.

• View their home through cameras and watch secure real-time video or stored video clips of events from monitored areas of the home.

• Access lights and appliances or set schedules to automate them.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing Home Security on NBC Boston. Disclosures.

Leaked Social Security Numbers Put “Personal Security and Safety at Risk”

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Allen West, a Republican Congressional candidate, is speaking out after a mailing from the Florida Democratic Party releases his Social Security number and his wife’s federal employee number. “It’s an attack against me and I think it shows the weakness of the character of Ron Klein and definitely the Florida Democratic party, to put a person’s personal security and safety at risk,” said West, “And also affects my family as well.”

The Florida Democratic Party responded by stating, “We apologize for the oversight of not redacting this information from the public record included in the mailer,” and by offering West two years of identity theft monitoring, but West says he will not accept their money.

Meanwhile, in Virginia, a judge has ruled it is legal to post Social Security numbers on websites. Every city, state, and town has its own set of regulations determining the collection and management of public records, including birth, death, marriage, court, property, and business filings. Many of these documents include Social Security numbers. And many are posted on the Internet.

The Privacy Act of 1974 is a federal law that establishes a code of fair information practices governing the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of personally identifiable information in federal record systems.

Back in 1974, identity theft wasn’t an issue, so having your Social Security number on your driver’s license, school ID, and most other documents wasn’t a big deal. Then someone figured out how to use a Social Security number to pose as someone else, and from there, identity theft became big business.

When a judge rules that it’s okay to post Social Security numbers online, and a politician states that a similar act “puts a person’s personal security and safety at risk,” it’s clear that we have a systemic problem, one which the government is unlikely to solve.

It is important to observe basic security precautions to protect your identity. But you have no control over the security of your personal information when it is stored in government and corporate databases.

Consumers should consider an identity theft protection product that offers daily credit monitoring, proactive identity surveillance, lost wallet protection, and alerts when suspicious activity is detected on your accounts. McAfee Identity Protection includes all these features as well as live help from fraud resolution agents if your identity is ever compromised. For more tips on protecting yourself, please visithttp://www.counteridentitytheft.com.

Robert Siciliano is a McAfee consultant and identity theft expert. See him discuss Social Security numbers as national IDs on Fox News. (Disclosures)

Cybersquatting Scams Aren’t Over Yet

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Cybersquatting, simply put, is the act of procuring someone else’s trademarked brand name online. The Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, a U.S. federal law enacted in 1999, describes cybersquatting as registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else.

Cybersquatters squat for many reasons. Some squat for fun or because they like the brand or name, while other squatters use the domain to advertise competitors’ wares, or for stalking, harassment, or outright fraud. Most cybersquatters offer to sell the domain at an inflated price to the person or company who owns the trademark contained within the domain name.

In particularly malicious cases of cybersquatting, identity thieves use a domain similar to that of a bank or other trustworthy entity in order to create a spoofed website for phishing. If the desired domain isn’t available, typosquatting is the next best option. After Annualcreditreport.com launched, more than 200 similar domains were quickly snapped up.

Computerworld discussed the havoc that cybersquatting can wreak on a brand’s reputation. Sometimes, criminals copy a brand’s entire website in order to collect usernames and passwords from unwitting visitors. The hackers then test those names and passwords on other websites. Cybersquatting increased by 18% last year, with a documented 440,584 cybersquatting sites in the fourth quarter alone, according to MarkMonitor’s annual Brandjacking Index report.

I’ve written before about the time I was accused of cybersquatting. I wasn’t, I swear! I bought myself some domains in the early 90’s, way before cybersquatting was illegal. I sold some, and regrettably gave up some others. And there was one that will haunt me until the day I die. I owned LedZeppelin.com for five or six years. Led Zeppelin was and is my favorite band, and as a fan, I bought the domain as a keepsake. I would get emails from people all over the world, saying things like, “I am Paulo from Brazil, I love the Led Zep!”

With cybersquatting on the rise, it makes sense to claim your name, your brand name, and your kids’ names as soon as possible. There are numerous new domain extensions coming out all the time. Dot Co recently launched without much fanfare, but it creates a new opportunity for criminals to hijack your brand. I just snagged “siciliano.co.” So go get your domain before the bad guy does!

Robert Siciliano, personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto, discusses hackers hacking social media on Fox Boston. Disclosures

Facebook Beefs Up Your Security

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It is obvious to many that Facebook has got the message and is becoming more responsible for their users security. For a few months now I have enjoyed a security feature they implemented that allows you to say in control of your logins.

Login notifications: This feature sends you an email or text telling you someone has just logged into your account.

To set up and enable notifications

1. go to “Account” upper right hand corner

2. in the drop down menu to “Account Settings”

3. in the main menu go to “Account Security”

4. click “Yes” next to “Would you like to receive notifications from new devices”

5. the same can be done with text messages if you have your mobile plugged into Facebook. But don’t have your mobile displayed on your page publically.

6. Log out then log back in and it will ask you to identify the computer.

One time passwords: This makes it safer to use public computers in places like hotels, cafes or airports. If you have any concerns about security of the computer you’re using while accessing Facebook, we can text you a one-time password to use instead of your regular password.

Simply text “otp” (that’s O T P for ‘One Time Password’) to 32665 on your mobile phone (U.S. only), and you’ll immediately receive a password that can be used only once and expires in 20 minutes. In order to access this feature, you’ll need a mobile phone number in your account.

Remote logout: the ability to sign out of Facebook remotely is now available to everyone. These session controls can be useful if you log into Facebook from a friend’s phone or computer and then forget to sign out. From your Account Settings, you can check if you’re still logged in on other devices and remotely log out.

Under the Account Security section of your Account Settings page you’ll see all of your active sessions, along with information about each session.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to ADT Home Security Source discussing social media Facebook scammers on CNN. Disclosures.

Losing Control of a Digital Life

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We have heard it all before, once you post it on the Internet; it is no longer in your control.

Anything digital is rRepeatable. Re-peat’ a-ble: “To say again. To utter in duplication of another’s utterance. To tell to another. To do, experience, or produce again. Capable of being replicated.”

In very simple terms whatever kind of digital file it is; picture, video, audio file, email, IM, Office doc or text, it can be copy/pasted, reposted, emailed, forwarded, MMS’d. You name it.

In some cases this can be a good thing. For example if you are a musician and you aspire to make it big you create an MP3 or video and release it in as many places as possible and hope it goes viral all over the Internet.

Repeatable media can be used to make a point. In Korea a woman allowed her dog to go No 2 on a train and refused to clean it up. Someone on that train took a photo of her and the “2”. That photo shamed her into compliance worldwide.

In other situations this can be embarrassing for some. In 2003 a 15-year-old from Canada was filmed by classmates in an embarrassing video of him getting all “Luke Skywalker” with a golf-ball retriever like it was a light saber. The clip “Star Wars Kid,” was viewed 900 million times online by 2006. This was not the kind of attention he could handle and it had a very negative impact on his life.

Most people’s concern should revolve around repeatable media that damages ones online reputation. Photos of drinking alcohol to the point of intoxication that shine a light of irresponsibility have caused harm to many people.

And then there is the bizarre. Fox News reports a Massachusetts mother was horrified when she found her 7-month-old child’s photo on popular promotions site, Craigslist, advertising his own adoption. She said the photo was from her family’s blog.

What does this mean to you? Realize right now, “big brother” is the least of your concerns. I’d be more concerned about your little brother and his iPhone. Just know going forward that we are all living in the phish bowl. And mind your Ps and Qs.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to ADT Home Security Source discussing sharing too much information online on Fox News. Disclosures.

Criminal Hackers: The Soldiers of the Web Mob

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Today’s criminal hackers are very different than those who hacked for fun and fame a decade ago. Every week, I see stories about more criminals in faraway lands, making millions from various scams, emptying the bank accounts of small businesses or draining the financial reserves of entire towns.

High-tech crimes can be committed by lone individuals, by small groups, or by organized web mobs. These web mobs structurally resemble the longtime operation of the Russian and Italian mafias, the Irish mob, the Bandidos, and the Hells Angels.

The Anti-Phishing Working Group has noted the success of Avalanche, a particularly large and successful web mob with an emphasis on phishing: “Phishing has always been attractive to criminals because it has low start-up costs and few barriers to entry. But by mid-2009, phishing was dominated by one player as never before—the ―Avalanche phishing operation. This criminal entity is one of the most sophisticated and damaging on the Internet, and perfected a mass-production system for deploying phishing sites and crimeware– malware designed specifically to automate identity theft and facilitate unauthorized transactions from consumer bank accounts.”

Avalanche was responsible for two-thirds of all phishing attacks launched in the second half of 2009, and for the overall increase in phishing attacks across the Internet.

Cybercrime of this magnitude requires a carefully ordered hierarchy. The players include:

  • Programmers, who write the viruses that will infect victim’s PCs
  • Carders, who sell stolen credit card data
  • IT guys, or black hat computer professionals, who maintain the hardware necessary to keep the operation running
  • Hackers, who look for vulnerabilities in networks and plant malicious code
  • Social engineers, who come up with the scam and write phishing emails to send to potential victims
  • Money mules, who are often foreign, traveling to the US specifically to open bank accounts, and who may also launder money
  • Bosses, who run the show, bring together talent, manage, and delegate

All of this is very real and it is happening right now. Even though data security hasn’t been in the media spotlight this year, we should all be aware of these risks.

To protect yourself from the bad guy, make sure your PC is fully updated with critical security patches, antivirus software, anti-spyware software, a secure wireless connection, and a two-way firewall. Check your online account statements frequently, and consider investing in identity theft protection that monitors your credit reports and monitors your information on the internet’s back ally chat rooms.

Robert Siciliano, personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto, discusses hackers hacking wireless networks on Fox Boston. Disclosures

Whats Next: “On Demand Burglary”

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Generally when a burglar or thief sets out to break into a home their motivation is to steal any item they can sell at pawnshops or to those on the “black market”. The phrase “black market” has always intrigued me.   It means doing business “in the dark” or out of the view of law enforcement. Any underground economy where business is done illegally or with illegal goods or services is considered the black market.

There has always been a black market demand and there always will be. Certain things like illegal drugs are a staple of this economy. “On Demand Burglary” refers to items that someone may have had their eye on and the thief meets that demand. On the low end one might envision a bicycle a neighbor just bought for his kid and on the high end an expensive rare painting a collector wants.

The BBC reports a man in the UK was injured when he walked into his home and surprised three men armed with a sledgehammer and a crowbar robbing his house. They stole money, jewelry and the family’s valuable pet Chihuahua. The family has offered a reward for the return of the dog which is called ‘Bruce’.

The homeowners’ son was quoted saying “They took mum and dad’s wedding ring and a wee bit of money, but the thing that has really vexed them is that they have taken the wee house dog called Bruce and it’s that, that has really upset them.”

Local Police were quoted saying “The belief is that these robberies are ‘on demand burglaries’ where robbers are stealing to meet orders”.

Consider for a moment if you spent the time to research an item then went out of your way to buy it, it is certainly in the scope of a bad guy to target it and take it.

Protect yourself and prevent a home invasion:

Nothing you own is worth fighting for. If someone ever wants your stuff let them have it.

If you ever walk in on a burglar turn around and run out of the house. The quicker you leave the safer you will be.

Consider what you own that might catch the eye of a criminal and who that criminal may be and what you need to do to protect it.

Invest in a home security system. The concern is protecting life and limb first and protecting your stuff second.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to ADT Home Security Source discussing Home Security on NBC Boston. Disclosures.