June is Home Safety Month

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You may think all the corners of tables in my hope are protected with soft pillows and my kids are wrapped in bubble wrap. No, but there are few safety hazards and yes, my kids are wrapped in bubble wrap. We helicopter parent the heck out of them and I can’t think of any other way to be. Maybe they wash their hands too much, but is there such a thing?

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is there to raise parents’ awareness about the leading causes of injury and how they can be prevented.

Protect the Ones You Love

More than 9 million children between birth and age 19 are seen for injuries each year in U.S. emergency departments, and injuries are the leading cause of death among children in this age group.

Home Safety Month is an ideal time to learn about child safety and the top causes of child injury.

 

Burns

Install and maintain smoke alarms in your home.

Develop and practice a family fire escape plan.

Set your water heater’s thermostat to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or lower.

Use safe cooking practices, such as never leaving food unattended on the stove.

Drownings

Install a four-sided isolation fence, with self-closing and self-latching gates, around backyard swimming pools.

Learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and get recertified every two years.

Supervise young children at all times around bathtubs, swimming pools, and natural bodies of water.

Slips and Falls

Use playground equipment that is properly designed and maintained, and that has a soft landing surface material below.

Use home safety devices, such as guards on windows that are located above ground-level, stair gates, and guard rails.

Supervise young children at all times around fall hazards, like stairs and playground equipment.

Poisonings

Store medicines and other toxic products such as cleaning solutions in locked or childproof cabinets.

Put the poison control number, 1-800-222-1222, on or near every home telephone.

Dispose of unused, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist toHome Security Source discussingADT Pulse on Fox News. Disclosures

What Does It Take To Be Digitally Secure?

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Let’s get one thing straight: it’s no longer possible to deny that your life in the physical world and your digital life are one and the same. Meaning, while you are present here on the ground, you also exist online, whether you know it or like it or not. Coming to terms with this reality will help you make better decisions in many aspects of your life.

Get device savvy – Whether you’re using a laptop, desktop, Mac, tablet, or smartphone, learn about it. No excuses! No more, “My kids know more than I do,” or, “All I know how to do is push that button-thingy.” 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 get social. By using your devices to communicate with the people in your life, you inevitably learn the hardware and software. Keep in mind that “getting social” doesn’t entail exposing all your deepest, darkest secrets, or even telling the world you just ate a tuna sandwich. You should think about what you post on social networks—don’t put anything on there that you wouldn’t want anyone you see. A good rule of thumb to follow is to be aware of all the information you have available online, and consider everything you post as public, even if you are using the strongest privacy settings available.

Manage your online reputation – Whether you are socially active or not, or whether you have a website or not, there are plenty of websites that know who you are, and either mention you or are listing your information in some fashion. Google yourself and see what’s being said. Developing your online persona through social media and blogging will help you establish and maintain a strong online presence in your voice. And don’t let others use your name on a site—go ahead and secure your identity on a site, even if you don’t actively use it so someone else can’t take your identity and pose as you.

Get secure – There are more ways to scam people online than ever before. Your security intelligence is constantly being challenged, and your hardware and software are constant targets. Make sure you invest in software to protect all your devices—not just your PCs. With the power of smartphones, tablets and notebooks, it is critical to protect all these devices, not just your home computer. Software like McAfee All Access can provide a complete solution for protecting all your devices including PCs, Macs, smartphones and tablets as well as providing protection for your kids online.

Digital devices are a reality for most of us and while they provide a myriad of conveniences, they could also open us up to potential risks. By taking just a few simple precautions you can keep yourself safe online.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Evangelist to McAfee. Watch him discussing information he found on used electronic devices YouTube. (Disclosures)

U.S. Department of State Shares Red Flags to Identify Dating Scams

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Online dating scams have become a worldwide issue. A study presented at the annual meeting of the British Psychological Society in London found that people with strong romantic beliefs who idealize their romantic partners are most likely to fall victim to online dating scams. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of State has posted an advisory warning Americans to “be alert to attempts at fraud by persons claiming to live outside of the U.S., professing friendship, romantic interest, and /or marriage intentions over the Internet.”

According to the State Department, the following red flags can be used to identify a potential romance scam:

  • The scammer and the victim meet online – often through Internet dating or employment sites.
  • The scammer asks for money to get out of a bad situation or to provide a service.
  • Photographs that the scammer sends of “him/herself” show a very attractive person. The photo appears to have been taken at a professional modeling agency or photographic studio.
  • The scammer has incredibly bad luck– often getting into car crashes, arrested, mugged, beaten, or hospitalized — usually all within the course of a couple of months. They often claim that their key family members (parents and siblings) are dead. Sometimes, the scammer claims to have an accompanying child overseas who is very sick or has been in an accident.
  • The scammer claims to be a native-born American citizen, but uses poor grammar indicative of a non-native English speaker. Sometimes the scammer will use eloquent romantic language that is plagiarized from the Internet.

Many dating sites and online communities have turned to device identification leader iovation Inc. for help. iovation works with global dating websites and social networks to protect their members from behind the scenes by eliminating scammers before they’ve had a chance to case harm. iovation has already prevented more than 50 million online scams, spam, solicitations, fake profiles and phishing attacks in their attempt to make the Internet a safer place to do business and interact.

Robert Siciliano, personal security and identity theft expert contributor to iovation, discusses dating security on E! True Hollywood Story. (Disclosures.)

How Do I Protect Myself When Using Wi-Fi?

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Wi-Fi is everywhere. Whether you travel for business or simply need Internet access while out and about, your options are plentiful. You can sign on at airports, hotels, coffee shops, fast food restaurants, and now, even airplanes.

Wi-Fi wasn’t born to be secure; it was born to be convenient. Wireless networks broadcast messages using radio and are therefore more susceptible to eavesdropping than wired networks.

Today, with criminal hackers as sophisticated as ever, if you are using an open unsecured network on your mobile device, you risk exposing your data. There are many ways for hackers to see who’s connected on a wireless connection, and to gain access to your information including passwords, emails, and all the data on your device.

To protect yourself and your data when using Wi-Fi, you should:

Turn it off: the most secure Wi-Fi is one that is turned off. Disabling the Wi-Fi signal on your device prevents anyone from seeing your device and prevents your mobile from randomly connecting to just any available Wi-Fi.

Limit your use of hotspots: When you’re away from your home or work network, use a 3G or 4G data connection instead since most mobile phone providers encrypt the traffic between cell towers and your device.

Use a Wi-Fi connection is protected: Make sure you don’t see the message you are “connecting to an unsecured network.” You may also need a password or code to get access to the Wi-Fi connection.

Use a VPN: a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is one set up with encryption to protect your data from unauthorized access. A VPN may be available through your workplace or at home. A quick search in your mobiles application store will quickly result in numerous free and paid apps to go online in a VPN.

Only use https: Hypertext transfer Protocol (http) with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL, hence the S) is a more secure option set up by a website that knows security is essential. Look for https:// in the address bar signifying it’s a secure page. Even on an open unsecure wireless connection https is more secure.

If you do use public Wi-Fi, make sure not shop online or access your personal and financial sites. And remember to keep in mind that potentially anything you are doing online can be accessed by someone.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Evangelist to McAfee. See him on Anderson Cooper discussing mobile security and identity theft. (Disclosures)

Federal Investigators Bust Credit Fraud Ring

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A federal investigation dubbed “Operation Open Market” recently yielded 19 arrests in nine states, for crimes including identity theft and counterfeit credit card trafficking. The defendants allegedly participated in “Carder.su,” a Las Vegas-based transnational ring that bought and sold stolen personal and financial information and manufactured counterfeit IDs and credit and debit cards in order to commit fraud. This criminal organization has also been known to host online forums wherein members are encouraged to buy and sell counterfeit documents and stolen data.

Executive Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations James Dinkins commented, “The actions of computer hackers and identity thieves not only harm countless innocent Americans, but the threat they pose to our financial system and global commerce cannot be understated.”

According to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s latest update, “Fraudsters use keyloggers to steal the logon ID, password, and challenge question answers of financial institution customers. This information alone or in conjunction with stolen browser cookies loaded on the fraudster’s PC may enable the fraudster to log into the customer’s account and transfer funds to accounts controlled by the fraudster, usually through wire or ACH transactions.”

The FFIEC recommends that financial institutions incorporate device identification into their layered security approach in order to thwart attacks like these, but smart financial institutions are going a step further by employing device reputation analysis approach.

iovation, an Oregon-based firm helping to fight cybercrime, offers device reputation, which builds on its complex device identification technology. It does this by offering real-time risk assessments which look at evidence of past fraud attacks, risk profiles, detects anomalies, and uncovers relationships between devices and accounts that have a history of working in collusion to stealing from online businesses.

Robert Siciliano, personal security and identity theft expert contributor to iovation, discusses the latest data breach on Good Morning America. (Disclosures.)

Devising a Family Emergency Action Plan

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Tragedy happens. Mother Nature, manmade disasters, accidents and freak occurrences require families to have some form of emergency action plan or evacuation plan.  The best defense to aver tragedy is having systems in place.

The Red Cross is known for their disaster response strategy and they have put together a comprehensive list of steps to take:

Create a Family Emergency Plan

Meet with your family or household members.

Discuss how to prepare and respond to emergencies that are most likely to happen where you live, learn, work and play.

Identify responsibilities for each member of your household and plan to work together as a team.

If a family member is in the military, plan how you would respond if they were deployed.

Plan what to do in case you are separated during an emergency

Choose two places to meet:

Right outside your home in case of a sudden emergency, such as a fire

Outside your neighborhood, in case you cannot return home or are asked to evacuate

Choose an out­of­area emergency contact person. It may be easier to text or call long distance if local phone lines are overloaded or out of service. Everyone should have emergency contact information in writing or programmed into their cell phones.

Make a Home Evacuation Plan

Decide where you would go and what route you would take to get there. You may choose to go to a hotel/motel, stay with friends or relatives in a safe location or go to an evacuation shelter if necessary.

Practice evacuating your home twice a year. Drive your planned evacuation route and plot alternate routes on your map in case roads are impassable.

Plan ahead for your pets. Keep a phone list of pet­friendly hotels/motels and animal shelters that are along your evacuation routes.

The most important aspect of any fire is protecting life and limb. The stuff inside and the structure itself doesn’t matter when it comes to family safety. But when people lose all their stuff in a fire, it is still very hard, and to some, devastating.

If you lose all your mementos, clothes, photos and all the items that make life comfortable, it can take 1-2 years or more to adjust and get back on your feet.

Fortunately, today’s home security systems can also be equipped with fire alarms that prompt a dispatcher to call the fire department ASAP.

On houses with porches that have poles and posts and the resident is adept at climbing that may be a consideration for some.

The safest and most recommended option is a fire escape ladder. I own a 25 foot ladder, three-story fire escape ladder with anti-slip rungs that can hang out a window.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist toHome Security Source discussingADT Pulse on Fox News. Disclosures

ADT Pulse: Remote Security Systems for Small Business

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The standard old school home alarm system covers monitoring, doors, windows, motion and glass. Today’s digital wireless home alarms are much more. Today’s small business alarms are much much more.

While these remote security systems are very simple and easy to program, they are very complex, but user friendly. Once you dive into the system it gives you a tremendous amount of “awareness” of the goings on in and around your small business and the alarm system does it automatically.

No matter the nature of your business, whether you have inventory, hardware, assets, or employee or client data, you need to make sure your business is protected by a security system.

Remote Arm/Disarm

From almost anywhere you can easily arm and disarm your system, giving added security when you can’t be there to lock up.

Secured Remote Video Monitoring

You can view events in multiple areas of your facility, have greater control over loss, and oversee your business from almost anywhere.

Office Equipment Control

Somebody leaves the coffee maker on. The AC is set on high. You can control these settings when you’re not in the office.

Email & Text Alerts

Whether away on business or across town at home, you can receive email & text alerts regarding your business and system.

Office Light/Temperature Control

You can control the lights and thermostats in your office remotely, saving energy, time and money. You can also set up recurring events.

Find out more information on ADT Pulse at ADTPulse.com

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist toHome Security Source discussingADT Pulse on Fox News Live. Disclosures

Selling Your Old Smartphone? Not Smart

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It has become standard practice to upgrade to a newer device, and people often sell, donate, or discard the old one. Or maybe you’ve received a new computer or mobile phone as a holiday gift and need to get rid of the old one. You consider selling them so you can get some money back—maybe to purchase your newest device, but is this really worth it?

After what I’ve seen, I don’t think so. I conducted a test where I purchased a bunch of used devices off of Craigslist and eBay to see if I could still find personal data on the devices. I found a startling amount of personal data including photos, phone numbers, addresses, emails, text messages and even passwords.

While most of us would think we were safe if we did a factory reset on our mobile device, we also need to remember to remove or wipe any media like internal drives, SD cards, and anything else that stores data really should be destroyed. And for Android phones, even though some of the phones had done a factory reset, I was still able to find data on them. Furthermore, after having spent a few months working with a forensics expert, I’ve come to the conclusion that even if you wipe and reformat a hard drive, you may still miss something.

So whether you destroy your smartphone with a sledgehammer, use a drill press to turn it into swiss cheese, or use a hack saw to chop it into pieces, and then drop those pieces into a bucket of salt water for, oh, say a year, just to be safe, for your own good, don’t sell it on eBay or Craigslist. Yes, this will not provide much help for resale value, but you’ll have some fun and know that your information is safe.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Evangelist to McAfee. Watch him discussing information he found on used electronic devices YouTube. (Disclosures)

Identifying Safety Hazards During Your Home Search

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Buying a home is stressful. The whole process is overwhelming due to it being such a large dollar amount coupled with wondering if you’ll actually get the loan. Then on top of itall, you want to make sure the home you are buying is safe for your family.

Studies show the major causes of injury in a home revolve around  people falling, getting poisoned, home fires and choking. And then the concerns go to hazards and toxins like carbon monoxide, lead paint, mold infestation, asbestos and radon gas.

When looking to buy a home and even looking around your own home notice:

Falling: Outside,look for unsafe conditions that would facilitate a fall.Such as retaining walls or ledges without proper barriers, porches or stairs without proper railings.Inside,are the stairs to the higher floors safe? Is the wood rotted? How about the basement stairs? Are the windows on higher levels equipped with proper locks so kids can’t open them? Are there locks on doors to porches? How accessible is the attic and is the attic floor solid or lined only with insulation?

Drowning: Does the property have a pool? Is it fenced according to code? Is the pool directly accessible from the home without an additional fence or gate? Is there a pond or lake? Are there barriers to entry? Are there wells, tight tanks or drainage tanks that are accessible by removing a simple manhole cover?

Hazardous materials: Is there evidence of the storage of chemicals inside or out? Any containers or smells of gasoline or any flammable materials? Has the soil ever been tested for chemicals? Are the garage rafters, attic and basement completely free of old containers that might contain toxins? Has the basement been tested for radon? Is there lead in the paint? Have the pipes been tested for asbestos insulation?

Carbon monoxide: This is when a good inspector is necessary. It would also be a good time to have portable carbon monoxide detectors to determine if the boilers, burners or furnace vents are leaking. An inspection of the furnace and the chimney are necessary to rule out any leaks.

Mold: If the homes forced hot air has too much moisture in it then the vents can get moldy. If the home has or has ever had a leaky roof or leaky pipes or if the siding wasn’t I installed properly then mold can grow in the basement, attic, walls and ceilings. Mold is a real problem that a good inspector can detect.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist toHome Security Source discussingADT Pulse on Fox News.Disclosures

Gold Farming e-Guides Facilitate Banned Gaming Activities

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Most MMO game operators ban the sale of in-game currency for real-world dollars. But that hasn’t stopped gold farming from flourishing into a full-fledged underground economy.

A Telecoms.com article entitled “Killing Cash” addresses the ways in which virtual currency may be pushing old fashioned cash out of circulation altogether. One point is the prevalence of gold farming, which, according to a 2011 report by the World Bank’s InfoDev unit in 2011, an estimated 75% of all virtual goods sales involve gold farmers.

“The vast majority of gold farms are based in developing countries like China, and the phenomenon has attracted the same kind of publicity as sweat shops, with imagery of banks of computers staffed by ill-paid workers who repeat the same in-game tasks in World of Warcraft for hours at a time to earn in game currency. These funds are then traded on illicit exchanges for real world money. The value comes from games players who support the system as an easy way to boost their in-game funds.”

Numerous guides are available online to help readers learn how to gold farm more effectively, whether you’re a casual gamer or part of an organized crime ring. A press release from Ereviewguide.com touts their gold farming guide, which warns that “there is really not much money to be made by players who play the conventional way or who play the game purely for enjoyment,” despite the promises of “e-book scams, scam online guides and other digital forms of snake oil that try to get would-be players excited about online game gold farming as a way of making money online.” Nevertheless, Ereviewguide.com offers “tips and strategies to maximize gold farming efficiency.”

Game operators lose profits due to forced labor gold farming, and while they certainly want to stem their losses, they also have a humanitarian responsibility to the victims of this crime.

iovation’s ReputationManager 360 is a proven service that helps protect MMOs against chargebacks, virtual asset theft, gold farming, code hacking, and account takeovers. The service identifies devices being used to play and examines their history and reputation as they are interacting with the game – setting off alerts that could relate to velocity triggers, geolocation, device anomalies, past gold farming abuse, financial fraud, chat abuse, and more.

For years, leading game publishers have prevented game abuse and ensured a safe and fun experience for players with the help of iovation’s device reputation service. These publishers (along with iovation’s network of more than 2,000 fraud analysts from other online businesses) share information, trends, and best practices with iovation and with each other in order to stay one step ahead of cheaters and criminals.

Robert Siciliano, personal security and identity theft expert contributor to iovation, discusses identity theft for the National Speakers Association. (Disclosures.)