Home Invaders Caught on Resident’s Surveillance Video

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Video rules! I have 15 cameras in and around my house designed to keep me informed of who, what, when and where, 24/7/365. I see my cams on my iPhone, iPad, laptop and PC. My cams work both day and night and record video anytime they sense motion.

surveillance

There are cameras everywhere today. Most businesses have cameras on the exterior of their buildings monitoring their perimeter and cameras inside to keep employees and customers in check. And just about every home security system today comes with the option to also install cameras, too.

All which goes to say that you never know who has video surveillance, right? And which also brings me to how two idiots were caught after robbing and invading two different homes.

NBC Connecticut reports two women, ages 71 and 58, were returning home with groceries when a man with a gun and another man confronted the two women, forced them inside and tied them up. The assailants fled in one victim’s car.

Then, the next day, a 38-year-old man and 32-year-old woman were inside their home when two masked men with handguns confronted them, tied them up and ransacked the residence for valuables. The invaders also stole their car.

Police must have gone door to door asking residents who had security cameras to provide footage, because they were able to recover surveillance footage of the vehicle taken during one of home invasions, as well as footage of a suspect.

Home invasions happen because people are unaware of their environment or are “too comfortable” in their surroundings and completely drop their guard. Don’t become a victim.

#1 Be aware of what’s going on around you—that’s 50–100 feet around the perimeter of your body—at all times. If something seems wrong, it is wrong.

#2 Lock your doors. I’m home, kids are inside, doors are locked, dog is watching guard.

#3 Get, install and use a home security system. My alarm is almost always on. Having an alarm on all the time, while you are home or away, is a great layer of protection.

#4 Install cameras with your alarm system. They are the best way to deter or catch bad guys.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

Social Media A Big Risk To Banks

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For more than a decade criminals have been attacking online banking successfully by one upping security professionals their and clients by creating viruses to bypass existing security measures.

In response security companies offer new technologies to fight new threats and federal regulators have continually updated their compliance rules in response to existing vulnerabilities.

However one variable that technology has yet to fully fix is the human element. Sure many of the existing security technologies help protect the consumer and bank from human error like downloading a virus or social engineering tricks like clicking an infected link and alert us to a phish email. But no technology or even security or privacy policy can prevent someone from exposing all their life’s details on a social media site.

When criminals target an organization like a bank they start by looking for vulnerabilities in the network infrastructure. Beyond that they target the employees of a bank and their customers using the information provided on the corporate site, and via social media.

Once they gather enough information about their target they use that data to circumvent all the security technologies meant to prevent a user from downloading a virus or social engineering tricks like clicking an infected link and alert us to a phish email.

This is where banks need to step it up and incorporate complex device identification. iovation, an Oregon-based security firm, goes a step further offering Device Reputation, which builds on complex device identification with real-time risk assessments, the history of fraud on groups of devices, and their relationships with other devices and accounts which exposes fraudsters working together to steal from online businesses.

Robert Siciliano, personal security and identity theft expert contributor to iovation. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked! See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video. Disclosures.

6 Tips for the Family PC Fixer

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Are you your family CFE? (In other words, Chief Fix Everything?)If it needs repair, do they come to you? That’s me. If it’s wood, metal or plastic, I can cut it, glue it, screw it or weld it. If it’s electrical or electronic, I’ve already broken it and now I know how to fix it. Everyone’s day job spills into personal time, like it or not. Professional cleaners clean their own homes and sometimes those of their family members. Computer technicians fix all the families PCs. Nurses are the family health practitioners. My day job is to talk about IT and some of the security around it.

I used to get pretty frequent requests to fix family PCs, which meant I’d usually have to get into my vehicle at an inopportune time and commence repairs on a device that should probably have been tossed years ago. But today, I’ve solved lots of those problems by doing a few key things to keep the upkeep down.

#1 Make everyone upgrade: Tell them no more repairing of old WinXP machines. Either upgrade to Win8 or get a Mac.

#2 Set up admin rights: Only those qualified should be able to install software. Often that means only the CFE.

#3 Set up a remote access network: Remote access software allows you to stay home to access your family members’ PCs. Whether you’re a road warrior or simply own multiple PCs or are the family fixer or just want access to all your data from anywhere, there are a few easy ways to do it. A quick search on “remote access” pulls up numerous options.

#4 Set automatic updates: Software often lets you know it needs updating. Sometimes it’s monthly; often, it’s less frequent. But by setting software to auto download and update, you reduce popups that often confuse your family members.

#5 Schedule four- to six-month reviews: By logging in at least quarterly, you can clean out any bloat, fix whatever’s broken and update whatever software licenses need attention.

#6 Install security: You need all the fundamentals, such as antivirus and a firewall, but an often overlooked security tool is a personal VPN that protects wired and wireless communications from data sniffers. Hotspot Shield VPN is a great option that protects your entire web surfing session, securing your connection at both your home internet network and on public internet networks (both wired and wireless). Hotspot Shield’s free proxy protects your identity by ensuring that all web transactions (shopping, filling out forms, downloads, etc.) are secured through HTTPS—the protected internet protocol.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield VPN. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.

Banks Big And Small Targets of Cyber Gangs

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Brilliance historically is often expressed in the simplest of technologies, the wheel or the light bulb are perfect examples. Today brilliance is often attributed to advances in technologies that cure illness, solve problems and make life easier.

In the past decade coders, programmers and hackers of all kinds are coming up with the simplest to the most brilliant inventions transforming life as we know it. And unfortunately it’s the criminal hackers that seem to be the smartest in the room.

CIO spoke to how “ZeuS, SpyEye, Sunspot, OddJob, Gameover. Villains in the next James Bond movie? No. These are names for sophisticated and dangerous crimeware used by real villains – internationally organized gangs of cyber criminals – to hijack online bank accounts and steal money.”

They further state “The Anti-Phishing Working Group estimates that 45% of all computers are now infected with software designed to steal money.”

When banks began building out their infrastructure to allow for online banking, they didn’t anticipate the thousands of ways in which the bad guy would scheme and come up with brilliant ways to separate banks and their clients from their cash.

A Texas bank sued one of its customers who was hit by an $800,000 online bank theft to determine who is to be held responsible for protecting their online accounts from fraud.

Now the FFIEC has stepped in telling banks to smarten up and enhance their online banking security. Effective this past January banks must use multi layers of security and educate their clients on security risks.

That includes sophisticated methods of identifying devices and knowing their reputation (past and current behavior and other devices they are associated with) the moment they touch the banking website. The FFIEC has recognized complex device identification strategies as a viable solution that’s already proven strong at very large financial institutions. ReputationManager360 by iovation leads the charge with device reputation encompassing identification and builds on device recognition with real-time risk assessment, uniquely leveraging both the attributes and the behavior of the device.

Consumers must protect themselves by updating their devices operating systems critical security patches, antivirus, antispyware, antiphishing and firewall. It is also critical they use a secure, encrypted wireless internet connection.

Robert Siciliano, personal security and identity theft expert contributor to iovation. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked! See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video. Disclosures.

Should I Get a Dog for Protection?

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Dogs are much like video surveillance. They can both listen and see all day and all night. They are an extra pair of eyes and ears. They are on watch 24/7/365. They are like a bodyguard in that they are both defensive and offensive.

Getting home protection in the form of a furry beast is a big decision. Protection dogs aren’t to be taken lightly. Dogs bark. They bite, they eat, they poop, they pee and they are dirty. They require time, money and significant attention.

My dog is the furriest beast ever to roam the earth and is sweet, lovely, psycho, a pain in the ass and very territorial. When someone with obvious bad intentions comes around, like someone with a bad attitude, a predator or even someone who’s drunk or rowdy, this excites her, as these characteristics tend to get her attention even more.

There’s a slight drawback to her vigilance. I live in proximity to lots of foot traffic and whenever anyone comes within 100 yards of my perimeter, she starts barking…which means she’s pretty much barking all day, which isn’t always a good thing. She barks until she can no longer see or hear a human. And when she barks, my head starts to swivel. I’m looking out the window, seeing what she sees—and if I don’t like it, I start barking too.

Not all dogs are bred for protection—a real protection dog is trained for protection because it possesses what’s called “prey drive.” (Read up on it.) Most are bred as pets. Only a few, like Dobermans, Rottweilers, Belgian Malinois, Bullmastiffs, German shepherds and a handful of others are natural protection dogs, but not even these top breeds always produce the right temperament. Knowing what type of dog is a protection dog is and isn’t, is key to knowing what you are getting into. A protection dog does not mean that it will bark nonstop, or that it will snarl and behave aggressively at everyone. A good protection dog is generally sublime, aware, alert and careful. Its every action has a calculated reason behind it.

Let me say it again: A dog is a big deal. And if you have the resources and the right attitude, you should get one.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

You’re an Internet Celebrity: Deal with It

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The quote “15minutes of fame” is about the short-lived media publicity or the celebrity of an individual or phenomenon. The expression was coined by Andy Warhol, who said in 1968 that: “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” Unfortunately, that has evolved into daily fame for many people that, frankly, is bad for public consumption.

You can blame the Internet, or social media sites, or e-tailers who offer discounts for your public profile—or you can simply blame yourself. We should all take credit or blame for this. It wouldn’t happen if we didn’t, in some way, support it.

CNN reports: “At its most extreme level, our hunger for sociability can turn minor incidents into major media firestorms, thanks to the Web’s viral capabilities. One minute you’re leaving a crummy tip; the next your message is all over the Web. One minute you’re a bullied bus monitor; the next someone is raising hundreds of thousands of dollars on your behalf . . . But even small pebble drops into the vast pool of the Internet can leave big ripples.”

Managing a digital life means knowing what you are consuming versus what you are expelling, recognizing what you are sharing versus what you are protecting. Is privacy possible? To a degree, yes.

I’m a relatively public person because of the nature of my business, so I made a conscious decision years ago how I’d manage my online persona.

Here’s how to think about it:

#1 It’s unrealistic to have two profiles. Your “pseudo” personality will eventually be exposed. Just have the one and do it correctly.

#2 Look at your online presence as personal and/or professional. To me, it’s the same thing. I’m not posting anything personal that I wouldn’t want to be viewed in a professional manner.

#3 Family member names, relationship status, photos, and activities are all relatively private. If you choose to make them public then accept certain scrutiny and risks.

#4 The words you use, the statements you make—whether profane or not, slanderous or kind—make up who you are. Choose wisely.

#5 Understand that what you post is forever. It doesn’t go away. It will come back to you, whether good or bad.

#6 Know that your data is being mined by advertisers, marketers, complete strangers, predators, everyday people, and your government. Post wisely.

Robert Siciliano, is a personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto and author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked! . Disclosures

How Mobiles Have Become a Big Target for Corporate Networks

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Mobile was born with the consumer market in mind. As mobile has developed for consumer use over the past 20-something years, security hasn’t been much of a priority. Now, with a variety of different operating systems and millions of applications, security on mobiles has become a significant problem—especially in a corporate setting. Criminals know that by targeting an employee’s wireless device, they have a good chance of getting onto the corporate network.

The LastWatchdog.com reports, “New research…shows that an estimated one million high-risk Android applications will get introduced into corporate networks this year. Another recent study analyzed two million currently available Android apps, from both third parties and the Google Play store, classifying 293,091 as outright malicious and an additional 150,203 as high risk. When you factor in iOS, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and…other mobile platforms, the IT landscape is no longer centered on securing an exclusively Windows-based ecosystem.”

Protect yourself (and your employer) by refraining from clicking links in text messages, emails or unfamiliar webpages displayed on your phone’s browser. Set your mobile phone to lock automatically and unlock only when you enter a PIN. Consider investing in a service that locates a lost phone, locks it and, if necessary, wipes the data as well as restores that data on a new phone. Keep your phone’s operating system updated with the latest patches and invest in antivirus protection for your phone.

Use a free VPN service such as Hotspot Shield VPN, to protect your entire web surfing session. Hotspot Shield secures your connection, no matter what kind of wireless you are using—whether you’re at home or in public, on wired or wireless internet. Hotspot Shield does this by ensuring that all web transactions are secured through HTTPS. It also offers an iPhone and Android version.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield VPN. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.

Home Invasion Victims Fight Back

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The term self-defense in general means fighting back; by definition, it means “defending oneself.” However, I’ve always preferred the never-used term self-offense, which in my mind means attacking the attacker before he has a chance to attack you.

Anyway, two recent home invasion stories demonstrate a little self-defense and self-offense as the “victims” become victorious by taking control over the situations.

As SFGate reports in its article, “Home invasion victim holds suspect at gunpoint,” “Authorities in south Alabama say the victim of a home invasion robbery held a suspect at gunpoint until sheriff’s deputies arrived.”

Apparently this 20-year-old kicked in the front door and the homeowner’s dog went after him as the homeowner got out his shotgun! Love that! A shotgun and a dog! (It would have been even better if the owner had a home security system that blared when the door was kicked in.)

Australia’s Herald Sun reports in its piece, “Home invader stabbed as victim fights back,” that police were called to a house after reports that three men armed with knives had assaulted the victim and stolen jewelry and a mobile phone. The resident allegedly fought back, stabbing one of the home invaders in the torso.

There are proactive ways to prevent a home invasion such as these.

#1 Have a home security system installed and turned on while you are home.

#2 Install signage such as “Home Alarmed” or “Beware of Dog.”

#3 Install solid-core doors and strong locks.

#4 Install door reinforcement technology to make the door harder to kick in.

#5 Never open the door for strangers.

Robert Siciliano personal and home security specialist to BestHomeSecurityCompanys.com discussing burglar proofing your home on Fox Boston. Disclosures.

How to Use Foursquare to Get Free WiFi

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https://safr.me/webinar/  | Robert Siciliano is the #1 Security Expert in the United States with over 25 years of experience! He is here to help you become more aware of the risks and strategies to help protect yourself, your family, your business, and your entire life. Robert brings identity theft, personal security, fraud prevention and cyber security to light so that criminals can no longer hide in the dark. You need to be smarter than criminals yesterday so that they don’t take advantage of you today! If you would like to learn more about Security Awareness, then sign up for Robert’s latest webinar!

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Know Foursquare? As the company itself puts it, “Discover and share great places with friends. Over 30 million people use Foursquare to make the most of where they are. Discover and learn about great places nearby, search for what you’re craving, and get deals and tips along the way. Best of all, Foursquare is personalized. With every check-in, we get even better at recommending places for you to try.”

Cool! But how does it work?

Foursquare is a location-based social networking website for mobile devices such as smartphones. Users “check in” at venues using a mobile website, text messaging or a device-specific application by selecting from a list of venues the application locates nearby. Location is based on GPS hardware in the mobile device or network location provided by the application. Each check-in awards the user points and sometimes “badges.”

People who use Foursquare are “portable” by nature—in other words, they move around a lot. They also thrive on, and feel the need to connect to, some form of wireless, either on their mobile or their laptop. As a result, Foursquare has become a great tool to find either a free wireless connection or one that requires a password, and that password is available in the comments on Foursquare location listings such as those for coffee shops and restaurants.

Frankly, I don’t use Foursquare like others do because I don’t like telling the world where I’m at. But I do use it to seek out a WiFi connection and its required password.

Another option to get WiFi passwords via Foursquare is to use another app called 4sqwfi in tandem. The 4sqwfi app uses Foursquare’s API and its user-generated venue tips, and its algorithm filters and displays only the relevant venues.

Keep in mind that with all this WiFi use, you want to protect your information. Use a free VPN for WiFi security like Hotspot Shield. It creates a virtual private network (VPN) between your laptop or iPhone and your internet gateway. This impenetrable tunnel prevents snoopers, hackers and ISPs from viewing your web browsing activities, instant messages, downloads, credit card information or anything else you send over the network.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield VPN. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.

“Old” Malware Attacks Rising Significantly

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Earlier this week McAfee Labs™ released the McAfee Threats Report: First Quarter 2013, which reported that malware shows no sign of changing its steady growth, which has risen steeply during the last two quarters.

Many of the most significant growth trends from previous three quarters actually went into remission, while older types of attacks and what can only be called “retro-malware” experienced significant new growth.

The resurgence of these “retro-malware” includes:

Koobface: This worm targets Facebook, Twitter and other social networking users was first discovered in 2008, and had been relatively flat for the last year yet it tripled in the first quarter of 2013 to levels never previously seen. That’s a record high point and double the size of the prior mark, set in the fourth quarter of 2009. The resurgence demonstrates that the cybercriminal community believes that social networking users constitute a very target-rich environment of potential victims. To avoid falling victim make sure you are careful of what links you click on in social media sites—don’t fall for those too good to be true deals!

Mobile Malware:  Android malware continued to skyrocket, increasing by 40% in Q1. Almost 30% of all mobile malware appeared this quarter. While the overall growth of mobile malware declined slightly this quarter, McAfee Labs expects to see another record year for mobile malware. You need to be proactive and protect your mobile devices with comprehensive security software and pay attention to social engineering attempts to get you to give up your personal information.

Suspect URLs: Cybercriminals continued their movement away from botnets and towards drive-by downloads as the primary distribution mechanism for malware. At the end of March, the total number of suspect URLs tallied by McAfee Labs overtook 64.3 million, which represents a 12% increase over the fourth quarter. This growth is most likely fueled by the fact that these malicious sites are more nimble and less susceptible to law enforcement takedowns. You should take care to make sure you’re using a safe search tool to visit sites that you know are safe before you click.

Ransomware: Ransomware has become an increasing problem during the last several quarters, and the situation continues to worsen. With ransomware, cybercriminals hold your computer or mobile device files “hostage” and insist on payment to unlock it. But there are no guarantees that they will “free” your device after you pay. One reason for ransomware’s growth is that it is a very efficient means for criminals to earn money and various anonymous payment services make it hard to track them down. The problem of ransomware will not disappear anytime soon. You should always take precautions to back up your valuable data.

AutoRun malware:  Traditionally, AutoRun worms were distributed via USB thumb drives or CDs. This type of malware can allow an attacker to take control of your system or install password stealers. AutoRun malware has risen rapidly for two quarters and reached a new high, with almost 1.7 million new threats. The spike is likely being driven by the popularity of cloud-based file-sharing services. Having comprehensive security that automatically scans all devices that are attached to your computer and scans your hard drive is a must to protect against this.

Spam: After three years of stagnation, spam email volume rose dramatically. McAfee Labs counted 1.9 trillion messages as of March, which is lower than records levels, but about twice the volume of December 2012. One significant element behind this growth in North America was the return of “pump and dump” spam campaigns, which targeted would-be investors hoping to capitalize on all-time equity market highs.

 

We are facing an uphill battle against the growing threats and attacks. Fortunately we can protect all our devices including PCs, Macs, smartphones and tablets with one solution, McAfee LiveSafe. Of course you should still take care to educate yourself on the latest threats and techniques that cybercriminals use and be suspicious of anything that doesn’t seem right.

Stay safe!

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