Entries by Robert Siciliano

Are you Scam Aware or a Sitting Duck?

You might have heard about all of the scams out there, and think that you are pretty scam savvy. But, the truth is, most of us aren’t, and even a simple phone call could get you caught up in a big scam. One such scam occurs when criminals call random phone numbers and ask questions,…

Half of American Adults on FBIs Biometric Database

Here’s a bit of a shock for you: about half of all adult Americans have a photograph stored in the FBI facial recognition database. What’s even more shocking, it is that these photos are being stored without the consent of the individuals. Approximately 80 percent of the photos the FBI has are of non-criminals, and…

Getting Owned or Pwned SUCKS!

A well done New York Times article recently re-introduced this topic to the masses. Being “owned” isn’t new, but the term is not becoming part of popular culture. If you use the internet or are often on social media, odds are good that you have been OWNED. Whether you are called out for a misspelling…

Hire an Ethical Hacker NOW!

You might think it’s crazy to actually hire a hacker, but if you don’t have an ethical hacker on your security team, you could be playing a dangerous game. Ethical hackers are called “white hat hackers” and are legal hackers, that help businesses find security problems in their networks. Developer and security teams, who build…

The Best Gmail Phishing Scam Ever!

If you use Gmail, pay attention! Security experts have announced that there is a very effective phishing scam out there, and you are a target. This scam, which has only been growing over the past couple of months, is also hitting other email providers, too. However, it’s quite difficult to detect. According to researchers at…

Malware Hack Attacking the Grid…BIGLY

For more than four years, malware has been posing as legitimate software and infecting industrial equipment across the globe. The malware, which looks just like the Siemens control gear software, has affected at least seven plants in the US. According to security experts, the malware was specifically designed to attack this industrial equipment, but what…

Second Hand and Discarded Devices Lead to Identity Theft

A new study was just released by the National Association for Information Destruction. What did it find? Astonishingly, about 40% of all digital devices that are found on the second-hand market had personal information left on them. These include tablets, mobile phones, and hard drives. The market for second hand items is large, and it’s…