Entries by Robert Siciliano

Yes, There are “Mother’s Day” Scams

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, cybercriminals are working up ways to take advantage of this time when you’re online looking to buy flowers, candies, perfumes, jewelry or whatever gifts for mom might be hot this year. Phishersfollow a similar editorial calendar as newspaper and magazine editors, coordinating their attacks around holidays and the change…

Are you Hackable or Uncrackable? “Password Day” is Today!

Yes, such a day exists and it’s today, May 7th 2013. Intel and McAfee are working to make sure consumers increase their security awareness and front line of digital protection by asking everyone to change their passwords today. Reuse of passwords across multiple sites is a big problem. In the digital world, many of us are…

Graduates: 10 Stupid Things You Don’t on Facebook

You’ve done it. You’ve graduated at last. Your whole life is in front of you. Now is the time to make plans, embrace the world, take responsibility, make a statement, do some good and make this place better than how you found it. And this should go without saying, but please don’t be stupid. I’m…

Like Mom Said, “Don’t Open the Door for Strangers”

Someone successfully posing as a health inspector, police officer or even a Secret Service agent happens every single day. Posing as a water inspector, I once gained access to people’s homes by saying I needed to “check the colorization of their water,” as I demonstrated on The Montel Williams Show here. A fake badge and a…

How Do I Restore My Identity Once It Has Been Stolen?

The Federal Trade Commission offers invaluable tools for restoring your identity if it has already been compromised. The tools can be found at the FTC Recovery Guide page. On this website, you will find a complaint form, affidavit of your identity, and sample letters. You will also find a log to chart your actions while…

How to Protect WiFi When Flying

When getting on a flight that’s three to five hours (or more), many business professionals wrestle in their heads whether to spend the $12.95 on airplane WiFi, take a nap or watch the movie—or, if their company is paying for it, they might do all three. But here’s the thing: If you are connecting to…

A Predator Is Always a Predator

With the 750,000 registered sex offenders in the U.S., the thousands more unaccounted for, and even the thousands more who’ve never been caught, know that predators live amongst us. The question always arises as to whether or not a sex offender can be rehabilitated. I’m sure that a handful of Level 1s and 2s can…

Do I Need to be Concerned About Cybercrime?

The short answer is yes! You should be concerned. And even if you’re not concerned for yourself, with the Internet all of us are interconnected so cybercrime does not just affect one person or one group, but all of us. Imagine your body being targeted by 100 million viruses. That is exactly what cybercriminals are…

To VPN or Not to VPN, That is the Question!

This question revolves around whether or not you want or need to head out into the wild, wild web wilderness exposed. By “exposed” I mean letting anyone within 300-500 feet of your device peek at the wireless data packets floating through the airand seeing all your raw data, or revealing who and where you are,…

New Alarm Systems are Cost Effective and High Tech

Alarm systems used to be clunky and expensive to install, and all they did was set off a siren when a door or window was smashed in. Today, alarms are wireless and can even adjust your thermostat! The Boston Globe reports, “The era of clunky black-and-white video monitors and recording devices crammed here and there,…