Social media has become a playground for adults, teens, and tweens. And like on any playground, when you hit the jungle gym or horseplay on the seesaw, there is always a chance that you may go home with an egg on your forehead. Or, if you are like me, a broken collarbone. Twitter and Facebook…
In a recent post (Hackers Play “Social Engineering Capture The Flag” At Defcon), I pointed to a game in which contestants used the telephone to convince company employees to voluntarily cough up information they probably shouldn’t have. Of 135 “targets” of the social engineering “game,” 130 blurted out too much information. All five holdouts were…
A recent study shows that organized criminals create approximately 8,000 malicious websites every day, or over 57,000 each week. These malicious websites model legitimate websites that we visit every day, such as bank websites, online shopping sites, and eBay. According to this study, the most frequently impersonated companies include Visa, Amazon.com, PayPal, HSBC, and the United…
Credit card companies, banks, financial advisors, retailers, hospitals, insurance companies, and just about every other industry and organization that deals with finances has been affected by identity theft. All these entities have to deal with fraud at some level. For some it’s an occasional nuisance and for others it’s a part of their daily grind.…
We are all in this together. Whether it’s a home burglar or a home grown terrorist, preserving the sanctity of everyday life is everyone’s responsibility. “The attempted bombing in Times Square on 1 May 2010 highlights the need to identify Homegrown Violent Extremists before they carry out a terrorist act.” The Department of Homeland Security…
The wild, wild web is like any major metropolitan city. There are high-class neighborhoods, retail districts, theater districts, business centers, popular social areas, seedy red-light districts (in Boston we called this the Combat Zone), and bad, bad, BAD neighborhoods. Depending on where you go, you may pick up a virus or get bonked on the…
One of the most common yet underreported causes of data breaches is users’ failure to properly log out of public PCs. Is your work computer accessible to others, perhaps after business hours? How about your home computer? Does its use extend beyond your immediate family, to your kids’ friends or babysitters, for example? Do you…
Two real estate agents were killed in separate incidents in Ohio in the past two weeks. “Police have confirmed the suspects in this week’s murder of a Youngstown OH realtor are not connected with the murder of a realtor in Ravenna OH the day after.” “Meeting new clients, showing properties, holding open houses, letting strangers…
“A prized Vincent van Gogh still life was stolen from a Cairo museum leading to a massive art hunt, conflicting reports about the details of the crime, and plenty of finger-pointing. Five people, meanwhile, have been arrested for “negligence” in relation to the embarrassing theft, which seems to have been carried out in the absence…
Condominium Association, Subdivision Association, or Neighborhood Association, whatever the name is, if you live in one and pay dues and have a board of directors that makes decisions for the community in regards to what you can and can’t do on a property, you probably feel my pain. I like that bush, I hate that…
