Entries by Robert Siciliano

Deputy Reports Finding Peek-a-boo Home Burglar in Closet

Turn up your Creep-o-meter for this one. In Florida, law enforcement arrested a man on a home burglary charge after a deputy spotted him sitting in a closet with a sheet over his upper body while his blue jeans and brown boots remained visible. A relative of the homeowner notified local law enforcement when they…

April Foolery and Springtime Home Scams

Spring is here! Thank heavens. I’ve had enough cold and rain to last 50 winters. In the Northeast millions of people are pumping out their basements due to record rainfalls. The Boston Globe reports police want you to know that so you don’t get hit twice from the recent rains: once when your property gets…

ID Theft Ring Gleaned Socials From Medical Records

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Medical identity theft occurs when the perpetrator uses your name and in some cases other aspects of your identity, such as insurance information, to obtain medical treatment or medication or to make false claims for treatment or medication. As a result, erroneous or fraudulent entries wind up on your medical…

Self-revelation Can Help Assemble a Social Security Number

I am not done nor will I ever be done sounding that alarm, ringing that bell and informing you about how ridiculous social media is. I was asked in a radio interview today what it will take to get people to recognize they are sharing too much data. In a word, tragedy. When a home…

Criminal Hacker Gets 20. Books, Movies and Hollywood Starlet Next

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Albert Gonzalez and his gang of criminal hackers were responsible for data breaches in retailers and payment processors, with some estimates saying they breached over 230 million records combined. Gonzalez, considered a proficient criminal hacker, provided “dumps,” a term which refers to stolen credit card data, to “carders.” “Carders” are…

Be careful Your PC Isn’t Held for Ransom

Computerworld reported that a hacker threatened to expose health data and demanded $10 million from a government agency. The alleged ransom note posted on the Virginia DHP Prescription Monitoring Program site claimed that the hacker had backed up and encrypted more than 8 million patient records and 35 million prescriptions and then deleted the original…