Entries by Robert Siciliano

Safety and Security on College Campuses

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert You’re in high-school and you’ve been having numerous discussions with friends and family about what colleges you want to go to. Maybe you’ve even applied to a few and have been accepted and in some cases rejected. Your search for schools generally involves the type of education you will receive,…

The $6.75 Million Dollar Laptop

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Dan Yost Chief Technology Officer of MyLaptopGPS brought attention to the Ponemon Institute, with sponsorship from PGP, has released their “Fifth Annual U.S. Cost of Data Breach Study.” As usual, the report is a treasure trove of great data (just like most people’s laptops are). The average cost per breached…

Is Chip and PIN the Future?

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Chip and PIN is the name of a government-backed initiative in the United Kingdom to implement the EMV standard for secure payments. There have been rumblings from Europe over the past year  about American based credit cards that solely rely on the magnetic strip not being accepted in the future…

We Love Them Dumb Criminals

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Dumb criminals are often just ignorant people who do stupid things for a number of idiotic reasons. But one thing’s for sure, they sure are fun to watch. This kid in Florida used his index or “pointer” finger to hold up a convenient store. The store manager at first thought…

The State of Information Security Sucks

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert The sheer volume of potential targets coupled with the vast amounts of money to be made has captured the attention of the global criminal hacking community. Enterprise networks are becoming hardened and they are still vulnerable. Some are being penetrated directly while others are accessed through 3rd parities such as…

How to Prevent Home Contractor Fraud

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert It’s a scenario played out every day. Harry Homeowner needs a new roof, home security system, or kitchen installed. He does his due diligence searching out reputable contractors who offer fair pricing. He may look in the classified section of the local paper, do a search online, look on Craigslist…

Fostering Awareness & Improving Security Education

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Financial institutions have the most to lose and the most to gain by improving security education of their clients and employees. A while back  I appeared on a local TV show talking about phishing. Amazingly, still, not everyone knows what phishing is. A good friend saw the show and was…