Entries by Robert Siciliano

Business Credit Scores 101

Are you a small business? Do you know your business’s credit score? The range is zero to 100 for most credit reporting agencies, with at least 75 being desirable if you want to be approved for financing and trade credit (business loan or line of credit), says a report at NAV.com and from Gerri Detweiler’s…

Child Predator screws up, gets caught

If you’re a pedophile, you’d be wise not to keep any prescription containers in view of a webcam with your lewd pictures. The information on such a bottle is what helped pedophile Stephen Keating get 110 years in the slammer says a CNN article. But the amazing thing is that the bottle’s information was extracted…

Ransomware Hackers provide Customer Service Dept. to Victims

Yes, believe it or not, ransomware has become such a booming business for thieves, that these cyber thugs even provide bona fide customer service departments to guide their victims! When ransomware infects your computer, it holds your files hostage; you can’t access them—until you pay the hacker (usually in bitcoins). Once paid, the crook will…

The TSA confiscated 2,653 Guns in 2015

How dumb can air travelers be, trying to get guns past the TSA? Duhh, don’t they know that the X-ray equipment or pat-downs will detect them? Just last year, over 2,600 guns were detected. More than 80 percent of these guns were loaded. Talk about the world’s dumbest criminals. It gets better: People have also…

Hacker for hire a rising Trend

Hackers and wannabe hackers can easily purchase cheap tools of the trade online. The security firm Dell SecureWorks Inc. confirms this in their latest report and adds that underground markets for hackers, including those from Russia, is thriving. The “Dark Web” is the go-to place for hackers looking for guidance and tools like malware. Yes,…

Should you take active Shooter Training?

Gunman Storms Building, Shot Dead by Receptionist Wouldn’t it be great to see a headline like this for once? More than ever, employees are being trained to react tactically should a gunman go on a rampage. There has to be a better way, for instance, to protect children in a classroom than the teacher diving…

Don’t pick up that USB Drive!

What a very interesting experiment: Researches randomly deposited 297 USB drives (aka USB stick, flash drive, thumb drive) around the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. They wanted to see just how many, and how soon after dropping them off, they’d be collected by people. Turns out that 48 percent of the drives were taken and…

Remove your Home from Google maps

If it unsettles you to see your home displayed on Google Maps, there’s something you can do about this. Why might this be a concern? Information is “intelligence”. Information to some is power. The logistics of your home may empower certain people, like burglars. Example; if you’re in a residentially cluttered area vs. a remote…