Entries by Robert Siciliano

2009 Data Breaches: Identity Theft Continues

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert The Identity Theft Resource Center® Breach Report recorded 498 breaches, less than the 657 in 2008, more than the 446 in 2007. Are data breaches increasing or decreasing? That is the question no one can answer. This fact will not change until there is a single data breach list requiring…

Data Security Predictions For 2010

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Forrester Research, Inc. in Cambridge, MA is an independent research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology. They released their 2010 data security predictions. Heading into 2010, they are predicting five new data security trends: 1) Enterprises will keep their data security budgets…

Impostor Poses as Secret Service Agent and Police Officer

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert At a friend’s 40th birthday party, we wound up discussing my Craigslist ATM, and that led to a conversation about how easily people can be conned. One friend’s new boyfriend began telling us how frequently he is able to con people in order to get into bars and clubs. “I…

Reality Show Actor Robs Banks

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Here we have a series of bank robberies, an appearance on a nationally televised reality show and the arrest of a man who was running from the law. Apparently, he robbed a bank, then went on the show, then robbed two more banks after the show. “What an incredibly stupid…

Pair Accused Of Stealing TSA Workers Identities

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert In my early 20’s I bought real estate in a depressed area north of Boston in Lynn Massachusetts. At 20, that’s all I could afford. Lynn was then and is now known as “Lynn Lynn the City of Sin, you don’t go out the way you come in.” Lynn’s a…

11 Robbed of Pants in Home Invasion, Drug Related

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert At least three masked men broke into a home, made 11 people inside remove their pants, shot one man and fled with the pants, their contents and televisions. You’re probably wondering why they would steal someone’s pants? Police said the robbers apparently made the victims remove their pants so they…

How to Hack a Corporate Network…with Facebook

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert There’s a lot of excessive trust in the Facebook world. People have entirely dropped their sense of cynicism when logged on. They have no reason to distrust. People who are your “Friends” are generally those who you “know, like and trust”. In this world, your guard is as down as…

How I Wasted 4 Hours with a Criminal Hacker

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Lately I’ve been coming across “advertisements” on forums, posted by criminal hackers looking to sell our stolen information. They are “carders,” selling “dumps” and “fullz.” Well, I decided to make contact with one of them to see what the deal is. It turns out the one I connected with was…

How a Burglar Works

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Without a doubt one of the most difficult jobs on the planet is to be a law enforcement officer. Enforcing the law means constantly dealing with difficult people and situations. They deal with violence, theft and all kinds of disturbances. One thing’s for sure, they see lots of crime and…