Entries by Robert Siciliano

MIT Says Handing Over Your Identity Data Protects You

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Identity is a simple concept that has become a complex problem. It has become complex due to fraud. Fraud, motivated by money and the ease of obtaining credit and taking over an account. Because identity has yet to be effectively established, anyone can be you. Currently, identity is generally established…

Handwritten Signature is Stupid Authorization

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Ever forge your husband’s signature? Wife’s? Parent’s? Client’s? Do you think the clerk behind the counter at Walmart is skilled in handwriting analysis? I’ve always viewed a signature as a totally ridiculous form of authentication and a total waste of my time. Signing my name has always been burden and…

The Twelve Scams of Christmas,” or Popular Online Attacks This Holiday Season Pt IV of IV

Robert Siciliano identity theft expert Cybercriminals Take Advantage of the Holiday Season, Aiming to Steal Consumers’ Money, Identities and Financial Information As cybercriminals begin to take advantage of the holiday season, McAfee, Inc. revealed the “Twelve Scams of Christmas” – the twelve most dangerous online scams that computer users should be cautious of this holiday…

The Twelve Scams of Christmas,” or Popular Online Attacks This Holiday Season Pt III of IV

Robert Siciliano identity theft expert Cybercriminals Take Advantage of the Holiday Season, Aiming to Steal Consumers’ Money, Identities and Financial Information As cybercriminals begin to take advantage of the holiday season, McAfee, Inc. revealed the “Twelve Scams of Christmas” – the twelve most dangerous online scams that computer users should be cautious of this holiday…

The Twelve Scams of Christmas,” or Popular Online Attacks This Holiday Season Pt I of IV

Robert Siciliano identity theft expert Cybercriminals Take Advantage of the Holiday Season, Aiming to Steal Consumers’ Money, Identities and Financial Information As cybercriminals begin to take advantage of the holiday season, McAfee, Inc. revealed the “Twelve Scams of Christmas” – the twelve most dangerous online scams that computer users should be cautious of this holiday…

The Twelve Scams of Christmas,” or Popular Online Attacks This Holiday Season Pt II of IV

Robert Siciliano identity theft expert Cybercriminals Take Advantage of the Holiday Season, Aiming to Steal Consumers’ Money, Identities and Financial Information As cybercriminals begin to take advantage of the holiday season, McAfee, Inc. revealed the “Twelve Scams of Christmas” – the twelve most dangerous online scams that computer users should be cautious of this holiday…

SWATting, Using Technology To Hurt

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Swatting is making prank calls to emergency services. In the field of information security, swatting is an attempt to trick an emergency service (such as a 911 operator) to dispatch an emergency response team, generally a SWAT team. SWAT is (Special Weapons and Tactics). Caller ID spoofing technologies are used…

Hackers Indicted for Jacking Comcast

Robert Siciliano identity theft expert A single hacked email address led to the defacement of Comcast’s homepage. When the hackers called Comcast’s technical contact to let him know that the Comcast homepage and all 200 Comcast domain names were vulnerable, he hung up on them. It has not been disclosed how the email was compromised,…

Money Mules Facilitate Identity Theft and Fraud

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Mules are relatively unaware people who get hooked into a “small business” or employment that is a function of a criminal enterprise. The mules often respond to “help wanted” ads from online job placement sites. Shipping scams are a common tactic criminals use in which they employ mules to receive goods…

I Bought an ATM off Craigslist for $750 w/1000 CC#s on it. Yup.

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert After the Vegas DEFCON ATM debacle where hackers hacked hackers by setting up a fake ATM in front of the facilities security office, I needed to see how stupid easy it was to buy and ATM and just set it up anywhere. So my search began. I started looking on e-bay…