Entries by Robert Siciliano

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…

Twitter Phish Identity Theft Scam

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert I’ve been getting the same “direct message” from several of my Twitter followers. Apparently, their accounts have been hacked, because it’s a phishing message that says, “ROFL this you?” and contains a shortened URL. The link leads to a page that resembles Twitter’s log in page. The web address is /videos.twitter.zoltykatalogfirm/.…

Why is Child Pornography on Your PC?

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Anti-virus protection, critical security patches and a secure wireless connection have always been essential processes on my networks. My main concern has always been to protect my bank account by keeping the bad guy out. In my presentations, I’ve always stressed the importance of making sure your wireless connection is secured,…

Smarten Up. Increase Your Information Security Vocabulary

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Years ago (like 20) a friend was graduating from college and moving away and a bunch of friends were throwing a party for this person. Collectively they asked me if I’d write a small speech as a version of “This is your life”.  Stymied as to why they would ask me…

Insider Identity Theft Can Be Most Damaging

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Earlier this week, an IT employee was indicted for stealing the identities of 150 of his coworkers at Bank of New York Mellon, to the tune of 1.1 million bucks. He bilked almost $140,000 a year over an eight year period by compromising the online bank accounts of numerous employees and…

Congress Breached via P2P Filesharing…AGAIN!

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert Congress is still considering the Informed P2P User Act, a law that would supposedly make it safer to use peer-to-peer file sharing software, an effort that is similar to banning mosquitoes from sucking blood. It just isn’t happening. The only foolproof way to prevent accidental data leaks via file sharing programs…

10 Ways to Prevent Social Media Scams

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert For the past year, I’ve been screaming about the trouble with social media as it relates to identity theft, brand hijacking, privacy issues, and the opportunity social media creates for criminals to “friend” their potential victims in order to create a false sense of trust and use that against their…

Once a Predator Always a Predator

Robert Siciliano Personal Security Expert A necessary diversion from my daily IT security/Identity theft rants. So what happens when a convicted rapist lures a 21-year-old woman to his bedroom in 1989, then spends 15 years in jail and then gets a free pass in 2005? He does it again. Why? Because that’s normal. It’s not…