Entries by Robert Siciliano

Very Bad People for hire online

The Deep Web is not a nice place. Here, people can hire assassins, take ransomware payments, purchase U.S. citizenship without revealing their identity, among other things, says an article on darkreading.com. This information comes from Trend Micro, which used a tool called the “Deep Web analyzer,” something of a web crawler, that collected URLS that…

Meet the FBI’s most wanted Hackers

Want to earn up to $4.2 million? Then find the hackers on the FBI’s most wanted list. Or at least give the FBI information leading to their arrest and/or conviction. These snakes have stolen hundreds of millions of dollars. Here is the list from the hackernews.com: Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev (reward: $3 million) Ironically, one of…

Want Mobile Privacy? Read

If you don’t want your smartphone to know more about you than you do, here are top choices, as detailed on gizmodo.com: BlackPhone 2 The Blackphone 2 will black out the federal government from spying on you. Has a five inch handset with full HD screen (with Gorilla Glass 3 that prevents shoulder surfing). 3…

Zeus Malware Gang take-down

Zeus is no longer a god of malware; he’s been taken down by law enforcement agencies spanning six European nations. Five people were recently arrested—believed to have infected tens of thousands of computers across the globe. There have been 60 total arrests pertaining to this cybergang. They also used malware called SpyEye, and that, along…

Tell your Grams about these Scams

Do we really get wiser with old age, or just more vulnerable to all the scammers out there? Here are the top scams directed towards senior citizens. IRS The phone rings; it’s from the IRS, claiming you owe money. Caller ID says IRS (spoof technology). Caller says if you don’t pay within 24 hours, you’re…

UL to launch Cybersecurity Cert

UL in this case stands for Underwriters Laboratories. An article on darkreading.com notes that a UL official, Maarten Bron, says that they are taking part in the U.S. government’s plan to promote security certification standards. The U.S. government is interested in developing a UL-type program directed at computers and smartphones. This initiative will encourage the…

Teen pleads to SWATTING

Just what kind of punishment should a 17-year-old get for making fraudulent 911 calls (a crime known as swatting)? This happens more than you think. What’s outright astounding is how these teens could think they won’t be discovered. Have they been living in a cave all their lives, using a torch for light? A 17-year-old…

The Growing Demand for Cybersecurity Professionals

Cybersecurity professionals are always in demand[i]. Threats to intellectual property and sensitive data constantly evolve with technology, which means a security professional’s job is never done. There’s always another security problem to solve. Consider the recent proliferation of cyber attacks: it’s become easier and easier for a small group of people to compromise vast networks…

How to stop Browser Tracking

Maybe you don’t mind the ads for that bicycle rack following you around in cyberspace after you visited a site for all things bike, but browser trackers (“cookies”) also create a profile of you that gets sold to other advertisers and third parties. Are you doomed to be stalked forever by bike ads? This is…