Entries by Robert Siciliano

DC Murders as horrific as it gets

The latest report says that Darron Dellon Dennis Wint did not act alone in the arson murder of a Washington, D.C., family and their housekeeper. You might wonder how a $4.5 million mansion—presumably with top-flight smoke alarms—could burn enough to kill the occupants. A cnn.com report says they were held against their will since the…

Social Media Scams on the rise

Social media is a conduit for thieves to get personal data (they can use it, for instance, to open up a credit line in the victim’s name). Though many people are concerned their personal information will get in the wrong hands, the funny thing is that they continue posting personal information—way too personal. The FBI’s…

How to Recognize a Phishing Scam

So someone comes up to you in a restaurant—a complete stranger—and asks to look at your driver’s license. What do you do? Show it to that person? You’d have to be one loony tune to do that. However, this same blindness to security occurs all the time when a person is tricked by a “phishing”…

Don’t Name Your Dog After Your Password

Recently I got a puppy for my child. We decided to name the puppy 4wgu23x5#9. My wife,8yysH3m, thought we should name the dog 0x2%#b5. But I’m sure she’ll get over it. Meanwhile, I’m helping my older child with setting up a few social media accounts, and I suggested the two passwords: Rover and Spot. Is…

Craigslist encounter ends very badly

At least one woman is happy that her driver drove like a drunk. That’s because his erratic driving caught the attention of troopers who pulled him over. They then heard a woman calling for help—from the backseat. She was bound and gagged with a bag over her head. The 41-year-old man had posted an ad…

Catphishing is a Heartless Scam

When someone online presents as a different person than their true self, this is called catphishing, and it occurs on online dating sites. Google the name of the object of your interest. Obviously, “Kelly Smith” and “John Miller” won’t get you far, but “Jaycina McArthur” just might. What comes up? See if they have social…

Consumers smartening up to Privacy Issues

According to a recent report from Pew Research, many Americans take privacy seriously—as in the cyber kind, but also offline. 9% of survey respondents thought they had strong control over how much of their personal information was collected and shared. 38% thought they had moderate control; 37% believed they had little control; 13% said they…

ATM Skimming rising, again

Do you know what ATM stands for? For crooks, it stands for A Thief’s Moneymaker. A new report from FICO says that “skimming” crimes have made their biggest spike in the past 20 years. This includes ATMs on bank premises, but of course, public ATM kiosks have seen the biggest spike. The thief tampers with…