Entries by Robert Siciliano

The Futuristic secure and Smart automated Home is here

A burglary occurs every 15 seconds. The chance of your home being broken into is higher than you’d think. The good news is that today’s alarm systems are “not your father’s alarm.” Twenty years ago, a contractor had to spend a week tearing up your walls ceilings, and windows to retrofit a messy, hardwired security…

15 Simple Secure Home Holiday Travel Tips

The holidays are here, and burglars are ready for you. Are you ready for them? One of the best ways to deter home robbery is to make the burglar think you’re inside the house. Here’s how to do that: The first thing to do is enforce the burglar’s favorite point of entry: the front door.…

10 Tips to avoid Scams when traveling

Vacationers and tourists provide a vast feeding ground for all sorts of crooks: from the simple pick-pocketing specialist to the hotel room burglar to the e-thief: credit card skimming and computer crimes. You can even have your identity stolen while sunning on that white beach. Avoid Traveling Scams with These Tips Don’t post your vacation…

The Credit Card Fraud Mob Boss

There once was a guy named Albert Gonzalez who dressed like a woman—but not because he got off on this, but because he wanted to conceal his actual appearance while he used a ream of phony cards to steal money from an ATM in 2003. A cop noticed the activity and didn’t quite buy the…

Visual Hacking is High Tech Shoulder Surfing

A visual hacker can infiltrate you—from the outside in. Quite literally, a person (ranging from a snoop to a cyber criminal) can peer over your shoulder while you’re using your computer or mobile (“shoulder surfing” or “visual hacking”), and collect your personal information—whatever you have up on the screen. This is so easy to observe…

How The Internet of Things can go very wrong

The Internet—one of history’s greatest inventions—is also one of history’s greatest platforms for crime. Here are ways things can go very wrong with the Internet of Things. Med-hacking. Researchers have hacked many medical devices. Though it apparently hasn’t happened in the real world, yet, but it looks like it’s only a matter of time before…

10 Get Smart Home Security Tips

The season to give is also the season to steal. Burglars are always looking for great deals—you know—the house that looks like nobody’s ever home; the house that has lots of shrubbery crowding out the doors and windows so that nobody can see the prowler spending 20 minutes trying to break in; the house with…

15 tips to Securing your Home for the Holidays

You know who really loves that ever-so-annoying “fall back” time change November 1? Burglars. Because it gives them an earlier start on their criminal activities because they love to work in the dark. And burglars get busier as daylight becomes shorter and the holiday season nears. Many people will take precautions to prevent fires started…

What is a Computer Worm?

Worms. Most of us probably think of them as those squirmy invertebrates we dissected as a kid or found on the sidewalk after a storm. You might have used them as bait for fishing (not phishing), to pull a prank or have even eaten them (no judgment). Whether you like worms or not, there’s one…

‘Tis the Season for the 12 Scams of the Holidays

Fa la la la la, la la la la. Yes that’s me singing, but thank goodness you can’t really hear me (I save that for the shower). If you can believe it, it’s that time of the year again (even though it seems like we just finished Halloween). Time for holiday parties, family traditions, ugly…