Entries by Robert Siciliano

Security is Everyone’s responsibility

In the movies, the good guys always get the bad guys. In cyber reality, no such thing exists. A survey of 5,000 IT security professionals turns up the following: 63% doubt they can stop data breaches. 69% think threats slip through the cracks of their security systems. 57% believe their company lacks protection from advanced…

Swatting is potentially deadly

No, not deadly to a fly that you swat at, but to the homeowners who are subjected to aggressive police searches after the police receive a 911 call that someone was shot at the house. But the call is a hoax. This happened to Jesse Vanremortel at 3:30 am, says an article at theoaklandpress.com. He…

Finally: a Proactive Layer for your Home Security System

Any complete security system requires proactive and reactive components.  Until now, no one had ever focused on the proactive side.  BeON has arrived to update this product category, and they have done it in a simple and elegant way that gives you security without the stress while you’re away…and also yields safety while you’re at…

14 home security tips before you pack up for the Holidays

The holidays are just about here, and so is your not-so-friendly neighborhood burglar. Burglars know that during the holidays, there are just more goodies to steal, and not only that, but there’s a lot of traveling away from home. During this time of year, homeowners need to be extra vigilant about protecting their property, and…

Sociopath: Someone who breaks into your Home

What is a Sociopath? A sociopath, technically, is not a psychopath. These are actual psychiatric terms, and to say they’re one and the same is like saying that eczema and psoriasis are one and the same. Though a sociopath and psychopath will often commit the same crimes, like breaking into a home, these are two…

Expect all Free Mobile Apps to leak your Data

Mashable.com says that recently over 98,000 photos have been leaked from Snapsaved.com, which has shut down. The Snapchat app makers won’t take any credit, even though previously, 4.7 million phone numbers and usernames were leaked. The company seems indifferent, though this May, they reached a settlement with the FTC. Snapchat blames third-party sites and apps…

What Is a Trojan Horse?

One of history’s great literary classics is Homer’s Iliad, which tells the story of the Trojan horse—the wooden horse that the Greeks hid in to enter the city of Troy and take it over. Two thousand and some odd years later, hackers use a digital Trojan horse to hide malicious files in seemingly harmless files with…

What is Criminal Identity Theft?

Identity theft gets all kinds of buzz in the news. It’s not hard to see why—in 2012, over 16.6 million Americans were victims of identity theft. What most people don’t know is that identity theft is much more than just stealing your credit card number. In other posts, I discussed how thieves use your identity…

Keanu Reeves two Intruders in two Days

Keanu Reeves recently had a home intruder: a woman. It was 4:00 am when she got into his home and plopped in a chair. The 40-something nut-job told the movie star she was there to meet with him. He nonchalantly called 911. Police took the woman into custody. Who’s nuttier: the intruder or the homeowner…

Steps to Manage a secure online backup

Cyber storage does not always = secure backup. Users of cloud storage have many potential tools at hand to beef up security. And just because cloud services have some loopholes doesn’t mean you should just throw in the towel, as the saying goes, and figure “What’s the point?”. Here are some ways to beef up…