Entries by Robert Siciliano

Tightening up Security is Everyone’s Responsibility

Most information technology (IT) experts are very much unnerved by cyber criminals, says the biggest study involving surveys of IT professionals in mid-sized businesses. 87% send data to cloud accounts or personal e-mail. 58% have sent data to the wrong individual. Over 50% have confessed to taking company data with them upon leaving a post.…

Is your Phone being tracked?

The owner of your favorite restaurant may be tracking your every move—via your smartphone. Not because he’s a snoop, but because he believes knowing when and where you go for entertainment will benefit his business. And how did he pull this caper off? There’s are companys out there, that place sensors in businesses within a…

What is a Reverse Peephole Viewer?

A reverse peephole viewer is exactly what the words sound like: It reverses the effects of a peephole, meaning it allows you to see inside, from the outside. The viewer’s lenses reverse the effect of the peephole’s convex lenses, and easily fits in your pocket. Law enforcement commonly uses the reverse peephole viewer to access…

Ways small businesses are preventing Breaches

How did that huge recent data breach of a major retailer occur in the first place? Well, valuables can’t be stolen if there aren’t any valuables to begin with. Large merchants will store customers’ credit/debit card data to facilitate faster transactions. But small retailers keep minimal or zero data—this will not attract thieves. If customers…

7 Safety tips on the Mobile Internet

It’s time to know all the ways you can make sure you’re safe when in mobile space to prevent identity theft. It’s 10 pm; do know where the malware is? Malware is stealthy and hides in places you least expect, like search engines, tech-related sites, entertainment sites and web ads. Malware can even be waiting…

Data Insecurity causes Customer Headaches

Imagine not being able to use cash for even the smallest purchases because your bank—still shaking from news of the recent retail data breach that affected at least 110 million accounts—has decided to block all customer transactions. This actually happened. In many recent interviews I have been asked the question numerous times “Is it time…

Amber Alert GPS: Say Hello to Smart Affordable Child Locators

The AmberAlert GPS,  is “The Intelligent Way to Keep Families Connected and Safe”,  today unveiled an infographic that explains how Smart Locators make it easier for families to stay connected and protected.  In the course of raising a family, over 90% of parents will at some point lose track of a child.  Kids are curious beings, so it’s not…

Using your Mobile to protect you from criminals

The Good: Your mobile phone number is almost as good as your fingerprint: very unique to you, and as a second factor authentication device via text message, acts as access control through which to access certain web sites. SMS two factor authentication as it’s know is the sending of unique one time pass codes that…

Data Breaches hurt Businesses’ Brand

That very newsworthy data breach that’s still in the news struck 110 million customers, not the more commonly reported 40 million; that’s one-third of the U.S. population. There was also another, but less publicized, breach of huge proportions that occurred to a major retailer in mid-December of 2013. And some reports say another 6 or…