Watching Out For Criminal Hacks

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

We use the web to search out tons of information, to shop online and to connect with friends and family. And in the process criminals are trying to whack us over the head and steal from us. And they’ve become very proficient at their craft while most computer users know enough about protecting themselves today as they did 15 years ago. Which equates to not so much.

Back in the day, a person only had to know not to open a file in an attachment from someone they didn’t know. Maybe even not opening one from someone they knew and making a phone call first. Today there are more ways than ever that your PC can be hijacked.

Today you can simply visit a website thinking you are safe and the bad guy was there before you and injected code on the site and now it infects your out-dated browser. That’s a “drive by” and it’s very common today. Here is a list of likely attacks occurring every day.

Fundamentals:

Update your browser. Internet Explorer and Firefox are the most exploited browsers. Whenever there is an update to these browsers take advantage of it.   Keep the default settings and don’t go to the bowels of the web where a virus is most likely to be. Consider the Google Chrome browser as it’s currently less of a target.

Update your operating system. No matter what brand of computer you are on you have to update the critical security patches for your Windows operating system. Microsoft will no longer support Windows XP after 2014, so start thinking about upgrading to Windows 7 (which is pretty sweet). Go to Windows Update. Why anyone would keep XP running unless they had to is a mystery to me. It’s a dog who has been kicked too many times.

Update Adobe Reader and Flash. Adobe PDFs and Flash Player are ubiquitous on almost every PC. Which makes them a prime target for criminals. To update Reader go to Help then Check for Updates. To update Flash go here.

Don’t be suckered into scareware. A popup launches and it looks like a window on your PC. Next thing a scan begins. The scan tells you that a virus has infected your PC. And for $49.95 you can download software that magically appears just in time to save the day. Studies show that organized criminals are earning $10,000.00 a day from scareware. That’s approximately 200 people a day getting nabbed. Some “distributors” have been estimated to make as much as $5 million a year. Just shut down your browser and do a scan with your existing anti-virus. Then update your browser because it’s probably outdated, which is why you saw scareware in the first place.

Beware of social media scams. Numerous Twitter (and Facebook) accounts including those of President Obama, Britney Spears, Fox News and others were taken over and used to make fun of, ridicule, harass or commit fraud. Often these hacks may occur via phish email. Worms infiltrating Twitter requesting to click on links would infect user’s accounts and begin to multiply the message. Then your followers and their follower would get it, causing more grief than anything else.

Invest in social media protection @ Knowem.com

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano identity theft speaker discussing social media identity theft on CNN

Grand Jury: TSA Employee Stole Identities

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Identity Theft Expert Robert Siciliano

A Lynn Massachusetts couple was accused of selling the identities of at least 16 Transportation Security Administration workers at Logan International Airport.

Lynn was then and is now known as “Lynn Lynn the City of Sin, you don’t go out the way you come in.”

Fox News reports “A federal grand jury accused the couple of stealing personal information including the Social Security numbers of TSA workers at Boston’s Logan International Airport. There was no indication the private information of the security screeners was given to militant groups, Reuters reported, but the case suggests federal officials may be vulnerable to identity theft.

The grand jury alleged that the couple used the stolen information to obtain cable television and utilities for themselves and for others, whom they charged as customers. The two will face charges of conspiracy and aggravated identity theft.”

To steal the ID of a TSA worker gives one access to the airport then to luggage and more. There needs to be a tighter system that prevent this. We need effective identification that makes another’s identity useless to the thief.

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Speaker discussing hacked email on Fox News.

Facebooks New (and only) Security Feature

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Identity Theft Expert Robert Siciliano

So maybe you used a public PC to log into your Facebook account and you hit a button that saved your login credentials. Or maybe you received an email from what you thought was Facebook and you plugged in your username and password and got phished. Now someone other than you has your account information and they are logging in to torture you or steak from your friends.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a degree of control over that?

Facebook just introduced a security setting that sends you an email telling you someone has just logged into your account.

The feature doesn’t protect you from being stupid and giving your credentials away, but it does give you an opportunity to log into your account and change the password and thereby block the bad guy from getting back in. But the bad guy can change your log in information too. All they have to do is change your email address. Once they do they receive an email at the new address and hit a confirm link. At the same time you will also get an email to the original login email gving you the opportunity to dispute the new account number. So if this ever happens, act quickly.

To set up and enable notifications

1. go to “Account” upper right hand corner

2. in the drop down menu to “Account Settings”

3. in the main menu go to “Account Security”

4. click “Yes” next to “Would you like to receive notifications from new devices”

5. the same can be done with text messages if you have your mobile plugged into Facebook. But don’t have your mobile displayed on your page publically.

6. Log out then log back in and it will ask you to identify the computer.

I did this on 2 PCs and a phone. It didn’t ask me to identify the phone, but it did send me an email:

“Your Facebook account was accessed using Facebook (Today at 8:36am).

If this happened without your permission, please change your password immediately.

If this was an authorized login, please ignore this email.

To change your password:

1. Log in to your Facebook account.
2. Click the Account tab at the top of the screen and select “Account Settings” from the drop-down menu.
3. Scroll to the Password section of the Account Settings page.
4. Click the “change” link on the right and follow the instructions.

Thanks,
The Facebook Team”

Hey Facebook, after 400 million users you are just getting around to this? It’s a start.

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Speaker discussing Facebook Hackers on CNN.

10 Ways To Prevent Phishing

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Identity Theft Expert Robert Siciliano

The Anti Phishing Working Group published a new report seeking to understand such trends by quantifying the scope of the global phishing problem, especially by examining domain name usage and phishing site uptimes. Phishing has always been attractive to criminals because it has low start-up costs and few barriers to entry. But by mid-2009, phishing was dominated by one player as never before—the ―Avalanche‖ phishing operation. This criminal entity is one of the most sophisticated and damaging on the Internet, and perfected a mass-production system for deploying phishing sites and ―crimeware – malware designed specifically to automate identity theft and facilitate unauthorized transactions from consumer bank accounts. Avalanche was responsible for two-thirds (66%) of all phishing attacks launched in the second half of 2009, and was responsible for the overall increase in phishing attacks recorded across the Internet.

There were 126,697 phishing attacks during the second half of 2009, more than double the number in the first half of the year or from July through December of 2008, the APWG report said. Avalanche, which was first identified in December of 2008, was responsible for 24 percent of phishing attacks in the first half of 2009 and for 66 percent in the second half. From July through the end of the year, Avalanche targeted the more than 40 major financial institutions, online services, and job search providers.

Adapted from APWG

1. Be suspicious of any email with urgent requests for personal financial information. Call the bank if they need anything from you.

2. Spot a Phish: Phishers typically include upsetting or exciting (but false) statements in their emails to get people to react immediately

3. They typically ask for information such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers, date of birth, etc.

4. Don’t use the links in an email, instant message, or chat to get to any web page if you suspect the message might not be authentic or you don’t know the sender or user’s handle

5. Avoid filling out forms in email messages that ask for personal financial information in emails

6. Consider installing a Web browser tool bar to help protect you from known fraudulent websites. These toolbars match where you are going with lists of known phisher Web sites and will alert you.

7. The newer version of Internet Explorer version 7 and 8 includes this tool bar as does FireFox version 2

8. Regularly check your bank, credit and debit card statements to ensure that all transactions are legitimate

9. If anything is suspicious or you don’t recognize the transaction, contact your bank and all card issuers

10. Ensure that your browser is up to date and security patches applied

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Mobile Phone Becoming Bigger Target For Hackers

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Identity Theft Expert Robert Siciliano

Mobile Internet access and mobile service usage is growing rapidly and cyber criminals are expected to pay more attention to this sector. Mobile device platforms compete for innovation created by application developers and other content creators who are increasingly demanding more device access. As their requests grow in numbers and they distribute their products more widely, security breaches will be inevitable.

Mobile phones used to be bulky and cumbersome; they had to be carried in bags or briefcases. Then they became chunky, heavy bricks. Clearly, cell phones have evolved. Today’s mobile phone is a compute, that rivals many desktops and laptops being manufactured today. I’m continually blown away at the capabilities of my iPhone.

What makes Mobile phones vulnerable is the speed and advancement of technology and businesses continued demand for products and services that work on a phone. In other countries almost all banking is done on a phone.

Complicating matters is spyware. Spyware was created as a legitimate technology for PCs. Spyware tracks and records social network activities, online searches, chats, instant messages, emails sent and received, websites visited, keystrokes typed and programs launched. It can be the equivalent of digital surveillance, revealing every stroke of the user’s mouse and keyboard. As a virus, spyware on a PC or phone is an immediate compromise of that phone’s data.

When anti-virus vendors like McAfee introduce anti-malware solution to secure Android-based smartphones, then you know mobile phone hacking has gone mainstream. The McAfee® VirusScan® Mobile technology is available now for users of Android and Windows Mobile-based smartphones providers.

The scary part is mobile phone spying software is affordable and very powerful. I worked with Good Morning America (GMA) on this issue.

GMA found thousands of sites promoting cell phone spying software, boasting products to “catch cheating spouses,” “bug meeting rooms” or “track your kids.” Basic cell phone spying software costs as little as $50.“ Someone can easily install a spyware program on your phone that allows them to see every single thing you do all day long, via the phone’s video camera. GMA spent $350 to get the features that remotely activate speaker phones, intercept live calls and instantly notify you every time a call is made.

Not all spyware is bad. Certainly if you install spyware on your 12 year old daughters phone, it’s to monitor and protect her, but when installed unknowingly on a phone that’s used for mCommerce, or business applications, then there is cause to be concerned.

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Want Privacy? On Facebook? Shut Up!

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Identity Theft Expert Robert Siciliano

There seems to be a groundswell of people who are anti-Facebook today.

Google “Facebook” and “Privacy” and 761,000,000, that’s seven hundred and sixty-one million results come up in a quarter second. WHY? BECAUSE THERE IS AN OBVIOUS ISSUE WITH FACEBOOK AND PRIVACY. The major issue here is not that Facebook isn’t private, it’s that some people want it to be private and its not and they can’t have their cake and eat it too. Privacy has always been a hotbed media grabbing issue that sells news too, so the few privacy pundits that there are, get all this attention by pointing the finger.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks head dude said “people have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people.” Then he went on to say “that social norm is just something that has evolved over time.”

Nick Bilton a New York Times writer interviewed a Facebook employee and shortly after tweeted “Off record chat w/ Facebook employee. Me: How does Zuck feel about privacy? Response: [laughter] He doesn’t believe in it.”

So if the head of an organization is telling you straight out, privacy isn’t really a concern, then why expect anything different? If you are about to book a cruise and you are told the captain of the ship likes to drink ALOT and he has a habit of hitting icebergs, would you get on the ship? If you don’t like the way things are done at Facebook either shut up or delete your profile.

I personally have no hard feelings towards Facebook, I also don’t share intimate details of my life and I understand the implications of the service. My angst is towards its users who say and do things that make themselves vulnerable to crime and online reputational disasters. Like Howard Stern’s dad used to say to him “I told you not to be stupid you moron.”

And now that politicians are stepping in and making a fuss, Facebook is now the new privacy battle ground. These same politicians won’t do anything or accomplish anything. They just love the attention. And with 400 million people on board, I think privacy is deader than dead, a rotting corpse that just smells bad and we will complain as long as the stink lingers. Openness and transparency along with sharing too much information is the norm. But that doesn’t exclude you from at least understanding the risks, taking some responsibility and being smart about how to use it.

Protect yourself:

Use URL decoding. Before clicking on shortened URLs, find out where they lead by pasting them into a URL lengthening service like TinyURL Decoder or Untiny.

Maintain updated security. Whether hardware or software, anti-virus or critical security patches, make sure you are up to date.

Lock down settings. Most social networks have privacy settings that need to be administered to the highest level. Default settings generally leave your networks wide open for attack.

Register company name and all your officers at every social media site. You can do this manually or by using a very cost effective service called Knowem.com.

Protect your identity.

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Speaker discussing Social Media on Fox Boston.

Criminal Hackers Had Their Best Year

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Identity Theft Expert Robert Siciliano

The FBI reported that last year, organized criminals made double what was reported in 2008. Phishing emails containing the name and logo of the FBI were one of the top money makers for scam artists.

Successful scams included auction scams where products were bought and paid for but product was not delivered. Advanced fee scams also topped the list.

Scammers will say and do anything to get a person to part with their money.

Never automatically trust over the phone or via the internet. Unless the business is one that is well established online; don’t ever send money that you can’t get back. Never send money in response to an email or a phone call or even a classified ad. Money orders and wiring money have less security than a credit card does.

Anytime the transaction involves wiring money, that’s a dead giveaway. In any virtual transaction, I’d suggest using a credit card, but not without first checking the legitimacy of the business or the individual. A quick scan online of a company, individual, or even the nature of a transaction can often provide enough information to make an informed decision.

Scareware was also a big player. Studies show that organized criminals are earning $10,000.00 a day from scareware. That’s approximately 200 people a day getting nabbed. Some “distributors” have been estimated to make as much as $5 million a year.

What makes the scam so believable is there is actual follow through of the purchasing of software that is supposed to protect you. There is a shopping cart, an order form, credit card processing and a download, just like any online software purchase.

The software is sometimes known as “AntiVirus2009” “WinFixer,” “WinAntivirus,” “DriveCleaner,” “WinAntispyware,” “AntivirusXP” and “XP Antivirus 2008.” These are actually viruses or spyware that infect your PC, or just junk software that does nothing of value.

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Speaker discussing Ransomeware on Fox Boston.

Top 10 Jobs For Criminal Hackers

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Identity Theft Expert Robert Siciliano

So you wanna go to the dark side? You’ve been hearing all about this hacking thing and you’d like to impress your girlfriend and show her how you can hack into corporate databases eh? Well, first if you are nodding your head, you’re an idiot. Second, chances are better than ever that you’ll get caught. Law enforcement is actually getting pretty good at finding the bad guy. In the meantime, the FBI posted the top jobs in computer crime and the bad guys are hiring.

They need:

1. Programmers: They are the dudes that write the actual viruses that end up on your PC because you were surfing porn or downloading pirated software off of torrents.

2. Carders: the most visible of criminals who distribute and sell stolen data to whoever is willing to take it and burn it onto a white card or make purchases over the internet.

3. IT Dudes: these are like any computer professionals who maintain all the hardware to keep the operation running as it should.

4. Criminal Hackers: these are the tech savvy penetration testers who aren’t legitimate penn testers but black hat hackers. They look for vulnerabilities in networks and plant code to exploit the users.

5. Social Engineers: these are the scammers and liars that think up all the different scams and communicate with people via phishing emails.

6. Hosted Systems Providers: are often unethical businesses that provide servers for the bad guy to do his dirty work.

7. Cashiers: provide bank accounts where criminals can hide money.

8. Money Mules: these may be unsuspecting Americans who act as shipping managers and do the dirty work for the bad guy and open bank accounts too. Sometimes the mule may be foreign and travel to the US specifically to open bank accounts.

9. Tellers: Help transfer and launder money through digital currency’s such as e-gold.

10. Bosses: These are the Mafia Dons. They run the show, bring together talent, manage, delegate, tell people what to do and maybe cut a head or two off.

If this whole writing, speaking and consulting thing doesn’t pan out I know who is hiring.

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms ows.f identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Speaker discussing hackers on Fox News.

Why Everyone Should Learn to Be A Hacker

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I know enough about hacking to make all of my software un-usable, mess up my operating system, and crash my PC. I also know enough about hacking to re-install my operating system, re-install all my software and get my PC running fresh and relatively secure. I’m no criminal hacker. And I am not suggesting that. Nor can I program; I don’t know code but I do know enough to hack in a way that keeps me running, and again, secure.

Hacker isn’t a bad word and hacking isn’t a bad thing to do. It’s something that if everyone who plugs into a PC every day did, they’d be a heck of a lot more versed in the functionality and security of a computer.

The beauty of becoming a “do it yourself” (DIY) hacker is you don’t need to pay a dude to come to your home or office to fix your computer when it’s not working. Three hundred and twenty five years ago I used to pay someone to fix me. Now I can do most of it myself, and when I don’t know how to do it I look it up on Google. Chances are if you have had this problem, then thousands of others have too. There are a bazillion forums that you can go to and solve annoyances and real technology issues.

Once you start asking questions you begin to find people who know the answers. Next thing you know you are the person with the answers. Along the way you connect with people that are smarter than you are who actually do know code and how to really hack a system. Then keep this stable of experts on your contact list so when you are in a pinch, you reach out. But do your best to figure it out on your own first so you aren’t constantly bugging them. You’d be amazed at how capable you are once you invest the necessary time to learn this stuff.

Another great way to learn how to be a DIY hacker is through tech support of your new PC. Most computers come with a one year guarantee that includes phone support. Now many people complain about lousy support, but the hundred or so hours I’ve spent over the years with these people from all over the world has definitely upped my hack-abilities. Even when the tech support guy is wrong, you learn something.

Recently I got rid of all my old 5-6-8 year old PCs and upgraded all but one to Windows 7 boxes and couldn’t be happier. In the process, I had to go through a litany of changes that were always frustrating, but made me a better, smarter, faster DIY hacker. I’ve spent about 20 hours with tech support on the phone getting everything to work like it should and now I know how to do it myself when things go wrong.

“Why I want my daughter to be a hacker” is the title of a post that’s been making waves in the blogosphere. It doesn’t exactly make my point, but worth a read.

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Speaker discussing the identity theft on CNBC.

Elderly Couple Assaulted During Home Invasion

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Every day I scan the news for stories to report on. My job is to disseminate information in a way that is easily digestible and makes sense. Hopefully the reader will act on what they learn and make better decisions to protect themselves and their families.

It’s not easy to read stories every single day about horrible things happening to good people. The frustrating part is seeing the same awful crimes happening over and over and over again. I can write about “Elderly couple assaulted during home invasion” 20 times a day and each story will be worse than the next. If you are elderly or have elderly parents, please take heed:

The man’s wife, whom he’s been married to for almost six decades, lies in the hospital. The victim says the suspect broke a window in the bedroom and appeared in their living room around 10:30pm Sunday night as they watched television. “He grabbed me around the neck, and said he would cut my throat if I didn’t do what he said,” said the husband.

THEY WERE JUST WATCHING TV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“He went through the drawers, getting jewelry and whatever else he saw he wanted,” said the husband. For four hours, the homeowner says the suspect tore through their belongings while they were forced to lie face down in their bedroom. “He was very comfortable with being in here.“

Any time his wife made a noise showing her fear, the suspect came back to the bedroom. “She was making noise and he didn’t want her making noise, he would kick her hard.” The victim’s wife was transported to Methodist Hospital in the Medical Center due to brain swelling from being kicked by the suspect. Her husband tells us they will monitor her overnight and she may be able to go home on Tuesday.

Locking your doors isn’t enough. Locking your windows isn’t enough. In order to prevent a crime like this the homeowner needs a comprehensive home security review. Bring in the local police to give your home a once over. Invite a local locksmith to determine what the best locks for your doors are. Call a home alarm installer to discuss a home security system. Consider taking it up a notch and installing home security cameras. Consider a do it yourself wireless home alarm system or hire a professional. But please, whatever you do, do something. The worst thing you can do is nothing.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source discussing home invasions on the Gordon Elliot Show. Disclosures