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What is Shoulder Surfing?

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The next time you’re in a public place and glued to your smartphone or tablet — whether it’s at the gym, a coffee house, the airport, or just a park bench— know that someone might be peering over your shoulder to see what you’re doing. The snooper could just be curious, or they could be trying to capture your login information so they can use it to access your accounts impersonating you later on.

4DThis behavior is called “shoulder surfing”, but it doesn’t always mean that someone is literally looking over your shoulder. It can also be done from far away, using binoculars or even a small telescope.

That’s why you should always work with your back tightly against a wall. If that’s not possible, be aware of who’s around you, or behind you, and try to shield your screen. Of course, shoulder surfing can also occur at the workplace where giant computer screens are facing outward for anyone walking by to see.

And it isn’t just the screen contents that the thief wants. A skilled thief can watch the user’s finger movements to pick up on passwords and login information.

Shoulder surfing can be completely concealed in settings where people are normally packed together, such as on public transportation, airplanes, concert halls, or even a busy emergency room.

Think of how easy it would be for you to watch what the person next to you is typing, especially if they’re wearing a headset and oblivious to their surroundings.

The fact that this is an easy way to steal information is what makes it so common. A study of commuters in the UK found that 72 percent shoulder surfed—mostly out of boredom rather than for fraudulent intent, but that just goes to show how easy it really is.

Here’s some simple ways to protect yourself from should surfing when entering or accessing personal data on your devices:

  • Look for an area where your back is against a wall.
  • Be aware of your surroundings at all times, not just people but also video cameras.
  • Consider using a screen protector to obscure the visibility of the display.
  • Save your personal, business and financial matters for when you are in the privacy of your own home.

So whether you’re just surfing social media sites at a coffeehouse, or an executive trying to catch up on work on a plane, make sure that you keep an eye out for anyone whose eyes are glued to your screen.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Safety Expert to Intel Security. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked! Disclosures.

3 Ways We are Tricked into Cyber Attacks

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So just how are hackers able to penetrate all these huge businesses? Look no further than employee behavior—not an inside job, but innocent employees being tricked by the hacker.

9DA recent survey commissioned by Intel Security reveals that five of the top seven reasons that a company gets hacked are due to employee actions.

One of the things that make it easy to trick employees into giving up critical information is the information employees share on social media about their company.

People just freely post things and tweet all day long about company matters or other details that can be used by a hacker to compromise the company. What seems like innocuous information, such as referring to a company big wig by their nickname, could lead to social engineering (tricking users into believing the request is legitimate so the user gives up sensitive information).

Between social media and the golden nuggets of information on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other platforms, hackers have a goldmine right under their nose—and they know it.

3 Key Pathways to Getting Hacked

  1. Ignorance. This word has negative connotations, but the truth is, most employees are just plain ignorant of cybersecurity 101. The survey mentioned above revealed that 38% of IT professionals name this as a big problem.
    1. Do not click on links inside emails, regardless of the sender.
    2. Never open an attachment or download files from senders you don’t know or only know a little.
    3. Never visit a website on the job that you’d never visit in public. These sites are often riddled with malware.
  2. Gullibility. This is an extension of the first pathway. The more gullible, naive person is more apt to click on a link inside an email or do other risky tings that compromise their company’s security.
    1. It’s called phishing(sending a trick email, designed to lure the unsuspecting recipient into visiting a malicious website or opening a malicious attachment. Even executives in high places could be fooled as phishing masters are truly masters at their craft.
    2. Phishing is one of the hacker’s preferred tools, since the trick is directed towards humans, not computers.
    3. To  check if a link is going to a phishing site, hover your cursor over the link to see its actual destination. Keep in mind that hackers can still make a link look like a legitimate destination, so watch our for misspellings and bad grammar.
  3. Oversharing. Malicious links are like pollen—they get transported all over the place by the winds of social media. Not only can a malicious link be shared without the sharer knowing it’s a bad seed, but hackers themselves have a blast spreading their nasty goods—and one way of doing this is to pose as someone else.
    1. Be leery of social media posts from your “friends” that don’t seem like things they would normally post about. It could be a hacker who is using your friend’s profile to spread malware. Really think…is it like your prude sister-in-law to send you a link to the latest gossip on a sex scandal?
    2. Don’t friend people online that you don’t know in real life. Hackers often create fake profiles to friend you and then use their network of “friends” to spread their dirty wares.
    3. Take care about what you post online. Even if your privacy settings are set to high, you should think that when you post on the Internet, it’s like writing in permanent ink—it’s forever. Because did we all really need to know that time you saw Kanye from afar?

All of us must be coached and trained to keep ourselves and our workplaces safe, and that starts with practicing good cyber hygiene both at home and at work.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Safety Expert to Intel Security. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked! Disclosures.

What is Spam?

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Everyone’s heard of spam as it pertains to emails. Spam isn’t necessarily a malicious message designed to trick you into revealing your credit card number or PayPal login information.

emailBut spam is an unsolicited message, sometimes referred to as junk mail. Spam can be very annoying and relentless in nature, often attempting to convince you to buy something. Sometimes these messages are untruthful, such as those advertising human growth hormone pills (when they actually contain nothing of the sort). Spam also includes phishing which are messages designed to trick you into giving up personal information. Other messages can be legitimate advertisements—nevertheless, you did NOT ask for these solicitations.

Spam arrives in the form of emails, instant messages, and text messages—and it can also affect smartphones.

Spammers buy lists from brokers that continuously harvest email addresses from the web. They also run dictionary attacks, throwing billions of combinations of words and numbers at an email database to find valid address combinations.

Though some emails are obvious spam, such as ones with particular keywords like Viagra, sex life, prescription drug discounts and fast weight loss, other spammy messages are not so obvious; they may appear legitimate or show a sender address of a family member, friend or business associate.

For instance, the sender may appear to be from your bank), with a subject line warning you to urgently update your account information. Similarly, the subject line may not be threatening, such as one referencing “your recent order from Amazon” or “your shipment from DHL,” yet it is not legitimate.

Spammers have found that if enough of these go out all at once, they’ll reach a statistically significant percentage of recipients who will have placed an order from Amazons within the previous 48 hours, or are expecting a delivery from DHL any day.

Here are some tips on how you can fight spam:

  • Be careful with your email address. Don’t supply your email address to sites you’re not sure about, and never post it in a public place.
  • Verify. If you’re not sure if an email is valid, even though it appears to be from your bank, medical carrier, employer, etc., don’t respond to the email. Contact the company or business by phone to verify the email’s validity.
  • Think before you click. Don’t click blindly. Never click on links in unsolicited emails. If you think the email is real, check the link URL to make sure you are being directed to a legitimate site.
  • Open with care. Think twice open attachments that you’re not expecting or from someone who normally wouldn’t send you an attachment.
  • Be cautious. Don’t be fooled by sensational subject lines. Another type of fraud is a subject line claiming you won a prize or are owed money.
  • Ignore it. If the email shows up in your spam or junk folder, chances are it’s spam, so LEAVE IT ALONE!

It’s simple: Never reply to spam.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Safety Expert to Intel Security. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked! Disclosures.

Protect Yourself from Online Fraud

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Yes, it’s possible: preventing fraudsters from getting you via online trickery and other stealthy actions. Yes, it’s possible to be thinking one step ahead of cyber criminals. Let’s begin with e-mails—the conduit through which so many cyber crimes like ID theft occur. 9D

  • Imagine snail-mailing vital information like your SSN, bank account number, a duplicate of your driver’s license and your credit card number. At some point in the delivery process, someone opens the letter and see the contents. Electronic messages are not entirely private. Recognize this risk before sending knowing that in transmission there is a chance your information can be seen. Sometimes the telephone is a better option.
  • Ignore sensationalistic offers in your in-box like some ridiculously low price on the same kind of prescription drug you pay out of pocket for; it’s likely a scam.
  • Ever get an e-mail from a familiar sender, and all that’s in it is a link? Don’t click on it; it may trigger a viral attack. As for the sender, it’s a crook compromised your friends email and who figured out a way to make it look like the e-mail is from someone you know.
  • In line with the above, never open an attachment from an unfamiliar sender; otherwise you may let in a virus.
  • If someone you know sends you an unexpected attachment, e-mail or call that person for verification before opening it.
  • Enable your e-mail’s filtering software to help weed out malicious e-mails.
  • Ignore e-mails asking for “verification” of account information. Duh.

Passwords

  • Don’t put your passwords on stickies and then tape them to your computer.
  • Do a password inventory and make sure all of them contain a mix of letters, numbers and characters, even if this means you must replace all of them. They also should not include actual words or names. Bad password: 789Jeff; good password: 0$8huQP#. Resist the temptation to use a pet’s name or hobby in your password.
  • Every one of your accounts gets a different password and change them often.

General

  • Make sure your computer and smartphone are protected with antivirus/anti-malware and a firewall. And keep these updated!
  • Your Wi-Fi router has a default password; change it because cyber thieves know what they are.
  • When purchasing online, patronize only well-established merchants.
  • Try to limit online transactions to only sites that have an “https” rather than “http.” A secure site also has a padlock icon before the https.
  • Make sure you never make a typo when typing into the URL; some con artists have created phony sites that reflect typos, and once you’re on and begin entering your account information, a crook will have it in his hands.
  • Access your financial or medical accounts only on your computer, never a public one.
  • Ignore e-mails or pop-ups that ask for account or personal information.
  • When you’re done using a financial site, log out.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.

Trolls get Dose of Reality

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Well, you know that old saying: The viciousness of an online bully’s attack is inversely proportional to the size of his (you fill in the blank), I was thinking ego.

12DMany online bullies are female, but in the case of former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling’s daughter, the trolls are collectively male.

Recently Schilling tweeted how proud he was that his daughter, Gabby, will be playing softball as a pitcher for Salve Regina University. Schilling got a lot of responses. And some were disgusting, including one that mentioned assault (yeah, I’d like to see the dude who posted that try to mess with a collegiate pitcher—these young women aren’t to be messed with).

Other repulsive acts and terminology came up in the comments. Sometimes, as Schilling set out to prove, it’s not best to just ignore the bullies, thinking they’ll go away.

In the case with 17-year-old Gabby, the “bullies” are more like pond scum idiots who, in real life, would probably scurry like a mouse if a woman got in their face.

Schilling quickly tracked down the names and schools, plus some other details, of the bullys. As a result, says the athlete, nine of these maggots have been either fired from their jobs or kicked off their sports teams. The Twitter accounts of two of the trolls have been deactivated.

Schilling received apologies from them, but only after the fact. Too late. And why did these young men make the posts in the first place? They don’t even know Gabby. Do they have a teen or young adult sister? How would they feel if their teen sister were the subject of such vile posts? Some of the trolls told Schilling to chill. Would they themselves chill if their sister, girlfriend or mother were the object of vulgar comments?

Hopefully, Gabby is internally stable enough not to take extreme measures as a result of the online bullying, like the many kids who have taken their own lives. But still…internal stability or not…nobody, especially a proud dad, should have to receive vulgar posts about themselves when they’ve done nothing wrong.

If you still think this is no big deal, remember: Once you post something, it’ll probably be out there for all time—waiting to smear your reputation, or hurt someone, real real bad.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing identity theft prevention. Disclosures.

5 Online Security Tips You need to know

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It’s up to the potential victim—the user—YOU—to make your computer or smartphone very difficult for Joe Hackster to infiltrate.

7WPasswords

  • Being that cyber crime has been a fixture of modern living for over a decade, you’d think that everyone and his brother would know to use strong, long passwords, and a different password for each account. But people—including those who’ve been around for a long time—continue using the same password and ridiculously weak passwords, like password1 and princess.
  • A very strong password will go a long way in preventing hacking incidents. It should be at least 12 characters and a mixed salad at that: different cases, numbers and symbols, and no words.
  • Every single account should have a different password.
  • Learn which accounts offer two-factor authentication, then activate it. This way, if someone gets your password they still can’t get into your account unless they have your smartphone.

The cloud is cool but not 100 percent secure

  • Sounds funky: “cloud storage.” But the vulnerabilities aren’t necessarily in the cloud service, but in your device security. If your device is vulnerable, if you don’t have security software or update your operating system, you become the criminals path to the cloud service.
  • Because the cloud is such a huge vault for holding all kinds of data, more things just simply can go wrong. The user must decide who’s better at protecting his data: a system with more resources (the cloud), or the user himself?

New doesn’t mean safe.

  • A brand-new computer or mobile device may come with preinstalled “back doors” for hackers. This is legal so that law enforcement can more easily track the bad guys in life. These back doors are vulnerabilities that can let in hackers. Do your research when making an investment in technology and install antivirus immediately.

No software is perfect.

  • Think of antivirus and antimalware as the “exterminator” who comes to your house to get rid of bugs. There’s a reason that pest control companies no longer refer to themselves as exterminators. This term implies they can kill every last bug and its eggs. They can’t. There will always be a bug somewhere, but the pest control technician can at least prevent infestations and swarms. Likewise, protective software is not 100 percent infallible, but it goes a long way in preventing computer infections.
  • So even though it’s not perfect, you absolutely must use protective software.

Mind the software update messages.

  • Don’t get annoyed by these; allow them to take place. Don’t hit “remind me later,” because chances are this will become a habit. You don’t want to delay the updates. They mean a security hole was detected, and now it can be patched. Don’t wait till later! Better yet, set all security software to automatically update.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to TheBestCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. Disclosures.

6 Ways to halt Online Tracking

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“On the Internet, you can be ANYBODY!”

1PNot quite. Remaining anonymous in cyber space isn’t as easy as it used to be. Your browsing habits can be tracked, leading to your true identity. But there are things you can do to remain as anonymous as possible.

  • Don’t feel you must use your full, real name when filling out forms or whatever, just because it’s asked or even a “required field.” Of course, you’ll want to use your real name when registering online with a bank, for instance, or making a purchase. But sometimes, the real name just isn’t necessary, such as when registering with a site so that you can post comments on its news articles, or registering with an online community so that you can participate in forums.
  • Stop “liking” things. Does your vote really matter in a sea of thousands anyways? But you can still be tracked even if you don’t hit “like” buttons, so always log off of social media sites when done. This means hit the “log out” button, not just close out the page.
  • Twitter has options to control how much it tracks you, so check those out.
  • Clear your browser cookies automatically every day.
  • Use a disposable e-mail address; these expire after a set time.
  • Firefox users get a browser add-on called NoScript to block JavaScript. JavaScript gets information on you, especially when you fill out a form. However, JavaScript has many other functions, so if you block it, this may impair ease of use of the websites you like to navigate.

Virtual Private Network

You may not think it’s a big deal that your browsing habits get tracked, but this can be used against you in a way that you cannot possibly imagine.

For example, you suffer whiplash injury in a car accident and want to sue the erroneous driver who caused it. However, your nephew asks your advice on weight lifting equipment, so you decide to visit some websites on weight lifting equipment since you know a lot about this.

The defendant’s attorney gets wind of this online search and can use it against you, claiming you don’t really have any whiplash injuries. How can you prove you were searching this information for your nephew?

A VPN will scramble your browsing activities so that you can freely roam the virtual world wherever you are without worrying you’re being tracked. Your IP address will be hidden. One such VPN service is Hotspot Shield, which can be used on iOS, Android, Mac and PC.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.

Keyloggers log wirelessly

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Gee, it sounds like something out of one of those 1970s TV shows about government spies, but it’s reality: Plug this little thing into a wall socket and it records the keystrokes of a person nearby typing into a Microsoft wireless keyboard. The little gadget sends the information back to the gadget’s owner over the Internet.

1DThe device looks like a USB wall charger, and this “KeySweeper” can be created with instructions from Samy Kamkar, a hardware hacker and security researcher who developed the gadget.

An article on threatpost.com explains that KeySweeper can alert its operator when keystrokes spell out something that the thief-operator would be interested in, such as a bank’s website address. The device continues working even when removed from the wall socket.

As for making a KeySweeper, Kamkar says that it’s not wise for a person without strong knowledge of electrical things to attempt to construct one.

To remain as inconspicuous as possible, the KeySweeper relies upon low profile hardware and very low power. It can also be powered by a battery because it’s installed inside a USB wall charger. So if you unplug the device (and thus disconnect it from A/C power), KeySweeper is still going, relying on its battery inside.

And if you think that KeySweeper is difficult to detect, you’re correct. It could be sitting in someone’s lap one table over from you at the Internet cafe and recording your keystrokes.

Your only protection then would be to use a keyboard that requires an electrical cord, or, a wireless one that’s not from Microsoft. Kamkar’s device works only with Microsoft because of the technological compatibility that Microsoft’s wireless keyboards have with the gadget. It is likely however that devices such as this will become more common and will also work with other keyboards.

So how do you protect yourself? Seems difficult if not impossible. One way would be to reduce the amount of data that could be exposed. The most sensitive data is generally passwords and credit card data. A password manager will enter all this data for you and not require keystrokes. This is the most effective and secure “autofill” available that bypasses keystrokes.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing identity theft prevention. Disclosures.

4 Tips for Spring Cleaning Your Digital Life

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Spring is in the air (if you’re in the northern hemisphere) and it’s traditionally a time to clean every nook and cranny and get rid of excess stuff in your house. But it’s also a good time to clean up your digital life. Just like your house, your digital life needs a good cleaning once in a while, but sometimes this can seem like a daunting task, so here’s some tips for you to get started.

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-online-risks-sign-road-banner-image34668294First, begin by emptying your trash or recycle bin on your computer and clearing your browser cache of temporary files and cookies, both of which will free up valuable space on your hard drive, then follow these tips for cleaning your digital presence.

  1. Clean up apps and files. Are some of your apps gathering dust? Do you have files from high school (and it’s been years since you graduated)? If you’re not using these items, think about deleting them. Clearing out old, outdated and unused apps, programs and files leaves more space and memory on devices to fill with things you use.
  2. Back up your data. Our devices are a treasure trove of family memories like pictures and videos and they also often include key documents like tax forms and other sensitive information. None of us would want to lose any of these items, which is why it’s important to back up your data, and often. Back it up to both a cloud storage service and an external hard drive—just in case
  3. Review privacy policies. Are your accounts as private as you want them to be? Take the time to review the privacy settings on your accounts and your apps so you understand how they use your data. This is important for your social media accounts so you can choose what you want or don’t want to share online. For a good resource on social media privacy, see this article. This is also critical for your apps as many apps access information they don’t need. In fact, McAfee Labs™ found that 80% of Android apps track you and collect personal info–most of the time without our knowledge.
  4. Change your passwords. It’s always a good to idea to change your passwords on a regular basis and there’s no better time during a digital spring cleaning. To help you deal with the hassle of managing a multitude of usernames and passwords required to manage your digital life, use True Key™ by Intel Security. The True Key app will create and remember complex passwords for each of your sites, make them available to you across all of your devices, ensure that only you can access them simply and securely using factors that are unique to you, and automatically logs you in when you revisit your sites and apps—so you don’t have to.

So before you consider yourself done with your spring cleaning, make sure you finish this last bit of spring cleaning with these tips, and you’ll be well on your way to cleaning up your digital life.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Safety Expert to Intel Security. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked! Disclosures.

How to recognize Online Risks

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Would you give up your bank account and credit card numbers to a stranger on the street after he approaches and asks for them? Of course not. But that’s essentially what people do when they’re tricked by online crooksters into revealing sensitive personal information, including their Social Security numbers.

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-online-risks-sign-road-banner-image34668294One of the most common ways this is done is through phishing.

  • The phishing attack is when the thief sends out thousands of the same e-mail. If enough people receive the message, sooner or later someone will take the bait.
  • The bait may be a notice you’ve won a prize; a warning that your bank account has been compromised or that you owe back taxes; an alert that something went wrong with your UPS delivery; or something about your medical insurance.
  • These subject lines are designed to get you to open the e-mail and then follow its instructions to remedy the problem—instructions to the tune of typing out your personal information including passwords.
  • Sometimes the fraudster has already gained information from a victim and will use that to make the victim think that the phishing e-mail is legitimate.
  • These e-mails contain links; never click on them. They’re designed to entice people into giving up personal information, or, the site they take you to will download a virus to your computer.
  • Sometime the e-mail will contain an attachment. Opening it can download a virus.
  • What if the e-mail appears to be legitimate, complete with company logo, colors, design and details about you? Contact the company first, by phone, to see if they sent out such an e-mail. Don’t click any link to get on the company’s site; instead go there via typing into the URL field.
  • You may have heard that hovering over the link will show its true destination, but this isn’t always the case.
  • Remind yourself that you are not special: Why would YOU inherit money from some strange prince in a foreign country?

Passwords

  • Passwords should never contain words or names that can be found in a dictionary. I know you so desperately want to include the name of your favorite football team in it, but don’t. Such passwords are easier for hackers to crack.
  • Never use keyboard sequences; again, a hacker’s tool can find these.
  • Make a password almost impossible to crack by making it at least 12 characters, a mix of upper and lower case letters, and include numbers and other symbols.
  • Use a different password for every account.

Anti-malware Software

  • You should have a complete system that’s regularly updated.
  • Have a firewall too.

Virtual Private Network

  • Download Hotspot Shield to encrypt your data on public WiFi hotspots.
  • Shield your IP address from webtracking companies who desire your information to sell you stuff or from search engines who hand that data over to the government.

Secure Sites

  • Whenever possible, visit only sites that have https rather than http, because the “s” means it’s a secure site.

A padlock icon before the https means the site is secure.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.