Latest opinions that Robert Siciliano has shared on Finextra

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Robert Siciliano

Security Analyst

Safr.me

Member since

04 Feb 2009

Location

Boston

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Robert's opinions

Protect Yourself from Online Fraud

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. Imagine snail-mailing vital information like your SSN, bank account number, a d...

29 April 2015 /security

Trolls get Dose of Reality

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. Many 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 ...

28 April 2015 /security

5 Online Security Tips You need to know

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

26 April 2015 /security

Lost your Master Password, do This

You have a master password, from your password manager, for 28 accounts. Life has been so easy since! But then you lose this master password. First off, you can’t fix this like you would if you forgot your password for PayPal or your credit card’s site. Plus, each password manager service has a different solution. Yet how do you lose a master passw...

21 April 2015 /security

Keyloggers log wirelessly

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. The device looks like ...

19 April 2015 /security

Identity Theft Protection 101

What’s it called if, for example, someone runs up your credit card line without your permission? Identity theft. ID theft isn’t necessarily someone going around impersonating you. But it is considered someone taking over your accounts. Account takeover is also someone hacking into your computer and getting the password for your PayPal account, then...

15 April 2015 /security

How to identify Tax Scams

The IRS isn’t your biggest enemy during tax season. It’s the criminals who pretend to be IRS reps and then con people out of their money. They contact potential victims chiefly through phone calls and text messages. Typically, the message is threatening in tone and/or content, informing the target they’ll be arrested if they don’t immediately send ...

14 April 2015 /security

Go Two-Factor or go Home

Logins that require only a password are not secure. What if someone gets your password? They can log in, and the site won’t know it’s not you. Think nobody could guess your 15-character password of mumbo-jumbo? It’s still possible: A keylogger or visual hacker could obtain it while you’re sitting there sipping your 700-calorie latte as you use your...

13 April 2015 /security

Bank Account depleted, Company sues

Is it Bank of America’s fault that a hospital was hacked and lost over a million dollars? Chelan County Hospital No. 1 certainly thinks so, reports an article on krebsonsecurity.com. In 2013, the payroll accounts of the Washington hospital were broken into via cyberspace. Bank of America got back about $400,000, but the hospital is reeling becau...

12 April 2015 /security

Latest Russian Cyber Attack on White House a Boon for CISA

The Russians have come…again—in the form of hackers. Not long ago Russian cyber criminals busted into the U.S.’s State Department system and mangled it for months. This time, they got into a computer system at the White House. Luckily, this system did not hold any classified information, but nevertheless, the hackers got ahold of President Obama’s ...

10 April 2015 /security

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