Did security expert Chris Roberts of Denver actually HACK INTO AND STEER AN AIRCRAFT from the inflight entertainment panel at his seat, as reported first by Wired?
Probably not. Though I did meet him at a conference of cybersecurity experts and he appeared to know his stuff. But it almost doesn’t matter, because the lessons we take away from it is the same. Here’s what I do know:
I’ve seen ethical white-hat hackers (the good guys) penetrate mission-critical corporate networks through the unlikeliest of devices, including photocopiers, vending machines, surveillance cameras, thermostats and industrial control systems.
In most of these cases, the breached organization vehemently (and incorrectly) assert that these devices were not connected to their “real” network. Further analysis shows that they were. Will the airlines claim the same?
I’ve seen a driverless car hacked and started from a mobile phone.
I’ve seen a pacemaker remotely accessed by a hacker and set to induce a deadly heart rate.
The so-called “Inheritance Scam” is resurfacing in Colorado, but it has a new look.
No longer do you simply receive an email claiming to be from the representative of a long-lost relative. The new format involves what security experts call the “Accomplice Ploy” in which the thieves attempt to engage you through a long series of queries (one method) reaching out to you as if they know who you might be.
We have developed five questions you should ask about any email or phone call you suspect might be a scam. They are called the 5 indicators of the inheritance scam:
SCAM ALERT! There is a Target texting scam going around. The text looks similar to the one in the picture to the left, and generally says you’ve won a $1,000 gift card if you simply click on the link and collect the money. When you click on the link, it takes you to a Target-looking site that a criminal has set up to collect your private information. The information is then used to steal your identity. In other cases, clicking on the link installs a small piece of malware that takes control of your phone and forwards your private information to the criminals.
Where do the criminals get my mobile phone number to text me in the first place?
They purchase it off of black-market sites on the internet
You give your mobile number away to enter contests, vote on reality shows, etc.
On this episode of Privacy Project, John confronts a coffee drinker about leaving their laptop totally alone as they talked outside on the phone at Starbucks.
America’s top Privacy & Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo has appeared on 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper, Fox & in front of audiences including the Department of Defense, Pfizer, Homeland Security and hundreds of corporations and associations of all sizes. His high-content, humorous, audience-interactive style delivers all of the expertise with lots of entertainment. Come ready to laugh and learn about this mission-critical, bottom-line enhancing topic.
John Sileo is an award-winning author and keynote speaker on the dark art of deception (identity theft, fraud training, data privacy, social media manipulation) and its polar opposite, the powerful use of trust, to achieve success. He is CEO of The Sileo Group, which advises teams on how to multiply performance by building a culture of deep trust.
Oh what your mobile phone carrier knows and tracks about you! A one-page document from the Justice Department‘s cybercrime division shows how cell phone companies record and retain your call and surfing activity (calls, text messages, web surfing and approximate location). Here’s a summary of how each company retains your information (full details in the image below):
Verizon Wireless – rolling one-year records of cell tower usage & what phone accessed what web site
AT&T / Cingular – ongoing records of cell tower usage since July of 2008
T-Mobile USA – doesn’t keep any data on Web browsing activity
Sprint Nextel’s Virgin Mobile – 3 month record of text content
Other than VirginMobile and Verizon, none of the carriers keep texts but they keep records of who visited a particular web site.
Verizon keeps some information for up to a year that can be used to ascertain if a particular phone visited a particular Web site
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