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What does cyber security training have to do with jokes, you ask? Well, you’re sitting at work when someone sends you an email that promises funny pictures, a joke or a viral video. You go ahead and click, forgetting everything you learned in your company’s cyber awareness sessions …but your company may be tricking you into training.
For many, the negative outcomes of ineffective cyber security remain invisible until they hit close to home. A large number of breaches to security occur not just because of the efforts of hackers, but also because of the naïve practices of employees. Anyone can compromise their workplace’s security unintentionally if they aren’t careful. Fortunately, one company named PhishMe is using this as an opportunity to call us out on our bad habits.
Posted in Cyber Data Security by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Cyber Security, cyber security training
Several major American banks saw hackers take over their websites recently. We’re not talking covert fraud or spying here, but an explicit data security breach disabling official websites. It’s debilitating, it’s devastating-and it’s becoming more prevalent.
American Express and JP Morgan have been the targets of sophisticated strikes that resulted in their websites being disastrously compromised. Even if the effects were only temporary, the fact that hackers were able to accomplish such a significant breach should serve as a major warning to corporations and government officials alike.
A data security breach is always an alarming state of affairs, but this current rash of criminal activity seems to focus more on aggressive tactics than is usually the case. And these data security breaches may be the result of nationally sponsored efforts. According to the New York Times, one group, known as “Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters” seems to have come forward in relation to these attacks. The U.S. isn’t the only one to be the subject of such nasty attention: South Korea lost access to thousands of computers last month, and the European web protection group known as Spamhaus has been the target of an attack of staggering proportions.
Posted in Cyber Data Security by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: Cyber Security, data security breach, Online Security
Big Data is an economic juggernaut as well as a ripe opportunity to forfeit your profitable data privacy. Businesses and consumers should consider the potential costs – and what they hope to get in return.
Not so long ago, the internet was a very different place. Users were advised never to give out their names or addresses, to avoid talking to people they don’t know and to keep all personal identifiers secret. Data privacy was something we were thinking about constantly, especially when it came to sensitive information. Cyberspace was thought first and foremost to be a place filled with strangers where we must tread with caution.
Today, we’ve swung too far in the other direction. We all but depend upon the internet to connect, to make ourselves public, to be seen by as many people as possible all over the world. Entire sites exist to promote us, and the sort of things we used to carefully consider before disclosing, we now sign away without a second thought, completely unaware of what we are putting on display.
Posted in Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: "Data Privacy", "Privacy Training", data abuse, data privacy expert
With all the news about fraud hitting big name companies, you might think that identity theft training is only for the corporate giants. Think again.
A study recently performed by a subcommittee in the U.S. House has revealed an alarming statistic: small businesses are a target for digital criminals just as celebrity brands like Twitter and Facebook attract fraudulent attention. But unlike those huge companies, smaller names usually have less to spend on security and are therefore more vulnerable to those kinds of attacks. According to a report mentioned in a statement by the subcommittee’s chairman Chris Collins, 60 percent of small businesses hit by online attacks end up closing within six months.
Here are some more rather frightening tidbits, courtesy of the same source: 87 percent of smaller businesses don’t even have an official written security policy. And attacks on companies with fewer than 250 employees apparently make up 20 percent of the total number of instances of online infringement. It’s not just the total gross that draws the attention of data thugs, and just because you’re not raking in billions doesn’t mean you’ll go unnoticed.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: identity theft expert, identity theft training, Online identity theft
Sending unwanted orders to the innocent is an old, online fraud scam that most of us are aware of. But there’s a difference between an unwanted $13 pizza and an unwanted $13,000 purchase.
Online fraud can hit you in some truly surprising ways. Take the alarming case of Ars Technica writer Ken Fisher, who does not live in the UK or own an eBay account, yet received a notice from eBay UK out of the blue, congratulating him for successfully bidding $13,000 for 500 LED lights. In an article describing his experience, Fisher expresses his concern that this could happen, and his further frustration that his attempts to get in touch with tech support proved fruitless. Fisher was unsure of the origin of the message and whether or not it meant he was having online privacy issues. In the end, he just ignored eBay.
Posted in Fraud Detection & Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: John Sileo, online fraud expert, online identity, Online identity theft, online privacy issues
One billion people worldwide use Facebook to share the details of their lives with their friends and may be unaware their Facebook Privacy could be compromised. Trouble is, they also might be unintentionally divulging matters they consider private to co-workers, clients and employers.
Worse yet, they may be sharing their privacy with marketing companies and even scammers, competitors and identity thieves. Luckily, with some Facebook privacy tips, you can help protect your account online.
Here are six ways Facebook could be compromising your private information and how to protect yourself:
1. The new Timeline format brings old lapses in judgment back to light. Timeline, introduced in late 2011, makes it easy for people to search back through your old Facebook posts, something that was very difficult to do in the past. That could expose private matters and embarrassing photos that you’ve long since forgotten posting.
Posted in Social Media Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: "Online Privacy Expert", Facebook, facebook privacy, Facebook Safety, Identity Theft Prevention, Identity Theft Speaker, John Sileo, Online/Social Media Privacy, Social Media Privacy
Facebook identity thefts are nothing new. The social media site has been the vehicle for all sorts of fake links and bots in years past. But a new trick that could threaten your digital reputation is proving particularly insidious.
If you get a message to “Experience Facebook Black” sometime soon, you’d be advised to turn it down, unless you’re OK with your digital reputation being hijacked. This latest hack could spread malicious software without you or your Facebook friends even knowing until it’s too late.
The scam allegedly works by offering users the chance to change the color of the Facebook background to black – and then asks for users to respond to a series of questions by giving out information. Of course, the promised color conversion is a lie: play into the hands of this fraud and you’ll just wind up as a means of spreading it further, with your information used to make a dummy page to trick your connections.
Posted in Digital Reputation & Trust by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: digital reputation, online reputation consultant, social media exposure
Proper check fraud prevention is of the utmost importance, especially at a time when instances of data crime are on the rise. A line of checks from Deluxe aims to utilize technology to increase your financial security.
A big part of financial fraud comes from faulty or insecure checks, and companies need to take whatever measures they can to ensure their employees’ payments are kept safe. Deluxe is now offering a brand of High Security Checks with more than 20 features to keep information private by reducing the chance that they can be copied successfully.
Each individual check in this series comes equipped with several simple but high-tech elements. While some of these features can be found in standard checks, several are exclusive to the High Security brand. The check’s face alone contains both a foil hologram that is incapable of being reproduced and a thermally sensitive image designed to detect heat, not to mention a layered background image, which is more difficult to fake than a solid color. There is also a highly secure watermark that’s resistant to such efforts. Even the paper itself contains chemicals on the back that will respond to any tampering attempts.
Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: check fraud prevention, check scams, Check Washing, Fraud Protection
A hack doesn't always target your personal secrets or your bank account. If you're a celebrity, sometimes a rumor does enough damage on its own.
Ever since the naughty bestseller "Fifty Shades of Grey" arrived on the scene, the public has been wondering about the inevitable film adaptation. A recent announcement that former Harry Potter star Emma Watson would be the film's heroine must have come as a shock to many…including Watson herself. Because she hasn't actually been cast.
The news comes courtesy not of an official press release but a data security breach into German studio Constantin films that resulted in the leaking of documents, among them one confirming Watson's involvement. But the studio has denied that this is true, claiming that the compromised information is outdated.
Watson herself took to Twitter to address the incident, saying "Who here actually thinks I would do 50 Shades of Grey as a movie? Like really. For real. In real life." At least she's still got her social media reputation intact.
Posted in Cyber Data Security by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo.
Tags: data security, data security breach, social media reputation
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