Posts tagged "social engineering"

Identity Theft & Fraud Keynote Speaker John Sileo

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.

Posted in Cyber Data Security, Digital Reputation & Trust, Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy by Identity Theft Speaker .
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7 Steps to Secure Profitable Business Data (Part II)

In the first part of this article series, we discussed why it is so important to protect your business data, including the first two steps in the protection process. Once you have resolved the underlying human issues behind data theft, the remaining five steps will help you begin protecting the technological weaknesses common to many businesses.

  1. Start with the humans.
  2. Immunize against social engineering.

Posted in Burning Questions (Video), Cyber Data Security, Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Video Tips by Identity Theft Speaker .
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7 Steps to Secure Profitable Business Data (Part I)

Everybody wants your data. Why? Because it’s profitable, it’s relatively easy to access and the resulting crime is almost impossible to trace. Take, for example, Sony PlayStation Network, Citigroup, Epsilon, RSA, Lockheed and several other businesses that have watched helplessly in the past months as more than 100 million customer records have been breached, ringing up billions in recovery costs and reputation damage. You have so much to lose.

To scammers, your employees’ Facebook profiles are like a user’s manual about how to manipulate their trust and steal your intellectual property. To competitors, your business is one poorly secured smartphone from handing over the recipe to your secret sauce. And to the data spies sitting near you at Starbucks, you are one unencrypted wireless connection away from wishing you had taken the steps in this two-part article.

Posted in Burning Questions (Video), Cyber Data Security, Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy, Video Tips by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Fun Fraud Detection Training

Businesses often make social engineering (or fraud) training boring! And that’s bad for your bottom line, because no one ends up remembering how to protect your organization against threats like data theft, corporate espionage or social networking exposure.

Too often, fraud and social engineering workshops cover just the concepts that define fraud rather than the feelings that signal it’s actually in process at the moment. The key to training your executives, employees and even customers on fraud is to let them experience what it feels like to be conned. In other words, they need to actually be socially engineered (manipulated into giving away their own private information) several times throughout the training so that they begin to reflexively sense fraud as it is happening. Like learning to throw a ball, there is no substitute for doing it for yourself. Fraud detection is similar; it takes actually doing it (or having it done to you) to fully understand the warning signs. Anything less will leave your audience yawning and uneducated.

Posted in Burning Questions (Video), Cyber Data Security, Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Video Tips by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Identity Theft Expert John Sileo on 60 Minutes

During a recent 60 Minutes interview, I was asked off camera to name the Achilles’ heel of an entire country’s data security perspective; what exactly were the country’s greatest weaknesses. The country happened to be New Zealand, a forward-thinking nation smart enough to take preventative steps to avoid the identity theft problems we face in the States. The question was revealing, as was the metaphor they applied to the discussion.

Achilles, an ancient Greek superhero — half human, half god — was in the business of war. His only human quality (and therefore his only exploitable weakness) was his heel, which when pierced by a Trojan arrow brought Achilles to the ground, defeated. From this Greek myth, the Achilles’ Heel has come to symbolize a deadly weakness in spite of overall strength; a weakness that can potentially lead to downfall. As I formulated my thoughts in regard to New Zealand, I realized that the same weaknesses are almost universal — applying equally well to nations, corporations and individuals.

Posted in Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Online Privacy, Sileo In the News by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Information Security Speaker: 5 Information Espionage Hotspots Threatening Businesses

You and your business are worth a lot of money, whether your bank accounts show it or not. The goldmine lies in your data, and everyone wants it. Competitors want to hire the employee you just fired for the thumb drive full of confidential files they smuggled out. Data thieves salivate over your Facebook profile, which provides as a “how to” guide for exploiting your trust. Cyber criminals are digitally sniffing the wireless connection you use at Starbucks to make bank transfers and send “confidential” emails.

Every business is under assault by forces that want access to your valuable data: identity records, customer databases, employee files, intellectual property, and ultimately, your net worth. Research is screaming at us—more than 80% of businesses surveyed have already experienced at least one breach (average recovery cost: $6.75 million) and have no idea of how to stop a repeat performance. These are clear, profit-driven reasons to care about who controls your data.

Posted in Burning Questions (Video), Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention, Video Tips by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Fun Social Engineering Training?

Businesses often make social engineering (or fraud) training boring! And that’s bad for your bottom line, because no one ends up remembering how to protect your organization against threats like data theft, corporate espionage or social networking exposure.

Too often, fraud and social engineering workshops cover just the concepts that define fraud rather than the feelings that signal it’s actually in process at the moment. The key to training your executives, employees and even customers on fraud is to let them experience what it feels like to be conned. In other words, they need to actually be socially engineered (manipulated into giving away their own private information) several times throughout the training so that they begin to reflexively sense fraud as it is happening. Like learning to throw a ball, there is no substitute for doing it for yourself. Fraud detection is similar; it takes actually doing it (or having it done to you) to fully understand the warning signs. Anything less will leave your audience yawning and uneducated.

Posted in Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Social Engineering Expert Quoted in CSO Article

Quoted from the original CSO Online story:

Social engineering stories: The sequel

Two more social engineering scenarios demonstrate how hackers still use basic techniques to gain unauthorized access, and what you can do to stop them

By Joan Goodchild, Senior Editor
May 27, 2010 —

John Sileo, an identity theft expert who trains on repelling social engineering, knows from first-hand experience what it’s like to be a victim. Sileo has had his identity stolen—twice. And both instances resulted in catastrophic consequences.

The first crime took place when Sileo’s information was obtained from someone who had gained access to it out of the trash (yes, dumpster diving still works). She bought a house using his financial information and eventually declared bankruptcy.

“That was mild,” said Sileo, who then got hit again when his business partner used his information to embezzle money from clients. Sileo spent several years, and was bankrupt, fighting criminal charges.

Posted in Fraud Detection & Prevention, Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker .
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Credit Card Scams: Celebrities Targeted

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Wouldn’t you think Ben Stiller is famous enough to be immune to losing his identity to a thief? Not so! Credit card scams can bring anyone to their knees, even Hollywood’s most famous!

Many celebrities have recently been the victims of a credit card scam that seems too easy to be true. All it took was the suspect calling the credit card companies using the stars’ personal information, claiming the cards had been lost. He requested the replacement cards be sent to a Chicago address and in a matter of days was able to begin his shopping spree. Eventually, a skeptical undercover agent from the US Postal Inspection Service was able to think like a spy and detect the fraud after he hand-delivered the cards to the suspect.

Now this week Adedamola Olatunji, 29, a Nigerian-born man who allegedly used Stiller’s card to run up charges on iTunes and an on-line dating service, was indicted on forgery, mail fraud, theft, aggravated identity theft, computer fraud and other felony charges.

Posted in Identity Theft Prevention by Identity Theft Speaker .
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