Identity Theft Online

Top Targets for Emerging Threats in 2011

This McAfee Labs list comprises 2010′s most buzzed about platforms and services, all of which are expected to be major targets for cybercriminals in the coming year.

Exploiting Social Media: URL-shortening services With more than 3,000 shortened URLs being generated per minute, McAfee Labs expects to see a growing number used for spam, scamming, and other malicious purposes.

Exploiting Social Media: Geolocation services Locative services can easily search, track, and plot the whereabouts of friends and strangers. Cybercriminals can see what users are saying and where they are located in real time, as well as their interests and which operating systems and applications they are using.

Mobile: Usage is rising in the workplace, and so will attacks 2011 will bring a rapid escalation of attacks and threats to mobile devices, putting user and corporate data at very high risk.

Apple: No longer flying under the radar The popularity of iPads and iPhones in business environments, combined with the lack of user understanding of proper security for these devices, will increase the risk for data and identity exposure.

Applications: Privacy leaks—from your TV

New Internet TV platforms were “rushed to market” by developers, and some lack security. These a

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Tags: Targets, Targets Emerging

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Is Biometrics the Solution to Identity Theft?

We all know that identity thieves can get our usernames and passwords and easily pretend to be us, especially online and at ATMs, but often even in person. Increased security methods, such as requiring multiple passwords or three types of identifying information, have unfortunately not made us much safer.

With the threat of identity theft and data breaches so high (over 10 million Americans were victims last year), companies are turning to biometrics. Biometrics is, simply, the process of using physical features of the body to prove people are who they say they are. For example, biometrics can include:

*Retinal scans *Fingerprinting *Palm scanning

Since all of these features are unique to every individual, even identical twins, it seems reasonable that if a person checks out, so to speak, there is little to no risk for identity theft.

This is fairly true, for now. However, columnist and former CIO George Tillmann recently expressed his concerns on the issue.

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Tags: Identity, Identity Theft

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The Decades Top 6 Stupid Criminals

The decade was filled with stupid criminals.  Here is a list of the top six stupid criminals.

Lawn Mower Getaway: AOL reports Sheriff’s deputies in Florida were searching a house for stolen property when they got a tip that one of the suspects was trying to make his escape nearby, according to TampaBay.com. Officers reportedly found him not far from his home attempting to flee on a ride-on mower.

Black Marker Burglars: The key to a successful robbery is not getting caught. These two clowns decided to use permanent marker as makeup.

I’ve Been Looking For That! Guy gets pulled over for a minor traffic violation and cops find pot in the car. Also in the trunk, cops discovered a bong inside a plastic shopping bag. Excited, the criminal thanked law enforcement officials for finding the water pipe, which he purchased for $150 and assumed a roommate, had stolen when he couldn’t find it.

MySpace Burglar: Kid breaks into a home and logs into the family’s home PC to his MySpace page. When he

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Tags: Criminals, Stupid Criminals

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5 Ways to Update Your PC for the New Year

Out with the old and in with the new. In my household, closets, cabinets, and drawers are purged and reorganized during the last two weeks of December. Anything that hasn’t been used in the past year, is tossed, donated, or recycled. I rarely put anything into storage, since that generally means I’ll never use it again. This process makes room for new Christmas gifts, and clearing out stuff clutter also helps disperse mental clutter.

During the first two weeks of January I do the same thing with gadgets and technology. To get your PC organized and efficient, follow this process:

1. Go through your files, deleting and organizing as necessary.

2. Back up your data. McAfee offers unlimited online backup for $5 a month. For local backup, the 2TB Western Digital MyBook for $99 can’t be beat. I use both, plus redundant local drives, and I keep them in sync with GoodSync. Including online backup, I have three to four versions of every file.

3. Organize your software. Gather all the disks and serial numbers and back them up in two or three locations. I hav

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Tags: New Year, Year

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Identity Theft Increasing as Malware is Everywhere

You may have heard the slogan, “Don’t worry. We’ll make more” used to describe Doritos chips. But you probably didn’t know that this can be just as easily applied to identity theft as to food. Despite a rash of recent indictments, identity thieves are stepping up their efforts to garner personal information from unsuspecting computer users.

According to Information Week, a trusted publication in the technology world, there has been a whopping 600% increase in computer users with personal-information capturing malware on their machines in the period of January through June of 2009, compared to the same period in 2008.

Despite increased public awareness of identity theft and measures to use to prevent it, it seems the thieves are still doing pretty well at their game, and they are getting more creative at the same time. Instead o

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Tags: Identity Theft, Theft

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