Posts Tagged ‘FBI’
IN THE HEADLINES: From Ellen DeGeneres to Kim Jung Il, Scams Abound
Posted by: Neal OFarrell in: ● January 4, 2012
It’s been a great few weeks for scammers, with lots of global headlines to take advantage of. As always, the scammers are a very creative bunch who seemingly have way too much time on their hands. Some of the scams concocted in that time, though, were a little more obvious than others. The death of [...]
For LulzSec, the Joke’s Over…for the time being.
Posted by: Neal OFarrell in: ● June 29, 2011
“Lulz Security (@LulzSec), the world’s leaders in high-quality entertainment at your expense.” That’s how one of the world’s most notorious hacking groups introduced itself on its own Twitter page. In case you haven’t heard, Lulz was a shadowy global hacking collective made famous in the last several weeks for a string of high-profile hacks against [...]
IN THE HEADLINES: Small Businesses on the Hook for Cyber Losses
Posted by: Neal OFarrell in: ● June 23, 2011
A recent legal decision could spell big trouble for small businesses that fall victim to one of the most dangerous types of cybercrime to emerge in recent years. A judge in Maine recently sided with a bank sued by a small business owner who had lost nearly half a million dollars to one of the [...]
IN THE HEADLINES: FBI Offers Tips to Avoid Tornado-Related Scams
Posted by: Neal OFarrell in: ● June 3, 2011
It seems like every day I turn on the TV or open a newspaper, I read another tragic story of the devastation caused by the now hundreds of tornadoes that have devastated cities and communities across the mid-west and the south, and striking unexpected states such as Massachusetts. And it seems like every time I [...]
Small Businesses Face Threats Beyond an Erratic Economy
Posted by: Neal OFarrell in: ● May 16, 2011
To bring attention to this week being National Small Business Week, I have put together this blogpost concerning a recent study from Javelin Strategy & Research. This report takes a long, hard look at the impact of identity theft on small businesses; and the news isn’t encouraging. The Javelin study of more than 5,000 small [...]
IN THE HEADLINES: Massive Botnet Attacked by FBI
Posted by: Neal OFarrell in: ● April 20, 2011
In an unprecedented move, the FBI sought and obtained permission from a court to use an attack code on a massive botnet codenamed Coreflood, and instruct that botnet to “uninfect” millions of computers it had hijacked. A botnet is a network of computers that have been hijacked by hackers. These computers, possibly yours, may then [...]
IN THE HEADLINES: How Unsecured Wi-Fi Can Get You Arrested!
Posted by: Neal OFarrell in: ● March 25, 2011
Do you have a wireless network in your home? Any idea how secure it is? Ever change the password the wireless router originally came with? These are not unimportant questions, because if you have not properly secured your wireless network, you could be creating easy opportunities for criminals to do bad things in your name. [...]
IN THE HEADLINES: Street Gangs Use Identity Theft to Build Criminal Empires
Posted by: Neal OFarrell in: ● March 4, 2011
In a chilling example of how street gangs are becoming more organized and better funded by focusing on identity theft and other frauds, the FBI recently announced a massive sweep of nearly 100 alleged members of the Armenian Power gang. Armenian Power, or AP, has grown over the last decade from a violent street gang [...]
IN THE HEADLINES: My Big Fat Zero Liability
Posted by: Neal OFarrell in: ● February 3, 2011
I’m sure you’re probably familiar with the notion of “zero liability” – that vague promise by your bank, credit union, or credit card company to not hold you liable for any fraudulent charges on your account. At least, not more than the first $50, and even this is usually waived. Zero liability was driven simply [...]
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IN THE HEADLINES: The Perfect Storm of Identity Theft
Posted by: Neal OFarrell in: ● January 26, 2011
I know the term “Perfect Storm” is grossly overused, thanks in large part to a popular book and a successful movie about, of all things, a perfect storm. To be completely honest, I’ve actually used the phrase many times before, to raise the same issue, so I am in part to blame for its overuse. [...]