Robert Siciliano warns about mobile threats including phishing texts, unprotected Wi-Fi, and viruses from public terminals. He explains how to protect your accounts and devices from these attacks.
These days it seems the more electronic devices you have, the more ways the crooks can scam you. And often it's so sneaky you won't even know it's happening.
That's right, Lisa, these cyber bandits, well, they're clever. They can hack into your phone, your computer, even your camera to steal information. So here's how you can take a bite out of cybercrime.
They are smarter than your smartphone and they're trying to turn your smartphone against you. These are the scams of cyber bandits. The CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com warns how cyber bandits can use your cell phone to commit account theft through unprotected Wi-Fi. If you're using your iPad to do your online banking at a Starbucks or some other place that offers free Wi-Fi, you might as well be posting your account on a bulletin board. Password protect your phone and only do your online banking on secure wireless or landline systems. Cell phone eavesdropping. This scam starts with an unsolicited text made to look like it came from your bank. It says there's a problem with your account and you gotta click a link. Don't click the link. If you do, you'll download software that lets the bandit listen to every call, read every text message, look at every picture. Camera viruses from public computers. You connect your cell phone camera or digital camera to a computer at the library, internet café, or hotel to upload some pictures. Ah, but a cyber bandit's loaded a virus in that computer to launch on your camera. Now your phone or digital camera is infected, and so is any other computer connected to it, and all information on them is up for grabs. Never attach your smartphone or even your digital camera to a public computer. Cyber bandits have another gadget of choice: the company copier. These things have hard drives now. You put your pay stub in there or something, you make a copy, it gets stored. And someone with the password steals that information —right out of the copier. Andy Wise, America Now.
