Identity Theft Expert Speaker John Sileo

How to Freeze Credit to Stop Financial Identity Theft

Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:27:04 +0000

Freezing your credit is the number one way to protect against financial identity theft. If everyone in the country applied for a Credit Freeze, identity thieves would quickly be out of business. At least, a major part of their business. Take 30 minutes and lower your chances of identity theft drastically (see the online Freeze links at the bottom of this post).

To go directly to placing a security freeze on your 3 bureau accounts, page down to the bottom section.

Every time you establish new credit (e.g., open up a new credit card, store account or bank account, finance a car or home loan, etc.), an entry is created in your credit file which is maintained by companies like Experian, Equifax and TransUnion (listed below). The trouble is, with your name, address and social security number, an identity thief can pretend to be you and can establish credit (i.e., spend your net worth) in your name.

A credit freeze is simply an agreement you make with the three main credit reporting bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion – listed below) that they won’t allow new accounts (credit card, banking, brokerage, loans, rental agreements, etc.) to be attached to your name/social security number unless you contact the credit bureau, give them a password and allow them to unfreeze or thaw your account for a short period of time. Yes, freezing your credit takes a bit of time (maybe an hour of work), can be a little inconvenient when you want to set up a new account (that said, let’s face it, businesses want to make it as easy as possible to unfreeze your credit because they benefit when you set up new accounts and spend more money) and it can cost a few dollars (generally about $10 to unfreeze, a small price compared to the recovery costs of identity theft). And it is worth it! It’s like putting locks on your doors.

Since all states don’t allow you, by law, to freeze your credit, the three credit reporting bureaus have begun to offer credit freezes on a national basis. This is a major step forward in the prevention of identity theft, even if they are offering it for profit reasons (they make money every time you freeze/unfreeze your credit). If your state does not currently offer credit freezes by law, you can now apply with each credit reporting bureau individually. Regardless of where you live, freeze your credit today.A credit freeze doesn’t affect your existing credit – it doesn’t freeze credit cards, bank accounts or loans you already have. It only freezes access to your account unless someone has a password to get in. It’s like having a PIN number on your ATM card. It also doesn’t lower (or raise) your credit score.

Equifax Credit Freeze
P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, Georgia 30348
Toll-Free: 1.800.685.1111

TransUnion Credit Freeze
Fraud Victim Assistance Department P.O. Box 6790 Fullerton, CA 92834
Toll-Free: 1.888.909.8872

Experian Credit Freeze
P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013
Toll-Free: 1.888.397.3742

John Sileo is an award-winning author and international speaker on the dark art of deception (identity theft, 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. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer, the FDIC, and Homeland Security. Sample his Keynote Presentation (he shares how he lost $300,000, 2 years and his business to data breach) or watch him on Anderson Cooper, 60 Minutes or Fox Business. 1.800.258.8076.

How to Opt Out of Junk Mail to Protect Identity

Identity Theft Expert John Sileo — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:10:21 +0000

There are complete industries built around collecting, massaging and selling your data – your name, phone number, address, spending patterns, net worth, the age of your children, the magazines you buy, etc. Companies buy bits of your privacy so that they can knowledgeably market products to you that you are likely to purchase.

To minimize the amount of your personal information bought and sold on the data market, begin “opting out”. Opting out is the process of notifying organizations that collect your personal information to stop sharing it with other organizations. “Pre-approved” credit card offers (i.e., financial junk mail) are a major source of identity theft. Those mailers give thieves an easy way to set up credit card accounts in your name without your consent. They spend money on the card and default on the balance, leaving you with the mess of proving that you didn’t make the purchases. The solution is to opt out of receiving pre-approved credit, home loan and insurance offers as well as mass marketing databases.

Pre-approved credit offers (also called pre-screened or pre-qualified credit offers) are possible because credit reporting bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Trans Union – companies that collect and sell financial data on nearly every American) make a great deal of money selling your identity (i.e., name, address, phone number, age, credit score) to credit card, loan and insurance companies. But it is your right to stop the sale of your information.

Fortunately, there are ways for you to “opt-out” of widespread information sharing (see the list of more than 120 ways below).

The Top 4 Opt-Out Opportunities:

www.OptOutPreScreen.com. Remove yourself from the marketing lists sold by the three major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. There is not cost for this list.
www.DMAchoice.org. This puts you on a Do Not Mail list for the Direct Marketing Association. The cost is $1, but it is well worth the instant trip down in your mail.
White Pages. That’s right, your old-fashioned printed phone directory is the source for most of the online contact info databases. Remove your directory listing (you will likely have to the phone company every month to have your info NOT shared – I know, it’s asinine) or otherwise opt out.
www.Spokeo.com. To opt out, read this blog post about removing your info from Spokeo. This is one of the more utilized sites by identity thieves, stalkers and scammers.

There is a slower and more tedious process of opting out of online directories (i.e., you have to visit every one. Some (Spokeo.com) are more important than others (Whitepages.com) because of the information that they collect. Sites such as Spokeo.com can have as much information as your physical address and pictures of your home, while others may just house your phone number. These sites spend hours upon hours scouring public records such as marriage licenses, birth certificates, and real estate purchases for this type of information.

Since most online directories typically offer a way to opt out of their listings you would think they would make it easy. Not so. They tend to hide this option deep within the site, as they don’t actually want you to leave. Luckily, The Privacy Rights Clearing House has done most of the legwork in their Comprehensive Opt Out List. I suggest starting with a few main sites, 123people.com, spokeo.com, etc. and continuously adding to it over time. Opt out of one a week if you like, and eventually your data will be less exposed. Protecting your privacy and identity is a layering process. It is easy for people to get overwhelmed, especially when it comes to online directories.

Protect Your Taxes from Prying & Spying Eyes

Identity Theft Expert John Sileo — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:42:46 +0000

The IRS admittedly has little control over protecting your tax returns against identity theft. The problem is too big, the data too widely available, prevention too rarely attended to until it’s already too late.
Your tax returns are the Holy Grail of identity theft because they contain virtually every piece of information a fraudster needs to BECOME you. But you don’t have to be a victim; you simply need to take responsibility for what is rightfully yours – your tax return information and your identity. The changes aren’t difficult, they simply require you read through this document so that you recognize the risks. Once that’s done, you simply avoid the highest-risk behaviors.

Here is a comprehensive list of frauds, scams and high risk tax-time practices.

Top Tips for Tax Time Identity Theft Protection

Your greatest risk of identity theft during tax season comes from your tax preparer (if you use one) either because they are dishonest (less likely) or because they are careless with your sensitive documents (more likely). Just walk into a tax-preparers office on April 1 and ask yourself how easy it would be to walk off with a few client folders containing mounds of profitable identity. The devil is in the disorganization. Effective Solutions:

Choose your preparer wisely. How well do you know the person and company preparing your taxes? Did they come personally recommended, or could they be earning cash on the side by selling your personal information. Do they have an established record and are they recommended by the Better Business Bureau?
Interview your preparer before you turn over sensitive information. Ask them exactly how they protect your privacy (do they have a privacy policy?). Are they meeting with you in a room full of client files, or do they take you to a neutral, data-free, conference room or office? Do they leave files out on their desk for the cleaning service to access at night, or do they lock your documents in a filing cabinet or behind a secure office door? Do they protect their computers with everything listed in the next section?
Asking professional tax preparers these questions sends them a message that you are watching! Identity thieves tend to stay away from people they know are actively monitoring for fraud. Remember, losing your identity inside of their accounting or bookkeeping business poses a tremendous legal liability to their livelihood.
Make sure you always (not just at tax time) pay with security checks like those provided by Deluxe.

Secure Computers. Last year, more than 80 million Americans filed their tax returns electronically. To prevent electronic identity theft, you must take the necessary steps to protect your computer, network and wireless connection. Additionally, your tax preparer should be working only on a secured computer, network and internet connection. Hire a professional to implement the following security measures:

Strong alpha-numeric passwords that keep strangers out of your system
Anti-virus and anti-spyware software configured with automatic updates
Encrypted hard drives or folders (especially for your tax preparer)
Automatic operating system updates and security patches
An encrypted wireless network protection
A firewall between your computer and the internet
Remove all file-sharing programs from your computer (limewire, napster, etc.)

Even though you use a strong password to protect your data file when e-filing, burn the file to a CD or flash drive once you’ve filed. Remove the personal information from the hard drive. Store the backup in a lock box or safe.

Private information should be transmitted by phone using your cell or land line (don’t use cordless phones). In addition, never email your private information to anyone unless you are totally confident that you are using encrypted email. This is a rarity, so don’t assume you have it. In a pinch, you can email password protected PDF documents, though these are relatively easy to hack.

Stop Falling for IRS Scams. We have a heightened response mechanism during tax season; we don’t want to raise any red flags with the IRS, so we tend to give our personal information without much thought. We are primed to be socially engineered. Here’s how to combat the problem:

Make your default answer, “No”. When someone asks for your Social Security Number or other identifying information, refuse until you are completely comfortable that they are legitimate. Verify their credentials by calling them back on a published number for the IRS.
If someone promises you (by phone, fax, mail, or in person) to drastically reduce your tax bill or speed up your tax return, don’t believe them until you have done your homework (call the IRS directly if you have to). These schemes flourish when the government issues economic stimulus checks and IRS refunds.
If anyone asks you for information in order to send you your check, they are scamming for your identity. The IRS already knows where you live (and where to send your rebate)! By the way, the IRS will NEVER email you for any reason (e.g., promising a refund, requesting information, threatening you).
To learn more about IRS scams, visit the only legitimate IRS website. If you are hit by an IRS scam, contact the IRS’s Taxpayer Advocate Service.
If your tax records are not currently affected by identity theft, but you believe you may be at risk due to a lost wallet, questionable credit card activity, or credit report, you need to provide the IRS with proof of your identity. You should submit a copy of your valid government-issued identification, such as a Social Security card, driver’s license or passport, along with a copy of a police report and/or a completed IRS Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit, which should be faxed to the IRS at 978-684-4542. Please be sure to write clearly.
As an option, you can also contact the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit, toll-free at 800-908-4490. IPSU hours of Operation: Monday – Friday, 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. your local time (Alaska & Hawaii follow Pacific Time).
If you have information about the identity thief that impacted your personal information negatively, file an online complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center. The IC3 gives victims of cyber crime a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of suspected criminal or civil violations. IC3 sends every complaint to one or more law enforcement or regulatory agencies that have jurisdiction over the matter.
Subscribe to an identity theft detection, protection and resolution product like CSID.

Mail Safely. A good deal of identity theft takes place while tax documents or supporting material are being sent through the mail. If you are sending your tax return through the mail, follow these steps:

Walk the envelope inside of the post office and hand it to an employee. Too much mail is stolen out of the blue USPS mailboxes and driveway mailboxes that we use for everything else to make them safe.
Send your return by certified mail so that you know it has arrived safely. This sends a message to each mail carrier that they had better provide extra protection to the document they are carrying.
Consider filing electronically so that you take mail out of the equation. Make sure that you have a well-protected computer (discussed above).

Shred and Store Safely. Any copies of tax documents that you no longer need can be shredded using a confetti shredder. Store all tax records, documents and related materials in a secure fire safe. I recommend spending the extra money to have your safe bolted into your home so that a thief can’t walk away with your entire identity portfolio. Make sure that your tax provider appropriately destroys and locks up any lingering pieces of your identity as well. Tax returns provide more of your private information in a single place than almost any other document in our lives. Don’t waste your tax refund recovering from this crime.

IRS Overwhelmed by Tax Related Identity Theft

John Sileo — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:37:25 +0000

It’s nerve racking to realize that the IRS increasingly struggles to control taxpayer identity theft. Since 2008, the IRS has identified 470,000 incidents of identity theft affecting more than 390,000 taxpayers. “Victims of tax-related identity theft are the casualties of a system ill-equipped to deal with the growing proficiency and sophistication of today’s tax scam artists” said Sen. Bill Nelson, who chairs the newly formed Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth.

Identity theft harms innocent taxpayers through (1) employment and (2) refund fraud, according to the GAO. In refund fraud, an identity thief uses a taxpayer’s name and Social Security number to file for a tax refund, which the IRS discovers after the legitimate taxpayer files. In the meantime, the victim is out the money due her, causing Sharon Hawa of the Bronx, N.Y. to take on a second job. Ms. Hawa testified before the Subcommittee, describing how she had become an ID theft victim for the second time in three years (the first in 2009) after thieves twice filed tax returns in her name and received her tax refunds. Painstakingly proving her identity to the IRS, time after time over a 14-month period, was only a small part of the stress and utter frustration in the first fraud. And then, as if that trauma hadn’t sufficiently wreaked havoc in Ms. Hawa’s life, it happened a second time.

In employment fraud, an identity thief uses a taxpayer’s name and SSN to obtain a job. When the thief’s employer reports income to the IRS, the taxpayer appears to have unreported income on his or her return, leading to enforcement action. Think of your stress level when you open that envelope from the IRS demanding taxes for money you didn’t earn and don’t have!

The GAO states that the IRS’s ability to address identity theft issues is constrained by several factors, one being that privacy laws limit the sharing of ID theft information with other agencies. Another problem is the timing of fraud detection efforts; more than a year may have passed since the original fraud occurred. The resources necessary to pursue the large volume of potential criminal refund and employment fraud cases are another constraint.

It’s imperative that we taxpayers take responsibility and implement the steps necessary to protect ourselves. There is very little that is more damaging and dangerous to your identity than losing your tax records. After all, tax records generally contain the most sensitive personally identifying information that you own, including Social Security Numbers (for you, your spouse and maybe even your kids), names, addresses, employers, net worth, etc. Because of this high concentration of sensitive data, tax time is like an all-you-can-eat buffet for identity thieves. Here are some of the dishes on which they greedily feed:

Tax documents exposed on your desk (home and work)
Private information that sits unprotected in your tax-preparer’s office
Improperly mailed, emailed and digitally transmitted or filed records
Photocopiers with hard drives that store a digital copy of your tax forms
Copies of sensitive documents that get thrown out without being shredded
Improperly stored and locked documents once your return is filed
Tax-time scams that take advantage of our propensity to do whatever the IRS says (even if it’s not really the IRS asking)

Your tax returns are the Holy Grail of identity theft because they contain virtually every piece of information a tax fraudster needs to BECOME you. But you don’t have to be a victim; you simply need to take responsibility for what is rightfully yours – your identity. Sileo.com has compiled a comprehensive list of tax time frauds, scams and prevention techniques.

Avoiding Social Spam Hackers on Facebook and Twitter

Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:03:57 +0000

The post appears like it’s coming from a known friend. It’s enticing (“check out what our old high school friend does for a living now!”), feeds on your curiosity and good nature, begs you to click. A quick peek at the video, a chance to win a FREE iPad or to download a coupon, and presto, you’ve just infected your computer with malware (all the bad stuff that sends your private information to criminals and marketers). Sound like the spam email of days gone by? You’re right – spam has officially moved into the world of social media, and it’s like winning the lottery for cyber thugs.

What is Social Spam?

Nothing more than junk posts on your social media sites luring you to click on links that download malicious software onto your computer or mobile device.

Social media (especially Facebook and Twitter) are under assault by social spam. Even Facebook cautions that the social spam volume is growing more rapidly than their user base. The spam-fighting teams at both Facebook and Twitter are growing rapidly. The previous handful of special engineers has seen the inclusion of lawyers, user-operations managers, risk analysts, spam-science programmers and account-abuse specialists. Spammers are following the growing market share, exploiting our web of social relationships. Most of us are ill-prepared to defend against such spam attacks. Here’s how social spam tends to work:

Malware infects your friend’s computer, smartphone or tablet, allowing the spammer to access their Facebook or Twitter account exactly as if the spammer were your friend.
The spammer posts a message on your friend’s Facebook or Twitter page offering a free iPad, amazing coupons or a video you can’t ignore.
You click on the link, photo, Like button (see Like-jacking below) or video and are taken to a website that requires you to click a second time to receive the coupon, video, etc. It’s this second click that kills you, as this is when you authorize the rogue site to download malware onto your computer (not a coupon or video).
The malware infects your computer just like it has your friend’s and starts the process all over again using your contacts, your wall and your profile to continue the fraud.
Eventually, the spammer has collected a massive database of information including email addresses, login information and valuable social relationship data that they can exploit in many ways. In the process, the malware may have given them access to other data on your computer like bank logins, personal information or sensitive files. In a highly disturbing growth of criminal activity, social malware can actually impersonate users, initiating one-on-one Facebook chat sessions without your consent.

“Like-jacking” involves convincing Facebook users to click on an image or a link that looks as if a friend has clicked the “Like” button, thereby recommending that you follow suit. If our friends Like it, why shouldn’t we. So we click and download in an almost automated response. The key is to interrupt this automatic reflex before we get stung.

Fighting social spam requires immense investments of time, which can mean lost productivity (and money). Gratefully, various company site-integrity teams watch trends in user activity to spot spam. Every day, Facebook says it blocks 200 million malicious actions, such as messages linking to malware. The company can’t prevent spam, but it’s diligently working to make it harder to create and use fake profiles.

But never count on someone else to protect what is yours. You must Own Up to your responsibility. Follow these 5 Steps to Minimize the Risks of Social Spam:

If the offer in the post is too enticing, too good to be true or too bad to be real, Don’t Click.
If you do click and aren’t taken directly to what you expected, make sure you Don’t Click a 2nd Time. This gives the spammer the ability to download malware to your system.
Don’t let hackers gain access to your account in the first place – use strong alpha-numberic-upper-lower case passwords that are different for every site and that you change frequently.
Remember, in a world where your friend’s accounts are pretty easily taken over, not all friends are who they say they are. Be judicious. If something they post is out of character, it might not be them writing the post. Call them and verify.
Don’t befriend strangers. Your ego wins, but you loose.
Make sure you have updated computer security: operating system patches, robust passwords, file encryption, security software, firewall and protected Wi-Fi connection.

John Sileo is an award-winning author and international speaker on the dark art of deception (identity theft, data privacy, social media manipulation) and it’s 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. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer, the FDIC, and Homeland Security. Sample his Keynote Presentation (he shares how he lost $300,000, 2 years and his business to data breach) or watch him on Anderson Cooper, 60 Minutes or Fox Business. 1.800.258.8076.

4 Critical Steps to Mobile Security (iPhones, iPads, Laptops)

Identity Theft Expert John Sileo — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:57:35 +0000

Is your favorite gadget burning your bottom line?

No, I’m not referring to the unproductive hours you spend on Angry Birds. I’m talking about mobile security.

Why is Mobile Security So Vital?

Think about the most indispensible gadget you use for work – the one without which you cannot survive. I’m taking a calculated guess here, but I bet your list doesn’t include a photocopier, fax or even a desktop computer. Business people have become highly dependent on digital devices that keep them connected, efficient, flexible and independent no matter where they are. In other words, we are addicted to our mobile gadgets: iPhones, Droids, BlackBerrys, iPads, tablets, laptops and the corresponding Wi-Fi connections that link us to the business world.

To stay nimble and ahead of the game, we must be able to respond to any request (a call, email, social media post, text message), research anything (a client’s background, solutions to a problem) and stay current on what’s happening in our field of influence (breaking news, tweets) even when we are out of the office.

But the same gadgets that give us a distinct competitive advantage, if left unprotected, can give data thieves and unethical competitors a huge and unfair criminal advantage. The net result of organizational data theft can be devastating to your job security, your bottom line, and your long-term reputation. The solution, of course, is to proactively protect your mobile office, whether it’s digital, physical or both. Mobile security is not optional.

Data Thieves Target Mobile Offices

What is a mobile office? If you own any of the gadgets listed above and use them even in minor ways for work (checking email, surfing, social media), you have a mobile office. Smartphones and tablets are more powerful than the desktops of just three years ago. Laptops are the bull’s eye for data thieves, though their attention is quickly moving to smaller, easier-to-steal gadgets. If you work out of your car, travel for your company or have a home office in addition to your regular workplace, you are a mobile worker.

Ignoring the call to protect these devices is no different than operating your office computer without virus protection, passwords, security patches or even the most basic physical protection. If you do nothing about the risk, you will get stung, and in the process, may lose your job, your profits and potentially even your company. The threat isn’t idle – I lost my business because I refused to acknowledge the power of information and the importance of protecting it like gold.

To protect yourself and your company from becoming victims of mobile data theft, start with the 4 Critical Steps to Defend Your Mobile Gadgets:

Make sure that employees aren’t installing data hijacking apps (like the Chess app that was pulled from the Android Marketplace because it was siphoning bank account logins off of users’ smartphones) on their smartphones and tablets thinking that they are harmless games.
Implement basic mobile security on all mobile devices, including: secure passwords, remote tracking and wiping, auto-lock, auto-wipe and call-in account protection.
Only utilize protected Wi-Fi connections to access the web. Free hotspots are constantly monitored by data sniffers looking to piggyback into your corporate website.
Don’t ignore non-digital data theft risks like client files left in cars, hotel rooms and off-site offices. The tendency to over-focus on digital threats leaves your physical flank (documents, files, paper trash, etc.) exposed.

If you would like more information on how to implement these recommendations (and many more) on your mobile technology, sign up for the FREE webinar Cyber Attack: Data Defense for Your Mobile Office offered by Deluxe on January 31 at 2pm ET. By adding this date to your calendar, you may save yourself untold time, stress and money spent on recovery. You may register for the webinar here.

Mobile Security Webinar: Defending SmartPhones, iPads, Laptops Against Cyber Attacks

John Sileo — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:59:18 +0000

Are iPhones, Droids and BlackBerry mobile phones secure enough to be used for sensitive business?
What is App Hijacking and how do I keep it from stealing all of my GPS coordinates, contacts, logins and emails?
Given that laptops account for almost 50% of workplace data theft, how do I protect myself and my company?
Are Wi-Fi Hot Spots a recipie for data hijacking disaster and what is the alternative?
How do I protect my personal and professional files that live in the cloud (Gmail, DropBox)?

Free Webinar - Cyber Attack: Data Defense for Your Mobile Office

In the information economy, tools like the iPad, WiFi and smartphones have shifted the competitive landscape in favor of mobile-savvy businesses. But are you in control of your information, or are you being controlled? Learn how to be in control of your critical information while protecting your business’ mobile-digital assets.

This Webinar series, sponsored by Deluxe®, is a multi-part interactive Webinar series designed to address these topics and provide simple, actionable tools to protect and enhance the efficiency with which you run your business.

In this class, Cyber Attack: Data Defense for your Mobile Office, you will learn how to:

Protect smartphones and tablets from common attacks, including app hijacking, Wi-fi Sniffing, Link Jacking and other criminal tools.
Weigh the pros and cons of cloud-computing model (Gmail, SalesForce, online billing).
Lock down Wi-Fi data leakage in the office and on the road.
Protect your traveling office in hotel rooms, airports and off-site offices

Interactive Q & A to follow. All registrants will receive a FREE Whitepaper after the webinar.

Download to Calendar

Tuesday, January 31, 2:00 – 3:00 pm EST | 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm CST | 11:00 am – 12:00 pm PST

Zappos Breach: 5 (Foot)Steps for the CEO, 6 for Victims

Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:16:45 +0000

Let’s say you ordered winter boots for your spouse on Zappos.com (now part of Amazon), which has world-class customer service. You don’t really even shop the competition because someplace in your brain you already trust Zappos to deliver as they always have. Your unquestioned confidence in Zappos is worth a fortune.

And then hackers break in to a server in Kentucky this past weekend and steal private information on 24 million Zappos customers, including (if you are a customer) your name, email address, physical address, phone number, the last four digits of your credit card number and an encrypted version (thank goodness) of your password. Consequently, your junk email folder is overflowing (your email has been illicitly sold to marketing companies), you receive the doom-and-gloom breach notification from Zappos (just like I did), and suddenly, you don’t have quite the same confidence in this best-in-practice business any more. Your shaken confidence in Zappos costs them a fortune. For the foreseeable future, you will pause before using their website again.

“We’ve spent over 12 years building our reputation, brand, and trust with our customers,” Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh said in a note to employees Sunday. “It’s painful to see us take so many steps back due to a single incident.”

In a smart move, Zappos reset the passwords for all affected accounts and notified victims on how to create a new one. But their efforts to recover customer trust are just beginning. Here are 5 Core Concepts of Trust that Zappos leadership should weave into their breach recovery process:

Ownership. Leadership at the company should take complete responsibility for the loss of data and not make excuses as to how it was someone else’s fault (remember the BP oil spill finger pointing?). The last thing victims need is to become more victimized by a corporate spin cycle that further erodes trust. Authentically respecting their customer base (which they do), even when it costs a few extra dollars to maintain, is a sound investment strategy.
Transparency. Zappos customers have the right to know exactly what was stolen and how it might be used. They deserve to know what the company knows and what law enforcement knows. Sharing their failure (as opposed to covering it up in any way, which they don’t seem to be doing) is a painful process with high short-term costs, but it is the first step in taking responsibility.
Expectation. Zappos needs to set customer and marketplace expectations early and often about how they will make it better. Forcing users to change passwords does little to ease fears that it will happen again. What tangible steps will they take to repay customers for the trouble they have caused and what measures will they implement to better protect users in the future?
Delivery. Zappos must deliver on the expectations they set with the victims, with the media and with the marketplace. False promises (pretending to implement better security but underfunding the budget) are cheap Band-Aids but only further infect the inflicted wounds when nothing actually changes. To regain trust, Zappos must set impressive expectations and deliver on them flawlessly
Competence. Zappos is not in the business of recovering from identity theft or data breach. They need to aid their legal department by bringing in breach mitigation and recovery experts. Saving a few dollars up front keeping the efforts in house will raise downstream recovery by multiples.

In the meantime, if you are a victim of the Zappos’ breach, begin with these steps:

Immediately change your password according to Zappos emailed instructions.
Use an alpha-numeric-upper-lower-case password that has nothing to do with your personal life and can’t be found in a social networking profile or dictionary
If you use the same password on other sites (webmail, financial), change those as well
Implement identity theft monitoring services like those provided by CSID.com.
Monitor your credit profile for suspicious activity at AnnualCreditReport.com
Don’t click the links in that email. Zappos is sending every one of its affected customers a warning e-mail. However, more often than not such “official” e-mails are from hackers (for example, “We’ve had a security problem. Please change your password.”). These fraudulent e-mails can be virtually indistinguishable from legitimate communications, including identical graphics, logos, and authentic looking return e-mail addresses. Instead of clicking, type the URL (in this case Zappos.com) directly into your address bar. If there’s an important notice on your account, you’ll find it there.

Anderson Cooper Targets ID Theft in New Year’s Resolution

Identity Theft Expert John Sileo — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:30:49 +0000

Anderson Cooper’s 1st show of the year brought a panel of experts to discuss New Year’s resolutions, why we make them and how we can better keep them. Identity theft expert John Sileo closed out the show with 3 Tips for Avoiding Scams in the new year. Click on the video to the left to view the segment. Anderson and John discuss smartphone stupidity, passwords and social networking privacy.

Identity Theft Expert John Sileo Appears on the Anderson Cooper New Year’s Resolution Special.

John Sileo is an award-winning author and speaks internationally on the dark art of deception (identity theft, data privacy, social media manipulation) and it’s polar opposite, the powerful use of trust, to achieve success. He is CEO of The Sileo Group, which advises teams on how to multiply results and increase performance by building a culture of deep trust. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer, the FDIC, and Homeland Security. Sample his keynote or media appearances on Anderson Cooper, 60 Minutes or Fox Business. Contact him on 800.258.8076.

Using an iPad to Your Competitive (and Secure) Advantage

John Sileo — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:53:08 +0000

If you received an iPad for the holidays (or already have one), you own the most powerful productivity tool invented in the last 20 years – it’s like command central for your life and work. I use the iPad as a step-by-step, centralized way to keep tabs on everything related to my business. Over a cup of coffee, I consume highly-relevant information (no Angry Birds at this point in the day) in a low-stress way simply by clicking through my iPad apps in a consciously prioritized order. I’m not actually taking action on anything at this point, just getting an overview of the appointments, current events, and communications that will make me more effective. That way, when I get down to work, I know exactly what should get my attention. The routine is always the same, so I never have to remember what I need to do except to open my iPad before I officially start the day. The process takes me about 20 minutes, and by the time I get to work, my brain has sorted most of the information and knows where to start. Here’s how I consciously prioritize my apps (see screen shot):

Calendar (iCal). I look at my calendar first to remind myself of appointments taking place that day.
Project Planner (OmniFocus). I use OmniFocus to organize larger projects. It is a great way to do a brain dump of all of the little tasks that clutter my creative thinking. These project lists are shared with my team and give us a centralized way to track and prioritize our business.
Event Management (eSpeakers and SalesForce). Because I speak professionally as my main source of revenue, I utilize an industry specific app called eSpeakers that tracks every aspect of my speaking engagements. In 30 seconds, I have a quick view of what speeches are on the horizon and what tasks need to be completed. Since this is a revenue center of my business, I want to keep very close tabs on what is taking place. SalesForce is for leads, accounts and contact management.
News (local paper, USA Today, Zite, Instapaper, NPR). Once I have a view of the day ahead, I skim the news (general and industry specific) to determine if there are any stories I need to pay closer attention to. This isn’t a complete reading, just to put it on my radar.
Note Taking (Evernote). I use Evernote as a clearing house for all of the notes I take, whether it’s an article, random thoughts, etc. By keeping my note taking app close to the news apps, I record anything highly relevant.
Social Networking (HootSuite). I use HootSuite to monitor my Facebook Fan Page, Twitter Feed and LinkedIn Profile. I might quickly post an interesting piece of current news in my field or an upcoming event or media appearance. I do NO personal updates at this point in the day. Business only.
Email. Email always seems like the most important task, but I find it to be distracting. I leave it until last and simply read through all emails and flag them for later work. If they require more than a three word answer, I don’t use my iPad to communicate. I do this once I am sitting at my computer; in the meantime, my subconscious has generally come up with the necessary responses.

You get the point. When you have covered the critical items, close the iPad and go make breakfast. Let your brain mull it over and process what’s important and what’s a waste of time. Don’t continue to consume more information, spend the rest of your day acting on what you’ve already reviewed. This will keep you from information overload.

If you apply this method, your iPad desktop will look completely different, customized to your needs, industry and interests. The power here is in the cutomization of what makes you effective and efficient and the ritualization of the process. Instead of remembering 20 things, you remember one – open your iPad before your work day begins. Twenty minutes well spent can give you a sizable competitive advantage. Try it for a week and see what you think. If you have other ways that you leverage your iPad for work, share them in the comments below. And don’t forget to keep all of this mission-critical data out of the hands of identity thieves and competitors by following these 7 Simple Security Steps:

7 Simple Security Settings for Your iPad

Turn On Passcode Lock. Your iPad is just as powerful as your laptop or desktop, protect it like one. Your iPad is only encrypted when you enable the passcode feature. (Settings/General)
Turn Simple Passcode to Off. Why use only an easy to crack 4-digit passcode when you can implement a full-fledged alphanumeric password? If you can tap out short emails, why not spend 5 seconds on a proper password.
Require Passcode Immediately. It is slightly inconvenient and considerably more secure to have your iPad automatically lock up into passcode mode anytime you leave it alone for a few minutes.
Set Auto Lock to 2 Minutes. Why give the table thief at your favorite café more time to modify your settings to his advantage (to keep it from locking) as he walks out the door with your bank logins, emails and kid pictures.
Turn Erase Data after 10 Tries to On. Even the most sophisticated passcode-cracking software can’t get it done in 10 tries or less. This setting wipes out your data after too many failed attempts. Just make sure your kids don’t accidentally wipe out your iPad (forcing you to restore from your latest iTunes backup).
Use a Password Manager. Your passwords are only as affective as your ability to use them wisely (they need to be long and different for every site). Keeping your passwords in an unencrypted keychain or document is a recipe for complete financial disaster. Download a reputable password-protection app to manage and protect any sensitive passwords, credit card numbers, software licenses, etc. Not only is it safe, it’s incredibly convenient and efficient.
Avoid Untrustworthy Apps. Not all applications are friendly. Despite Apple’s well-designed vetting process, there are still malicious apps that slip through the cracks to siphon data out of your device. If the app hasn’t been around for a while and if you haven’t read about it in a reputable journal (Macworld, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, etc.), don’t load it onto your system.

It will only take a minute to implement these steps and will encourage thieves to move on to the next victim.

John Sileo is an award-winning author and speaks worldwide on the dark art of deception (identity theft, data privacy, social media manipulation) and it’s polar opposite, the powerful use of trust, to achieve success. He is CEO of The Sileo Group, which advises teams on how to multiply results and increase performance. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer, the FDIC, and Homeland Security. Contact him on 800.258.8076 or learn more at ThinkLikeASpy.com.