TechTeachToo

Longlining – Another Step in the Evolution of the E-mail Phishing Threat

Dave — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:59:14 +0000

Back in 2011 I wrote about an article about spear phishing, “What is Spear Phishing? Dangerous” (http://ow.ly/kWsPV). Spear phishing is a sophisticated variant of the tried-and-true e-mail phishing attack. Here are the basics: Phishing is a widely broadcast e-mail that attempts to lure people into providing sensitive information such as their banking credentials. These e-mails [...]

A Deeper Look into Identity Theft

Dave — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:48:06 +0000

I’ve been thinking a lot about identity theft. Probably because of the overwhelming number of stories I see on the Internet. I was completely unaware of any connection between identity theft and drugs until I saw a TV program recently – American Greed. Of all the stories I’ve read I’ve never heard of such a [...]

FTC Halts Payday Loan Scams Connected to Identity Theft

Dave — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:26:17 +0000

The FTC recently put a stop to a payday loan scam (http://ow.ly/kJZiR) that is alleged to have made “…more than 2.7 million calls to at least 600,000 different phone numbers nationwide, according to the FTC. In less than two years, they fraudulently collected more than $5.2 million from consumers…” More details here (http://ow.ly/kJZu3). A similar [...]

A Potpourri of Innovative Technology Stories

Dave — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:04:41 +0000

This Sound Camera Could Help You Fix Your Car – Popular Science – http://ow.ly/kT6RJ – A new camera creates a heatmap-like view of what’s making noise. Survivalist’s E-Ink Android Tablet – Popular Science – http://ow.ly/kT6B9 – Exceedingly low-power technology, black-and-white, designed from the bottom up to be used in the wild. Wearable Robots Getting Lighter, [...]

What is a 3-D Printer and Why Does it Make Authorities Very Nervous? Think ‘Guns’

Dave — Sat, 11 May 2013 14:09:25 +0000

A 3-D printer is a machine that takes a digital design, a CAD (Computer Aided Design) file, and creates 3 dimensional objects by building up layers of material, one after another until the object meets the specifications of the design. Here’s a quick 15 minute TED video that explains, and demonstrates the 30+ year-old technology. [...]

$45 Million Dollar Heist, using no guns, only laptops and the Internet

Dave — Sat, 11 May 2013 02:30:07 +0000

It isn’t often that a cyber crime warrants prime time coverage on the national news. This one did. The storyline would seem to have been manufactured in Hollywood. Who else but Hollywood screenwriters could imagine this made-for-movies type crime? Accomplished hackers break into the computers of two credit card processors, one in India and the [...]

Washington Hospital Hit By $1.03 Million Cyberheist

Dave — Thu, 09 May 2013 23:34:48 +0000

Here’s another excellent story by Brian Krebs. I enjoy his reporting because he goes beyond the basic facts. In this story he doesn’t just tell the story from the hospital’s perspective. He interviews the money mules and details how they were unwittingly pulled into the crime and how they helped move the money out of [...]

Zeus / SpyEye Banking Trojan Botmaster Arrested

Dave — Tue, 07 May 2013 23:04:10 +0000

I’ve been following this story with growing fascination for many years. I’ve been writing about it since 2011. I expect that one day this story will turn into a bestseller and one heck of a movie. Let me bring you up to speed. According to this article (http://ow.ly/kIcMn), the banking Trojan known as ZeuS has [...]

Newsbytes – Technology & Science

Dave — Sun, 05 May 2013 13:33:38 +0000

There have been are too many (way too many!) cool Sci/Tech stories recently to write about in depth. The mad scientists and others have been working overtime. 4/25/13 – Tax-Free Web Shopping Nears End – WSJ.com – http://ow.ly/krO1B After years of controversy and competing bills, the Marketplace Fairness Act may soon become law. Brick & [...]

Identity Theft – Scam artist pleads guilty to using stolen identities to generate fraudulent tax returns

Dave — Fri, 03 May 2013 12:53:51 +0000

A creep by the name of Murmylyuk created a fake employment-related website. The site offered fictitious job placement services program and claimed was, “sponsored by the government and intended for people with low income.” He then sent e-mails with a link to his fake website through legitimate job search forums and college list serves. As [...]