Data Protection

Bill Would Remove Social Security Numbers From Medicare Cards

The most basic advice for protecting your own identity is to protect your Social Security number. The obvious solution is simply never to disclose your number, but this is silly, since, depending on your age, you have probably provided it to hundreds of people, on hundreds of forms. It now sits in hundreds of databases, Read more…

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Researchers Say Identity Theft Has Lasting Psychological Effects

Identity theft victims don’t need Jessica Van Vliet, an assistant professor in counseling psychology at the University of Alberta, to tell them that they no longer feel safe when conducting everyday financial transactions, which most of us take for granted. But she did a study highlighting a fact that many of us in the industry Read more…

Tags: counter identity theft, credit card fraud and protection, credit monitoring and resolution, Data Protection, Family Safety, identity fraud, identity fraud scams, identity protection, identity protection $1 million guarantee, identity protection surveillance, identity surveillance, identity theft, identity theft expert, Identity thieves and cybercriminals, lost wallet protection, McAfee, McAfee Identity Protection, personal identity theft fraud, proactive identity surveillance, social networking

Online Gamers Risk Credit Card Fraud

The Sony Corporation has been providing consumers with stellar electronics since before the introduction of the Walkman. The past six months have been harsher for Sony, with attacks by hacktivists and numerous breaches of clients’ data. Many recent breaches involved usernames, passwords, email addresses, and in some cases, credit card numbers. Each compromised data point Read more…

Tags: counter identity theft, credit card fraud and protection, credit monitoring and resolution, data breach, Data Protection, Family Safety, identity fraud, identity fraud scams, identity protection, identity protection surveillance, identity theft, identity theft expert, Identity thieves and cybercriminals, proactive identity protection, proactive identity surveillance

Myth: Apple Products Don’t Get Viruses

Have you ever bitten into an apple and found a worm? I have, and it’s yummy! Anyway, how many times have you heard, or even said, “I won’t get that computer virus because I have a Mac”?  While Mac users tend to feel somewhat insulated from viruses, it’s time for anyone who owns an Apple Read more…

Tags: counter identity theft, Cybercrime, Data Protection, global threat intelligence, identity fraud scams, identity protection, identity protection $1 million guarantee, identity protection surveillance, identity surveillance, identity theft, identity theft expert, Identity thieves and cybercriminals, personal identity theft fraud, personal information protection

McAfee Labs Releases “Fake Alert” Stinger

McAfee Labs is pleased to announce the availability of our “Fake Alert” Stinger – an improved Stinger tool with aggressive generic content targeted at enhanced detection and remediation of fake alert based threats. In our efforts to provide the best of protection for our customers against rogue security products or fake alert type malware – Read more…

Tags: Cybercrime, Data Protection, Endpoint Protection, fake alert, fake-av, Family Safety, identity protection, identity theft, malware

The New Reality of Stealth Crimeware

Anyone who has been in information security recently knows that it has gotten easier for cybercriminals to build stealth crimeware. The malware we deal with on a regular basis grows ever more difficult to find, while high-end targeted attacks such as Stuxnet and other advanced persistent threats (APTs, the abbreviation I hate) are using ever Read more…

Tags: advanced persistent threats, APT, crimeware, Cybercrime, Data Protection, Endpoint Protection, identity protection, malware, Network Security, Operation Aurora, rootkit, Rootkits, security, Stuxnet

Mobile Device, Or Not? That Is The Question

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been presenting around the U.S. at events such as Secure360 in St. Paul, and the McAfee Executive Summits in Boston and New York. One question I was asked at every event, was “What is a mobile device?” The flippant answer of course which after two weeks of middle Read more…

Tags: Cybercrime, Data Protection, enterprise, Mid-Market, Mobile, mobile security

Google Disclosure Spotlights Phishing Scams

Google’s unusual disclosure on Wednesday that e-mail accounts of prominent Gmail users had been compromised puts the spotlight on a very common online scam: phishing scams. Phishing is a way of persuading Internet users to give up sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details. The scammers masquerade as a trustworthy entity in Read more…

Tags: Consumer, Cybercrime, Data Protection, Family Safety, Operation Aurora

Botnets Demystified and Simplified

Let’s face it: Most people–even folks in the security industry–have a hard time explaining botnets (robot networks of infected computers) in a way that your Uncle Joe or Aunt Betty can understand. Is it really a big deal? Yes, it is. With the rapid growth in malware and bot infections we’re seeing, it’s important for Read more…

Tags: bot, botnet, Cybercrime, Data Protection, Endpoint Protection, facebook, global threat intelligence, identity protection, malware, social networking, spam, Web 2.0, zombie, zombie computers

McAfee Labs Assists in Rare Cybercrime Conviction

As we have discussed on this blog more than once, convictions for cybercrime activities are a rare thing indeed. Recently, however, a former University of Salford (United Kingdom) student was convicted and given a suspended sentence for stealing online gaming credentials. The University of Salford contacted the police after it received a complaint from a Read more…

Tags: credit card fraud and protection, Cybercrime, Data Protection, Endpoint Protection, Family Safety, identity theft, malware