Cybercriminals Do It in the Dark - Your Information for Sale on the Dark Web?

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

By Hector Cisneros

The Dark Web! It’s a term you hear people bantering about quite a bit today. Are hackers buying and selling your info on the Dark Web! Are cybercriminals using the Dark Web as a means of attacking our government, our businesses, and our personal digital devices with impunity? What are the costs and the dangers we currently face?  There is no doubt in my mind this problem has mushroomed because of the cybersecurity incompetence of companies like Equifax, Yahoo, and others that have allowed cybercriminals to gain access to our personal data. The headlines about the Russians hacking our political system has finally brought to the forefront the danger that cybercrime brings. Today, our government needs to declare war on cybercrime if we want to keep this peril at bay. In this episode of Working the Web to Win, we will explore the current threat cybercrime is exposing us to, we will look at the ongoing cost, and we will look at what could and should be done to ameliorate this threat. So, press on to learn how to mitigate your risks and hide your digital footprints as we tackle the perils of the Dark Web and the sale of your personal data.

How Freeware Can Cost You BIG

by Carl Weiss

Courtesy of www.quickenloans.com

Especially in today’s economy, most people are searching for deals.  Whether it is a buy-one-get-one at the grocery store, or an online coupon that offers fifty percent or more off your next restaurant visit, most people are only too happy to snap up a bargain for something they would normally purchase.  When it comes to acquiring software for the home computer, this rule is even more prevalent.  Why pay for the cow, when they’re giving the milk away for free, right?  In the case of recognized vendors, such as Filezilla or Linux, not to mention CNet and Tucows, these sites either own the software they distribute freely, or else the vet any vendors promoted on their sites.  Unfortunately, when it comes to freeware, there are a number of purveyors who are not offering their software out of the goodness of their hearts.

Re-published in its entirety - "Is There a Digital Data Disaster in Your Future?"

Image courtesy of Pixabay

It is rare that we allow other authors to ghost blog on our  site, but sometimes we have clients that produce great articles worth sharing. Yes we can share them on our social nets, but that only a short lived exposure for them. So we have decided to republish a few article that we have found to be worth showcasing to help our clients out. The article we select are relevant to our following and the articles are of high quality, are timely, relevant and also provide sufficient infotainment that we feel our readers will get the full benefit from our republishing our clients work on our blog. So with Catherine Powell's permission and our delite, we present in its entirety;

The Latest on Cybercrime - Ransomware, Hack Attacks and Massive Data Breaches

By Hector Cisneros

Courtesy of Pixabay

It seems like yesterday that I wrote, "The Latest Hack Attack - Equifax Breach Exposes 143 Million Americans".  However, soon after that article I wrote, "Massive Data Leak Exposes 340 Million Americans Personal Data - Now What!". In fact, when I searched our blog on the term "data breaches", 11 articles showed in the list.  If I added internet security and hacking, I'd get another two dozen more articles listed. We are a marketing company, so you are probably wondering why I'm writing about cybercrime and hacking. Well, the fact is this; cybercrime has a direct affect on the amount of trust consumers place in the internet. Without a high level of trust, people won't buy or use the internet for research and shopping. Without that trust, we as a marketing company would be out of business. In this episode of Working the Web to Win, we will explore the latest, data breaches, hack attacks and ransomware events taking place in the USA. We will also provide a list of resources to help you protect yourself from becoming a victim of cybercrime. So be ready to have your confidence shaken and then restored as we explore the latest  Cybercrrimes, including Ransomware exploits, Hack Attacks and Massive data Breaches that have taken place recently.

The Latest on Cybercriminal Phishing Attacks with Fake Insurance Ads, Surveys & More

Courtesy of Pixabay

By Hector Cisneros

I have been writing about cybercrime for over seven years now, but this year I have seen a marked increase in targeted email phishing attacks based on my Baby-Boomer profile. Obviously, the boomers are coming of age, but I also attribute this increase to the recent massive cyber breaches at Yahoo, Equifax, Facebook, and other mega database holders. The massive Baby-Boomer population along with the above-mentioned massive breaches are all leading to a perfect cyber phishing storm because now cyber-criminals have everything they need to profile this population. In this episode of Working the Web to Win, we will explore the uptick in email phishing, its causes, its targets and what preventive measures you can take to prevent this perfect storm from sinking your cyber life. So, batten down your cyber hatches and get ready to be schooled on the latest cyber-criminal phishing attack along with the best ways to protect your cyber world.

Will the New General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Give us More Privacy and Security?

By Hector Cisneros

Courtesy of Pixabay

On May 25^th headlines everywhere were touting the announcement of the new EU GDPR law that was going into effect. Even if you didn’t see the headlines on the news, you would have been inundated by the many emails from a wide assortment of internet and SAS providers. They were all telling you about their updated data protection and privacy policies and were asking you to read it and agree to them. How many of you actually read any of these new policy updates? What do these new policies mean? Are they the answer to Facebooks data selling misconduct or the fact that Equifax dragged its feet for months before informing the public of its massive data breach? Is it the action of our government finally coming to our rescue? In this episode of Working the Web to Win, we will find answers to these questions and many more as we delve into the meaning of the new GDPR law here in the United States. So, get ready to dig deep as the implications of the General Data Protection Regulation spreads across the fruited plain.

Equifax's Cyber Breach Chickens are Coming Home To Roost - Here's my Story!

By Hector Cisneros

Courtesy of Flickr

The holidays are over and I decided to sell a few things on Craigslist to recoup a little money.  So I took a few good photos of my for sale items and posted them. Within 5 minutes of my post, I received 6 inquiries asking if I still had the items. I replied yes and the big surprise happened! All six of the inquiries asked me to prove that I was not a robot! This is how I discovered one of the latest scams happening on the internet. So what's this got to do with internet marketing you may ask? Well, Cybercrime is like kryptonite to the internet, it kills trust and commerce and destroys financial lives!  In this episode of Working the Web to Win, I will explain the intricacies of this new scam, tie it to the Equifax and other major breaches, show you what to watch out for and how to avoid falling victim to this new internet scam. So take out your notebook and be ready to be intrigued and scared as I explain how the Equifax Cyber Breach Chickens are Coming Home to Roost. 

How to Implement an Internet Security Counter Attack

Courtest of Wikimedia Commons

By Hector Cisneros

For more than a decade, hackers and cybercriminals have been increasingly wreaking havoc on business, government and the general public. Cybercrime has increased by a 100-fold in the last decade. Now it’s time to counterattack! But how, you ask? By what means do we have to counter this ever-growing menace? The fact is, we always could stop most hack attacks in their tracks. It’s just that people and businesses and governments try to implement what I call the least effort most gain strategy. This does not work! What does work is to implement the tools available and to then continuously upgrading your capability to stop all threats. Plus, there are new security measures available to make it much harder to breach your defenses. By implementing new and time-tested measures to thwart cybercriminals dead in their tracks, you can safeguard your digital domain.

What are these new and tried and true security measures? How can a business, government, or individual protect themselves from the increasing threats of cybercrime? In this episode of Working the Web to Win, we will explore new security measures that have just been released by Google and other companies to help counterattack the latest hacking threats being perpetrated by cyber criminals and rogue nations. We will also provide a detailed security plan that will stop most cyberattacks in their tracks. This will provide the reader with a list of potential threats and a means to further thwart hack attacks. So, get ready to print out this article and bolster your security as we delve into the latest in internet security methods to counterattack those who hack.

The Cybercrime Clock is Ticking

By Ryan Gilway and Glenn Gray

Image by commons.wikipedia.org

Cybercrime has jumped off the big screen of Hollywood and onto the small screen of business computer users from coast to coast.  Unlike the Hollywood blockbusters, in most cases the hero doesn’t arrive in the nick of time to save the day.  Given the international nature of cybercrime, even the FBI is all but helpless to put a stop to this growing scourge, no matter how big the headlines produced by data breaches get.

Thwarting Cyber Thieves (Reprinted from https://insuranceorangepark.blogspot.com)

Image Courtesy flickr

As a marketing company, we have been warning about the dangers of cybercriminals since 2012. We believe that cybercrime is not only a threat to the trustworthiness of Internet ecommerce structure, but it is also a direct threat to the very freedoms we hold so dear as Americans. We have written extensively about this subject. In fact, any search on cybercrime or Cybersecurity will bring forth a list of dozens of articles. Today's episode of Working the Web to Win comes to us from one of our favorite clients, Catherine Powell, the owner of A Plus All Florida Insurance of Orange Park. Her article delves right into the heart of cybercrime and how it can drastically, negatively affect your life.  So without further a due, read and share - Thwarting Cyber Thieves.

Working the Web - Is There a Cyber Attack in Your Future?

by Carl Weiss

computer security (Photo credit: justonlysteve)

When your head hits the pillow at night, do you fall asleep feeling secure that your online data, your identity and your financials are safe?  Do you feel bulletproof behind your Windows Firewall and Norton Antivirus?  Are you in the habit of downloading freeware on your PC and free apps on your Smartphone?  Do you use public wifi hotspots such as coffee shops, restaurants, hotels and airports? 

If your answer to any of the above was “Yes” then I have news for you.   It isn’t a matter of if you are going to be hacked, cracked or cyber attacked.  It’s just a matter of when.  Because the habits exposed above are an invitation for hackers and cyber criminals to gain access to your most sensitive information, hijack your computer and Smartphone and in short turn your life into a living hell where your identity, your financial data and intellectual property can be bought and sold like a commodity.

Cyber Security Shuffle

Courtesy of www.pbs.org

By Carl Weiss

If you’re like most people, you probably only react to cyber security matters when your computer is so infected with malware that it refuses to function. This is what IT professionals refer to as locking the barn door after the horse has bolted. In today's wired world, what you have to consider is that everything from your PC to your smartphone is subject to attack by hackers who are out to sell your personal information, steal your financial data and do much more than mischief. What many people don't realize is that this problem is so serious that even governments are having problems dealing with it.

How Are Terrorists Using the Internet to Spread Their Message of Hate?

By Robert Kaye

We’re at war. 

Photo Credit: zerohedge.com

You may recall that some of our earlier blogs discussed how major U.S. corporations, various government agencies (including the FBI, and the military), financial institutions and its citizens – you and me – are being attacked by individual, criminal syndicates and foreign government-sponsored hackers. (See our previous blogs such as “ The Hack Attack is Back” “Who Wears a Black Hat on the Wild, Wild Web?”  “How Close is the US to Experiencing a Digital Pearl Harbor?” and others.)

Does Ransomware Make you Want to Cry?

How Hacker Threats are Turning the Internet into a Financial Minefield

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

By Hector Cisneros

Every year since 2011, we have been writing about the tremendous threat that internet hacking poses. The number of hacks has continuously gone up every year since then. The financial cost has skyrocketed, and the number of lives this menace affects is mind boggling. In this episode of Working the Web to Win, we will cover how this threat exploits your digital life, we will explore new ways to protect yourself, and we will provide a checklist of items that must be deployed to stop these hack attacks in their tracks.

Attack of the Botnets

By Robert Kaye and Hector Cisneros

Photo Credit: arlnow.com

Ever wonder how Google knows what’s on your website? Have you ever been infected by malware or a computer virus? Ever pondered how these spammers got your email address? I have one word for you: BOTs! The World Wide Web is crawling with them.  Spider bots to index your website, evil bots that can make you wish you never had a computer, bots that scrape the web for ID information, and bots that you can buy ― but unfortunately break search engine rules ― which then render your domain as an outcast in a sandbox kingdom that no one can find.

The Best of the Best in Internet Marketing - Events to Remember!

By Carl Weiss

Courtesy of fightcampconditioning.com

With Christmas only a day away, that means that New Year’s Eve can’t be far behind.  So as a little something extra for your Christmas stocking I thought a little retrospective on some of the topics we covered this year would be in order. 

Our Top 10 List

The Latest Hack Attack - Equifax Breach Exposes 143 Million Americans

Top things you Need to Know and Do

Courtesy of Flickr

By Hector Cisneros

For years we have been writing about the threat of hackers and their attacks on our institutions. Today the threat level has now evolved into an ongoing curse because the latest hack on Equifax will have long-lasting negative effects on millions of Americans for many years to come. In the past, we have written how our government has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to the threat of hack attacks. Now our personal and financial information is being exposed by hacks on companies like Equifax, who have been gathering our personal information for decades without our permission. This hack attack has compromised 143 million amercians and made us vulnerable to all kinds of fraud and financial devastation. In this episode of Working the Web to Win we will discuss the hard reality of this breach. We will discuss the outlook and its consequences and we will provide direction and solutions to help mitigate this horrendous long-term threat. So get ready to understand the the situation that 143 million of us are now in. So Take notes on what you have to do, because this problem is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.  

The Growing Holiday Cyber Security Threat

By Hector Cisneros

Every year since the invention of malware, cyber-attacks have escalated. This is especially true during the holiday season. Every October, the U.S. government commemorates National Cyber Security Awareness Month, guided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance. My question is why don’t they declare the whole fourth quarter National Cyber Security Awareness Season instead. During the holidays, cybercriminals are all too aware of how people are distracted by their holiday plans. People become more careless online, especially on social media and this allows cybercriminals to take advantage of them. To make things worse, it’s extremely easy for anyone to acquire hacking and ransomware tools that are easy to deploy, without being a cybercriminal mastermind. In this episode of Working the Web to Win, we will explore the latest cyber holiday threats and provide our readers with tips, tools, and resources to counter these holiday Cyber-Grinches. So, put on your holiday cap to learn about what happens as the season of thieving nears.

It's a Black Hat Christmas - Are Hackers in Your Stocking?

Courtesy of WorkingtheWebtoWin.com

By Hector Cisneros

The holidays are here! It’s almost Christmas. Your shopping for your loved ones, scoping out all the deals when you get an email from your favorite store for an incredible deal. All you have to do is log in and claim your special to win Christmas. What could be easier? Or is it? Every year at this time cybercriminals ramp up and sharpen their social engineering hacker techniques to capture your usernames and passwords. They want to gain access to your digital devices and secure the claim to your financial data. This year, it's time to shop on a smarter level. In this episode of Working the Web to Win, we will show you more than a dozen ways to protect your data and shopping experience to make this holiday special in a positive way. Don’t let the black hat hackers get in your Christmas stocking.

In Christmases of the past, we have written about how cyber thieves and hacking increases during the holidays. This is because so many shoppers are too busy hunting for a deal and not paying attention to their cyber security. First, we wrote about “The Byte Before Christmas” where we talked about the growing trend of cyber hacking during the holidays along with the bad behavior that goes with Black Friday shopping. Then we wrote an article called “The Grinch Goes Digital,” which covers 12 ways online scammers can steal from you this Christmas. Since then, we have written many other articles about the ever-escalating threat of hackers black hat trickery and how worldwide hacking is becoming a threat to our very way of life.

The Latest Tax & New IRS Scams Attacking US

By Hector E. Cisneros

Courtesy of  Flickr

They say that the only sure things in life are death and taxes. Well, I‘m here to add a new one to this list, tax scams! Every year starting around January the scam artists ratchet up their scam machines and start grilling the elderly, desperate and greedy who are naive enough to believe what these conmen are selling. Every year they seem to get better at their schemes, so this year I thought I would give our readers a heads up on the latest and scariest Tax and IRS scams being perpetrated on the US population. So, sharpen your pencils tax preparers and learn about the latest Tax and IRS scams lurking on the World Wide Web.