Monthly Archives: October 2014

Listed below are tips to protect yourself and your family from various forms of Internet fraud.Tips for Avoiding Internet Fraud Use the online tips form or the IC3 website to report potential cases of cyber fraud. Tips for Avoiding Internet Auction Fraud: Understand as much as possible about how the auction works, what your obligations…

At least 10 confused Western Washington residents have called Seattle Police today after receiving calls asking for money, which appear to be coming from the SPD non-emergency line. These calls which appear on caller ID’s as 206-625-5011 are the result of caller ID fraud, or “spoofing,” and are not coming from SPD’s 911 communications center.…

There Goes the Virtual Neighborhood! Written by Public Affairs on October 14, 2014 3:54 pm Guess who’s moving in Nextdoor? Seattle PD Public Affairs will begin posting useful public safety information on Nextdoor.com effective this week. From crime trends and blotter articles to Community Policing Microplans, Seattle PD will be sharing information with Seattle Nextdoor…

Information thieves can suck the life out of your business. Don’t let it happen to you. The facts are scary. It takes an average of one year for an organization to restore its reputation after a data breach, according to a recent Ponemon Institute study of 850 executives. Victim organizations lost anywhere from $184 million…

Investigative journalists like the members of ICIJ are facing growing concerns about improving online security. Our members often work with leaks or other materials requiring protection of sources, collaborate across borders with colleagues at risk for their physical safety, and communicate with devices and services open to surveillance or attack. And that’s not to mention…

A recent investigation by The Center for Investigative Reporting and KQED revealed that in 2012, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department piloted a wide-area surveillance program – except it didn’t tell the public. The two-week program used high-powered surveillance cameras attached to a manned civilian aircraft, which flew over Compton for six hours a day.…

Article was written in 2013, but for a majority of readers it will be very interesting reading. For some, revelations that the National Security Agency has been collecting vast amounts of personal information on U.S. citizens might seem as far removed as the city of Moscow. But it’s not just an ultrasecret spy agency that…

If you’ve been concerning yourself with the Heartbleed bug and the National Security Agency, you might as well have these seven items on your radar, too. Military-inspired technologies are coming home for use by local law enforcement. Since 2001, federal grants from the Department of Homeland Security have been trickling to local authorities for counterterrorism…

The F-21 buttonhole camera - as used by the Soviet Union, Europe, and North America in the early 1970s (International Spy Museum) Despite ubiquitous surveillance and fancy gadgets, there are still simple, old-fashioned ways that spies and criminals can avoid detection, says Frank Swain. In the wake of Edward Snowden’s revelations about the US National…

Pickpockets use much more than sleight of hand, says Caroline Williams, they hack your brain’s weaknesses. My mother has eyes in the back of her head. She also taught me from an early age to be suspicious of strange men, especially when they give you presents. Which makes it all the more surprising that a…

It’s impossible to be 100% secure or safe online, but as Colin Barras explains, there are a few non-obvious tricks that anyone can use to stay safe online. Why should I care about online security? It’s tempting to assume that only big businesses or big celebrities have to worry about their online security. After all,…

Generally speaking, we as humans want to help our fellow humans out. Unfortunately, this fact is abused by what are known as social engineers. Think of social engineering as people hacking. Social engineers attempt to manipulate people to get things they want, whether it be passwords, personal information, or access to restricted areas. Social engineering…

There are several types of identity theft. Knowing what to do if you are a victim of identity theft starts by knowing what type of identity theft you are dealing with. Here are 8 types of Identity Theft. Financial Identity Theft When we hear the words "identity theft" we usually think of credit reports and…

Spyware is a form of malware that can infect your computer and reconfigure your Internet browser settings by changing your home page and modifying your search results. Even if you modify your settings back to how you initially had them configured, spyware will maliciously revert your browser settings each time you restart your computer. Furthermore,…