The Cyber Attack Survival Manual: Tools for Surviving Everything from Identity Theft to the Digital Apocalypse

by Nick Selby, Heather Vescent

Overview

Cybersecurity experts present an accessible, informative, and fully illustrated guide to protecting yourself, your assets, and your loved ones online.
 
As we live more of our lives online, we need to be more aware of the risks we face—and what we can do to protect ourselves. We all know that our identities can be stolen, and that intellectual property can be copied and sold. But even scarier things are now possible. Vehicle systems can be hacked, our power grid can be sabotaged, and terrorists are getting more sophisticated by the day.
 
In The Cyber Attack Survival Manual, you learn hands-on tips and techniques for fighting back. Author Nick Selby, a police detective who specializes in busting cybercriminals, gathers a consortium of experts in digital currency, crimeware, intelligence, and more in order to share the latest and best security techniques.
 
The Cyber Attack Survival Manual covers:
 
Everyday security: How to keep your identity from being stolen, protect your kids, protect your cards, and much more.
 
Big Stories: Silk Road, Ashley Madison, FBI vs. Apple, WikiLeaks, Bitcoin, and what they mean to individuals and society at large.
 
Global issues: the NSA, how hackers can crash your car, and looming threats from China and elsewhere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681883199
Publisher:	Weldon Owen
Publication date:	11/05/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	248
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Nick Selby has nearly 20 years of cyber security and intelligence experience, and is a currently a police detective and cyber security consultant. He is the co-founder of StreetCred Software, Inc. which creates software and services that help police agencies, courts, and cities access, rank, understand, and use a vast range of data. He appears frequently in media including the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, NPR, and Fox News discussing online security, terrorism, and more. His latest book is In Context: Understanding Police Killings of Unarmed Civilians (CIAI/Calibre Press). Nick is also co-author of Blackhatonomics: An Inside Look at the Economics of Cybercrime (Syngress) and was technical editor of Investigating Internet Crimes (Syngress)

Heather Vescent is a social scientist who studies future trends to help people understand and take advantage of change. She does this through speaking, consulting, research projects, design fictions, and media productions. Her company, The Purple Tornado, has been around since 2006. Prior to The Purple Tornado, she helped build and launch more than 50 Internet products at over 30 startups from 1996 to the 2005 in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles. Recently, Heather completed an assignment with the Swift Innovation Team, Innotribe, based in New York, NY and La Hulpe, Brussels. She is best known for her research on the Future of Transactions, which she presented at SxSW, Sibos, TedxZwolle, The Future of Money,Tomorrow's Transactions and other conferences around the world. She is the producer and creator of 4 short films, including “Fly Me to the Moon;” nominated for the Most Important Futures Award by the Association of Professional Futurists, 2012; “Flowers for Grandma;” “Innotribe Startup Challenge Documentary," and “Slices of Life.”

Read an Excerpt

DIGITAL SAFEKEEPING In the future, we won’t get to simply stash our cash in a safe or under a mattress. New forms of finance mean new protocols for keeping your money safe.
 
Keeping Online Integrity While many governments offer individual reimbursements from fraud, business accounts are not always guaranteed the same security, and online banking and fraud protection are not typically in the hands of the user. Look for financial institutions that have good security—sometimes it’s hard to find out which ones have been hacked, because no one wants to disclose that information. Use robust passwords in online banking, change them often, and don’t reuse old passwords. Limit who you share banking authentication credentials with to reduce the chance
of unauthorized transfers or transactions.
 
Stay Secure with a Selfie Banks are motivated to use secure systems. Passwords can be difficult to enter on a mobile device, so banks have other secure authentication systems options: your fingerprint, a PIN, or facial (or even voice) recognition. The secure selfie is even hacker proof—you must blink or make a facial gesture that you can’t duplicate with a photograph.
 
Be Safer with Biometrics Biometric verification has been thought of as the great fail-safe. The idea is that it’s near impossible to replicate someone’s fingerprint or iris or retina, although hackers (and Hollywood) have shown ways to duplicate a fingerprint. Unlike a password reset, it’s not that easy to get a new fingertip or eye. There are, however, security combinations that use hashed biometric data for three-factor (adding a biometric to the password and token) or even four-factor identity verification involving a second biometric. The more factors that are required for a transaction, the harder it is for a thief to steal or replicate them.
 
Practice Credit Control Use multiple credit accounts. The first is for automatic monthly payments; the second (with a low limit) for spontaneous online purchases and the like (this number can be virtual, or even single use, so you have to get new ones each time you want to use the account); and a third for physical shopping, with a slightly higher credit limit. Monitor your credit score. You’ll know if there is a change in your score and be empowered to fix it. Check your bank accounts on a regular basis via a dashboard or phone app, and set up notification for certain transactions and amounts. Tell your bank or credit company when you are traveling so it will allow your purchases. Know your bank’s customer service numbers and how to stop payments or authorize a charge on your mobile app.