The Value of Video Surveillance in Public and Private Spaces

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Doubleheader Videos: Int'l Cyber Crime and BlackHat & DEFCON

Cyber crime is a serious problem for society as we immerse ourselves further and further into an Internet-based world. Today's a doubleheader day as we provide you with two informative, interesting videos on cyber crime.

Those who have been victimized know all too well the pain and suffering associated with the actions of criminals that work hard to take what is not theirs. No longer is the word "hacker" synonymous with young children looking for a new challenge, but rather grownup adults who seek to steal as much money as possible, or to steal critical data in order to blackmail or gain some political or business advantage.

This reminds me of a situation I encountered many years ago where my grandson received a $1,200 check in the mail for two small mobile speakers he had advertised on Craigslist for $100. The letter, neatly typed out on a blank piece of paper, instructed him to cash the check, take an extra $100 and to wire them the balance of the cash. What these kinds of scammers are looking for are greedy fools willing to do this no matter if it's right or not. In a word, people who ask no questions but are quite willing to participate in a crime they don't know anything about.

I told him not to send the speakers, but rather to give me the check, which I took to the local FBI office. I met with one of the agents who told me to keep the check, to report it to the IC3 (Internet Crime Complaint Center) and they would take care of it. He confided that this portion of the agency was very busy and he doubted anything would come out of the complaint as it's happening all the time and there is so much of it that the FBI probably wouldn't follow through. He was correct as far as I can tell because I was never contacted and never asked for the check.

One thing is for sure, I did not allow my grandson to cash it.

Here we are, almost 15 years later, and the fish that the FBI has to fry is even more shocking.

In 2013, the IC3 received 262,813 consumer complaints with an adjusted dollar loss of $781,841,611, which is a 48.8 percent increase in reported losses since 2012 ($581,441,110). The IC3 continues its efforts to inform the general public about online scams by publishing public service announcements and providing tips for Internet consumers. (click here)

Today, @ESC_LLC presents two informative cyber security videos, the one on International hacking and a discussion regarding those who are in the fight and what made them decide to enter the cyber security industry.

Here they are.

If you or the company or organization you work for have been victimized through an Internet scam or hacking situation, you can report it to the FBI's IC3 group. To do that, Click Here.

ESC would like to hear from you. If you have a question about cyber crime or if you would like to comment, please feel free to comment directly to this blog post using the comment window below, or use our quick response form top right. You also can use our Contact Us pages.

Allan B. Colombo
ESC Director of Social Media and Web Assets
Senior Design Specialist with TpromoCom of Columbus, Ohio.

Copyright©2015
TpromoCom

Monday: Doubleheader Videos on Cyber Crime

This next Monday ESC will release two informative videos on cyber crime. The first outlines the nature of cyber crime activities occurring, especially between nations, and how that effects us. The second discusses careers in cyber security as experts tell how they entered the fight. This is a great video for those contemplating a career fighting cyber crime. Be there!

As mentioned numerous times, Electronic Systems Consultants LLC is dedicated to your security and that includes the security of your data. We assist many commercial and government institutions in the fight against crime, which includes computer security. The two videos we present Monday will provide helpful insights into cyber security and the men and women who are on the front lines of data protection.

To watch this video, click here.

John Larkin

Copyright©2015
TpromoCom

Online Privacy Tips to Live By

The following video offers privacy tips where it comes to PCs, Macs, Facebook, the Internet, and your email. David A. Cox, an online privacy expert, offers ideas on helpful software as well as behavioral dos and don'ts. I highly recommend that you take the time to watch/listen to this video.

Our firm, ESC, is highly aware of online privacy basically because of our own customer records. Our staff is trained and quite able to protect our own records for obvious reasons. If there's a question you have or a need regarding online privacy that ESC can assist you with, please send it to me via email.

John Larkin, ESC Senior Partner

Copyright©2015

Remote Viewing of Video Surveillance

Electronic Systems Consultants LLC, a MBE certified company, offers more than just security and fire products, we offer service, and that includes answering your questions. The following query comes from one of our clients. If you have a question, please send it along and we'll have our experts provide the answers you need (Click Here).

We have a video surveillance system in our place of business that records to a time-lapse tape recorder that we purchased many years ago. The recorder works great and I’d like to keep it if possible, but I'd also like to view the cameras from my home as if I were there in the office. What do we have to do to make this happen?

There are several ways in which Electronic Systems Consultants LLC (ESC) can help make that happen. Probably the most simplest and sensible of all of them is to replace your old time-lapse tape recorder with a new DVR (Digital Video Recorder). Although your time-lapse tape recorder still works, the quality of the video usually is so poor that law enforcement is often unable to use it to identify a perpetrator(s), let alone get a conviction.

DVR’s offer the most for your money and they make it relatively easy to view your video cameras from afar. Using a DVR, we can plug it into your Internet router using Category 5e cable. If you are using a static IP address in your business, it’s then a simple matter of bookmarking the IP with submask address to your browser at home.

If you happen to be using a dynamic IP at your business, you can still make this work. There are services that allow you to glean any change in IP address that may take place at your facility. Some of them do not cost money while others do. As they say, you get what you pay for. Dynamic IPs do not change that often and so you also can send yourself an email everyday and check the header for the IP address where it came from. Using this address, you can gain access to your DVR.

John Larkin, Senior Partner

Copyright©2015