'Tis the Season To Be Careful

[len_mullen]

'Tis the Season for OPSEC
With apologies to CLEMENT CLARKE MOORE

'Twas the Holiday Season, and all through the streets
Every hacker and burglar, was looking for treats;
Boxes were stacked by the trash without care,
Alerting the thieves to the treasures in there;
Vacationers tweeted their plans and photos;
While bandits were stealing their speakers by Bose;
And mamma with her iPhone, and I with a map,
Went off to the mall to plunder the Gap,
First to the automated teller machine,
Where my PIN was stolen and my bank was wiped clean.
We shopped with our credit cards having no cash,
Until a POS bandit ended all that.
With no money for gifts we headed for home,
Where my PayPal and I would the internet roam,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a really good offer that seemed quite sincere,
With an unpleasant popup as soon as I clicked,
I knew in a moment my Mac would be sick.
More rapid than FiOS the popups did come,
My outdated defenses could only stop some,
From the click of a link with a virus attached,
All the files on my disk were quickly dispatched!
To another computer, I went to shop,
But accounts and email were already locked.
No money, no credit, and no PC too,
Tax returns, photographs were all gone from view;
No fav'rites, no bookmarks, no cookies, no clue,
Gone were my high scores and the Christmas list too --
And then, in a twinkling, I heard in the street
The prancing and pawing of very big feet.
As I looked to the street, and was turning around,
I saw a man escape from my home with a bound.
As he covered my spare key with the mat,
The thief turned to me and said, "Thank you for that!"
At that very moment came a knock at my door,
"I'm from DSS and I'm here to brief you some more."
His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
"Let's do this thing right, I'm not in a hurry."
"Keep boxes inside until trash day, you know,"
"Expensive debris tells the crooks where to go."
"Get your cash at a bank and keep your profile low."
"Only swipe credit cards with merchants you know."
"When surfing the net, be alert to the deals"
"Which promise you things too good to be real."
"Hover over links that might your click redirect"
"Your identity to steal, or credit to wreck."
"When away from home, leave shades down and lights on,"
"That way the prowlers don't know that you're gone."
Then he seemed to accuse with a knit of his brow,
"The key under your mat - go get that, right now!"
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, from my table he rose;
He walked to his car, which was locked and well lit,
And looked twice in back seat before he did sit.
With a wave of his hand, as he drove out of sight --
"Practice good OPSEC each day, and have a safe life!"

[vkozlowski0419]

Love it!! Great tips!

[hockeyfanamo]

Very true! Thanks for the reminder!

[len_mullen]

thank you.

[momlori]

Really great and the tips are great too.