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Video captures knife-wielding, costumed man breaking front porch window in Wilkes-Barre

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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; In a time where the World Wide Web fits in a pocket and people post their lives online, the top safety precaution against computer crime and internet identity theft is to take a hard look at what you&#8217;re protecting and how it is threatened, according to area native and national security expert William Evanina.</p><p>&#8220;The first step is to be aware of what information we&#8217;re talking about. We need to be aware of our own information on the web,&#8221; the Peckville native advised in a phone interview previewing topics he will cover during a presentation at his alma mater, Wilkes University.</p><p>&#8220;Understand that everything we put up on the internet can be potentially compromised.&#8221;</p><p>An FBI wannabe from &#8220;since I was a little boy,&#8221; Evanina fulfilled that dream and then some. He joined the FBI in 1996 and served for 18 years, with an increasing focus on counterintelligence and counterterrorism. He later served as chief of the CIA&#8217;s Counterespionage Group, and is currently director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.</p><p>Evanina will give his talk, titled &#8220;Economic Espionage: Don&#8217;t be a Victim,&#8221; beginning 7 p.m. Nov. 12 in the ballroom of the Henry Student Center.</p><p>Protecting your information online has become more complex as devices become more mobile. Evanina stressed it&#8217;s not enough to think only of your smart phone or personal desktop model. &#8220;Maximize security on any computer you use, your family, your in-laws,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Everything we do online is not only marketable, but traced and bought and sold every day.&#8221;</p><p>When it comes to social networking, don&#8217;t accept default settings. &#8220;People don&#8217;t maximize their privacy settings,&#8221; but should, he said. And if you become a victim of identity theft in social media, treat it as you would a stolen credit card: &#8220;Identify exactly what was stolen and notify the company.&#8221;</p><p>Also consider closing the account and starting a new one, whether it be Facebook, email, Twitter or any other outlet. &#8220;The best practice is to shut down the website and start anew.&#8221;</p><p>One of the biggest threats in the evolving world of computer security these days is &#8220;spear phishing,&#8221; getting an email that appears to be from a business or person you know, Evanina said. &#8220;If we can minimize the risk by people learning how spear phishing works, we can hopefully prevent some intrusions.&#8221;</p><p>And don&#8217;t assume because you are a small &#8220;mom and pop&#8221; business you&#8217;re less likely to be a target.</p><p>&#8220;My mantra is that every business has to look at the risks they are taking. They have to look at their proprietary data, and whether they are willing to spend dollars to protect that. What is your most precious information?&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Whether you&#8217;re a mom and pop business or a big defense contractor, if you are making something people are buying, our adversaries like China and Russia are looking. They don&#8217;t have a robust research and development system, so they spend a lot of time in the United States looking for things they can obtain illegally.&#8221;</p><p>A Wilkes-Barre business may make something as simple as &#8220;a bolt that is integral to a missile system, and they will make every attempt to try to steal the technology. The technology we have in Northeast Pennsylvania is not only vital to the global economy, but to national security.&#8221;</p><p>For more information on how to protect yourself, Evanina noted his agency posts a lot of useful information on its website, ncsc.gov.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Evanina </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Evanina-William.jpg</photo0><caption0>Evanina </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Security expert coming to Wilkes University offers cyber advice