Javelin Strategy & Research recently released its Identity Fraud Study, and it revealed that the number of identity theft victims rose by 8% in 2017 when compared to 2016. That’s almost 17 million people, which is a record high. Despite more information and industry efforts to make ... Views: 536
People complain about all the stress that comes with the holiday season: the in-laws, the expense of buying gifts, figuring out what to buy, travel, reunions with people they don’t like…
But trust me on this: You’ll take you’re ever-criticizing in-laws and bratty ... Views: 1062
Yes, 25 tips, because that’s how we roll. No home security tip is too trite. They are all important, especially when used all at once, all the time.
Keep shrubs and trees manicured so that burglars can’t hide near them.
Do a door and lock inventory to make sure they all ... Views: 855
Criminals use six basic principles to influence and steal. In the first post we discussed:
Reciprocation: Do something nice for a person and they will feel obligated to return the favor.
Social Proof: This is the “It’s okay if everyone else does it” approach.
Commitment ... Views: 827
So just how are hackers able to penetrate all these huge businesses? Look no further than employee behavior—not an inside job, but innocent employees being tricked by the hacker.
A recent survey commissioned by Intel Security reveals that five of the top seven reasons that a ... Views: 913
The Dark Web, according to LeakedSource, got ahold of 33 million Twitter account details and put them up for sale. Twitter thus locked the accounts for millions of users.
Twitter, however, doesn’t believe its servers were directly attacked. So what happened? The bad guys may have ... Views: 652
Spring is in the air (if you’re in the northern hemisphere) and it’s traditionally a time to clean every nook and cranny and get rid of excess stuff in your house. But it’s also a good time to clean up your digital life. Just like your house, your digital life needs a good ... Views: 927
You have undoubtedly seen tips for protecting your home, but you might not have seen them all. In no particular order, here are 40 tips that you can use today to keep professional burglars from targeting your home and keep safe from hazards:
Install a peephole.
Keep your doors locked ... Views: 708
There are enough tips on how to protect your home to make a professional burglar dizzy. In no particular order, check them out:
Get a peephole.
If you don’t have a large dog, make it look like you do, but don’t be obvious. A worn, large leash draped over an outdoor chair would ... Views: 896
You take your car to the mechanic; it’s been making a funny grinding noise when you press on the gas pedal. The mechanic tells you what’s wrong and what needs to be fixed, then socks you with the estimate.
How can you tell he’s not embellishing a lot of the ... Views: 949
Hackers are out there, and they have their eyes on YOU! So, you are the first line of defense against them. Do you know how to make your smart phone or computer more difficult for hackers to access? Here’s five tips to help:
Password Information
You would think that these days, ... Views: 551
At the start of the year, we all made our resolutions for 2015. Now it’s March—how are you doing on your resolutions? If you’ve already broken a few, no worries; New Year’s doesn’t have the monopoly on making goals to better yourself. This is especially true with ... Views: 1002
If you’ve decided to avoid getting a home security system, I’m banking that the reason is at least one of the myths described below. Check them out:
“I have nothing valuable inside.” First of all, unless a burglar has X-ray vision, he’s going to have to break in ... Views: 983
Cane
If you use a cane, take “cane-fu” classes if possible. Yes, it’s a thing.
A sturdy cane with a strong handle works best.
Do not assume you can fight with a cane just because you need one to walk.
Avoid a cane with a hidden knife or sword unless you specifically ... Views: 793
There are numerous subspecialties within the booming cybersecurity field[i]. Here are some of the most in-demand professions:
Cybersecurity Engineer: This is the all-around, jack-of-all-trades, go-to guy or gal of cybersecurity. For all intents and purposes, a cybersecurity engineer is a ... Views: 891
It’s up to the potential victim—the user—YOU—to make your computer or smartphone very difficult for Joe Hackster to infiltrate.
Passwords
Being that cyber crime has been a fixture of modern living for over a decade, you’d think that everyone and his brother ... Views: 862
When getting on a flight many business professionals connect online. It’s common these days to see a number of people on an airplane busy at their laptops—business-looking people dressed in suits, eyes pasted to spreadsheets, charts, graphs and other grinding tasks.
How many know ... Views: 1073
10 years ago, many of us were hearing about social media for the first time. Now, social media plays a giant role in our lives, allowing us to share pictures, connect with family and friends, and get updated news. Through social media, we can express ourselves to our inner circle and the ... Views: 1013
“On the Internet, you can be ANYBODY!”
Not quite. Remaining anonymous in cyber space isn’t as easy as it used to be. Your browsing habits can be tracked, leading to your true identity. But there are things you can do to remain as anonymous as possible.
Don’t feel ... Views: 1459
Frosty the Hackman is teaming up this season with the Grinch to scam people out of their money. Shopping online is a godsend, but it brings with it a pristine opportunity to be ripped off.
Avoid Phishing Scams. Never click on links inside e-mails even if they’re (allegedly!) from ... Views: 910
One of my favorite commercials is a guy working out with his personal trainer. The trainer asks him if he’s been eating his vegetables every day. When he replies, “When I can,” the trainer bops him on the head. He could have had a V8!
Just like the man thought that eating ... Views: 1031
Be honest. Do you have a key to your house under your doormat or a flowerpot? If you do, you might as well put a sign out that says “Come rob me.” This isn’t to say you shouldn’t have a key somewhere, though. After all, you might need it one of these days. However, there ... Views: 685
The biggest mistake that you can make to threaten your online safety is to treat the online world different—as far as your private information—than you would treat the physical world. In other words, if someone walked up to you and said, “Hi, can you please provide me with your ... Views: 932
When you hear the dictum, “You should protect yourself from identity theft,” do you equate this with pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with rocks up a hill? It would actually be more accurate to picture slicing into a fresh apple pie, because identity theft protection is as easy as pie. ... Views: 903
So what will you be doing this holiday season to avoid getting scammed? The scammers really come out of the woodwork during the holidays, waiting to snatch their victims. It’s easier than you think to avoid getting ripped off or getting your entire bank account sucked dry. Here’s how ... Views: 902
So, who’s on your holiday gift list this year? That list is a lot longer than you think; consider all the names of hackers that have not yet appeared on it. Scammers will do whatever it takes to get on your holiday gift list! Here’s how to keep these cyber thieves out of your ... Views: 792
Jeannette Tamayo was nine when she was abducted in June 2003, and exhibited a presence of mind that few adults would have in a similar circumstance.
Home from school, Jeannette entered her house, unaware that a man had been following her; he entered too, and that’s when the nightmare ... Views: 728
Cyber criminals are constantly trying to stay one step ahead of the good guys, and there is now another scam out there that you should know about: synthetic identity theft. Basically, the criminals take information from someone, and then make up the rest. They also often use fake Social Security ... Views: 571
You have surely heard of hackers, but do you really know how they work? Hackers are well known for being bad guys, though there are certainly good hackers out there too. Here’s a brief guide to help you understand how a hacker can hack:
Directions for Hacking are Easy to Come ... Views: 662
Remember the good ‘ol days when you thought of a finger pushing a button that launched a Russian missile that then sped at seven miles per second towards the U.S. to blow it up?
Little did we know back then what would one day be a way for the Superpowers to war on each other: cyber ... Views: 863
One of the reasons you—and many others—don’t have your alarm on during the day is because you know you’ll keep forgetting to turn it off every time you want to step into the garage or go outside. So you just keep it off. And that’s not smart because many home ... Views: 845
According to a new Intel Security study, more than 2,000 American parents and kids ages 8-16 were surveyed to unveil some interesting things.
79% of the juvenile respondents learned online safety from their parents.
35% of them said they’ve been a cyberbully.
27% of them said they ... Views: 982
“Wes” is a professional man who, if you saw walking on the street, you‘d easily imagine being jumped by a few teen punks and getting beaten up for his wallet. Wes is nearing retirement age, has a potbelly, doesn‘t work out, has grey hair—hardly an imposing figure.
But ... Views: 763
Women should never take a ride from a stranger because it’s dangerous – unless she’s paying the driver???
Wrong, of course. Uber and Lyft drivers provide paid rides to strangers as requested via the Uber and Lyft apps.
As of August 2018 WhosDrivingyou.org tallied the number ... Views: 657
Ransomware thieves sure know how to pick their victims—institutions that store loads of highly critical data that they need on a daily basis, that without—even just 24 hours without—can have crippling effects. This form of cybercrime is growing by leaps and bounds.
Recently ... Views: 743
You might feel pretty safe with your parents, but more and more stories are coming out about scammer parents—especially when it comes to getting into college.
By now, we have all heard of the famous faces who have gotten caught up in the college admission scandal, but they are not the ... Views: 511
Did you know that sometimes, the apps you use for your smartphone have access to your personal information and are capable of sharing it? Are you aware that your privacy can be invaded across the network board? That includes Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+ and more.
And how ... Views: 743
Of all the weird things that can happen to your iOS device, the latest is a relatively benign situation in which a string of text is sent to the phone…and it causes the phone to crash.
The phone will reboot if the particular nonsensical text string is received while the phone is locked.
Data ... Views: 776
Sell something called “SuperParent” or even the actual FlexiSpy — and all is swell. Frankly, I’m not opposed to monitoring a child’s phone, kids shouldn’t have phones anyways.
But sell something called “iStalk” or “StalkU,” well ... Views: 572
You have probably heard of password managers, and you probably think they are pretty safe, right? Well, there is new research out there that may might make you think twice, especially if you use password managers like KeePass, 1Password, Lastpass, or Dashlane. Frankly, I’m not worried ... Views: 510
A bear in the wild that wants to protect its young from another predator isn’t worried about manners. This is how people should feel when in circumstances that don’t feel right. The bear has a gut instinct not to let its young near a predator.
A woman who feels funny about getting ... Views: 804
You’d think with all the media attention regarding data breaches, hackers and identity theft, that consumers would be more focused on their privacy and how to protect their information from prying eyes. Surprisingly, almost 70% of the people are clueless about how a criminal might have got ... Views: 766
You might have heard about all of the scams out there, and think that you are pretty scam savvy. But, the truth is, most of us aren’t, and even a simple phone call could get you caught up in a big scam.
One such scam occurs when criminals call random phone numbers and ask questions, ... Views: 693
For the most part, the local police department does not prevent most assaults or burglaries. That would require a cop to be everywhere all at once. Not happening. However, they do their best to capture and arrest those who commit these crimes. And, preventing crimes goes way beyond getting a ... Views: 556
Even if you have the best security on your computer network, you might have noticed that you still seem to get hacked…or worse. Ask Equifax. Why is this happening? It’s probably because a member of your staff has made it easy for cyber criminals to get inside. It’s really ... Views: 603
Do you know what ATM stands for? For crooks, it stands for A Thief’s Moneymaker.
A new report from FICO says that “skimming” crimes have made their biggest spike in the past 20 years. This includes ATMs on bank premises, but of course, public ATM kiosks have seen the biggest ... Views: 790
Does your Lenovo computer have Superfish VisualDiscovery adware (a.k.a. spyware) installed? It’s possible if you purchased a Lenovo PC any time in September of 2014 and thereafter.
This Superfish software intercepts the Lenovo user’s traffic so that the user sees ads displayed ... Views: 922
You’ll probably be shocked to learn that last year, thousands of cars with keyless entry technology were stolen in London, says a report from wired.com.
But fact is, the more connected a vehicle is to the cyber world, the more hackable the vehicle is—and the hack could be to steal ... Views: 878
Some of us remember college dorm days, when students were envied if they had their own typewriter. These days, college students must have a personal laptop computer, and a smartphone, and their lives revolve around these connected devices. Such dependency should be proactively protected ... Views: 868
With seemingly more and more people being harassed, stalked and getting their identities stolen, the rate of background check requests (e.g., a small business owner hiring a private investigator) has increased quite a bit.
The background check is no longer some snoopy kind of thing for ... Views: 903