Which Harry Potter character are you? Which Disney Princess are you? What cat is best suited to you? Which country best reflects your personality? Your Facebook feed may be filled with dozens of cute quizzes and surveys such as this. They can be fun, but answering those seemingly innocuous surveys…
In “revenge porn” private photos or videos are shared without permission. These images are usually sexually explicit and shared to embarrass the victim. Some may be posted to revenge porn sites, but more often they are posted to social media where friends and family of the victim will see them.…
Cryptocurrency has entered the mainstream, with companies including Microsoft, Dish Network and Overstock.com accepting payment in Bitcoin. Of course, Bitcoin is only one of many digital currencies in use. These currencies are not backed by any bank or government and use blockchain technology to record and reconcile all transactions. Cryptocurrencies…
Spammers and scammers have resorted to caller ID spoofing to mask their identities and to get consumers to pick up the telephone. We have all received robocalls, those annoying recorded calls that try to sell us something or try to scam us. The Federal Trade Commission received 4.5 million complaints…
Do you ever access the Internet using public WiFi? Most of us do at one time or another at the library, the coffee shop, a hotel or other public place. Public networks can be convenient, but the downside is that you never know who might see your data. One way to…
Is it time to say goodbye to your Facebook account? Facebook has a long history of privacy missteps, but the discovery that data was gathered from 50 million users without the users’ permission made people more aware of the volume of data collected and sold by Facebook. As a result,…
The landscape of cyberthreats is constantly changing. In this episode, we talk with a cybersecurity expert to learn what we can expect the greatest threats to be in 2018, and what consumers need to know to protect themselves and their families from the effects of malware and ransomware, data breaches,…
The 2017 Equifax data breach got a lot of attention, but credit reports are not the only data Equifax maintains on consumers. According to FastCompany, Equifax’s Work Number database regularly receives employment and salary data from a wide range of employers, “including 75% of Fortune 500 companies, 85% of the…
Smart technology, such as Internet-connected thermostats, locks, security systems, appliances and even lightbulbs, is attractive to home buyers and may help sell your home faster and for a higher price. A survey by John Burns Real Estate Consulting found that 65% of home shoppers would be willing to pay a…
Even if you have heard of “doxing” (or doxxing) you may not be clear on exactly what it means. Wikipedia defines doxing as “the Internet-based practice of researching and broadcasting private or identifiable information (especially personally identifiable information) about an individual or organization.” The term derives from “document tracing” which…
Phishing has been around a long time, and as consumers have gotten wise to the scammers tricks the criminals are getting more sophisticated. The days of poorly crafted emails, loaded with spelling and grammar errors, are long gone. Today’s phishing emails may look much like the legitimate emails they emulate,…
In September 2017, credit reporting agency Equifax disclosed that the personal information of 143 million American consumers was exposed in a data breach. The hackers got information including names, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and driver’s license numbers. Consumers were advised to take steps to mitigate…
DNA tests from vendors such as 23andMe and Ancestry were popular purchases during the 2017 Christmas season, with Ancestry selling about 1.5 million kits between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Although many people view these tests as a simple way to find out about their ethnic heritage and genetics, the…
A study reported by the New York Daily News found that 17 percent of teens reported being victims of cyberbullying, and 69 percent of the teens surveyed said they have done something abusive toward another person online. Dr. Lisa Strohman believes the misuse of technology is a significant factor in…