The introduction of chip cards, also known as EMV cards (named for the three companies that developed the standard: Europay, MasterCard and Visa), was supposed to curtail fraudulent credit card use; however, credit card fraud losses in the U.S. have actually increased since their introduction. In this article, we will…
There are many dangers to data security that business and leisure travelers face. This article will discuss three problems related to data security and how consumers can protect themselves: The physical peril of a device being lost or stolen. The vulnerability of having data intercepted via an unsecure connection. The…
Criminals do not stand still and they are always looking for new ways to defraud their victims. We will hear from an expert about what to expect from the fraudsters in 2017.
“Someone has your password.” Those four words, in an email claiming to be from “The Gmail Team,” set off a series of events that led to the hacking and leaking of private emails sent to and from the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The email was sent as part of a spear phishing attack…
In December 2016, Yahoo announced what is believed to be the largest ever breach of an email provider. Data associated with more than one billion user accounts was stolen in August 2013 but the theft was only recently discovered. That means that the hackers had more than three years to use…
Minutes count when a child is missing. When parents have the information needed by law enforcement at their fingertips, the search can begin immediately. That is one reason that having a Child Identification Kit (Child ID Kit) is important. A Child ID Kit includes a physical description of the child,…
Two of the most important rules for keeping accounts secure are to have long, complex passwords and to use a different password for each account. But how can consumers possibly hope to remember 10, 20 or more complicated password and user name combinations? One way is to use a password manager.
It is almost as if advertisers can read your mind! You were comparing prices on refrigerators, and now every site you visit shows advertisements for the very refrigerator you were looking at. How do they know? They know because you were tracked. Advertisers and media companies use tools including cookies…
Virtual Reality (VR) is an exciting technology. More than simply entertainment, VR is being used for applications in education, medicine and more. For example, VR is being used to treat PTSD in military veterans. Along with the benefits of VR come risks, though. The risks tend to fall into three broad categories: physical…
It is important to take precautions against downloading malware to your mobile device, but technology company CheckPoint.com discovered 36 Android devices that had been infected with malware before the users received them. According to CheckPoint, the malware programs included, “info-stealers, rough ad networks and a mobile ransomware.” This article will…
So-called “fake news” got a lot of attention during the 2016 election cycle, but it isn’t limited to political news. Anyone who uses social networks such as Facebook is likely to be familiar with the sensationalized headlines about celebrity deaths and scandals that are designed to get users to click,…
Quick quiz: Which password is more secure, ieatkale88 or iloveyou88? Most people might think both passwords would have the same level of security. Both have the same number of characters, both use numbers, but a study by Carnegie Mellon researchers revealed that one would take a billion times as many…
Keeping your family safe is a high priority, but it is not always clear how to do so. We will discuss how your family’s safety and security may be compromised online, what you can do to keep yourself and your children safe, and how to deal with cyberbullies, catfishers and…
It seems that every retailer, online and offline, has an app they want shoppers to download and use, promising savings and deals to shoppers in return. Scammers have noticed the popularity of retail apps and they are taking advantage of it by flooding the app stores with fake apps for…