There is only one person that you can rely on to keep you protected in your online life – and that person is YOU! Because the bad actors on the network target people more frequently than machines, this means that we more likely to be the first point of contact in an exploit. We are ultimately responsible for keeping our online life secure. ...
If you are using one of these passwords or PINs to “secure” your computer, smartphone, or online accounts you are in danger of having your digital life cracked and compromised. The passwords have been cracked, are on sale on the Dark Web, and will be the FIRST passwords tried by an attacker. If you are using one of these, please change it now.
The ...
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Someone has stolen your user ID and password from a website where you have an account. Are you at risk? What are they going to do with it?
Unfortunately, even with the best security, passwords are stolen all the time from websites and cloud service providers. There are over 15 billion stolen credentials. Usually the passwords are solved using off-line brute force password cracking methods, and then packaged up and sold on ...
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No matter how good a job you do of creating long, strong, unique passwords, keeping them secret and secure in a password manager, it all goes awry when a vendor site we have used gets breached, and has our user names and passwords stolen. This is where a web site such as Troy Hunt’s HaveIBeenPwned.com comes in.
I have set up an account at HIBP, and get regular ...
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A quick Saturday digest of cybersecurity news articles from other sources.Last week, the FBI, that bastion of sage privacy and security advice, issued a blog post out of its Portland field office warning cyber Monday shoppers that their smart TV is a little too smart, and likely watches you as much as you watch it. The ...
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Your Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is one of the top targets of cyber-criminals. This information is valuable because it can be used for identity, fraud, tax refund fraud, loans and credit card applications, money transfers, phishing and spam campaigns, blackmail and extortion, fraudulent medical insurance claims, online shopping, and so much more. This information is packaged and sold on the Dark Web, and ...
Creating and remembering strong (long) passwords is a chore, and leads to poor security practices such as shorter passwords, reuse of passwords, and writing down passwords in a password list or book that could be stolen. The best way to create strong passwords and store them for use is a password manager.
The easiest password managers are found in popular web browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. Safari uses the Apple ...
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The password represents one of the weakest links in the cybersecurity chain, and is frequently one of the opening points of an attack. Passwords can be collected in cleartext through phishing exploits such as an email link that directs you to a fake login page, or social engineering ploys such as bogus calls from “IT” or “tech support,” or keylogging software that captures the entire user name/password/web address triad. Passwords can ...
You might have heard that the founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, recently had his Twitter account hijacked. You are probably wondering how a tech-savvy founder of a technology company could possibly lose control of his account at his own company. Personally, I can’t think of anything more embarrassing. It turns out the culprit was his phone. Specifically, the SMS texts that ...
Is your home Wi-Fi router a gateway to invasion by cyber-criminals? According to recent findings by Consumer Reports, it very well could be. They tested 29 popular home routers, and were only able to recommend 6 basic Wi-Fi routers, and 3 more expensive Wi-Fi mesh routers. Mesh routers allow you to install several Wi-Fi access ...