Your cell phone provider is also an internet service provider (ISP). Whenever you’re not using WiFi to connect to the internet, you’re using your cellular data plan. That means that your cellular provider has a front row seat to viewing everything you do on the internet. This mobile tracking includes all the apps you have
It’s accepted wisdom that credit cards are more secure than debit cards. A credit card purchase is a loan – you’re not out any money until you pay your monthly bill. Therefore, fraudulent charges (if caught) have no financial impact. But with a debit card fraud, that money is already gone from your bank account.
As of 9am this morning, I’ve seen one too many hair-on-fire “beware QR code” articles. I’m getting really tired of reading breathless, click-bait headlines extolling the dangers of these glorified bar codes. I need to set the record straight. It’s time to demystify these scary square symbols and debunk their mystical powers. What is a
As someone who commonly interviews people for podcasts, I’m writing this little article mostly for my own benefit – to share with potential guests. But I figure a lot of people will find this useful, so I’m going to make it public. iPhone (and iPad) On an iPhone, it’s the only switch on the device
I’ve long recommended Firefox as the best browser for most people (read this article to understand why). All in all, I find that it’s both secure and private, and it runs on all major devices and platforms. But Google’s Chrome browser remains king of the hill, by a long shot. What you may not know
NOTE: Promotion ends November 2, 2021! Last summer, I introduced a cool new challenge coin as part of a limited time promotion for new patrons – and now they’re back! If you missed them last time, here’s your opportunity to get one of my highly collectible and security-enhancing d20 coins! See my original promotion article
Apple just released a major update to it’s iPhone operating system: iOS 15. (Note that iPads will get many of these same features, too, from iPadOS 15.) As usual, there are tons of cool and useful features, but given my bailiwick, I’m going to focus on the security and privacy aspects. In this article, I’m
We’ve all come to rely heavily on access to the internet. Our smartphones, in particular, are mostly useless without it. Even games that have no need to connect to the internet to function still require access anyway (pssst: probably because they want to track you to make money). But we also have Kindles and laptops
Downloading software shouldn’t be difficult or dangerous, but sadly, these days it can be both. So I wanted to write up a short guide on how to download software safely. The Good: Operating System & App Store Software Apple, Microsoft and Google have made it easy and safe to update your operating system. That’s a
If you own a Western Digital (WD) My Live Book backup drive, you may have had a rude awakening last week when you found all your data erased. (If you do have one, but haven’t been hit by this, you should immediately unplug your drive from the internet and monitor the WD support page on
