It’s that time of year again: tax time! And that means it’s also high season for identity thieves and scammers. Millions of people are affected by fake tax return filings every year. And while we’re talking about tax return fraud, we should take the opportunity to discuss some other tax and Social Security scams, as
[UPDATED 1/25/2020] I’ve removed the introduction to this list. If you’re not already convinced that privacy is a basic human right and that we (as consumers and as citizens) need to actively demonstrate our desire for privacy, read this. Action Plan Here’s your action plan for Data Privacy Day. You can do all of this
Despite being available for seven years, less than 10% of Google users have taken advantage of two-factor authentication. This is according to Google engineer Grzegorz Milka, who quoted this figure at a recent tech conference. And yet, two-factor authentication (2FA) is probably the best option today for most people to lock down their online accounts.
I just read an entertaining and interesting story that was published about 16 years ago in Willamette Week, an indie newspaper in Portland, OR. This article was published shortly after 9/11 and the sweeping new government surveillance powers that came as a result. In particular, the article discussed a rather disturbing investigative technique used by
It’s been a pretty bad week for Apple software, both for their macOS computer software and their iOS smartphone and tablet software. But today I’m going to focus on a truly horrendous software bug that somehow slipped through Apple’s normally stellar quality control process. This one screw up could allow someone to quickly and easily
[Update 2019-04-07: While Quad9 is still a good option, you should check out Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 service which will come with a new free VPN service called Warp.] Evading malware can be difficult these days. The bad guys are very clever and surfing the Internet involves several complicated technologies. Software is rife with bugs and traps
Your primary portal to the Internet is your web browser. Choosing the right browser to increase your security and privacy can be hard to do, but in this article I will walk you through it and give you my personal recommendations. Furthermore, browser plugins can both help and hurt your browsing safety - I'll help
Every application you install on your smartphone comes with a set of permissions – a list of things it would like to access. This includes things like your camera, microphone, location, contact list, photos, calendar and more. While these functions allow your apps to do amazing things, they can also compromise your privacy. These permissions
With all the news of the Reaper malware that’s infecting Russia and Ukraine, and reminders of the disaster of last year’s Miria botnet, it’s a good time to review basic home network hygiene and best practices for securing the Internet of Things (IoT). What is the Internet of Things (IoT)? The Internet of Things, or
Editor’s Note: Yeah, this is a long article. But if you ever need to send files securely – files that contain financial, medical, or otherwise personal/private stuff – you need to know the techniques and concepts in this article. So read it carefully. Tax time is upon us once again here in the US of
