Uncategorized

AI agents aren’t safe enough – not yet, anyway. Too Cute by Half Meta has recently released a powerful new AI agent app called Muse. And before I get to the actual problems, I simply can’t resist being petty and jaded first. The Muse app comes with an adorable avatar which you can (of course) […]

It’s time once again for Hacker Summer Camp! This is the name given to a serious for three, world-renowned cybersecurity conferences in Las Vegas, Nevada, that are always held during the same week every year in early August: Security BSides Las Vegas, Black Hat and DEF CON. I came late to this party, but I’ve

Tax filing time is rapidly approaching here in the USA – which means tax scams are here, too. Let’s review some top tips for avoiding these scams. (While much of this article is focused on the United States, many of the same principles will apply globally.) Identifying Tax Scams Most scams have two key elements:

Be very judicious about which extensions (aka plugins or add-ons) that you install on your web browser. These add-ons can read your personal data, track the sites you visit, and alter the web pages you see. The Beauty of Standards A common joke in engineering is that the beauty of standards is that there are

If you live in the US, there’s just no good reason why you shouldn’t freeze access to your credit report, right now. Here’s why and how. Why Do I Need a Credit Freeze Now? I wrote a blog about this years ago and I have been recommending it in my book and on my podcast

Threat Technology just added me to their list of the 20 Best Computer Security Podcasts of 2021! Pretty cool. I managed to get on The Privacy Issue’s list of 10 Essential Privacy Podcasts a while back, which was great, too. It’s really hard to get noticed these days – there are so many podcasts out

This should comes as no surprise to my readers, but your “smart” TV is literally watching what you watch. It’s not watching you, it’s watching the screen. That is, it’s examining the images on your display in order to identify what you’re viewing. Why do they do this? Because they can. Smart TV Tracking Features

If you haven’t figured out yet that Google goes through all your stuff to find out all about you, then you haven’t been paying attention. So it should be no surprise that they scan your emails looking for interesting things that could be used to market products to you. (Along with your calendar, contacts, searches,

If you have a really old web browser, you really need to upgrade for many reasons, including security and privacy. This week you have one more compelling reason: retaining the ability to shop online. A Brief History of TLS When your web browser talks to a website like Amazon.com, the conversation is encrypted – so

Last week, Vermont become the first state in the US to implement real regulations on the data collection industry. Data brokers will have to register with the state and alert users when there’s been a data breach. They also must observe standard security practices to protest your data. Facebook has been in the news a