I recently read an article at CNN.com about a young mother of three that took nude pictures of herself. In 2013, she was contacted and asked to pay $3,000 to keep her pictures from being published online. She thinks the perpetrator got her pictures from her stolen phone or laptop. She did not pay. Her … Continue reading
BUY THE RIGHT COMPUTER THE FIRST TIME
Soon, many people may be in the market for a new computer for themselves or as a gift for someone else. I got my first computer in 1988. I started advising people what to look for in a computer in 1990. Warning, many people will tell you that I am not a bargain computer type … Continue reading
LURED: ONLINE GAMING
Outside of my full-time job, I speak to parents about keeping their kids safe online. Not too long ago I spoke at a local Catholic school. Based on the number of parents that came up to me after the presentation, a certain topic hit home. Many of the parents did not think about online gaming … Continue reading
PREVENT VS. FIX: PROTECT YOUR DIGITAL LIFE
PROTECT YOUR DIGITAL LIFE IN A FEW EASY STEPS More than ever, we rely on our digital devices and seemingly are always connected to various services, networks or apps. Hackers know this and are always looking for ways access your device or data, often without you even knowing it. Here are a few ways to … Continue reading
KRACK
Do you have a wireless network (Wi-Fi) at home? Who doesn’t these days? There is a 99% chance that you are vulnerable to the KRACK attack. No, you did not do anything wrong. Even if your phone, tablet, PC or router was updated as recently as a week ago, you are still vulnerable. As you … Continue reading
PASSWORD – I’LL SHOW YOU MINE IF YOU SHOW ME YOURS
How strong is the password you use most often? I went to howsecureismypassword.net and typed in my Gmail password. My password is pretty secure. As you can see below, it will take 552 quadrillion years to crack my password. Test your password. Go to howsecureismypassword.net and type in your password and see how strong it … Continue reading
IT’S TIME FOR A SECURITY CHECK UP
You have probably heard about the most recent technology security problem. The personal data of 6 million Verizon customers were leaked online. Verizon said that the problem was the result of a misconfigured security setting on a cloud server. The error made available online the names, phone numbers and PIN codes of customers. Unless you … Continue reading
The Blue Whale Challenge – Is Your Teen Doing It?
[NOTE: Since researching this game, several websites (snopes.com, netfamilynews.org, and webwise.ie) are suggesting that this game may be the result of fake news. Fake or not, the more teens that read about it, some may actually start doing it. I do know one thing for sure. The daughter of a friend started playing this game a … Continue reading
WANNACRY DECRYPTOR WILL MAKE YOU CRY
WHAT IS WANNACRY It is a version of malicious software (malware) called ransomware. Typical ransomware locks your computer and does not unlock your computer until you pay the amount of money\ransom that the hacker wants. I first wrote about ransomware in 2012. I said that the use of ransomware would increase. It is very … Continue reading
YELLOW IS GETTING HOT
There is an app called Yellow that is increasing in popularity. There are many that call Yellow “Tinder for kids.” For those that don’t know what Tinder is, it is a dating app that adults use to primarily locate hook-ups. WHAT IS YELLOW Yellow helps you find and make new friends on Snapchat and … Continue reading
