Encryption is the science of encoding and decoding secret messages. It began as cryptography—the ancient Greeks used it to protect sensitive information that might fall into the hands of their enemies. More recently, governments have used encryption for military purposes, but these days the term if often used in reference to online security. Encryption is…
Medical identity theft is the deadliest form of identity theft—and I say this without hyperbole or exaggeration. When financial gain is the general motivation for stealing medical information, insurance cards, records, etc., the crime is a form of account takeover fraud. Medical identity theft—the real kind—occurs when the thief’s motivation is obtaining medical procedures or…
Grey charges: “Deceptive and unwanted credit and debit card charges that occur as a result of misleading sales and billing practices.” Technically, grey charges aren’t considered fraud because the legalese spells it all out, and trusting consumers sign on the dotted line. Merchants know levying grey charges is legal, but they also know it’s unethical,…
Security is one of those topics we’d rather not discuss because it requires us to acknowledge the fact that we are vulnerable to miscreants bent on doing harm. Sorry, but this is Real Life 101 here—which, unfortunately, means most people don’t do anything about their security proactively; hence, so many people are victimized and end…
By David Geer (bio: http://www.linkedin.com/in/daviddgeer) “A mobile phone is lost every 3.5 seconds. More than half of those devices are smartphones. 40% are not password protected.” – Identity Theft Expert, Robert Siciliano Smartphones outnumber PCs. Though the devices are more personal than “personal” computers, they can certainly be less secure. Malware (mal = bad, ware…
Look, I hear this all the time: “I want to respect my children’s privacy, but I also want to keep tabs on them.” OK, I get it. Kids need their privacy. But at what age does that start? In my mind, they can have their privacy at 18 years of age—because up until that time,…
Your home is your castle, as they say. This means it’s supposed to be a place of safety, security and respite. But what happens when it’s burglarized and it’s no longer that safe haven? I’ll tell you: people move. And they are never the same after. Let’s face it—people are crazy. Some studies have shown…
These days, it’s not uncommon for us to connect to Wi-Fi wherever we go. In fact, we’ve come to expect there will be a Wi-Fi connection—at hotels, coffee shops, airports, and now even on some flights—pretty much everywhere. While the ability to connect just about anywhere is convenient, it also has opened the door for…
Do identity protection service really work? How effective are their scanning/monitoring methods? Can they truly protect consumers? The answers may vary. Identity theft protection is designed to protect you from new lines of credit being opened in your name—and along with the recovery/restoration component, it’s designed to clean up the mess. It’s safe to say I’m…
It’s pretty simple: Your mobile’s global positioning system (GPS) functionality allows location-based services to locate and publish information about your whereabouts on various applications and within the code of photos posted online. Various applications allow you to “check in” using your mobile and share your whereabouts with the world. These applications tap into your device’s…
