Recently, my mother-in-law discovered that a pretty significant piece of jewelry had gone missing. There had been a number of construction workers in the house for a few weeks and when she went to get her jewelry, it was gone. After searching like a crazy person under/in/on top of everything, she called the police. When…
A recent study estimated that nine out of ten undergraduate students will own a smartphone by the time this year’s crop of freshmen is slated to graduate. As this demographic grows, college students are increasingly at risk of having their privacy compromised. Mobile-using students also tend to use unprotected public WiFi networks more, which adds…
As we all migrate towards using smartphones and tablets, we need to be aware of the risks associated with them. Most of us know that we need to protect our computers with security software, but we don’t always take that precaution with our mobile devices. In fact nearly 75% of Americans do not use mobile…
According to a study done by the World Bank, money sent home by expatriates last year totaled a staggering £335 billion (about $509 billion) – or three times the amount of global aid budgets. It’s common for workers all over the world to supplement the incomes of their families back home, but the current amount…
NFC is an acronym for near field communication, a wireless technology that allows devices to talk to each other. In the case of a mobile wallet application, those devices would be a mobile phone and a point-of-sale device, such as a credit card reader at a checkout counter. NFC can be used in other ways…
Most of us are aware of spam, and while we may think it’s just an annoyance, what’s really dangerous about it is the fact that most spam are phishing attempts. Phishing is when cybercriminals attempt to fraudulently acquire your personal information, such as passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy person or…
Tax season is now upon us, and more than ever, we are opting for the convenience of filing taxes online (81% of us did in 2012). While filing online may be faster and more convenient, there is also some risk that you need to be aware of. During 2012, the IRS discovered $20 billion of…
Free societies really have no idea what it’s like to live in a censored and controlled nation that locks down the internet and filters what citizens are allowed to consume. Imagine wanting to login and research information on health or find a friend online or simply watch some funny videos on YouTube…only to discover that…
Those out-of-the-blue credit card charges that sneak up on us and require our time, attention, persistence and aggravation to squelch are called grey charges. Thanks to these insidious leaks, millions of people lose billions of dollars. Sleazy, scheming merchants have perfected the art of the grey charge by capitalizing on the fact that we don’t…
The word friend is defined as “one who entertains for another such sentiments of esteem, respect and affection; an intimate associate.” But that definition seems to have gone out the window with the advent of social networks. Studies show 50% of people will accept a Facebook “friend” or LinkedIn invitation from a total stranger. So do you…
