Location-based services utilize geo-location information tied to your phones GPS and in some cases your carriers connection and even WiFi Geo-location or geo-tagging can be used on PCs, but is primarily applicable to mobile phones. The geo-location software usually obtains its data from your device’s Internet protocol (IP) address or your global positioning System (GPS) longitude and…
The web and especially the mobile web can be a minefield of malicious links luring you to click, so bad guys can infect your device. Search engines do their best to filter these sites out but nefarious criminals have found ways to get their scammy pages to the top of search through a process called…
So-called “gold farmers” play massive multiplayer online games, not for fun, but to accumulate virtual currency, or “gold,” which can then be sold to other players, despite the fact that most game operators explicitly ban the exchange of in-game currency for cash. Gold farming is so lucrative, people in China and other developing nations can…
To understand why EMV credit cards—or “chip and PIN” cards—are safer, first we must understand standard magnetic stripe cards. The familiar magnetic stripe, which can be seen on all credit cards carried in the United States, has been around for more than four decades. The security technology behind the magnetic stripe has been compromised, since…
Device reputation authority iovation published a report revealing that the number of fraudulent transactions originating from Europe has risen dramatically over the past two years. From April 2011 to April 2012, iovation prevented approximately 15 million fraudulent online transactions in Europe. That’s an increase of 60% over the previous year. The rate of European fraud…
As you pack your car for your next road trip, realize someone’s probably watching. Burglars watch. They look for signs you are traveling. They look for outside lights on 24 hours a day. They look for dark homes inside at nighttime. They look for no car in the driveway, mail and newspapers piled up or…
Knowing who enters and exits your business at all times of the day give the business owner greater control. Having the ability to limit unauthorized entry to your business to certain employees, ex-employees at different times of the day are just a few of the benefits of access control systems. Knowing you can help to…
One of the best and worst parts of traveling overseas is being immersed in a different language. My wife and I once got lost in Naples, Italy. When we pulled over and asked a stranger for directions, he answered in rapid Italian, which we don’t speak. We had no idea what he was saying, but…
With unit sales of smartphones and tablets eclipsing those of desktop and notebook PCs, cybercriminals will continue setting their sights on mobile, and increased mobile Internet use will continue exacerbating security and data breach issues. McAfee Labs™ points out today’s tablets are more powerful than notebooks were just a few years ago. Although their lack of…
Four years and six months doesn’t seem like a particularly severe sentence for a thief in Washington state who stole 15 people’s identities, including four police officers, created fake driver’s licenses, washed checks, and used “mules” to steal sensitive documents, make purchases with stolen credit, and sell the merchandise. The thief’s attorneys described him as…
