Criminals share the same calendar as you and I. Their lives are no different than ours. They anticipate the holidays and feel the same pressures to provide. But they “shop” in a different way than we do. I’m already seeing news reports of “Woman attacked while shopping” and “Teens jump man leaving jewelry store” The…
At one time everyone lived in the city, that’s all there was. Then suburban growth began and those who had money left the city for the suburbs. City inhabitants left back were often poor and where there is poor there seems to be crime. There are many obvious differences between suburbia and city life including…
For the past five years, Cyber Monday has been the marketing term for the Monday immediately following Black Friday. It is now one of the biggest online shopping days of the year, with 77% of online retailers reporting substantially increased sales. Scammers seek to take advantage of seasonal opportunities like Cyber Monday, so beware of…
Most major websites now install cookies on your computer, which track what you do online. Over time, these cookies develop a profile, which becomes your digital fingerprint, to a certain extent. You may have noticed after searching for a specific product, advertisements for that particular product or brand appearing on various other websites you visit.…
Security is all about layers of protection. The more layers that are put in place the more secure you and your family will be. For example, if you lock your doors that is one layer, but not enough. A home security system which includes an alarm, security cameras and even signage are all additional layers…
For some social networking sites, security is not a top priority. Some do not protect your data with the same vigilance you could expect from your bank, for example. Nor do social media require strong passwords. And if you use the same passwords for more critical sites, like webmail or online banking, having your social…
There have been thousands of privacy related news reports over the past year depicting social networks, Google, marketers and advertisers as evil privacy violators who are slowly sucking dry whatever privacy we have left. Facebook has been raked over the coals by advocates and watchdogs who say their tactics violate their own policies. In response,…
“Wikileak” is turning into a verb. This is when sensitive information in office document files such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Textpad, or PDF files can be easily copied, transferred, sold and leaked, all without the owning organization’s knowledge. It is easier than ever for sensitive information stored in electronic documents to be copied and publicly…
There’s dumb criminals and then there is this kid. A family was away from their home and had someone take care of some items around the house. Apparently the caretaker was doing some work on the exterior of the home and opened some shutters around a window and saw someone inside who wasn’t supposed to…
First thing I tell my seminar attendees is “The chances of anything bad ever happening to you is very slim. So don’t worry about. However you should still put these systems in place.” Are you a helicopter parent? An “alarmist”? Or Chicken Little: The sky is falling, the sky is falling! I heard somewhere along…
