Do we really get wiser with old age, or just more vulnerable to all the scammers out there? Here are the top scams directed towards senior citizens. IRS The phone rings; it’s from the IRS, claiming you owe money. Caller ID says IRS (spoof technology). Caller says if you don’t pay within 24 hours, you’re…
UL in this case stands for Underwriters Laboratories. An article on darkreading.com notes that a UL official, Maarten Bron, says that they are taking part in the U.S. government’s plan to promote security certification standards. The U.S. government is interested in developing a UL-type program directed at computers and smartphones. This initiative will encourage the…
Just what kind of punishment should a 17-year-old get for making fraudulent 911 calls (a crime known as swatting)? This happens more than you think. What’s outright astounding is how these teens could think they won’t be discovered. Have they been living in a cave all their lives, using a torch for light? A 17-year-old…
Cybersecurity professionals are always in demand[i]. Threats to intellectual property and sensitive data constantly evolve with technology, which means a security professional’s job is never done. There’s always another security problem to solve. Consider the recent proliferation of cyber attacks: it’s become easier and easier for a small group of people to compromise vast networks…
Maybe you don’t mind the ads for that bicycle rack following you around in cyberspace after you visited a site for all things bike, but browser trackers (“cookies”) also create a profile of you that gets sold to other advertisers and third parties. Are you doomed to be stalked forever by bike ads? This is…
People who don’t believe they have been brainwashed by the film industry, which repeatedly shows men in a brawl who are still standing after each have received a dozen punches to the head and face. Sometimes it takes five full minutes to just daze a man, after he’s been hit in the face over and…
If you reach your hand to a strange dog loose on the street to pet it on top of the head, and it mauls your hand, whose fault is this? One camp would put most of the blame on the dog owner. But most people would blame the victim. But everyone with half an ounce…
When you subscribe to an online service, be careful of how much information you give out about yourself. Most businesses in their terms and conditions, say they “respect your privacy.” But what if these companies go under or are sold? An article from the online New York Times explores this concept. Today’s market-data-hungry-businesses can gather…
Burglars get burgled, muggers get mugged, and hackers get hacked. This includes a sophisticated ring of hackers: Hacking Team, hailing from Italy, specializing in selling hacking software to major governments. An article on wired.com describes how a “400 gigabyte trove” went online by anonymous hackers who gutted the Hacking Team, including source code. Even their…
Let’s look at the top 10 scams (random order). Charity A fraudster claims to represent a charitable organization. Such scams can operate ring-style, such as one out in Colorado some years ago in which women wearing crisp white dresses that resembled the dresses nurses used to wear, and also wearing white caps (like a nurse),…
