With seemingly more and more people being harassed, stalked and getting their identities stolen, the rate of background check requests (e.g., a small business owner hiring a private investigator) has increased quite a bit. The background check is no longer some snoopy kind of thing for extra-curious people; it’s become a necessary tool in a…
One type of mistake that you should never have to learn from involves home security. Don’t wait till something bad happens to you to learn a lesson. Here are the top mistakes that people make; learn about them here rather than from personal experience: Leaving doors unlocked. Yes, leave your door unlocked often enough overnight,…
Frosty the Hackman is teaming up this season with the Grinch to scam people out of their money. Shopping online is a godsend, but it brings with it a pristine opportunity to be ripped off. Avoid Phishing Scams. Never click on links inside e-mails even if they’re (allegedly!) from Macy’s, Kohl’s or some other big-name…
Imagine that you want to pull up a certain file on your computer. You click on the file and suddenly a notice flashes on your screen saying your computer has been compromised and in order to get your files back, you need to pay up some money. This, ladies and gentlemen, is ransomware, a nasty…
You’re dreaming of a white Christmas, and hackers are dreaming of a green Christmas: your cash in their pockets. And hackers are everywhere, and are a particular threat to travelers. Prior to leaving for your holiday vacation, have an IT specialist install a disk encryption on your laptop if you plan on bringing it along;…
Have you ever wondered what kind of superpower you’d have? I’ve always wanted to send messages and ideas with my mind to others. My dream can sort of come true with near-field communications (NFC). You’ve might not have heard of NFC, but if you have a smartphone, there’s a good chance you’ve used it. If…
Charles Cullen of New Jersey may have murdered up to 400 people, though around 35 murders have been confirmed. He’s currently serving a sentence of 127 years. As a nurse, he killed patients at the hospitals he worked at. A form or mercy killing as he believed his actions to be. Unlike some serial killers…
A criminal can do a lot with “only” your Social Security number, says a report from darkreading.com. Okay, so he doesn’t have the name that goes with the number. Big deal—he’ll just make one up to go with it! This is called synthetic identity theft. And this crime has proven worthwhile for the crooks. Nowadays,…
How does my mobile phone know I like tools, electronic gadgets and tarantulas? It keeps showing me ads for these products! Christmas is coming and my kids like bugs, big bugs. How does it know? It’s called “supercookies”. And they aren’t yummy. If Verizon is your carrier, that’s why. Verizon uses a “unique identifier token…
“Don’t be afraid of the dark” is a reassurance that burglars never need; they need to hear, “Be afraid of the lights.” A house that’s often dark sends a flare to burglars that nobody’s home, or, at least, that nobody will see the burglar doing what he does best. Most people know of the automatic…
