It was heartbreaking to watch the reports of Hurricane Ian as it landed on the west coast of Florida. The damage and losses left in its wake will be overwhelming and catastrophic for Floridians; the toll will become clearer over the next few days. While we all feel a sense of hurt and loss for
Privacy Tips
Privacy Tip #344 – Advocacy Groups Urge Senators to Advance Bills Protecting Children’s Data
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Children's Privacy, Privacy Tips
Provider groups and privacy advocates have joined together to put pressure on Congress to pass two bipartisan bills designed to bolster children and teens’ privacy.
The Kids Online Safety Act (S. 3663) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (S. 1628) were both passed out of the Senate subcommittee with bipartisan support. That’s…
Privacy Tip #343 – The Pros and Cons of Password Managers
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity, Privacy Tips
With the recent announcement by LastPass that it was hacked, and source code was compromised (LastPass is reporting that no passwords were compromised) [view related post], I thought it timely to remind readers about the pros and cons of using a password manager.
Basically, the biggest pro is that you have your passwords in…
Privacy Tip #342 – If You Use Twitter, Be Aware and Stay Tuned
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
This week, in addition to the news-catching, ongoing dispute between Twitter and Elon Musk, Twitter’s former head of cybersecurity, Peiter Zatko, claimed in a whistleblower filing with several federal agencies that Twitter has “extreme egregious security deficiencies,” which are being described as “dangerous data privacy and security risks for Twitter users.”
Following Zatko’s claims…
Privacy Tip #341 – Avoid Back-to-School Online Shopping Scams
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Children's Privacy, Privacy Tips
It’s back-to-school time and every parent I know of school-aged children is scouring lists provided by schools to purchase items for their kids’ first day.
It is easy and convenient to purchase these items online, but online shopping poses greater risks of fraud than shopping in retail stores.
Because of that, the Federal Trade Commission…
Privacy Tip #340 – Smishing Scams Reminder
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity, Privacy Tips
The Twilio and Cloudfare smishing attacks [view related post] provide a timely reminder of how sophisticated smishing attacks are and how they can affect businesses and their customers. But threat actors don’t just attack businesses– they also attack individual users, hoping to trick them into giving the threat actors credentials for access into personal…
Privacy Tip #339 – Scammers Take Advantage of Disaster Victims
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Cybersecurity, Privacy Tips
Seeing the victims in Kentucky following the devastating floods is heartbreaking. Even more distressing is seeing those who are trying to help by donating funds to the relief effort victimized as well.
Scammers know that people with good hearts who are trying to help others are susceptible to relief scams. All they are trying to…
Privacy Tip #338 – Be Aware of Apps Infected with Malware
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
Like all technology, mobile apps can be infected with malicious code, or malware, which is intended to gain access to your mobile phone when you download the app. Although app stores try their best to not allow malicious apps to get into the store, monitor apps once they are included in the store, and delete…
Privacy Tip #337 – FBI Issues Warning About Cryptocurrency Apps
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
On July 18, 2022, the FBI issued an Alert advising consumers that fraudulent cryptocurrency apps have caused more than 244 victims to lose nearly $43 million.
The fraudulent apps that cyber criminals used to steal funds from consumers were presented as banking institutions asking investors to deposit funds, and then not allowing them to withdraw…
Privacy Tip #336 – Facebook Accounts Stolen Through Phishing Schemes Using Messenger Chatbots
By Linn Foster Freedman on
Posted in Privacy Tips
Trustwave has reported a new scheme in which threat actors are using the popular Facebook Messenger platform to steal Facebook login credentials.
According to the report, the threat actors are using a phishing email to Facebook users that employs Meta’s Messenger chatbot feature. The message states that the user’s page will be terminated because the…