A common sentiment, shared by many people down the years, is that storing passwords in browsers is a bad idea. Malware, for example, would specifically target password storage in browsers and plunder everything in sight. Password managers weren’t exactly flying off the shelves back in 2007, your only real options were home grown. People ended up saving logins in all sorts of odd places: Text … [Read more...]
January 22, 2021
January 22, 2021
Are TikTok’s new settings enough to keep kids safe?
TikTok, the now widely popular social media platform that allows users to create, share, and discover, amateur short clips—usually something akin to music videos—has been enjoying explosive growth since it appeared in 2017. Since then, it hasn’t stopped growing—more so during the current pandemic. Although the latest statistics continue to show that in the US the single biggest age group (32.5 … [Read more...]
January 20, 2021
January 18, 2021
What’s up with WhatsApp’s privacy policy?
WhatsApp has been in the news recently after changes to its privacy policy caused a surge of interest in rival messaging app Signal. Initial reports may have worried a lot of folks, leading to inevitable clarifications and corrections. But what, you may ask, actually happened? Is there a problem? Are you at risk? Or should you keep using your apps as you were previously? Setting the … [Read more...]
January 15, 2021
How a VPN can protect your online privacy
Have you ever experienced the feeling of relief that comes when you do something silly, but you’re glad you did it where people don’t know you? Or maybe you wished you were somewhere like that, but alas… That is what a Virtual Private Network (VPN) can do for you: it can put you in a place where you are unknown. To determine if and when you need a VPN, you must define what … [Read more...]
December 22, 2020
December 17, 2020
Smart toy security: How to keep your kids safe this Christmas
Christmas is coming, and so are the smart toys. The ever-present pandemic has meant a lot more staying at home this year. Videogame playing has increased considerably, because why not? Screentime for kids has gone up, because again, it’s bound to. It hasn’t brought about the end of civilisation and the kids are still alright. You’d expect a big surge in smart/IoT toys all over the place given … [Read more...]
November 5, 2020
Prop 24 passes in California, will change data privacy law
First-day returns in California showed voters firmly approving to change their state’s current data privacy law—which already guarantees certain privacy protections that many states do not—through the passage of Prop 24. As of the morning of November 4, according to The Sacramento Bee, 56.1 percent of California voters said “Yes” to Prop 24. At that time, 65.3 percent of the state’s votes had … [Read more...]
September 29, 2020
Caught in the payment fraud net: when, not if?
Sometimes, I think there are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and some form of payment fraud. Security reporter Danny Palmer experienced this a little while ago, and has spent a significant amount of time tracking the journey of his card details from the UK to Suriname. His deep-dive confirmed that it is easy to become tangled up in fraud, even if you’re very careful. I myself have … [Read more...]
September 17, 2020
