You’ve probably heard about online scams involving high-priced items allegedly for sale on web sites. Consumer sends money, item never arrives, victim loses thousands of dollars. But no one really falls for that, right? Wrong. In fact, $20 million wrong. Scams like that are so successful, and so pervasive, [Keep reading]
People are freaked out about drones being used by Peeping Toms, when the real privacy risk could be much more “innocent.” And embarassing. An Australian woman was recently photographed by a drone subbathing nude in her private backyard. Bad enough. But the photo was taken by a real estate agency [Keep reading]
Malicious software that researchers think has been used by hackers to attack critical infrastructure systems, such as trains and power plants in Ukraine and Poland, has been found in similar American systems, the U.S. government says. And while there is no sign hackers have used the software — called BlackEnergy [Keep reading]
You couldn’t get nine out of 10 Americans to agree that the sky is blue. So it’s remarkable that nine out of 10 say they have lost control over how their personal information is collected and used by corporations, a new survey released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center has found. [Keep reading]
Watch your inbox for emails from Home Depot. And treat them as potentially radioactive. Home Depot on Thursday disclosed that the massive hack it attack it discovered earlier this year is even bigger than previously thought. Computer criminals who stole 50-million-plus credit card account numbers also managed to take 53 [Keep reading]
Americans say they are worried about getting hacked, but many of them don’t take even the most basic steps to protect themselves, according to a study released Wednesday by Bitdefender. The firm’s research says that one-third of U.S. consumers don’t use anti-virus software, and 30 percent use the same [Keep reading]
“How often should you change your password?” Sounds like it should be a pretty easy question, right? After all, it gets right to the heart of most security issues that people face. Turns out, it’s a really hard question to answer. And that’s a problem, because as I spend more [Keep reading]
Digital criminals inventing and exploiting identities out of thin air, rather than impersonating real consumers, are a fast-growing menace, according to a new report from fraud-fighting firm ID Analytics. This relatively new form of identity fraud, called synthetic identity fraud, involves criminals using random Social Security numbers, mismatched names and [Keep reading]
Credit cards equipped with smart chip technology are slowing edging towards reality here in the States. On Friday, The White House announced it would start requiring government-issued credit and debit cards be equipped with chips. That means folks who receive federal benefits on debit cards will get new plastic with [Keep reading]
“You’re not liable for any fraudulent charges.” It’s a cheery phrase you’ve seen or heard dozens of times lately, usually said to help ease the blow of bad news: Your credit card has been hacked. “But don’t worry! A new card is on its way! Everything is fine! Smiley face. [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan