This year's Norton Cybercrime Report found that a whopping 65% of Internet users worldwide – nearly two-thirds of us – have been affected by cybercrime. Well, whether or not your family falls into that 65%, if you ever wonder what that cybercrime looks like, the New York Times Magazine took readers inside that world this week. It tells the story of Albert Gonzalez, mastermind of the "the biggest … [Read more...] about Extraordinary look into how cybercrime works
Security
Beware ‘free public wi-fi’
Don't be tempted to use "free public wi-fi" when you or your kids want to go online waiting for a flight or in other public places. I certainly have been. But when I've yielded to temptation once or twice, I've closed right out of it, put off by the strange new symbol that turned up – different from the usual connected parallel curved lines where my MacBook's AirPort icon usually is. Turns out my … [Read more...] about Beware ‘free public wi-fi’
From real emails to fake profiles on Facebook
This is a heads-up for parents and kids wanting to avoid a cyberbullying trick. First, if kids have multiple email accounts (and many do), they do not want other kids to know any email addresses besides the one they used to sign up for Facebook. Michael Arrington at TechCrunch created an account at Facebook impersonating Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google. He said he was sorry in the first sentence … [Read more...] about From real emails to fake profiles on Facebook
US’s huge new ‘Stop. Think. Connect’ campaign
Smokey Bear has been replaced. Well, at least his slogan. A broad coalition of federal government agencies, businesses, and cybersecurity advocates wants this slogan – "Stop. Think. Connect" – ringing in everybody's ears as reflexively as "Only YOU can prevent forest fires" once did (I don't want to admit that I remember that). Of course, not everyone finds the slogan compelling – see why it gets … [Read more...] about US’s huge new ‘Stop. Think. Connect’ campaign
More spam in Facebook, Twitter
Don't be socially engineered. Tell your kids that social Web users really need to think before they click, because writing malicious code isn't cybercriminals' only skill. Increasingly it's social engineering, which usually involves being tricked to click on a link that is not what it appears. Attacks on Facebook and Twitter, the two social-media services on which malicious hackers are focusing … [Read more...] about More spam in Facebook, Twitter