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Whether working at our local coffee shop or checking sports scores on a plane, most of us use public WiFi all the time. Indeed, because public WiFi networks have become so ubiquitous, we no longer associate them with risky behavior. They’re a normal part of our daily lives. BUT is public wifi safe in 2022? But failing to understand the risks that are inherent to public WiFi networks, and not taking steps to protect ourselves when we use it is like leaving our front door unlocked when we go to sleep. Sure, if we do it once or twice, we probably won’t get robbed, but why would we take that risk? The simple truth is that most of us use public WiFi networks all the time. Only a few of us understand the risks, and even fewer are taking steps to adequately protect ourselves. The Risks of Public WiFi Networks […]

Last November I wrote an article titled The Cyber Threat Landscape Will Get Worse Before It Gets Better. I wrote that article based on how information security and governance experts were alarmed at a “broken cyber market” and how cybersecurity professionals believed they were “outnumbered by cybercriminals” as attacks surged during the Covid-19 pandemic. Well, just four months later I am writing the second part of my November article titled The Cyber Threat Landscape Will Get Worse Before It Gets Better: Part 2. I am writing this month’s article based on the following news headlines from just the last two weeks: Insurance Giant CNA Hit With Novel Ransomware Attack Total Identity Fraud Losses Soar to $56 Billion in 2020 Unemployment Benefits Fraud Could Cost $300 Billion Nationwide FBI: Over $4.2 Billion Officially Lost to Cybercrime in 2020 Just when you think the cyber threat landscape cannot get any worse – CNA, […]

Cyber-Thieves and ID Theft criminals never rest and continue to stay ahead of law enforcement, businesses, and consumers. And because of that fact, now is a great time for consumers and businesses to evaluate their cybersecurity posture – especially during the COVID-19 environment – with a focus on response and recovery. Why response and recovery? Because consumers and employees continue to click on phishing emails and organizations continue to experience data breach events such as ransomware. Two recent examples include Blackbaud (Blackbaud Ransomware Attack Gets Worse) and Twitter (Twitter Hackers Posed as Company IT Officials Making a Support Call). Blackbaud – a cloud technology company confirmed in early October that “stolen data also included bank account data and Social Security numbers, far more personally identifiable information than the company first thought.” Specific to Twitter, the New York State Department of Financial Services released its findings and concluded: “the hack was […]

  Pizza in Chicago, Gift Card in Montreal WHAT? When my card was rejected at a small café in Stockbridge, MA where we had just had lunch we made a quick call to our credit card company and they asked if we had purchased…   “…purchased 2 pizzas in Chicago and a $1000 giftcard to a fishing supply store in Montreal”. No Way! Clearly, we did not order a Pizza in Chicago and we had been hacked. We canceled the card immediately. But what if I hadn’t used that card that day? Then what?So began my education about Identity Theft. I vowed to look into an Identity Protection solution ASAP. I learned that Credit Card Fraud isnot the same thing as Identity Theft.   Credit Card Fraud is a potential consequence of identity theft. Here, a thief steals your credit card information and then makes purchases in a store or online. Most credit […]

Since people started working from home due to the COVID-19 crisis, risk has had gone up!  Medical ID Theft, financial and non-financial identity theft, fraud and scams have significantly increased. Keyword phrases such as cybercrime, cyber thieves, data breach, digital spying, identity theft, personal privacy, phishing, and reputational risk have been reported and written about relating to both individuals and businesses more than ever. As if it was not enough to constantly fight hackers and scammers at the office, most American workers are now fighting the same hackers, scammers and ID theft criminals remotely, from our “private” homes. Understanding that many people live their lives online through social media, dating websites, reading the news, and the use of smartphones – the COVID-19 crisis has increased access points to the American consumer and worker more than ever. One example of a new access point for many consumers is Telehealth. According to […]