Stop what you are doing. Walk over to your front or back door. Open it.
Look down at the doorjamb where the holes are—you know, where your doorknob and deadbolt locks (hopefully they are Schlage) go into the frame. Those 3/4-inch-ish holes [...]
It began with the laptop.
The laptop was the first portable internet-connected device that freed up millions to create a mobile workforce. Next was the smartphone, which didn’t really take off until Apple opened it up to developers and allowed [...]
Low-powered cellular base stations are often found in residential homes and small businesses where mobile coverage is scant.
The device, which also known as a femtocell, connects to DSL or cable connections and extends cellular coverage to a [...]
When a home security salesman comes a-knockin’, beware, pay attention and know what you are getting into.
He might not be who he says he is, or he might have tactics under his belt that will cost you big time.
WZZM reports, “For a couple [...]
We all do it. We probably all just don’t admit it.
Well I admit it—I’ve searched for that elusive picture of Kimye’s baby North (who I thought would be called Kadence, but I’m not in the know, which is why I’m on the search engines [...]
There are a reported 2.5 million cases of identity theft among the deceased every year.
Theft of deceased people’s identity happens partly because of the availability of public records coupled with the time it takes for credit bureaus, [...]
There are a number of scenarios you might be in where friends, family and colleagues need to jump on a (read: your) wireless connection, but they’d rather not pay a connection fee.
So if you have the goods right in front of you and they can [...]
Honesty is the best policy, right?
I’ve spent my life being honest, and do you know what is the most important lesson I’ve learned is? The truth hurts. And when you (meaning me too) says it like it is, someone somewhere isn’t going to [...]
Just about anything wireless is hackable today.
Everything—from PCs to mobiles to tablets to home automation devices to pacemakers to insulin dispensers and even cars—are hackable.
And now “smart” toilets.
CNET reports, “[Smart] toilets [...]
Hey merchants, yes you, BillGuard released a report that examined the grey charge problem among US debit and credit cardholders and the service costs impacting card issuers and retailers.
The report revealed 11 types of deceptive ‘grey charges’ [...]
This year, 17 such victims have reported a dating scam that has cost them a combined $700,000, says the North Carolina Attorney General’s office.
The typical victim is a woman in her early 60s. One victim sent her online Casanova nearly $1.3 [...]
Going home to an empty house.
Education.com reports that according to the U.S. census, one-third of all school-age children in the United States are, for some part of the week, latchkey kids—that is, they go home to an empty house or [...]
Christmas trees, mistletoe, candy canes, turkey and stuffing bring out scammers, phishers, burglars and identity thieves.
I’m not purposefully trying to be a Grinch here, but I’m just reminding you that good times, unfortunately, bring out [...]
Listen Here:
Fred Perrotta is an entrepreneur and travel junkie who co-founded the luggage company Tortuga Backpacks.
As a frequent traveler and tech startup consultant, Fred has tested dozens of travel apps and today, he’ll share his [...]
Listen Here:
Digital Marketing Strategist & Business Development Manager at the Lucid Agency, Molly Scott, will be discussing the Hummingbird update, Google engineer’s most recent algorithm, and the steps you can take to ensure continued [...]
Business or commercial identity theft happens when thieves use an existing business’ name to get credit, or they may bill a business’ clients for products and services.
Sometimes the Social Security number of a company’s officer or another [...]
Chances are good that in the coming year, you will be asked to provide your or a family member’s Social Security number (SSN) at least a few times.
And because of all you’ve heard about identity theft and all the advice like “never give [...]
Do identity protection services really work?
How effective are their scanning/monitoring methods? Can they truly protect consumers?
The answers may vary. Identity theft protection is designed to protect you from new lines of credit being opened [...]
It’s pretty simple.
Your mobile’s global positioning system (GPS) functionality allows location-based services to locate and publish information about your whereabouts on various applications and within the code of photos posted online.
Various [...]
The news of the NSA spying using PRISM should not come as a surprise to anyone in the intelligence community.
Electronic spying is as normal as breathing. And when a 27-year-old American traitor with little life experience (he was 15 when 9/11 [...]
If you understand what mobile criminals are trying to do, you can fight back.
The primary risks you should worry about are:
Financial fraud: Someone takes over your bank account, extracts money, or sets up a premium SMS scam where you pay for [...]
There’s something quite disconcerting when your child—a child who has not yet seen his 17th let alone 20th, 30th or yikes 40th b-day—declares he feels old.
Making matters worse he’s made this revolutionary statement not once but twice [...]
I first heard the word cancer when I was nine.
No, it was not pertaining to a grandparent or an elderly family friend. It pertained to my cousin, who was 11. She aspired to become a doctor.
She knew this was her calling since she was five. She [...]
Want to ruin a nice walk, dinner out, or scenic drive with your significant other?
Pull out the phone, tablet or laptop. We know it, and yet we do it anyway, all the time and in nearly every situation. We are on the verge of being alone even [...]
We live in a wired world…or should I say wireless.
Our techno gizmos, gadgets, and games. They’re ubiquitous.
Why just the other day I was at Barnes &Noble—I know what an archaic concept frequenting a book store when Kindle is so readily [...]
There are many different kinds of hackers; not all are bad.
For example, so-called white hat hackers are the good guys, computer security experts who specialize in penetration testing and other methodologies to ensure that a company’s information [...]
The number of households in the United States that rely solely on mobile phones continues to increase.
As of July 2011, 31 percent of households had mobile phones and no landlines. Additionally, almost one in six households used mobile phones [...]
Web tracking is all the rage with advertisers.
Social media sites are continually changing their privacy settings and revealing more than we are comfortable with. Privacy advocates aren’t happy…and consumers are annoyed.
In response to [...]
The internet has dissolved the geographical boundaries and technological limitations that have constrained organized crime in the past.
We now live with crime syndicates based in Russia, espionage sponsored by Asian nation-states, and botnets [...]
Malicious applications.
Categorized as viruses, they are generally developed by criminals with the intention of gathering personal information to commit some form of identity theft.
Currently, there are upwards of approximately 40,000 malicious [...]
OnGuardOnline.gov, co-managed by the Federal Trade Commission, is the federal government’s website to help you be safe, secure and responsible online.
OnGuardOnline.gov is a partner in the Stop Think Connect campaign, led by the Department [...]
The best thing about the “New Year” is committing to new or old resolutions and starting fresh.
Whether you are an individual or a small business, the following applies:
Delete. Go through your files, deleting and organizing as necessary. [...]
I got an email from a colleague:
Subject: “My Facebook account got hacked.”
I wonder if you could give me some guidance here –
I received the following email from Facebook:
——————————————————————–
From: [...]
IPhone 5
The “newest, best-ever, state-of-the-art” cell phone just came out. The I-Phone V. Does your teen want it? Have it? Beg you for it? My guess is yes! Seems like every month or so, the “newest and best cell phone” [...]
Friend ban
Teachers in numerous Massachusetts cities and towns are not allowed to “friend’’ students on Facebook or other social networking sites, and a number of other school districts south of Boston are considering a similar ban.
For [...]