Smart home devices can streamline a lot of your day-to-day tasks: With an internet connection and some simple automations, you may never have to carry house keys, turn off the lights, or touch your thermostat. But all of this convenience comes at a potential cost, as smart tech is vulnerable to attack by cyber actors, leaving your personal data and your privacy at risk.
CyberSecurity and Scams
Tuesday, September 30, 2025
How to set up a PASSKEY for your Microsoft account.
As we’ve said before, passwords are going away. Microsoft agrees—last year, it announced a goal of getting one billion users to embrace passkeys instead. As part of that effort, setting up a passkey for a Microsoft account is very easy. You might not have noticed, though, since most people don’t often go into account settings. You’ve likely only seen Windows asking to create and store passkeys for other services and sites you visit on your PC. Read this article to see how to proceed.
Apple Just Released an Important Update to Solve Some iOS 26 Problems.
It's an exciting time to be an iPhone user. There's iOS 26, of course, which brings a number of major changes to the platform. For the daring, there's the iOS 26.1 beta, which continues to build upon the foundation of Apple's latest OS. If that weren't enough, however, Apple also just dropped yet another iPhone update—this time intended mostly to fix problems with the last one.
Thursday, September 25, 2025
Another good article about how to keep your Windows 10 PC secure for the next year.
The era of Windows 10 is almost over. On Oct. 14, Microsoft will be stopping Windows 10 support, and there will be no more updates to the OS. If you can't upgrade to Windows 11, don't panic. For $30 you can snag a year of security updates to keep your OS safe. Alternatively, you can take advantage of this free option by enabling cloud backup and connecting it to your OneDrive account.
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Scammers are now faking the FBI's own website - here's how to stay safe.
FBI warns its scam reporting site is being spoofed. Here's how to be sure that you're going to the real site.
As Passkeys make progress, we need to ensure we understand the potential risks.
At this year's DEF CON conference in Las Vegas, white hat security researchers demonstrated how threat actors could use a clickjack attack to surreptitiously trigger and hijack a passkey-based authentication ceremony.
Monday, September 22, 2025
DNS - The overlooked Security aspect of Windows
For a long time, I never thought about what happens when I type a web address into a browser and hit “Enter.” In fact, your computer asks a DNS server where to find the site, and unless you’ve previously made changes to your settings, that request goes out in plain text, visible to any system your traffic passes through on its way across the network.
That doesn’t sit well with me, and if you’re a privacy- or
security-conscious person, it probably doesn’t sit well with you either. First,
I don’t like my ISP building a history of every site I visit, and I definitely
don’t want this data floating around where hackers or other bad actors could
intercept it, especially when using public Wi-Fi. This is why I encrypt my DNS.
7 Ways your Windows Computer can be 'hacked'
We tend to think of our personal computers as safe zones, especially when we have installed robust security solutions like antivirus and firewalls. But the truth is, hackers aren't always kicking down the digital door with brute force. More often, they're slipping in quietly through overlooked weaknesses, software loopholes, or social engineering tricks that feel totally normal until it's too late. The popularity and wide usage of Windows OS, along with its backward compatibility and broader attack surface, make it a common target for attackers.
Friday, September 19, 2025
Beware GOOGLE INVITES
📅 Invite from hell: One poisoned Google Calendar invite can trick ChatGPT into leaking Gmail if connectors are on. Apple folks recently got hit, too, with fake iCloud invites pushing PayPal scams. Different tech, same headache. Fix your calendar settings so only invites from people you actually know land on your schedule. In Google Calendar, go to Settings > Event settings > Add invitations to my calendar, and switch it to Only if the sender is known.
ANDROID USERS - Check your device for these BAD APPS
Hackers snuck 224 fake apps into Google Play, downloaded over 38 million times. Yes, you read that right. Disguised with names like CreateCreatives, Foocus, ChatGLM and ClapTrack (ahem, clap to find your phone?), they looked harmless but installed shady ads. Then came the real damage: The apps hijacked devices, silently launching invisible web browsers that ran 24/7, draining battery life, eating up data, slowing down performance and overheating phones, all to generate 2.3 billion fake ad views per day. Ad networks paid out as if real users were watching, while your phone was working overtime behind your back.
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Credit Report FREEZING is a must - Here are additional steps to take.
Putting freezes on your credit report (through ALL THREE agencies) is an important step in protecting your Digital Identity. Here's an article regarding additional steps you can take for protecting yourself as much as possible.
Veterans Benefit Administration source of info regarding Scams and Fraud
Fraud is increasing on a global scale, changing the way businesses and individuals protect themselves and their data. Veterans are often targets of fraud, and bad actors are becoming more sophisticated in their attacks. Veterans and their families have sacrificed much for our country and deserve to have their hard-earned benefits protected from fraud. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) designs and executes strategies for internal and external stakeholders to educate Veterans, their beneficiaries, and stakeholders on fraud prevention. VA’s priority is to protect Veterans’ and beneficiaries’ and ensure they are safeguarded against fraudulent activities.
Monday, September 15, 2025
Do Macs need antivirus software, or are Apple’s protections enough?
(Special THANKS to Noah for sending this out earlier today)
Do you need antivirus for Mac? Macs do get viruses and malware, but Apple includes its own virus protections in macOS that should keep you safe. We explain what they are and why they may not be enough.
11 warning signs your phone is hacked and what to do if it is.
We bank, search, shop, learn, and share our lives through our phones. Needless to say, there’s a lot of sensitive information stored on these pocket-sized devices, including passwords and credit card numbers. And as AI functionality becomes a standard feature on newer mobile operating systems, phones are storing even more personal data, queries, and user behavior.
A successful mobile phone hacking attempt can enable attackers to see saved data in real time. And with this kind of access, they can potentially commit identity theft, financial fraud, blackmail, and other crimes.
In this post, we’ll walk you through common warning signs of a hacked phone, how to confirm it, what steps to take next, and how to protect yourself from future attacks.
FTC wants the IT industry to help younger family members stay safe from AI "Companions"
The Federal Trade Commission is launching an investigation into AI chatbots from seven companies, including Alphabet, Meta and OpenAI, over their use as companions. The inquiry involves finding how the companies test, monitor and measure the potential harm to children and teens.
PLEX Breach - Read their advisory information here.
The Plex streaming platform had told customers to reset their passwords following a data breach. In an advisory, the company said users should also sign out of any connected devices that are currently logged in and enable two-factor authentication if they haven’t already.
Thursday, September 11, 2025
Don’t wait until your laptop is stolen! Change these 7 settings right now.
One day, you might lose your laptop. It could be stolen or it could be misplaced. But if you’re reading this right now and you still have your laptop with you, the advice is the same either way: be proactive and take steps to protect your machine ahead of time.
Why Do Scammers Target Older Adults?
Research shows that people over the age of 60, though, are especially at risk. The FBI reports that older adults are the most frequently targeted group...and they lose the most money. In just one year, nearly $5 billion was reported lost to online scams by this demographic. Experts agree that the actual number is likely even higher due to underreporting. Why is this the case?
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Microsoft Promises Windows 10 Users Free Security Updates for a Year – but There Are Strings Attached
Not ready to move on to Windows 11? You can pay for another year of Windows 10 security updates, or you can take advantage of this free option.
Traveling soon? 5 simple ways I thwart phone thieves.
Phone theft is on the rise. Here are a few simple but effective things anyone can do to protect their device while on the go.
Saturday, September 6, 2025
The latest tools for ensuring your cellphone is safe!
Criminals are getting a lot smarter—and more aggressive—about attacking your cellphone. Mobile-specific attacks—from fake toll-road messages to AI-powered robocalls or virtual SIM-swaps that hijack your number—increased by 50% in 2024 over the previous year, according to cybersecurity firm Kaspersky. And with artificial intelligence on the march, phone-based fraud is growing more sophisticated by the day.
This Android Malware Is Spreading Through Facebook Ads
Threat actors are once again using Meta's advertising platform to distribute malware. This time, it's a form of Android spyware known as Brokewell, and it's spreading through a malvertising campaign on Facebook. According to researchers at Bitdefender, cybercriminals are running ads that promise free access to TradingView Premium, a market tracking and investment app, for Android mobile users. Clicking on the fraudulent ads, which use TradingView's branding and, in some cases, images of Labubus, leads to users downloading and installing malware on their devices.
Looking for a PC security/anti-Virus solution? Here's a comparison article for your homework.
Windows computers come with security software baked into the OS, but for some folks, an upgrade can help demystify and simplify security. To help you choose a good suite, PC Magazine identified products that offer excellent protection, worthwhile features, and minimal performance impact on your computer..
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Google refutes story that GMAIL users need to reset their passwords
Google has disputed a widely reported story about the company warning all Gmail users to reset their passwords due to a recent data breach that also affected some Workspace accounts.
This claim was covered by numerous news outlets, as well as cybersecurity firms, which published stories about the so-called "urgent warning" asking 2.5 billion Gmail users worldwide to enable two-step authentication and reset their passwords.
However, as the company explained on a Monday blog post addressing these inaccurate stories, "Gmail's protections are strong and effective, and claims of a major Gmail security warning are false.
Monday, September 1, 2025
AI Browsers pose current risks - Read these articles to learn more.
AI browsers have a critical flaw: They can’t tell safe commands from malicious text. Patches help, but guardrails are essential to keeping your data safe.
Click here to read the article.
Are You Letting AI Browsers Put Your Data at Risk? What the Comet AI Vulnerabilities Mean for You.
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