It's National Cyber Security Awareness Month in the US, and a group of companies, government entities, and nonprofit organizations kicked it off with some research. The survey from McAfee and the nonprofit National Cyber Security Alliance found that 90% of people surveyed responded "not completely" when asked how safe they feel from "viruses, malware and hackers while on the Internet." Their … [Read more...] about State of cybersecurity concerns: Study
social engineering
Helping Japan with our brains as well as hearts
It's important for us to point out to our children that millions of people are looking for ways to help survivors of Japan's earthquake-related disasters. This is the social norms approach that encourages everybody to take positive action. This is also an opportunity to teach media literacy, as we look at how people are helping via social-media tools and how they can be vulnerable in doing so – if … [Read more...] about Helping Japan with our brains as well as hearts
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’
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
Celebrity news, holidays & malware
Families certainly don't need computer hassles during the holidays, but this highly social time is right when everybody needs to be a little extra alert to social engineering. Here's what social engineering looks like this week, at the convergence of last-minute holiday distractions and the sudden death of a young actor, Brittany Murphy. "As a young star in movies that were highly popular with a … [Read more...] about Celebrity news, holidays & malware