The internet is not free. You are the product being sold. When you visit websites or use social media, it often costs you nothing upfront. No subscription. No payment. Just access. So how does that make you the product? Your interests, browsing history, and inferred personal data such as age, gender, and behavior can be collected and used to target you with ads. Not just on one website, but across the entire internet. Most people see ads and think, “These are annoying, I just

I recently received an email claiming my website was about to be suspended. The message claimed to be from Wix, my website host, and used a strong sense of urgency to try and get my attention. Naturally, I took a closer look. And honestly… it was pretty funny. Phishing email claiming to be from WIX We can start from top to bottom of the email. You can see its a "Compliance Notice" Looking at the sender, it comes from wixreportsystem.help@gmail.com Yes really, sent from a

Listen Mode – Audio Version When browsing online, you are bound to come across websites that may seem untrustworthy. Sometimes the site itself looks fine, but the ads or popups feel sketchy. This is extremely common and something every internet user should understand to stay safe. Websites, including this one, often display ads to generate revenue. These ads typically come from advertising networks such as Google or Amazon. However, that does not automatically mean the ads th

Transcript In 2013 a single overlooked email resulted in a data breach at Target, stealing the data of up to one hundred and ten million customers. A simple attack — targeting not Target itself, but a small heating and air-conditioning company in Pennsylvania. An email so ordinary, nobody thought twice before opening it. Inside that message was malware — silent, patient, and designed to steal. And that single moment would become the doorway to one of the largest retail data b

Half of America had their identity stolen in 2017, and barely anyone talks about it. Equifax, one of the largest credit reporting agencies in the U.S., was breached by hackers. And this wasn’t just a basic leak. Equifax holds some of the most sensitive data in the country, Social Security numbers, birthdays, driver’s licenses, addresses, everything a hacker needs to steal your identity. In total? 147 million Americans were exposed. That’s nearly half the adult population of t

Audio Version Firetools is an application that uses Firejail to create a sandbox environment. Specifically, Firetools refers to the graphical user interface (GUI), while Firejail operates in the background to manage the sandboxing. A sandbox is a secure environment that isolates applications from accessing other data on your computer. This differs from a virtual machine, which runs an entirely separate Operating System (OS) within your computer. Think of it like a safe room f

On Google Chrome, there is a feature called "Incognito Mode". Many users may use this feature to hide browsing history, stop cookies, or even stay hidden online. However, these same users do not fully understand how Incognito Mode works. Lets get into what Google's Incognito Mode does, and does not do. What Is Incognito Mode? Incognito mode is a feature in google that you can enable to have more private browsing. As seen in the image above, Google explains its ability and use

Session Hijacking (also known as session stealing) is a common attack method used to take over a user's session. Taking over a session means the attacker (hacker) can impersonate you when you're logged into a website or application. This allows the attacker to perform any action you can, such as sending messages to your friends or accessing your private information, all without needing your password or MFA. What is Session Hijacking? Session Hijacking occurs when someone (typ

Discord, a popular media platform, uses tokens to allow you to connect and stay connected to your account. This is a session token, and they often reset each session. This means if someone gets access to your Discord token, they essentially have access to your Discord account — no password needed. What Happens When Someone Gets Your Token? When someone else gets your token, they are then able to: Log into your account without needing your username or password. Bypass two-fact

A huge win for the cybersecurity community as well as for the security of all consumers. The FCC now must approve for Internet of Things (IoT) devices to meet security standards with the new Cyber Trust Mark. What is the Cyber Trust Mark? The Cyber Trust Mark is a new marking that IoT devices can Voluntarily agree to getting. This marking means that the device was sent to the FCC and inspected to meet high end security qualifications. If the IoT device has a FCC Cyber Trust M

Password managers are a special tool that can either be installed as an app or be integrated with another service. Google chrome has a password manager, when you put in your password, google will often ask if you want to save this password. Apple also has a built in password manager. Apples password manager even has the ability to generate strong passwords and use Multi-Factor Authentication . According to demandsage, the average person has around 100 passwords. Data reportal

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) are necessary security practices that must be implemented to prevent bad actors, such as hackers, from accessing an account. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is the practice of having extra security layers to log in, such as a message with an extra security code. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) is the same as MFA, however it is only when there is a single extra measure to protect an account. You can think

Discord phishing issue with fake links that may lead to account loss.

In 2023, a corporation known as 23andMe suffered multiple credential stuffing attacks to their users. 23andMe collects genetic DNA information to match with others. The credential stuffing attack led to 5.5 million records and profiles ending up online. ( Bitdefender, 2023 ) What Is Credential Stuffing? Credential stuffing is a type of attack that mainly exploits users' inadequate security habits. Typically, when a user registers for a service, they input login details. It is

In cybersecurity, a brute force attack is a technique used to gain unauthorized access to an account through sheer persistence. When setting up an account online, you usually provide your email address and set a password. Malicious individuals, commonly referred to as hackers, employ various strategies to acquire the login details you established for accessing your account or social media platforms. In simple terms, a brute force attack occurs when the attacker (hacker) repea

In today's era, it is crucial to ensure the security of all accounts you have created. Having a strong and secure password is essential for your protection, this applies to all accounts that you may own, if they require a password, ensure its a strong one. According to Exploding Topics, a cyberattack happens about every 39 seconds, more than 800,000 people fall victim to cyber attacks each year ( Exploding Topics , 2024). A large portion of these attacks, about one third, are

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is used to secure internet traffic. The main goal of a VPN is to safely encrypt internet traffic. This is to prevent others, such as bad actors (commonly known as hackers), from gaining access to your data. Furthermore, a VPN can be region-based to make your internet traffic appear as if it is originating from another source. This further adds to your privacy. This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one, we may ear

What is Phishing? Phishing is a technique cybercriminals, also known as hackers, use to gain unauthorized access to personal accounts and sensitive data. The likelihood of encountering a phishing attempt is significant. Phishing is the most common method of cybercrime, with 3.4 billion spam emails sent every day as of July 2024 ( AAG IT Services , 2024). Put simply, phishing is when someone impersonates a trusted entity. For example, you may receive an email claiming to be fr

X, previously known as Twitter, has made a significant change to one of their account security features. SMS 2FA, a widely used two-factor authentication method, is a common way to secure accounts or profiles, and it has traditionally been provided for free by many websites and applications. However, X has decided to lock this feature behind a paywall, citing that misuse of SMS 2FA was costing the company millions. Users must now subscribe to X’s premium plan to access this c