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2017 Equifax Data Breach: How Equifax Let Hackers Walk Away with America’s Identity
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

Samuel Cork
Oct 20, 20252 min read


Python Password Checker
This is a python code for a password grader. Typing in a password will put the password through multiple checks to see if it is strong....

Samuel Cork
Sep 22, 20252 min read


Refurbish and Reinforce Laptop
I took an outdated laptop and gave it a second life with Linux Mint XFCE, optimizing it for privacy, speed, and daily usability....

Samuel Cork
Sep 22, 20251 min read


Privacy Boost for Linux: A Simple Guide to Firejail + Firetools
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

Samuel Cork
Jun 6, 20252 min read


Session Hijacking: What is it and How to Prevent It
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

Samuel Cork
May 23, 20253 min read


Social Media Awareness: Discord Scammers after Tokens
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

Samuel Cork
May 18, 20253 min read


FCC Can Approve IoT Devices With Cyber Trust Mark.
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

Samuel Cork
Jan 8, 20252 min read


Password Managers: Why You Need One to Secure Your Privacy
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

Samuel Cork
Nov 6, 20243 min read


MFA / 2FA: Why You Need IT
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

Samuel Cork
Nov 2, 20242 min read


Understanding Credential Stuffing: What It Is and How to Protect Your Data
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

Samuel Cork
Sep 25, 20242 min read


Account Protection: Create a Secure Password and Secure Your Account
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

Samuel Cork
Sep 19, 20243 min read


Understanding VPN's: How Do They Help?
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

Samuel Cork
Sep 13, 20245 min read
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