How Secure is Your Personal & Financial Data?

 By Hector Cisneros

Image courtesy Pixabay

If you read the recent headlines about the data leak involving more than a half-billion Facebook users, you’re probably shaking your head wondering what happened to personal privacy.  If you’ve been keeping up with the news, last year there were massive data breaches where hackers penetrated Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, General Electric, MGM Resorts, Marriott, Walgreens, Carnival Cruise Lines, AmTrak, and T-Mobile just to name a few.  Recently,  Facebook exposed the name, location, birthdate, email address, phone number, ID, account creation date, relationship status, and Bio due to a known vulnerability that it allegedly fixed in 2019, according to a blog on the Verge.  

Thwarting Cyber Thieves (Reprinted from https://insuranceorangepark.blogspot.com)

Image Courtesy flickr

As a marketing company, we have been warning about the dangers of cybercriminals since 2012. We believe that cybercrime is not only a threat to the trustworthiness of Internet ecommerce structure, but it is also a direct threat to the very freedoms we hold so dear as Americans. We have written extensively about this subject. In fact, any search on cybercrime or Cybersecurity will bring forth a list of dozens of articles. Today's episode of Working the Web to Win comes to us from one of our favorite clients, Catherine Powell, the owner of A Plus All Florida Insurance of Orange Park. Her article delves right into the heart of cybercrime and how it can drastically, negatively affect your life.  So without further a due, read and share - Thwarting Cyber Thieves.

The Dark Side of Social Media

Courtesy of Flickr

By Hector Cisneros

Social media has been a Godsend to most people. It has allowed millions of people from around the world to connect and share ideas. It has made it possible for people to reconnect with family and lost friends from the past. It has made it possible to find missing loved ones and allowed humankind to share the blessings and calamities of our world. But like all powerful tools, Social Media is a double-edged sword. It has a dark side that is often ignored by the general public. This Dark side of Social Media is riddled with all manners of scams, bigotry, hatred, piracy, pornography, bullying, cyber traps, ID thieves and much worse. In this episode of Working the Web to Win, we will explore the dark underbelly of social media to expose its dangers and to give our readers a leg up on how to avoid the Dark side of Social Media.

Does Ransomware Make you Want to Cry?

How Hacker Threats are Turning the Internet into a Financial Minefield

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

By Hector Cisneros

Every year since 2011, we have been writing about the tremendous threat that internet hacking poses. The number of hacks has continuously gone up every year since then. The financial cost has skyrocketed, and the number of lives this menace affects is mind boggling. In this episode of Working the Web to Win, we will cover how this threat exploits your digital life, we will explore new ways to protect yourself, and we will provide a checklist of items that must be deployed to stop these hack attacks in their tracks.

The Cybercrime Clock is Ticking

By Ryan Gilway and Glenn Gray

Image by commons.wikipedia.org

Cybercrime has jumped off the big screen of Hollywood and onto the small screen of business computer users from coast to coast.  Unlike the Hollywood blockbusters, in most cases the hero doesn’t arrive in the nick of time to save the day.  Given the international nature of cybercrime, even the FBI is all but helpless to put a stop to this growing scourge, no matter how big the headlines produced by data breaches get.

The Grinch Goes Digital

(We'll cover 12 ways online scammers can steal from you this Christmas.)

By Carl Weiss

Courtesy of  commons.wikimedia.org

TIS the season… to be scammed by online scammers who are out to steal your holiday cheer.  Every year as online commerce grows, so do online scams.  Today’s cybercriminals are going to try to entice you into giving them your hard earned cash through a number of ever more imaginative scams.  In today’s blog, I will endeavor to give you a leg up on the top 12 ways to avoid getting Grinched this holiday season.

Are You Prepared for the Onslaught of Cyber-Attacks?

By Carl Weiss

Click here to see real-time cyber-attacks - Courtesy of Norse

It's said the only sure things in life are death and taxes. While this pearl of wisdom has stood the test of time, in the not too distant future, there could be an addition to that list: Cyber-Attack. That's because cyber-attacks on businesses and individuals are up nearly 50% in the past year alone. Where cybercriminals used to almost exclusively target big businesses with deep pockets, now that ransomware has become so prolific, small businesses and even individuals are finding their online assets and machines being hijacked. And why not, since most individuals and small businesses offer little in the way of resistance.

Cyberstalking for Fun & Profit

Is There a Cyberstalker in Your Future?

Courtesy of Flickr

By Carl Weiss

Does the title of this week's article creep you out?  Good, because more and more intimate personal information is available online about each and every one of us than is "healthy."  Worse still, it's  all too easy to become a victim of cyberstalking.  That's because most of us disseminate far too much personal information on social nets, in chat rooms, and via photo and video sharing services.  It's also far too easy to get the vast majority of us to volunteer even more intimate details regarding our religious and political affiliations, income, sexual orientation, and health-related issues. Worst of all, there are companies and cybercriminals that profit from this glut of easily obtained information. The result? We're all putting our personal and financial futures at risk.  In this article we'll show you how easy it is to glean reams of information about nearly anyone — and most importantly — what you need to do to keep yourself from getting caught with your pants down.  And if that doesn't give you the e-heebie jebbies, I don't know what will.

Chinese Hack Attack!

English: Air Force Flag of the People's Republic of China (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Carl Weiss

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the Internet, a news story breaks about how foreign governments are now hacking us companies, even going after their employee's computers.  This time it wasn’t inspired by teenage pranksters on the prowl.  Nor was it the Russian mob trying to break into financial institutions once again.  No, this time the culprits were state-sponsored hackers who wore military uniforms and lived in military barracks.  What I’m talking about is the latest hack attack by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, which came to light to the nation at large on Monday, March 11, when Tom Donilon, President Obama’s national security adviser stated in a speech in New York City: 

“Increasingly, U.S. businesses are speaking out about their serious concerns about sophisticated, targeted theft of confidential business information and proprietary technologies through cyberintrusions emanating from China on an unprecedented scale. The international community cannot tolerate such activity from any country.” (Click here to read the slate.com blog.)

Trick or Tweet? The Vulnerabilities Inherent to Twitter and All Social Networks

By Hector Cisneros

Courtesy of Pixabay

You may have read that LinkedIn was hacked last year. Twitter was recently hacked, and then it happened  to Facebook as well. Whose turn is it next?  In this article, we will look at the inherent vulnerabilities of all social networks, as well as what can happen should your account get compromised.  We will also discuss how vulnerable your data is on social sites and what you need to do to keep from being hacked, when it's your turn to answer the question, “Trick or 'Tweet?'"

Working the Web - Is There a Cyber Attack in Your Future?

by Carl Weiss

computer security (Photo credit: justonlysteve)

When your head hits the pillow at night, do you fall asleep feeling secure that your online data, your identity and your financials are safe?  Do you feel bulletproof behind your Windows Firewall and Norton Antivirus?  Are you in the habit of downloading freeware on your PC and free apps on your Smartphone?  Do you use public wifi hotspots such as coffee shops, restaurants, hotels and airports? 

If your answer to any of the above was “Yes” then I have news for you.   It isn’t a matter of if you are going to be hacked, cracked or cyber attacked.  It’s just a matter of when.  Because the habits exposed above are an invitation for hackers and cyber criminals to gain access to your most sensitive information, hijack your computer and Smartphone and in short turn your life into a living hell where your identity, your financial data and intellectual property can be bought and sold like a commodity.