Cybersecurity news from Zander ID Theft Solutions
Here are results from a new worldwide study about scams
from the Global Anti-Scam Alliance.
Globally, numbers show that 1 in 4 of us have been scammed this year.
Cost to victims: over $1 trillion.
For more, click the button below to play the video.
Major internet companies, including Google, Amazon, and Cloudflare report a record number of cyberattacks since the beginning of the war involving Israel and the Palestinians. The most common are “denial of service” attacks, where malicious bot computers try to access websites hundreds of millions of times a second. The financial services company Mint says they are on the alert for new strains of malware attacks against financial systems and news-oriented websites.
Our biggest fear about cybercrime is having our personal information stolen by hackers and exposed to others. The new study by Malwarebytes shows we’re just as concerned about how companies track our online behavior as we are about accidentally installing a virus on our electronic devices. And yet, about 7 in 10 of us post family photos on social media sites and use the same password repeatedly.
The Washington Post says a new app called Permission Slip, available in app stores for free from the non-profit Consumer Reports, helps consumers remove their personal information from many big company databases. The app is not perfect, says the report, but it’s a start as companies try to adhere to new privacy laws in states like California, Connecticut, Nevada, and Virginia.
“Sometimes I see this message that says 'Update' in the corner of my web browser. If I click it, the browser quits. Do I have to update it when they tell me to?”
You don’t have to update the browser immediately if you're busy. It will automatically apply the update when you later quit and re-open the browser.
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“Can they tell who it is when I’m filling something out online but don’t click 'send'?”
That's such a good question; we included it in the quiz this time. In most cases, yes. That’s how they know to send you an email that asks if you’ve forgotten something. Some online help desks can see what you’re typing in real-time even if you don’t hit “send.”
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“For a personal computer, is Microsoft Defender adequate for protection against viruses?”
Defender is built into Microsoft Windows at no extra charge, is updated automatically, and won’t pester you with reminders to upgrade it. CNET recently named it the best antivirus software of 2023. Consumer Reports points out that Defender doesn’t offer built-in email protection, and other brands like Malwarebytes and Norton 360 may offer stronger protection against specific threats.
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