Personal Data Breaches Reported Expanding

A new study by Pew Research found that 18 percent of American adults with Internet access have reported that their personal information was stolen in a data breach. That's up from 11 percent who reported the same last July. And, this is serious personal information being taken here -- such as Social Security and credit card numbers and banking information. The percentage of those reporting a breach of their e-mail, social media, or other online accounts held steady at 21 percent in both years. Of course, this survey was done before the Heartbleed bug was discovered making all Web surfers wonder whether they should change their passwords to prevent theft of their email accounts, credit card numbers, and other sensitive information.

Do Debit Cards Make the Internet More Dangerous?

A new economic study shows that switching people from paper welfare checks to electronic debit cards is linked to a drop in assaults, burglaries, and robberies. Of course, that is good news, but because of the Law of Unintended Consequences, there are other ramifications. Instead of violent person-to-person crimes, skilled hackers are increasingly probing corporations and individuals for gaps in security. A robust industry, generating at least billions of dollars a year, has grown up around hacking. And, the more we move away from cash, the more vulnerable to these attacks we become.

Is Your Router Being Targeted?

So, besides credit card hijacking at retailers, the NSA spying on cellphone calls and email and ad trackers watching your every move online, it appears you may also need to plug any vulnerabilities in your router that will let hackers hijack your browser for their own use, produce fake search results, and download malware to the devices connected to your network. To find some step-by-step instructions on how exactly to do that, take a look at this advice from Kim Komando on the USA Today site.

Cybercriminals Take Control of Baby Monitors, Medical Devices and More

Norse, a security start up, has been gathering astounding evidence of hackers taking control of Internet-connected appliances, everything from web cams, baby monitors and medical devices to climate-control systems. What the bad guys really want is the IP address of the device to use for credit card fraud. "We are seeing credit card transactions from baby monitors, DVRs, TVs, printers, medical devices, you name it," says Tommy Stiansen, Norse founder and chief technology officer. "It's coming from all types of industries and from homes." This is leading to the assembling of digital appliances into niche networks, called botnets, under the control of a single operator. Botnets have been the foundation of the cyber underground for more than a decade. Traditionally comprising infected personal and server computers, botnets are the engine that drives multibillion-dollar markets for spam, phishing, account hijacking, identity theft, and denial-of-service attacks. Take a look at some ideas on protecting yourself from botnets.

The Government Shutdown and Cybersecurity Concerns

During the turmoil over the government shutdown, a new CyberTruth –SurveyMonkey Audience poll  found that Americans' concerns about the nation's cybersecurity were heightened. Some 62% of 538 respondents said they felt some degree of heightened concern, while 54% of survey takers indicated feeling some degree less secure with the government shutdown. Security experts did say that with posts undermanned, resulting in defenses being down, there are some concerns that there may be some hidden security breaches that may be hidden and dormant which may be revealed later on.  This gives a whole new meaning to “essential worker” in the digital age.

BYOD to Work Finds Millennials Less Security Conscious

The bring-your-own-device trend is not just in schools. As more and more employers are trying it out by allowing employees to use personal devices to conduct business for their employers, a new poll shows that increasingly, these devices are being used to store company data and documents. A survey of 4,000 office workers in the U.S. and U.K. found that more than half have stored company data on their personal devices, and nearly three-quarters of American workers have downloaded personal applications onto company tablets. Of course, this raises security concerns and experts say the problem is particularly pronounced among  younger workers , or millennials, who seem less conscious of security practices. The survey calls 18- to 24-year-olds the "gourmet chefs of security breach," because they play loose with corporate documents. That's not good, given that millennials will make up the majority of the workforce by 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Don’t! You’ll Regret Posting That!

A Texas teen, named Justin Carter, has spent four months in jail after posting a Facebook message in which he threatened, apparently in jest, to stage a school shooting. Such episodes show the potentially lasting and disastrous consequences of off-the-cuff comments on social media sites, especially when users forget three big things: 1) how large their (often unintended) audience is, 2) to check their network's privacy settings, and 3) when they fail to take the consequences of their actions into account. The law of unintended consequences, when you are online, often looms much larger than in the “real” world. For more, take a look at a 2011 study called "I Regretted the Minute I Pressed Share," by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University. By the way, the study's title came from a respondent who posted a regrettable negative thought about a job interview.

Wi-Fi Routers Found Vulnerable to Hacking

A baker's dozen of Wi-Fi routers used in homes and small businesses were found to be easily vulnerable to hackers, according to Independent Security Evaluators, an IT security consulting firm. Another problem, the study says, is that the solution is probably out of consumers’ hands because it is up to those who manufacture routers to become more cognizant of the problem and add in more safeguards. You have to wonder if that also means that setting up a router is going to become more complicated as well.

15 Social Media Scams

Take a look at this slide show about some of the most popular social media scams that range from Facebook phishing lures to Twitter and Tumblr hoaxes.  You may be amazed at how many of these seem terribly familiar and it is a quick way to get yourself up-to-date on what to look out for as well as a good way to run this info by your family.

Official Watching Twitterverse For Signs of Cheating

Once upon a time, it was common practice to tell kids not to look at each others papers or have them sit two seats apart during a big exam. Now, there is Twitter, and the universe it creates (Twitterverse) which means that school officials have to be vigilant about the sharing of pictures of answer booklets or the discussion of questions on a high stakes test. Of course, most students are prohibited from having electronic devices during testing. A smartphone, after all, gives a student access not only to social media, but also to the wealth of information on the Web. But, some students bring their phones to the test, anyway. While there have not been a lot of incidents of students cheating via social media, it is good to remind your kids that even those outlets are being watched and they should keep any comments made about a high stakes test very general.