Something’s phishy: How to detect phishing attempts

"Dear you,

 It appears you need to update your information. Click here to tell us all your secrets.

 No really, it’s totally safe. We’re not going to steal your identity, we swear."

If only phishing attempts were that obvious.

     Modern-day phishing campaigns use stealthy techniques to target people online and trick them into believing their messages are legitimate. Yet for all its sophistication, phishing relies on one thing: trust. Detecting a phish, in its various forms, then requires you to hone a healthy level of skepticism when receiving any kind of digital communication, be it email, text, or even social media message. In order to understand how we got here, let’s go back to the first instance of phishing.

An iCloud scam that is worse than ransomware

Ransomware: Malicious software that encrypts your files and then demands payment to unlock them – has become a major scourge of the Windows world.

     Mac users just had their first brush with such threats this month, with the appearance of the KeRanger ransomware. However, a ransomware scam in the Mac world is far worse than anything seen for Windows.

Safeguarding your online accounts against cyber criminals: Part 3

To read part one click Here. |  To read part two click Here.

It is very likely that you or someone you know has had one or multiple of their online accounts hacked into. It happens to everybody: individuals, small and big companies alike, can have disastrous consequences and makes you feel extremely vulnerable. In this three part post we will talk about some tips to give cyber-criminals a hard(er) time in their inevitable quest for easy money or their five minutes of glory.

     While no security solution will ever be perfect and cyber-crime will always exist, each individual plays an important part in helping or hindering the act of cyber-theft. We will take a look at the most common and efficient ways to safeguard your information and identity. If you want to share some of your own tips, please feel free to leave a comment.