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You can almost feel it in the air. Wi-Fi is everywhere. And if you tap into public Wi-Fi, do it with a VPN.
The keyword in public Wi-Fi is “public.” That means anyone else on the network can see what you’re connecting to and what data you’re passing along, with a little effort. Your credit card number while you shop. Your password when you bank. That confidential contract you just sent to a client. And your logins for social media too. It’s all an open book to anyone who has the tools to snoop.
What tools let them snoop? Network analyzers, or packet sniffers as many call them, can read the data traffic that travels across a network. And because public Wi-Fi networks are open, so is the data traffic — loaded with your credentials, personal info, and so on. A bad actor can gather up data with a packet sniffer, analyze it, and pluck out the sensitive bits of information that are of value.
This is where a VPN comes in. It makes any network private. Even on public Wi-Fi.
Let’s take a look at what a VPN is, how it works, and why it’s your friend on public Wi-Fi.
A VPN is an app that you install on your device to help keep your data safe as you browse the internet. When you turn on your VPN app, your device makes a secure connection to a VPN server that routes internet traffic. Securely. This keeps your online activity private on any network, shielding it from prying eyes. Thus, while you’re on a VPN, you can browse and bank with the confidence that your passwords, credentials, and financial information are secure. If any malicious actors attempt to intercept your web traffic, they’ll only see garbled content, thanks to your VPN’s encryption functionality.
Every internet connection is assigned a unique set of numbers called an IP address, which is tied to information such as geographic location or an Internet Service Provider (ISP). A VPN replaces your actual IP address to make it look like you’ve connected to the internet from the physical location of the VPN server, rather than your real location. This is just one reason so many people use VPNs.
To change your IP address, you open your VPN app, select the server location you’d like to connect to, and you’re done. You’re now browsing with a new IP address.
An ideal case for using a VPN is when you’re using public Wi-Fi at the airport, a café, hotel, or just about any place “free Wi-Fi” is offered. The reason being is that these are open networks, and any somewhat enterprising cybercriminal can tap into these networks and harvest sensitive information as a result. One survey showed that 39% of internet users worldwide understand public Wi-Fi is unsafe, yet some users still bank, shop, and do other sensitive things on public Wi-Fi despite the understood risks.
Further, you have your privacy to consider. You can use a VPN to help stop advertisers from tracking you. Searches you perform and websites you visit won’t get traced back to you, which can prevent advertisers from gleaning information about you and your online habits in general. Moreover, some ISPs collect the browsing history of their users and share it with advertisers and other third parties. A VPN can prevent this type of collection as well.
A VPN protects your search history through the secure connection you share. When you search for a website, or type a URL into your navigation bar, your device sends something called a DNS request, which translates the website into the IP address of the web server. This is how your browser can find the website and serve its content to you. By encrypting your DNS requests, a VPN can hide your search habits and history from those that might use that info as part of building a profile of you. Others might use this info in a wide variety of ways, from legitimately serving targeted ads to nefarious social engineering.
Note that a VPN is quite different and far, far more comprehensive than using “Private Mode” or “Incognito Mode” on your browser. Those modes only hide your search history locally on your device—not from others on the internet, like ISPs and advertisers.
No, a VPN can’t make you anonymous. Not entirely anyway. They help secure what you’re doing, but your ISP still knows when you’re using the internet. They just can’t see what you’re doing, what sites you visit, or how long you’ve been on a site.
Apple’s Private Relay is similar to a VPN in that it changes your IP address so websites you visit can’t tell exactly where you are. It works on iOS and Macs as part of an iCloud+ subscription. Yet there is one important distinction: it only protects your privacy while surfing with the Safari browser.
Per Apple, it works like this:
When Private Relay is enabled, your requests are sent through two separate, secure internet relays. Your IP address is visible to your network provider and to the first relay, which is operated by Apple. Your DNS records are encrypted, so neither party can see the address of the website you’re trying to visit. The second relay, which is operated by a third-party content provider, generates a temporary IP address, decrypts the name of the website you requested, and connects you to the site. All of this is done using the latest internet standards to maintain a high-performance browsing experience while protecting your privacy.
Check to see if Apple Private Relay is available in your country or region. If you travel somewhere that Private Relay isn’t available, it’ll automatically turn off and will notify you when it’s unavailable and once more when it’s active again. You can learn more about it here , and how you can enable it on your Apple devices.
Private Relay only works with Safari on iOS and macOS as part of an iCloud+ subscription. Even if you are using an Apple device, a VPN is still a good idea because it’ll protect the information that your device sends outside of Safari — such as any info passed along by your apps or any other browsers you might use.
An unlimited VPN with bank-grade encryption comes as part of your McAfee+ subscription and provides the security and privacy benefits above with bank-grade encryption. Additionally, it turns on automatically any time you connect to an unsecured Wi-Fi network, which takes the guesswork out of when you absolutely need to use it.
In all, our VPN makes it practically impossible for cybercriminals or advertisers to access so that what you do online remains anonymous, so you can enjoy your time online with confidence.
The post On Public Wi-Fi, a VPN is Your Friend appeared first on McAfee Blog.
The first of August marks the celebration of World Wide Web Day – a day dedicated to the global network that powers our online activity, creating a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips. The World Wide Web (WWW) has revolutionized the way we communicate, learn, and explore, becoming an integral part of our daily lives. With the importance of the internet only growing stronger, it’s only fitting to honor the World Wide Web with a special day of commemoration. But with the internet comes risks, and it’s important to make sure your family is protected from potential threats. Here are some tips and tricks to keep your family safe online.
Phishing scams are a type of fraud that involves sending emails or other messages that appear to be from a legitimate source. The goal of these messages is to trick users into providing personal information such as passwords, credit card numbers, and bank account details. To protect against phishing scams, teach your family to:
Identity theft is a crime in which someone uses another person’s personal information to commit fraud or other crimes. Teach your family to protect against identity theft by:
A virtual private network (VPN) is a type of technology that provides a secure connection to a private network over the internet. A VPN can help protect your family’s online activity by encrypting the data and hiding your online activity from others. To ensure your family’s online safety, teach them to:
Strong passwords are an important part of online security. Teach your family to create strong passwords and to never share them with anyone. Additionally, use a password manager to store and manage your family’s passwords. A password manager can help by:
To conclude, celebrations on World Wide Web Day allow us to give thanks for the incredible world of knowledge, commerce, entertainment, communication, and innovation that the internet has provided, and continues to provide for us all. By following these tips and tricks, your family can stay safe online and enjoy all the benefits of the internet. Happy World Wide Web Day!
The WWW has enabled us to achieve so many things that were simply impossible before. From the ability to catch up with friends and family across the globe to finding information about virtually any topic, the power of the internet is remarkable. In fact, the World Wide Web has significantly enriched our lives in countless ways.
Did you know that the first-ever image posted on the World Wide Web was a photo of Les Horribles Cernettes, a parody pop band founded by employees at CERN? It was uploaded in 1992 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who used a NeXT computer as the first-ever web server. And although we use the term “surfing the net” regularly, do you know who actually coined the phrase? A librarian by the name of Jean Armour Polly wrote an article titled “Surfing the Internet” in the Wilson Library Bulletin at the University of Minnesota in 1992.
There are many other remarkable facts about the World Wide Web, including its growth over the years. By the start of the year 1993, there were only 50 servers worldwide, but that number had grown to over 500 by October of the same year. Advances in data compression enabled media streaming to happen over the web, which was previously impractical due to high bandwidth requirements for uncompressed media. Although the number of websites online was still small in comparison to today’s figure, notable sites such as Yahoo! Directory and Yahoo! Search were launched in 1994 and 1995, respectively, marking the beginning of web commerce.
On World Wide Web Day, you can celebrate by exploring the capabilities of the internet and discovering how it has changed over the years. Many organizations worldwide host events featuring conversations and interviews with technology leaders, entrepreneurs, and creators. There are also different talks, activities, and discussions online that you can join, allowing you to delve deeper into the history and potential of the World Wide Web. You could even consider running an event at your local business to market the day and celebrate what WWW has done for us all!
The post World Wide Web Day: How to Protect Your Family Online appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Do you remember the days of printing out directions from your desktop? Or the times when passengers were navigation co-pilots armed with a 10-pound book of maps? You can thank location services on your smartphone for today’s hassle-free and paperless way of getting around town and exploring exciting new places.
However, location services can prove a hassle to your online privacy when you enable location sharing. Location sharing is a feature on many connected devices – smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, smart fitness watches – that pinpoints your exact location and then distributes your coordinates to online advertisers, your social media following, or strangers.
While there are certain scenarios where sharing your location is a safety measure, in most cases, it’s an online safety hazard. Here’s what you should know about location sharing and the effects it has on your privacy.
Location sharing is most beneficial when you’re unsure about new surroundings and want to let your loved ones know that you’re ok. For example, if you’re traveling by yourself, it may be a good idea to share the location of your smartphone with an emergency contact. That way, if circumstances cause you to deviate from your itinerary, your designated loved one can reach out and ensure your personal safety.
The key to sharing your location safely is to only allow your most trusted loved one to track the whereabouts of you and your connected device. Once you’re back on known territory, you may want to consider turning off all location services, since it presents a few security and privacy risks.
In just about every other case, you should definitely think twice about enabling location sharing on your smartphone. Here are three risks it poses to your online privacy and possibly your real-life personal safety:
Does it sometimes seem like your phone, tablet, or laptop is listening to your conversations? Are the ads you get in your social media feeds or during ad breaks in your gaming apps a little too accurate? When ad tracking is enabled on your phone, it allows online advertisers to collect your personal data that you add to your various online accounts to better predict what ads you might like. Personal details may include your full name, birthday, address, income, and, thanks to location tracking, your hometown and regular neighborhood haunts.
If advertisers kept these details to themselves, it may just seem like a creepy invasion of privacy; however, data brokerage sites may sell your personally identifiable information (PII) to anyone, including cybercriminals. The average person has their PII for sale on more than 30 sites and 98% of people never gave their permission to have their information sold online. Yet, data brokerage sites are legal.
One way to keep your data out of the hands of advertisers and cybercriminals is to limit the amount of data you share online and to regularly erase your data from brokerage sites. First, turn off location services and disable ad tracking on all your apps. Then, consider signing up for McAfee Personal Data Cleanup, which scans, removes, and monitors data brokerage sites for your personal details, thus better preserving your online privacy.
Location sharing may present a threat to your personal safety. Stalkers could be someone you know or a stranger. Fitness watches that connect to apps that share your outdoor exercising routes could be especially risky, since over time you’re likely to reveal patterns of the times and locations where one could expect to run into you.
Additionally, stalkers may find you through your geotagged social media posts. Geotagging is a social media feature that adds the location to your posts. Live updates, like live tweeting or real-time Instagram stories, can pinpoint your location accurately and thus alert someone on where to find you.
Social engineering is an online scheme where cybercriminals learn all there is about you from your social media accounts and then use that information to impersonate you or to tailor a scam to your interests. Geotagged photos and posts can tell a scammer a lot about you: your hometown, your school or workplace, your favorite café, etc.
With these details, a social engineer could fabricate a fundraiser for your town, for example. Social engineers are notorious for evoking strong emotions in their pleas for funds, so beware of any direct messages you receive that make you feel very angry or very sad. With the help of ChatGPT, social engineering schemes are likely going to sound more believable than ever before. Slow down and conduct your own research before divulging any personal or payment details to anyone you’ve never met in person.
Overall, it’s best to live online as anonymously as possible, which includes turning off your location services when you feel safe in your surroundings. McAfee+ offers several features to improve your online privacy, such as a VPN, Personal Data Cleanup, and Online Account Cleanup.
The post 3 Reasons to Think Twice About Enabling Location Sharing appeared first on McAfee Blog.
With the number of cyber threats and breaches dominating the headlines, it can seem like a Herculean task to cover all your cybersecurity bases. We’re aware that there are ten sections on this cybersecurity awareness checklist, but it won’t take hours and hours to tick every box. In fact, some of these areas only require you to check a box on your device or invest in the cybersecurity tools that will handle the rest for you. Also, you may already be doing some of these things!
It’s easy to be cyber smart. Here are the cybersecurity awareness basics to instantly boost your safety and confidence in your online presence.
Software update notifications always seem to ping on the outskirts of your desktop and mobile device at the most inconvenient times. What’s more inconvenient though is having your device hacked. One easy tip to improve your cybersecurity is to update your device software whenever upgrades are available. Most software updates include security patches that smart teams have created to foil cybercriminals. The more outdated your apps or operating system is, the more time criminals have had to work out ways to infiltrate them.
Enabling automatic updates on all your devices only takes a few clicks or taps. Many major updates occur in the early hours of the morning, meaning that you’ll never know your devices were offline. You’ll just wake up to new, secure software!
Just because social media personalities document their entire days literally from the moment they wake up, doesn’t mean you should do the same. It’s best to leave some details about your life a mystery from the internet for various reasons.
The best way to avoid all of the above is to set your online profiles to private and edit your list of followers to only people you have met in real life and trust. Also, you may want to consider revising what you post about and how often.
If you genuinely love sharing moments from your daily life, consider sending a newsletter to a curated group of close friends and family. Aspiring influencers who still wants to capture and publish every aspect of their daily lives should be extremely careful about keeping sensitive details about themselves private, such as blurring their house number, not revealing their hometown, turning off location services, and going by a nickname instead of their full legal name.
Most sites won’t even let you proceed with creating an account if you don’t have a strong enough password. A strong password is one with a mix of capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. What also makes for an excellent password is one that’s unique. Reusing passwords can be just as risky as using “password123” or your pet’s name plus your birthday as a password. A reused password can put all your online accounts at risk, due to a practice called credential stuffing. Credential stuffing is a tactic where a cybercriminal attempts to input a stolen username and password combination in dozens of random websites to see which doors it opens.
Remembering a different password for each of your online accounts is almost an impossible task. Luckily, password managers make it so you only have to remember one password ever again! Password managers safeguard all your passwords in one secure desktop extension or smartphone app that you can use anywhere.
It’s best to create passwords or passphrases that have a secret meaning that only you know. Stay away from using significant dates, names, or places, because those are easier to guess. You can also leave it up to your password manager to randomly generate a password for you. The resulting unintelligible jumble of numbers, letters, and symbols is virtually impossible for anyone to guess.
Not all corners of the internet are safe to visit. Some dark crevices hide malware that can then sneak onto your device without you knowing. There are various types of malware, but the motive behind all of them is the same: To steal your personally identifiable information (PII) or your device’s power for a cybercriminal’s own financial gain.
Sites that claim to have free downloads of TV shows, movies, and games are notorious for harboring malware. Practice safe downloading habits, such as ensuring the site is secure, checking to see that it looks professional, and inspecting the URLs for suspicious file extensions.
Additionally, not all internet connections are free from prying eyes. Public Wi-Fi networks – like those in cafes, libraries, hotels, and transportation hubs – are especially prone. Because anyone can connect to a public network without needing a password, cybercriminals can digitally eavesdrop on other people on the same network. It’s unsafe to do your online banking, shopping, and other activities that deal with your financial or sensitive personal information while on public Wi-Fi.
However, there is one way to do so safely, and that’s with a virtual private network (VPN). A VPN is a type of software you can use on your smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop. It encrypts all your outgoing data, making it nearly impossible for a cybercriminal to snoop on your internet session.
You’ve likely already experienced a phishing attempt, whether you were aware of it or not. Phishing is a common tactic used to eke personal details from unsuspecting or trusting people. Phishers often initiate contact through texts, emails, or social media direct messages, and they aim to get enough information to break into your online accounts or to impersonate you.
AI text generator tools are making it more difficult to pinpoint a phisher, as messages can seem very humanlike. Typos and nonsensical sentences used to be the main indicator of a phishing attempt, but text generators generally use correct spelling and grammar. Here are a few tell-tale signs of a phishing attempt:
Never engage with a phishing attempt. Do not forward the message or respond to them and never click on any links included in their message. The links could direct to malicious sites that could infect your device with malware or spyware.
Before you delete the message, block the sender, mark the message as junk, and report the phisher. Reporting can go a long way toward hopefully preventing the phisher from targeting someone else.
When a security breach occurs, you can be sure that the news will report it. Plus, it’s the law for companies to notify the Federal Trade Commission of a breach. Keep a keen eye on the news and your inbox for notifications about recent breaches. Quick action is necessary to protect your personal and financial information, which is why you should be aware of current events.
The moment you hear about a breach on the news or see an email from a company to its customers about an incident, change your account’s password and double check your account’s recent activity to ensure nothing is amiss. Then await further action communicated through official company correspondences and official channels.
Cybercriminals aren’t above adding insult to injury and further scamming customers affected in breaches. Phishers may spam inboxes impersonating the company and sending malware-laden links they claim will reset your password. Continue to scrutinize your messages and keep an eye on the company’s official company website and verified social media accounts to ensure you’re getting company-approved advice.
One great mantra to guide your cybersecurity habits is: If you connect it, protect it. This means that any device that links to the internet should have security measures in place to shield it from cybercriminals. Yes, this includes your smart TV, smart refrigerator, smart thermostat, and smart lightbulbs!
Compose a list of the smart home devices you own. (You probably have more than you thought!) Then, make sure that every device is using a password you created, instead of the default password the device came with. Default passwords can be reused across an entire line of appliances. So, if a cybercriminal cracks the code on someone else’s smart washing machine, that could mean they could weasel their way into yours with the same password.
Another way to secure your connected home devices is by enabling two-factor authentication (2FA). This usually means enrolling your phone number or email address with the device and inputting one-time codes periodically to log into the connected device. 2FA is an excellent way to frustrate a cybercriminal, as it’s extremely difficult for them to bypass this security measure. It may add an extra 15 seconds to your login process, but the peace of mind is worth the minor inconvenience.
Finally, encase your entire home network with a secure router, or the device that connects your home Wi-Fi network to the internet. Again, change the password from the factory setting. And if you decide to rename the network, have fun with it but leave your name and address out of the new name.
When flip phones arrived on the scene in the 1990s and early 2000s, the worst that happened when they went missing was that you lost a cache of your stored text messages and call history. Now, when you misplace or have your smartphone stolen, it can seem like your whole online life vanished. Mobile devices store a lot of our sensitive information, so that’s why it’s key to not only safeguard your accounts but the devices that house them.
The best way to lock your device against anyone but yourself is to set up face or fingerprint ID. This makes it virtually impossible for a criminal to open your device. Also, passcode- or password-protect all your devices. It may seem like an inconvenience now, but your fingers will soon be able to glide across the keyboard or number pad fluently in just a few days, adding maybe an extra second to opening your device.
Another way to safeguard your device and the important information within it is to disable your favorite internet browser from auto-filling your passwords and credit card information. In the hands of a criminal, these details could lead to significant losses. A password manager here comes in handy for quick and secure password and username inputting.
Credit experts recommend checking your credit at least once yearly, but there’s no harm in checking your credit score more often. It’s only hard inquiries (or credit checks initiated by lenders) that may lower your credit score. Consider making it a habit to check your credit once every quarter. The first signs of identity theft often appear in a drastically lower credit score, which means that someone may be opening lines of credit in your name.
Also, if you’re not planning to apply for a new credit card or a loan anytime soon, why not lock your credit so no one can access it? A credit freeze makes it so that no one (yourself included) can touch it, thus keeping it out of the hands of thieves.
Picking up the pieces after a thief steals your identity is expensive, tedious, and time-consuming. Identity remediation includes reaching out to all three credit bureaus, filing reports, and spending hours tracking down your PII that’s now strewn across the internet.
Identity protection services can guard your identity so you hopefully avoid this entire scenario altogether. McAfee identity monitoring tracks the dark web for you and alerts you, on average, ten months sooner that something is amiss when compared to similar services. And if something does happen to your identity, McAfee identity restoration services offers $1 million in identity restoration and lends its support to help you get your identity and credit back in order.
The best complement to your newfound excellent cyber habits is a toolbelt of excellent services to patch any holes in your defense. McAfee+ includes all the services you need to boost your peace of mind about your online identity and privacy. You can surf public Wi-Fi safely with its secure VPN, protect your device with antivirus software, freeze your credit with security freeze, keep tabs on your identity, and more!
The post 10 Easy Things You Can Do Today to Improve Your Cybersecurity appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Your summer vacation is approaching quickly! You can’t wait to take time away from your responsibilities, jump out of your daily routine, and splash into a new adventure. You may be taking time off, but you can be sure cybercriminals won’t take a break. While traveling, you may encounter scams, theft, and identity theft that put your personal information, devices, and online privacy in jeopardy.
McAfee’s Safer Summer Holidays Travel Report surveyed 7,000 people across seven countries to discover how safe it is to plan and book travel online, and how cautious people are when interacting with digital tools while traveling abroad. The infographic below details the key insights.
The research reveals 30% of adults have fallen victim or know someone who has fallen victim to an online scam while trying to save money when booking travel. 34% of those who had money stolen have lost over $1,000 before their trip has even begun, while 66% lost up to $1,000.
62% of all vacationers will travel domestically this year and 42% will do so internationally. With inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, the research reveals new concerns for leisure-seekers who, in their quest for a good deal, may be more likely to fall for a scam. With 94% of people booking travel online this year, it can be easy to get lured into a deal that’s too good to be true. In today’s economic environment, adults are more likely to seek out a bargain deal online (56%), move quickly to snap up a deal (45%), try a new booking site (35%) and even a new destination (36%), in order to save money. However, travel seekers need to stay vigilant to avoid falling for a scam.
Travel scams can take many forms, with the research finding 14% of all adults have been tricked into making payments through fraudulent platforms and 18% have had their identity stolen when booking online. Of this portion, 7% entered passport information and 11% provided other personally identifiable information to a fake website.
The research also uncovered a discrepancy between people’s sentiments and behaviors, as well as online safety best practices when travelling. In total, 61% of people are more concerned about digital threats than physical ones, such as being pickpocketed, and 85% of adults hold either some or high concern around their identity being compromised as part of their travel. Despite this, 48% admitted to being less security conscious when on holiday. Whether it’s connecting to Wi-Fi networks even though they look a bit suspicious (22%), using a free USB charging port at an airport or train station (26%), or leaving their Netflix account logged in after checking out of their accommodation (17%), significant numbers of people have engaged in activities that could put them at increased risk of crime while traveling.
It’s not that people are unaware of the dangers either. While 44% of people think their personal information is less secure when they connect to the internet while on vacation, less than half (43%) make use of any services to monitor the safety of their online identity, and 50% don’t use a VPN while on vacation. Of those that do, 20% only do so because they want to stream geo-specific content.
Knowing the risks doesn’t stop travelers from engaging in the behavior. While social media is by far the most common online activity for people to use their phones for while on vacation (60%), also common are chatting with friends and family (55%), online banking (35%) and sending money via apps such as PayPal or Venmo (22%).
“People are often more relaxed and carefree when away from home, but it’s never been more important to remain vigilant when traveling,” says Cagla Ruacan, McAfee’s Head of Product Strategy and Insights. “From the moment you open your laptop to book a vacation, to when you log into airport Wi-Fi while waiting for the flight home, staying alert and taking precautions helps keep yourself and your loved ones safe from online travel scams. Taking early and proactive steps to manage your security, privacy and online identity means you’ll be able to more safely and confidently enjoy your well-earned vacation.”
When you lose your mobile phone, you’re not just losing an expensive gadget. You’re also losing control of all the valuable personally identifiable information (PII) stored on it. Be especially aware of your surroundings when you’re on vacation. Pickpockets like to congregate in tourist hotspots, at home and abroad. They take advantage of distracted out-of-towners or awestruck sightseers who are less aware of suspicious behavior.
Before you leave, familiarize yourself with common pickpocketing schemes. For example, if a stranger on the street asks you the time, avoid eye contact and keep walking. In this scam, the stranger will comment on your watch or try to strike up a conversation while their partner scopes out your back pockets. It seems impolite to ignore someone, but if they truly need to know the time, they can ask someone else. Also, how many people are there who don’t have a time-telling device on them?
When walking around a city or taking public transportation, keep your phone in your front pockets or in a zippered bag that you can hold around your front. Consider buying a phone tether or lanyard for your phone. This will make your phone much more difficult to lift since it’s securely wrapped around your body.
Before you hop on the plane, train, or automobile, consider investing in identity protection. This way, you can proactively head off any issues that could arise when you should be relaxing. For instance, if your wallet is misplaced or stolen while on vacation, a dark cloud of “what ifs” won’t follow you. What if someone took the contents of your wallet and posted your details online? What if someone used those details to impersonate you online?
Identity monitoring lessens the possibility of these “what ifs” happening to you. Plus, if someone stole your identity and caused financial damages, identity theft coverage and restoration can recoup your losses and the associated costs necessary to restore your good online standing. In 2021, identity fraud affected 42 million adults and losses totaled $52 billion. Identity monitoring may help you avoid becoming part of these staggering statistics.
Consider freezing your credit before you leave on vacation. A frozen credit means that credit bureaus will prevent anyone (including you) from signing up for a new credit card in your name. So, in case your wallet or passport goes missing or you paid with your credit card at an establishment of dubious character, you can sleep soundly knowing that your hard-earned credit score is intact.
It’s a good idea to lock your credit before an incident occurs because speed is key to heading off a thief. Additionally, if you’re traveling abroad, it may be difficult to connect to phone numbers in your home country, especially if you didn’t sign up for a roaming cellular plan.
A virtual private network (VPN) is a must-have online tool to keep your online comings and goings private when you’re on public Wi-Fi. A VPN is software that scrambles your internet traffic, making it nearly impossible for a cybercriminal to digitally eavesdrop.
When traveling, especially if you don’t sign up for a roaming cellular or data plan, you’ll rely solely on public Wi-Fi networks in hotels, restaurants, libraries, and transportation hubs. Even if your accommodation’s network is password protected and is offered only to guests, it’s still best to surf with the protection of a VPN because you can’t be sure of the intentions of the hundreds of people connected to it.
VPNs aren’t difficult to set up and once you’re up and running they’re easy to use and do not slow your internet speed. But because you’d rather be poolside instead of comparing VPN plans, it’s best to sign up and become acquainted with the software before you jet off.
The best defense against cybercriminals and thieves is to arm yourself with knowledge. The more aware you are of their schemes, the better you can sniff them out and avoid them. A few weeks before you leave on vacation, check the news and read up on reports about common emerging scams. For example, be wary of public charging stations as criminals are pumping USB charging ports with malware, according to the FBI.1
Awareness of schemes like this one can help you better prepare before you leave for vacation. Always leave enough time to fully charge your device before adventuring for the day and consider packing your own power bank if your device’s battery life is unreliable. Also, if you’re traveling to another country, make sure to pack a plug converter so you can plug your devices into outlets instead of USB ports.
McAfee+ is an excellent everyday online security partner. The all-in-one identity and online protection tool keep you safe wherever you are in the world. The unlimited VPN will protect your online privacy while on public Wi-Fi. Plus, the service includes credit lock, which allows you to lock and unlock your credit at the press of a button. Finally, for peace of mind, if your identity is ever compromised, McAfee+ offers lost wallet protection and $1 million in identity theft coverage.
Don’t let the thought of thieves – those of the cyber and traditional variety – spoil your long-anticipated vacation. Enjoy your fun in the sun with peace of mind that you’re prepared to overcome any hurdle.
The post How to Protect Yourself and your Identity Before You Leave on Vacation appeared first on McAfee Blog.
You know what a VPN is, but the question remains—why do you need a VPN?
There’s one good reason. Your privacy. Because it’s a commodity on today’s internet.
For starters, you have advertisers and internet service providers (ISPs) that want to know what you’re doing, when you’re doing it, where you’re doing it, and even for how long you’re doing it. They gather and use this information to create targeted ad profiles. And sometimes, they sell that information to third parties.
Next, there are the hackers and identity thieves out there. They take an even greater interest in what you’re doing online—like your shopping, banking, and finances. Even your insurance and medical matters. Primarily they want that information so they can turn a buck by hijacking your accounts or impersonating you to get medical care. In more extreme cases, they might use stolen information to impersonate you in other ways. That might include opening entirely new lines of credit or getting a driver’s license in your name.
A VPN can prevent this kind of snooping from happening.
As for data collection and ads, that activity should come as no surprise. Particularly for anyone who’s seen uncannily targeted ads follow them around on the internet. Search for “summer cargo pants” one time and suddenly the sites you visit are full of ads for pants, pants, and more pants.
Aside from gathering your online activity for advertising purposes, ISPs might also sell the data they gather to third parties. They can gather that data while you’re on your home network, and they might gather it while you’re using public Wi-Fi. (Some ISPs provide free Wi-Fi in public places that allows them to collect data from people who aren’t their regular customers.)
This practice varies by region and the data privacy laws that are in place in each one.
For example, the European Union has strict data privacy laws that prevent this type of sale. (Thanks to the enactment of the GDPR, General Data Protection Regulation.) However, there are few such protections in the U.S. There, an ISP can sell the browsing history of an internet user to a third party—provided the data has been anonymized.
“Anonymized” is a key term here. It refers to the process of stripping away personal identifiers that connect a person to a set of stored data. It might also include adding “noise” to the data, which obscures personal identifiers. For example, that might remove an exact birthdate and replace it with a broad range of dates. So, “March 31, 1957” becomes “January – June 1957.”
At issue is that this anonymized data can get de-anonymized rather easily.
Researchers in 2019 found that “99.98% of Americans would be correctly re-identified in any dataset using 15 demographic attributes.” And when you consider how much data is collected about you, 15 attributes are only drops in the ocean.
Marketing and analytics companies collect hundreds and hundreds of data points on people and their households. That might include information about their mortgage, if they are allergy sufferers, whether they own cats or dogs, where they do most of their grocery shopping, and more—in addition to other information like their age and address.
What happens when that information gets breached, or published accidentally, as it did when 123 million records of U.S. households were made public back in 2017? It gives bad actors plenty of data that can potentially harm others.
Internet browsing activity doesn’t account for all the data points that these companies collect. However, the thought of your ISP tracking your time online and selling it to others might leave you feeling uncomfortable. Whether that data gets anonymized or not.
The other threat to your privacy online comes from bad actors—like hackers and identity thieves. By targeting insecure networks, lurking on unsecured public Wi-Fi, or setting up phony public Wi-Fi hotspots themselves, they’ll snoop on the people using it.
On insecure networks, bad actors can watch as you log into your bank account, read your email, and see what you’re doing on the internet in general. They can steal any passwords and logins you’re using along the way, giving them access to those accounts.
In truth, this kind of snooping is more than a threat to your privacy. It enters the realm of identity theft, making the risk to your data and personal information that much greater.
With your privacy and personal identity in mind, here are three specific examples that make the case for using a VPN:
As outlined above, the internet has increasingly become less private. Advertisers and ISPs will track you when and where they can. When you use a VPN, you can hide several things from your ISP, like the websites and apps you use, the time spent on them, your search history, and downloads. As for websites and apps, a VPN can hide your IP address and your location, all of which can thwart ad tracking on those sites and apps.
Many larger businesses and organizations offer (and sometimes require) a VPN for their employees who work outside the office. Smaller businesses use them less so, which makes them subject to attacks like data breaches. According to FBI reports, the average cost of a data breach for a business in 2022 was well over $150,000. Moreover, cybercriminals increasingly wage these attacks against businesses with revenues of $500,000 or less, which makes the thought of a six-figure loss even more devastating.
A VPN encrypts and protects company data in transit, whether you’re connecting from home, the airport, or anywhere outside the office. Using one protects you and the business or organization you work for.
A strong VPN service like ours uses bank-grade encryption to keep your data and information secure. With a VPN, a snoop bad actor would only see garbled content thanks to your VPN’s encryption functionality.
If you’re traveling, you can access the sites and services you typically use at home. For example, some video streaming services aren’t available in foreign locations. By using a VPN, you can still access content by connecting through the proxy servers that VPNs use. These are servers in other locations that can make requests on your behalf. So, even if you are out of the country, you can connect to a proxy server in the U.S. and access your services as usual.
If you have online protection with us, like our McAfee+ plans, you have a VPN ready to go. If not, McAfee+ offers a great way to get one.
It’s completely private and independently audited to ensure your sensitive info stays secure. We don’t log or track what you do online, so your online activity remains private.
By design, we made it simple to use. You can set it to automatically turn on if you’re on an unprotected network. Or you can also choose to keep it on all the time for an even safer online experience. With nearly 50 server locations worldwide, you can get a fast and stable VPN connection wherever you go.
And because it comes with our online protection software, you get other identity, privacy, and device security features that can keep you even safer online.
And that kind of protection is called for nowadays. Ad trackers, data collectors, hackers, and thieves—they all want to know what you’re doing online. And with a VPN, you can keep all that to yourself, making your time online more private and secure than before.
The post Three Reasons You Need a VPN appeared first on McAfee Blog.
What is a VPN (virtual private network)? And how can it make your time online more secure—and a little more private too? Here we’ll take a look at what a VPN is, what it has to offer, and how that benefits you.
A VPN is an app that you install on your device to help keep your data safe as you browse the internet. When you turn on your VPN app, your device makes a secure connection to a VPN server that routes internet traffic. Securely. This keeps your online activity private on any network, shielding it from prying eyes. Thus, while you’re on a VPN, you can browse and bank with the confidence that your passwords, credentials, and financial information are secure. If any malicious actors attempt to intercept your web traffic, they’ll only see garbled content thanks to your VPN’s encryption functionality.
Every internet connection is assigned a unique set of numbers called an IP address, which is tied to information such as geographic location or an Internet Service Provider (ISP). A VPN replaces your actual IP address to make it look like you’ve connected to the internet from the physical location of the VPN server, rather than your real location. This is just one reason why so many people use VPNs.
To change your IP address, you simply open your VPN app, select the server location you’d like to connect to, and you’re done. You’re now browsing with a new IP address. If you’d like to make sure your IP has changed, open a browser and search for “What’s my IP address” and click on one of the results.
An ideal case for using a VPN is when you’re using public Wi-Fi at the airport, a café, hotel, or just about any place “free Wi-Fi” is offered. The reason being is that these are open networks, and any somewhat enterprising cybercriminal can tap into these networks and harvest sensitive information as a result. One survey showed that 39% of internet users worldwide understand public Wi-Fi is unsafe, yet some users still bank, shop, and do other sensitive things on public Wi-Fi despite the understood risks.
Further, you have your privacy to consider. You can use a VPN to help stop advertisers from tracking you. Searches you perform and websites you visit won’t be traced back to you, which can prevent advertisers from gleaning information about you and your online habits in general. Moreover, some ISPs collect the browsing history of their users and share it with advertisers and other third parties. A VPN can prevent this type of collection as well.
A VPN protects your search history through the secure connection you share. When you search for a website, or type a URL into your navigation bar, your device sends something called a DNS request, which translates the website into the IP address of the web server. This is how your browser can find the website and serve its content to you. By encrypting your DNS requests, a VPN can hide your search habits and history from those that might use that info as part of building a profile of you. This type of info could be used in a wide variety of ways, from legitimately serving targeted ads to nefarious social engineering.
Note that a VPN is quite different and far, far more comprehensive than using “Private Mode” or “Incognito Mode” on your browser. Those modes only hide your search history locally on your device—not from others on the internet, like ISPs and advertisers.
No, a VPN cannot make you anonymous. Not entirely anyway. They help secure what you’re doing, but your ISP still knows when you’re using the internet. They just can’t see what you’re doing, what sites you visit, or how long you’ve been on a site.
Apple’s Private Relay is similar to a VPN in that it changes your IP address so websites you visit can’t tell exactly where you are. It works on iOS and Macs as part of an iCloud+ subscription. Yet there is one important distinction: it only protects your privacy while surfing with the Safari browser.
Per Apple, it works like this:
When Private Relay is enabled, your requests are sent through two separate, secure internet relays. Your IP address is visible to your network provider and to the first relay, which is operated by Apple. Your DNS records are encrypted, so neither party can see the address of the website you’re trying to visit. The second relay, which is operated by a third-party content provider, generates a temporary IP address, decrypts the name of the website you requested, and connects you to the site. All of this is done using the latest internet standards to maintain a high-performance browsing experience while protecting your privacy.
Note that as of this writing, Apple Private Relay is not available in all countries and regions. If you travel somewhere that Private Relay isn’t available, it will automatically turn off and will notify you when it’s unavailable and once more when it’s active again. You can learn more about it here and how you can enable it on your Apple devices.
As mentioned above, Private Relay only works with Safari on iOS and macOS as part of an iCloud+ subscription. Even if you are using an Apple device, a VPN is still a good idea because it will protect the information that your device sends outside of Safari—such as any info passed along by your apps or any other browsers you may use.
An unlimited VPN with bank-grade encryption comes as part of your McAfee+ subscription and provides the security and privacy benefits above with bank-grade encryption. Additionally, it turns on automatically any time you connect to an unsecured Wi-Fi network, which takes the guesswork out of when you absolutely need to use it.
In all, our VPN makes it practically impossible for cybercriminals or advertisers to access so that what you do online remains anonymous, so you can enjoy your time online with confidence.
The post How a VPN Can Make You More Private and Secure appeared first on McAfee Blog.
If you’re like most people, you like to stay connected whether you are traveling or just on the go. That’s why it can be tempting to connect to free, public Wi-Fi networks, but you should know that these networks could open you up to some serious risks.
Public Wi-Fi networks often lack a security measure called encryption, which scrambles the information sent from your computer or device to the router so strangers cannot read it. Without this security measure in place, the information you send over these networks can potentially be intercepted by cybercrooks.
This information could include your banking and social media passwords, as well as your identity information. A nosy cybercriminal could also potentially snoop on you by watching which websites you visit, and what you type into web forms.
In fact, it is so easy to steal your information over unsecured networks cybercrooks sometimes set up malicious Wi-Fi hotspots in high-traffic areas, like airports, with the intention of grabbing users’ information.
That’s why if you have to connect when you’re away, you should only use secure and well-advertised Wi-Fi networks. You can usually tell if they use encryption because they require a password to join.
If you have to do something sensitive online, like check your bank account balance or make a purchase, try to stick to webpages that start with “HTTPS” rather than just “HTTP”. The “S” stands for secure and indicates that the site uses encryption to protect your data. You can also look for a green lock icon at the beginning of the browser address, which indicates that the website connection is secure.
If you are on your mobile phone, you can skip the Wi-Fi network altogether and connect using the cellular network. It is somewhat more secure since it’s harder for cybercrooks to sniff out your individual data from others on the network.
If you travel a lot, consider investing in a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which is a piece of software that allows you to create a secure connection to another network over the Internet. Anyone potentially trying to snoop on you will only see that you are connected to the VPN, and not what you are doing.
Of course, the most important thing is to remember that using public Wi-Fi is always risky, and requires some extra steps to protect your data.
The post Why You Need to Watch Out When Using Public Wi-Fi appeared first on McAfee Blog.
It’s common practice to pull down the window shades at night. Homeowners invest in high fences. You may even cover the PIN pad when you type in your secret four-digit code at ATMs. Privacy is key to going about your daily life comfortably in your surroundings. Why shouldn’t privacy also extend to your digital surroundings?
This Data Privacy Day, round out your privacy protection toolbox with McAfee’s help so you can live your best online life safely.
An easy way to instantly boost the privacy of your every online move is to always connect to a virtual private network (VPN). A VPN scrambles your connected device’s internet session, meaning that it’s impossible for a cybercriminal to eavesdrop on your online comings and goings. VPNs are especially crucial for when you connect to public Wi-Fi networks or networks for which you cannot vouch for their security. Cybercriminals often lurk on public Wi-Fi networks at hotels, coffee shops, and libraries and pounce on users who connect their devices without the protection of a VPN.
Digital privacy not only implies remaining hidden from nefarious eyes, but also from the prying eyes of pesky advertisers. A VPN can assist with that too! When you have a VPN enabled, it confuses advertisers and targeted ads. The less information they have, the more privately you can surf online.
To improve your online privacy, it’s important to first know how safe you currently are. When you can identify your weakest digital privacy habits, you can make targeted improvements to them. Luckily, McAfee Protection Score can help you do just that! Protection Score is a helpful privacy tool that rates your current digital safety. Then, based on your score, the tool offers suggestions on how to boost your score.
For instance, Protection Score searches for your personally identifiable information (PII) on the dark web. If it finds a copy of your government ID or your financial records on a dubious site, your score will tank. While it may be alarming to have a low Protection Score, you can feel good that you’re making positive waves, hopefully before a cybercriminal takes advantage of your PII and uses it to steal your identity.
There are several easy ways to boost your score that require very little effort but have a huge payoff. Connecting to a VPN and running an antivirus scan on your device are just two things you can do and each only takes a few seconds. Changing your habits and turning your online safety around doesn’t have to be overwhelming! In some cases, there are services that’ll even do the work for you, like the service we’ll talk about next.
To round out your privacy protection toolbox, consider signing up for McAfee Personal Data Cleanup. This service is a great companion to Protection Score. While Protection Score identifies all the areas where you can improve your security, Personal Data Cleanup is a service that will remove your information from the web’s riskiest sites.
Did you know that, on average, a person has their PII for sale on 31 sites? Plus, 95% of people haven’t even given their permission and have their personal information for sale on data brokerage sites. Data brokerage sites are legal and anyone can buy your information. Online advertisers are the usual clients, but a cybercriminal can jump in and buy valuable PII, as well.
You should care about data privacy every day not just when the calendar reminds you on Data Privacy Day. Take the steps and invest in the right solutions to shore up your online defenses. McAfee+ Ultimate is an all-in-one service that includes unlimited VPN, Protection Score, a full-service Personal Data Cleanup, and 13 other high-quality identity, privacy, and device security tools.
Live your online life more confidently with McAfee, knowing that cybercriminals are less likely to slip by and damage your credit, identity, or online reputation.
The post 3 Tools to Round Out Your Privacy Protection Toolbox appeared first on McAfee Blog.
For many Aussies, identity theft was always something that happened to other people. People on TV, usually. But the recent spate of data breaches at Optus, Medibank and Energy Australia has made many of us pay far more attention than ever to one of the fastest growing crimes in our country.
According to the Department of Home Affairs, 1 in 4 Aussies will be the victim of identity theft over the course of their lives with an annual economic impact of more than $2 billion. And with the financial fallout from the recent data breaches only just starting to be counted, these statistics will no doubt increase dramatically next year.
Identity theft is when a cybercriminal gains access to your personal information to steal money or gain other benefits. Armed with your personal info, they can apply for real identity documents in your name but with another person’s photograph. This enables them to then apply for loans or benefits in your name, sign up for memberships or even apply for credit cards.
And it goes without saying that the financial and emotional fallout from identity theft can be huge. Since the Optus and Medibank hacking stories broke just a few months ago, there has been multiple stories of Aussie families who have had their identities stolen and who are in a world of pain. This Melbourne family who have had over $40,000 stolen from ATM withdrawals alone is just one example.
Your personal information is any piece of information or data that can confirm who you are or how to find you. It may be a single piece of information, or several pieces used together. It’s often referred to as personally identifiable information (PII). So, it includes your name, parents’ name, address, date of birth, phone numbers, email address, usernames/passwords or passphrases, bank account details, school or university attended, location check-ins even RSVPS for events.
Every time you register with a new shopping site or social media platform, you will be asked to share some personally identifiable information. However, what you share may be stolen or even misused – just think about the recent list of Australian companies who had their customers’ private information stolen by hackers. So that’s why you need to ensure you are only sharing your information with trusted online sites and take every possible step to protect your personal information online.
While there are no guarantees in life, there are steps you can take to ensure your online identity is as safe as possible. Here are my top 5 tips:
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) or 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) is a no-brainer because it makes a hacker’s life a lot harder. In short, it requires the user to provide two or more verification factors to gain access to an account or app. This might be a text, email or even a code generated by an authentication app. So, even if a hacker has your password and username, they still need that final piece of information before they can get their hands on your account!
Now this may take a bit of work to set up but using a unique and complex password on every account is one of the best things you can do to protect your online identity. And here’s the rationale – if you use the same password on all your accounts and your login details are stolen then hackers have access to all the accounts that are accessed with that password. Yikes!!! So, a unique password for each account is a great measure. I love using a password manager to make this process a little easier. Not only do they generate complex passwords, but they remember them too! All you need to do is remember your Master Password which needs to be extremely complex!!!
Updates are most commonly about addressing security weaknesses. And yes, I know they can be a pain but if you ignore them, you are essentially making it easier for hackers to find their way into your life via weak spots. And don’t forget to ensure your security software remains updated too!
I always recommend keeping a backup of all your important info in case something goes wrong. This should include all your photos, key documents and all your personally identifiable information. A hard drive works well but saving to the cloud is also a good option. I once dropped a hard drive and lost treasured family photos, so the cloud is my personal preference.
We all know knowledge is power so investing in top notch security and identity monitoring software will help keep you ahead of threats. McAfee+, McAfee’s new all in one privacy, identity and device protection solution is a fantastic way for Aussies to protect themselves online. It features identity monitoring and a password manager but also an unlimited VPN, a file shredder, protection score and parental controls. And the Rolls Royce version called McAfee+ Advanced, also offers subscribers additional identity protections including access to licensed restoration experts who can help you repair your identity and credit, in case you’re affected by a data breach. It also gives subscribers access to lost wallet protection which help you cancel and replace your ID, credit cards if they are lost or stolen.
Public, unsecured Wi-Fi can make life so much easier when you’re out and about but it’s also a tried and tested way for scammers to access your personal information. Unsecured Wi-Fi is free Wi-Fi that is available in public places such as libraries, cafes, or shopping centres. So, instead of using Wi-Fi, just use the data in your phone plan. Or alternatively invest in a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that cleverly encrypts everything you share on your device.
About 2 months ago, I embarked on a project to clean up my online life. I’m working through the list of sites I have accounts with and am closing those I no longer use, I’m also doing a huge password audit to ensure they are all unique to each site and are super complex, thanks to my password manager. Now, I’m not quite done yet, but things are in better shape than they were. Why not consider doing the same? With the holiday season fast approaching, why not dedicate a little of your poolside time to practicing a little cyber hygiene.
Till next time, keep those identities safe!
Alex
The post The Best Way To Protect Your Online Identity appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Your phone is likely a daily companion, giving you access to work emails, chats with friends, weather reports, and more — all in the palm of your hand. You can also use your phone for browsing online, looking up everything from your favorite recipes to your most-read media webpages.
While being able to browse whenever and wherever you want is convenient, you might prefer that your phone doesn’t save all your online searches. For example, if you frequently let other people use your phone, you may not want them to have access to a history of your Google searches. In this case, you can use private browsing or “incognito mode.”
This allows you to browse online without leaving any trace of your browsing activity on your mobile phone. Configuring your phone to use incognito mode can give you greater confidence while surfing online, as you’ll enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing your browser history isn’t recorded on your device.
This article explains what incognito mode is and how you can set it up on your mobile phone.
Incognito mode allows you to browse online without leaving certain data on the device you’re using. Also referred to as private browsing mode, it makes sure there’s no record of your search engine history, websites you visited, and even login details (and related passcodes) on that device.
As soon as you close the incognito web browser window, any cookies are erased and all these details disappear instead of being saved.
That said, if you leave an incognito browser window open on your phone — and then hand your phone to someone else — they’ll be able to see the activity. So, if you want to make the most of incognito mode, make sure to close the browser window after every surfing session.
Further, if you actively bookmark a page, it will be saved — even if you’re in incognito mode. Read on for some more caveats surrounding incognito mode and the extent of privacy it gives you.
It’s important to note that incognito mode or private browsing mode is a device-specific privacy measure. It makes sure that your search and web browsing history isn’t visible on the device itself.
However, your traffic and activity are both still visible to third parties beyond your device, such as your network admin, internet service provider (ISP), and the websites and search engines that you visit.
Viewing in private or incognito mode also won’t disguise your unique IP address from these parties. Incognito mode further doesn’t secure your device against cyberthreats like hackers.
That said, there are plenty of other tools you can use to safeguard your device against cybercriminals. For example, McAfee+ helps to secure your Wi-Fi connection, shield you from malicious websites or links, and detect malware.
You may already be familiar with incognito mode through your computer. For example, many people set up incognito mode through browsers like Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, or Internet Explorer.
However, incognito mode isn’t just for computers — you can also use it on your phone’s web browsing apps.
The steps to setting up incognito mode are fairly straightforward. That said, it depends largely on which type of device you have.
Setting up private browsing or incognito mode for an Android isn’t the same as setting it up for iOS. Read on to learn how to go incognito whether you’ve got an Apple iPhone or an Android phone like Samsung.
The process for setting up incognito mode also varies based on the browser you’re using. Here’s how to set it up in the Google Chrome browser for your Android (note that the Google Chrome app is the default browser for most Android phones):
Remember, for Google Chrome’s incognito mode to do the trick, you need to close your browsing session after each use. If you leave the tab open and someone else uses your phone, they can see your activity.
For iPhones, the default browser is Safari. Here’s how to set up private browsing in Safari for your iPhone:
Again, remember to close your browser’s private tabs when you’re done surfing. This makes sure that cookies are deleted and the private session is safely hidden from your device’s history.
The above steps can help you set up incognito mode on your Apple or Android phone’s browser. However, you probably use your phone for much more than browsing.
You might have apps for watching videos, getting driving directions, listening to music, and more. And the tips above will only protect your privacy when using the phone’s browser — not apps.
That said, some apps offer their very own in-app incognito mode. Examples include YouTube, Google Maps, Spotify, and Instagram. Other apps simply offer the option of private sessions, requiring you to log in with a dedicated username and password if you’re going to use the app. These include Whatsapp, Dropbox, Amazon, PayPal, and Evernote.
Some of these apps can even be configured so they’re only unlockable with touch ID or face ID.
Browsing in incognito or private mode on your phone allows you to surf online without leaving any trace of your search history on that specific device. However, it doesn’t block third parties like your internet service provider or network administrator from seeing what websites you’ve visited. Only your phone is affected.
Incognito mode also doesn’t protect you against potential cyberthreats, like malware. To stay safe and browse with confidence, consider McAfee Mobile Security. It includes Wi-Fi privacy protection, browsing safeguards, shields against unauthorized third-party activities, and more — and it works for Android and iOS devices. Find out more.
The post How to Browse Privately on Your Phone appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Have you ever been browsing online and clicked a link or search result that took you to a site that triggers a “your connection is not private” or “your connection is not secure” error code? If you’re not too interested in that particular result, you may simply move on to another result option. But if you’re tempted to visit the site anyway, you should be sure you understand what the warning means, what the risks are, and how to bypass the error if you need to.
A “your connection is not private” error means that your browser cannot determine with certainty that a website has safe encryption protocols in place to protect your device and data. You can bump into this error on any device connected to the internet — computer, smartphone, or tablet.
So, what exactly is going on when you see the “this connection is not private” error?
For starters, it’s important to know that seeing the error is just a warning, and it does not mean any of your private information is compromised. A “your connection is not private” error means the website you were trying to visit does not have an up-to-date SSL (secure sockets layer) security certificate.
Website owners must maintain the licensing regularly to ensure the site encryption capabilities are up to date. If the website’s SSL certificate is outdated, it means the site owners have not kept their encryption licensing current, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they are up to no good. Even major websites like LinkedIn have had momentary lapses that would throw the error. LinkedIn mistakenly let their subdomain SSL certificates lapse.
In late 2021, a significant provider of SSL certificates, Let’s Encrypt, went out of business. When their root domain officially lapsed, it created issues for many domain names and SSL certificates owned by legitimate companies. The privacy error created problems for unwitting businesses, as many of their website visitors were rightfully concerned about site security.
While it does not always mean a website is unsafe to browse, it should not be ignored. A secure internet connection is critical to protecting yourself online. Many nefarious websites are dangerous to visit, and this SSL certificate error will protect you from walking into them unaware.
SSL certification standards have helped make the web a safer place to transact. It helps ensure online activities like paying bills online, ordering products, connecting to online banking, or keeping your private email accounts safe and secure. Online security continues to improve with a new Transport Layer Security (TLS) standard, which promises to be the successor protocol to SSL.
So be careful whenever visiting sites that trigger the “connection is not private” error, as those sites can potentially make your personal data less secure and make your devices vulnerable to viruses and malware.
Note: The “your connection is not private” error is Google Chrome‘s phrasing. Microsoft Edge or Mozilla Firefox users will instead see a “your connection is not secure” error as the warning message.
If you feel confident that a website or page is safe, despite the warning from your web browser, there are a few things you can do to troubleshoot the error.
Remember, you are taking your chances anytime you ignore an error. As we mentioned, you could leave yourself vulnerable to hackers after your passwords, personal information, and other risks.
Your data and private information are valuable to hackers, so they will continue to find new ways to try and procure it. Here are some ways to protect yourself and your data when browsing online.
As we continue to do more critical business online, we must also do our best to address the risks of the internet’s many conveniences.
A comprehensive cybersecurity tool like McAfee+ Ultimate can help protect you from online scams, identity theft, and phishing attempts, and ensure you always have a secure connection. McAfee helps keep your sensitive information out of the hands of hackers and can help you keep your digital data footprints lighter with personal data cleanup.
With McAfee’s experts on your side, you can enjoy everything the web offers with the confidence of total protection.
The post “This Connection Is Not Private” – What it Means and How to Protect Your Privacy appeared first on McAfee Blog.
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What you paid for your home, who lives there with you, your age, your children, your driving record, education, occupation, estimated income, purchasing habits, and any political affiliations you may have—all pretty personal information, right? Well, there’s a good chance that anyone can find it online. All it takes is your name and address.
Thankfully, there’s something you can do about it.
But first, go ahead and give it a try. Type your name and address in a search bar and see what comes up. If you’re like most people, your search results turned up dozens of sites with your information on them. Some sites offer bits of it for free. Other sites offer far more detailed information, for a price.
Who’s behind all this? Data brokers. All part of a global data economy estimated at $200 billion U.S. dollars a year fueled by thousands of data points on billions of people scraped from public records, social media, third-party sources, and sometimes other data broker sites as well.
The result? A chillingly accurate picture of you.
So accurate, that reporters and law enforcement will often use profiles from data broker sites to dig up a person’s background. And so could scammers and thieves.
Ever wonder how you end up with all those spam calls and texts? Look no further than the data brokers. They help scammers compile the calling and texting lists they use. Yet spammy calls and texts are just part of the problem with these sites. They can give thieves the tools they need to steal your identity.
How? Visualize your identity as a jigsaw puzzle. Every bit of personal information makes up a piece, and if you cobble enough pieces together, a scammer or thief could have enough information to steal your identity. And data brokers compile all those pieces in one place and offer up them up in droves.
If you’re wondering if this activity is legal or at least regulated in some way, it largely isn’t. For example, the U.S. has no federal laws that require data brokers to remove personal information from their sites if requested to do so. On the state level, Nevada, Vermont, and California have legislation in place aimed at protecting consumers from having their data disclosed on these sites. Other legislation is being considered, yet as of this writing there’s very little on the books right now.
With next to no oversight, data brokers continue to collect personal information, which may or may not be accurate. It may be out of date or flat out wrong. Likewise, as it is with any large data store, data brokers are subject to hacks and attacks, which may lead to breaches that release detailed personal information onto the dark web and into the hands of bad actors.
Put plainly, data brokers collect, buy, and sell high volumes of personal information, often in ways that leave no trace that it’s happening to you—or that the information is correct in any way.
All this can feel like it’s out of your control. And maybe the search you did on yourself made you a little uneasy. (Understandable!) Yet you have plenty of ways you can curb this activity and even remove your information from some of the riskiest data broker sites as well.
It starts by finding out which sites have information on you, followed by filing requests to have it removed. Yet with dozens and dozens of these sites proliferating online, this can be a time-consuming process. Not to mention a frustrating one. We created McAfee+ so people can not only be safe but feel safe online, particularly in a time when there’s so much concern about identity theft and invasion of our online privacy. McAfee+ contains a comprehensive set of tools, such as Personal Data Cleanup which are designed to help protect your online privacy.
Personal Data Cleanup scans some of the riskiest data broker sites and shows you which ones are selling your personal info. It also provides guidance on how you can remove your data from those sites and can even manage the removal for you depending on your plan.
And because getting your info removed once isn’t a guarantee that a data broker won’t collect and post it again, Personal Data Cleanup can continually monitor those sites. So should your info get posted again, you can request its removal again as well.
The other way you can thwart data brokers involves cleaning up your tracks when you go online, essentially leaving a smaller amount of data in your wake that they can collect and resell.
Searching for your name and address can turn up some surprises and introduce you to the world of data brokers, the dozens and dozens of companies that collect, buy, and sell your personal information. While data brokers sell this information to companies for advertising and marketing purposes, they will also sell that information to hackers, scammers, and thieves. Simply put, they don’t discriminate when selling your personal info. That puts more than just your privacy at risk, it can put your identity at risk as well. By selling your personal information, it can give bad actors the info they need to commit identity fraud and theft.
While cleaning up personal information from these sites is often a difficult and time-consuming task, tools like our Personal Data Cleanup can now dig out the sites where your personal info is posted and can help you remove it. Moreover, you now have several tricks and tactics you can use to reduce the amount of personal data these sites can collect. In all, you now have far more control over what data brokers can collect, buy, and sell than you had before. And now is most certainly a time to take that control given all the time we spend online and the many ways we rely on it to help us work, play, and simply get things done.
The post How much of your personal info is available online? A simple search could show you plenty. appeared first on McAfee Blog.
A virtual private network (VPN) is a tool that enables users to protect their privacy while using an internet connection. VPNs create an encrypted tunnel — a private link between your device and the VPN server.
Essentially, this private link or tunnel keeps external influences out and allows your data to travel in an encrypted manner, enhancing security. The network’s privacy also makes sure your Internet Protocol (IP) address and browsing history is hidden online.
[Text Wrapping Break]VPNs use several VPN protocols like OpenVPN, IPSec/IKEv2, PPTP, SSTP, and WireGuard to protect you. In particular, McAfee® Safe Connect VPN supports the OpenVPN protocol, which is an open-source and highly secure protocol running on TCP or UDP internet protocol and used by many VPN providers globally. [Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]Read on to know more about how VPNs work and learn to install one.
The best way to stay secure online is to minimize your digital footprint. A good VPN service allows you to do exactly this, acting as an additional layer of protection for your online activities.
The primary function of a VPN is encryption. Most websites and online browsers already have some form of encryption. For example, when you purchase something on Amazon, you have to enter your credit card details and address. Encryption creates a private tunnel for data transmission between your device and Amazon to make sure no one else can watch what you’re doing.
A VPN app does the same thing with an added level of security. The data that you pass to a VPN server is anonymized before it goes to the internet. In short, your device establishes an encrypted connection with the VPN server instead of connecting directly through the internet. So, the encryption protects your data and digital footprint from anyone outside the “private tunnel” between you and the secure VPN server.
Additionally, VPNs allow you to change or hide your IP address. An IP address is a number linked to a particular computer and network. Changing your IP address can trick the servers into thinking you’re connecting from a different geographical location. This can help improve security and provide additional benefits discussed below.
You can also use a VPN to hide your IP address. This may be helpful if you’re trying to access content from other countries (for example, Netflix may have different content in different countries) or trying to keep your internet search history away from the prying eyes of a third-party like your internet service provider or a government.
Using a VPN can help improve your online security. Nearly every internet activity — website and social media browsing, paying bills, online shopping, data sharing, and more — can be tracked by others. [Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]Read on to learn about who typically uses a VPN and understand whether you should consider installing one.
Given the extra security that VPN connections provide, you can gain something from using a VPN client. So, if you’re an individual concerned about your online privacy or just want to browse online anonymously — consider using a VPN. A VPN enables you to use the internet without third parties seeing your identity or identifying you via your search history since they don’t know what you were searching about or using the internet for.
Big tech has had a long history of tracking private data for their gains. These companies regularly bundle data into coherent profiles and sell it to third parties. Additionally, they use private data to demonstrate targeted advertisements or manipulative content that makes you more likely to purchase their products. [Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]So, it’s worthwhile to use a VPN if you regularly shop online or bank online. A VPN gives you that additional protection that can help prevent hackers or malicious third parties from accessing your information.[Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]VPNs are excellent mechanisms for you to protect your privacy online. And you should consider your personal context and conduct thorough research to find the best VPN for your needs.
VPNs are particularly helpful if you travel a lot, either for business or for leisure. While traveling, it’s inevitable that you connect to random or unknown Wifi networks and it may be the case that these networks are spying on you. However, if you’re using a VPN to browse the web, these WiFi networks can’t track you or your search history. This ensures you maintain anonymity and are safe while using the internet.
Yes, an additional layer of protection to your online activities is always good practice. A VPN allows individuals using a personal computer to stay vigilant, protect their data, and maintain anonymity while allowing them to still enjoy their online experience.
VPNs provide more benefits than just serving as an additional layer for cybercriminals to pass through.
Depending on the VPN you’re using, it can be a straightforward process to connect a VPN to your Mac, Windows, iPhone, or Android mobile device. McAfee’s VPN works with multiple platforms and operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.
Use this guide to quickly set up a VPN with your device in a few simple steps.
With McAfee +, you can minimize your digital footprint through a secure connection channel without compromising your browsing experience. Connect to public networks, make financial transactions online, and keep your personal data safe with McAfee.
With our bank-grade AES-256 bit encryption technology and automatic protection, McAfee VPN protection can help safeguard all your online activities — allowing you to enjoy the internet the way it was meant to be enjoyed.
Explore our full suite of cybersecurity tools included in McAfee +, including our newest service, Personal Data Cleanup. We can help find and remove your personal data on some of the riskiest data broker sites.
The post What’s the Meaning of VPN? VPN Defined appeared first on McAfee Blog.
McAfee’s Secure VPN now supports the WireGuard protocol, which gives you faster connection speeds plus enhanced stability and security.
WireGuard is the latest standard in Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology, and we’re rolling it out across McAfee Secure VPN for Windows which is included in our comprehensive online protection plans. And just as before, it offers smart protection that can be set to automatically turn on when you need it, so you can stay more private and more secure online.
If you’re new to using a VPN, let’s take a quick look at two of the big things a VPN can do for you.
The bank-grade encryption used by a strong VPN shields your data and information while it’s in transit, which makes it difficult for hackers to spy on your connection. (Think of your data and information traveling through a tunnel that no one else can use or see into.) In that way, a VPN makes all kinds of online activities more secure—like banking, shopping, and checking up on your finances, even using your apps.
By masking your whereabouts and your IP address, along with encryption that helps keep your activities private, a VPN reduces the personal information that others can collect and track. That includes internet service providers, social media companies, businesses, app developers, websites, and others who gather your data for marketing purposes or for resale to third parties.
A quick word about what WireGuard is in slightly more detail. It’s a VPN protocol, which is a series of technical rules that govern how your device can securely reach the VPN servers, validate your access to the requests you make online, and encrypt your browsing traffic so that only you can see what you are doing over the internet. WireGuard is one of several protocols that we support, such as the OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocols. While WireGuard improves upon OpenVPN and IKEv2 in many ways, both are still secure and safe ways in which a VPN can connect.
Now with the latest WireGuard standard in place, our VPN for Windows that comes with all our all-in-one plans offers faster speeds and improved stability compared to what previous standards offered. This gives you the security of a VPN with similar performance as if you were on a fully open connection—along with the added benefit of keeping your browsing and other activities private.
Taken together, the improved speed and stability give privacy-conscious people a further reason to use a VPN more often than before. Because a VPN can minimize the exposure of data as it transmits to and from your devices, companies and data brokers can potentially learn far less about you, your shopping, your travels, your habits, and any other information that they could possibly collect and otherwise profit from. The more often you use a VPN, the less they can potentially gather.
For more about VPNs and how ours can keep you more private and secure online, give us a visit here any time.
The post McAfee Secure VPN: Now with WireGuard for Faster Speeds and Enhanced Stability appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Using a VPN on your smartphone can boost your privacy in a big way, particularly with all the data tracking that’s happening out there today.
For some time now, we’ve recommended a VPN when using public Wi-Fi in airports, libraries, hotels, and coffee shops. Given that these are public networks, a determined hacker can snoop on the other devices transmitting data on them. With a VPN, any connection becomes a secure connection, which includes public Wi-Fi. That advice still holds true. Yet there’s a good reason to use it on your smartphone all the time—for your privacy.
Let’s start with a quick look at the two big things a VPN does for you.
The bank-grade encryption used by a strong VPN shields your data and information while it’s in transit, which makes it terrifically difficult for hackers to spy on your connection. (Think of your data and information traveling through a tunnel that no one else can use or see into.) In that way, a VPN makes all kinds of online activities more secure—like banking, shopping, and checking up on your finances.
By masking your whereabouts and your IP address, along with encryption that helps keep your activities private, a VPN reduces the personal information that others can collect and track. That includes internet service providers, social media companies, businesses, app developers, websites, and others who gather your data for marketing purposes or resale to third parties.
As far as your privacy is concerned, a VPN on a smartphone can be a smart move. There are a couple of reasons for that: first, because of the way smartphones have additional tracking technologies built in, and second, because of all the trackable data we create when using smartphones as frequently as we do—up to six hours per day for some.
As for how your smartphone is built, data collectors can harvest your personal information that reveals what you’re doing, when you’re doing it, and where you’re doing it as well. Several technologies allow them to pinpoint where you are at any given time, such as GPS and location services, along with Bluetooth connectivity and location tracking based on which cell phone tower you’re connected to. Even scanning a QR code with your phone can reveal location information. It can all get rather precise, which is of interest to advertisers, businesses, and even governments.
Next, think about all the activities you do on your phone, with a special emphasis on the apps you use and the data they create, about your health, your shopping habits, your travels, who you’re chatting with, and what content you’re posting online—just to name a few things. Once again, that information in and of itself is valuable to data collectors. It becomes even more valuable when they know where you do these things.
Taken together, data broker companies readily gather this information from millions of devices, generating billions of data points, and creating massive lists of targeted information. And that information gets quite specific. With some data brokers collecting hundreds and thousands of data points per person, they can provide interested buyers with a high-resolution snapshot of who you are, where you live, who’s in your family, your income, where you shop, what you like to buy—right on down to your favorite shampoo. And that’s just for starters.
It’s little surprise that all this data brokering activity fuels a global business estimated at $280 billion U.S. dollars a year.
How’s this happening? In large part by way of the privacy policies you may or may not have read.
Within those policies, device manufacturers, social media companies, app developers, and so on will detail what data they collect, under what conditions, what they do with it, and if they share or resell that data to other parties. However, if you’ve ever dived into the fine print of a privacy policy, what’s stated there isn’t always clear. Now consider all the apps you have on your phone and the privacy policies associated with each one—your personal data privacy picture gets even less clear.
With digital data and information collection baked into so much of what we do online, it’s little wonder that more than 70% of people feel like their data privacy is out of their control.
Yet there are things you can do.
Using a VPN on your smartphone can make you far more anonymous online. A VPN can minimize the data that gets exposed as it transmits to and from your smartphone. As a result, companies and data brokers can potentially learn far less about you, your shopping, your travels, your habits, and any other information that they could possibly collect and otherwise profit from.
While you have free VPN options available, I suggest steering clear of them. As with many “free” services, there’s going to be some catch, often involving data collection. For example, some so-called “free VPNs” have served up tracking malware or actually collected private data and information for sale—the very things you want a VPN to prevent.
Given that this is your privacy we’re talking about, do a little background check. Has the VPN you’re considering been independently audited for security? The technology that powers ours undergoes a thorough audit every year. Search news articles and see if the VPN you’re looking at has a track record of collecting and selling data in any way. Again, with our VPN technology, we don’t log or track what you do online so your online activity remains private.
What about the information that’s already out there? Our Personal Data Cleanup can help you remove your personal information from high-risk data broker sites, so you can prevent it from being further collected and sold online. If you’re unsure if your data and information are out there, consider what one major data broker has touted in the past—a reach of over 62 countries and the ability to reach over 2.5 billion consumers globally. With 5 billion internet users today, that accounts for half of the world’s online population. And that’s just one data broker alone.
Moreover, consider that data brokers acquire plenty of information from places other than your smartphone and other connected devices. They skim and collate public records associated with you, information purchased from retailers with loyalty card programs, not to mention census data, court records, and motor vehicle records. And that’s just a few of the many sources. Using our Personal Data Cleanup can help remove those sorts of records too.
Together, the combination of a VPN and Personal Data Cleanup can help you become far more private than before. With so much of our digital lives getting collected, tracked, and tabulated, often without our knowledge thanks to confusing privacy policies, taking control of your privacy makes sense and only gets easier to do thanks to the tools and services available to you.
The post Why You Need a VPN on Your Smartphone appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Whether using the internet for play or work, you want to spend your time online enjoying the peace of mind that comes with having a secure network.
You don’t want to contend with someone taking your personal data — whether it’s credit card information, passwords, or bank account details — via malware or a data breach on your Android, Windows, or Apple iOS device.
Fortunately, with some sensible precautions and simple steps, you can use your connected devices productively without worrying about cybercriminals and malicious software. This article explains how to stop hackers from getting access to your sensitive data.
You can take steps to protect your different computing and mobile devices and operating systems. These steps can be divided into technological solutions and the right awareness and information to provide a comforting measure of self-protection.
It’s like learning karate for self-defense, giving you confidence as you negotiate the wider world (and hoping that you never have to use it).
When it comes to identity protection software, McAfee provides a proven solution with our identity protection and privacy services. The protection includes alerts if your sensitive information is found on the dark web (up to 10 months sooner than other providers), personal data cleanup from sites gathering and selling your information, and an unlimited virtual public network (VPN) service that protects your privacy as you use public Wi-Fi networks.
You’ll also get up to $1 million in identity theft coverage and hands-on restoration support to help you reclaim your identity.
Simple, obvious passwords and passcodes (like your street address, your birthday, your kids’ or pets’ names, or “1234” or “abcd”) are easy for cybercriminals to crack, giving them unwanted access to your private data.
The stronger your password, the better your protection. Some best password practices include:
It’s important not to be a standing target. Just as you should use different passwords for everything, you should regularly change your passwords. You should do this a few times a year (although some cyber experts say this might not be necessary if you have a long and very complicated password).
If you have a number of passwords that you update often, it might be worth getting a password manager like McAfee True Key to keep track of them. Not only will you not be faced with remembering all your different passwords or writing them down (also a no-no), but it can also help you create and store unique passwords.
The software uses the strongest encryption algorithms available to protect your passwords, scrambling them so no one else can access them. It’ll also suggest new passwords and automatically log you into your online accounts with just one master password.
Another important line of defense is multi-factor authentication (sometimes known as two-factor authentication). This system uses a password and a second piece of verification — often an SMS message sent to your Android device or iPhone — to authenticate your identity.
This provides hard-to-beat protection even if a hacker has your password. Besides receiving SMS codes, there are also code-generating apps and physical security keys.
Thinking before you click on an email or text is a very important defense against phishing scams. Your bank won’t send you an email or text notifying you that there’s been suspicious activity on your account.
Does getting a large refund from your phone company sound too good to be true? It is. Similarly, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) won’t text to tell you that you owe them money, and princes aren’t going to give you a fortune out of the blue.
Internet users beware: If you’re not absolutely certain that the text message you received is from a legitimate and trusted source, delete it. You can always contact the business or person directly to confirm that the message is legit.
Any operating system or app you use is open to malicious cyberattacks. This is why you should keep all your software up to date with the latest versions. Software developers are continually fixing holes in their products and offering cybersecurity patches to make them as safe and hacker-proof as possible.
Make sure your software, firmware, and security settings are up to date on your home’s Wi-Fi router, as well. You can often change your settings to allow for automatic updates.
Sure, who doesn’t like to go to a cafe, library, or hotel lobby to use the free Wi-Fi? But security is often weak in these public networks. If you open your online banking account or access personal information, you may unwittingly be giving a personal invitation to eavesdropping cybercriminals.
This is where the bank-grade level of protection of McAfee Secure VPN comes in, which automatically turns on when you need it and keeps you safe on public Wi-Fi networks.
Even if your device does get hacked, you can protect vital information on your Windows or macOS system with an encryption program like BitLocker or FileVault. You can protect any hard drive you use, including portable ones and USB keys.
It’s also a good idea to only shop at encrypted websites marked with the prefix “HTTPS” in their URLs.
One of the best ways to surf the web in comfort while keeping hackers at bay is with the comprehensive solutions provided by McAfee Total Protection.
Your protection includes proactive measures (meaning we’ll guide you to the best choices for prevention), early detection, and expert identity theft support.
This means you’ll get identity monitoring, up to $1 million in identity theft coverage, lost wallet protection, premium antivirus software, a secure VPN, and personal data removal. In particular, our Personal Data Cleanup service will help find and remove your personal information from data broker websites and people search sites.
With McAfee, you don’t have to be afraid of hackers. Let us deal with them.
The post How to Stay One Step Ahead of Hackers appeared first on McAfee Blog.
We’ve all been spending more of our time online since the crisis hit. Whether it’s ordering food for delivery, livestreaming concerts, holding virtual parties, or engaging in a little retail therapy, the digital interactions of many Americans are on the rise. This means we’re also sharing more of our personal and financial information online, with each other and the organizations we interact with. Unfortunately, as ever, there are bad guys around every digital corner looking for a piece of the action.
The bottom line is that personally identifiable information (PII) is the currency of internet crime. And cyber-criminals will do whatever they can to get their hands on it. When they commit identity theft with this data, it can be a messy business, potentially taking months for banks and businesses to investigate before you get your money and credit rating back. At a time of extreme financial hardship, this is the last thing anyone needs.
It therefore pays to be careful about how you use your data and how you protect it. Even more: it’s time to get proactive and monitor it—to try and spot early on if it has been stolen. Here’s what you need to know to protect your identity data.
How identity theft works
First, some data on the scope of the problem. In the second quarter of 2020 alone 349,641 identity theft reports were filed with the FTC. To put that in perspective, it’s over half of the number for the whole of 2019 (650,572), when consumers reported losing more than $1.9 billion to fraud. What’s driving this huge industry? A cybercrime economy estimated to be worth as much as $1.5 trillion annually.
Specialized online marketplaces and private forums provide a user-friendly way for cyber-criminals and fraudsters to easily buy and sell stolen identity data. Many are on the so-called dark web, which is hidden from search engines and requires a specialized anonymizing browser like Tor to access. However, plenty of this criminal activity also happens in plain sight, on social media sites and messaging platforms. This underground industry is an unstoppable force: as avenues are closed down by law enforcement or criminal in-fighting, other ones appear.
At-risk personal data could be anything from email and account log-ins to medical info, SSNs, card and bank details, insurance details and much more. It all has a value on the cybercrime underground and the price fraudsters are prepared to pay will depend on supply and demand, just like in the ‘real’ world.
There are various ways for attackers to get your data. The main ones are:
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The COVID-19 challenge
As if this weren’t enough, consumers are especially exposed to risk during the current pandemic. Hackers are using the COVID-19 threat as a lure to infect your PC or steal identity data via the phishing tactics described above. They often impersonate trustworthy institutions/officials and emails may claim to include new information on outbreaks, or vaccines. Clicking through or divulging your personal info will land you in trouble. Other fraud attempts will try to sell counterfeit or non-existent medical or other products to help combat infection, harvesting your card details in the process. In March, Interpol seized 34,000 counterfeit COVID goods like surgical masks and $14m worth of potentially dangerous pharmaceuticals.
Phone-based attacks are also on the rise, especially those impersonating government officials. The aim here is to steal your identity data and apply for government emergency stimulus funds in your name. Of the 349,641 identity theft reports filed with the FTC in Q2 2020, 77,684 were specific to government documents or benefits fraud.
What do cybercriminals do with my identity data?
Once your PII is stolen, it’s typically sold on the dark web to those who use it for malicious purposes. It could be used to:
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How do I protect my identity online?
The good news among all this bad is that if you remain skeptical about what you see online, are cautious about what you share, and follow some other simple rules, you’ll stand a greater chance of keeping your PII under lock and key. Best practices include:
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How Trend Micro can help
Trend Micro offers solutions that can help to protect your digital identity.
Trend Micro ID Security is the best way to get proactive about data protection. It works 24/7 to monitor dark web sites for your PII and will sound the alarm immediately if it finds any sign your accounts or personal data have been stolen. It features
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Trend Micro Password Manager enables you to manage all your website and app log-ins from one secure location. Because Password Manager remembers and recalls your credentials on-demand, you can create long, strong and unique passwords for each account. As you’re not sharing easy-to-remember passwords across multiple accounts, you’ll be protected from popular credential stuffing and similar attacks.
Finally, Trend Micro WiFi Protection will protect you if you’re out and about connecting to WiFi hotspots. It automatically detects when a WiFi connection isn’t secure and enables a VPN—making your connection safer and helping keep your identity data private.
In short, it’s time to take an active part in protecting your personal identity data—as if your digital life depended on it. In large part, it does.
The post Identity Fraud: How to Protect Your Identity Data, Accounts and Money During the Coronavirus Crisis appeared first on .
Coronavirus has caused a major shift to our working patterns. In many cases these will long outlast the pandemic. But working from home has its own risks. One is that you may invite ransomware attacks from a new breed of cyber-criminal who has previously confined his efforts to directly targeting the corporate network. Why? Because as a remote worker, you’re increasingly viewed as a soft target—the open doorway to extorting money from your employer.
So how does ransomware land up on your front doorstep? And what can a home worker do to shut that door?
The new ransomware trends
Last year, Trend Micro detected over 61 million ransomware-related threats, a 10% increase from 2018 figures. But things have only gotten worse from there. There has been a 20% spike in ransomware detections globally in the first half of 2020, rising to 109% in the US. And why is that?
At a basic level, ransomware searches for and encrypts most of the files on a targeted computer, so as to make them unusable. Victims are then asked to pay a ransom within a set time frame in order to receive the decryption key they need to unlock their data. If they don’t, and they haven’t backed-up this data, it could be lost forever.
The trend of late, however, has been to focus on public and private sector organizations whose staff are working from home (WFH). The rationale is that remote workers are less likely to be able to defend themselves from ransomware attacks, while they also provide a useful stepping-stone into high-value corporate networks. Moreover, cybercriminals are increasingly looking to steal sensitive data before they encrypt it, even as they’re more likely to fetch a higher ransom for their efforts than they do from a typical consumer, especially if the remote employee’s data is covered by cyber-insurance.
Home workers are also being more targeted for a number of reasons:
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What’s the attack profile of the remote working threat?
In short, the bad guys are now looking to gain entry to the corporate network you may be accessing from home via a VPN, or to the cloud-hosted systems you use for work or sharing files, in order to first steal and then encrypt company data with ransomware as far and wide as possible into your organization. But the methods are familiar. They’ll
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How can I prevent ransomware when working from home?
The good news is that you, the remote worker, can take some relatively straightforward steps up front to help mitigate the cascading risks to your company posed by the new ransomware. Try the following:
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How Trend Micro can help
In short, to close the cyber front door to ransomware, you need to protect your home network and all your endpoints (laptops, PCs, mobile devices) to be safe. Trend Micro can help via
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With these tools, you, the remote worker, can help shut the front door to ransomware, protecting your work, devices, and company from data theft and encryption for ransom.
The post Ransom from Home – How to close the cyber front door to remote working ransomware attacks appeared first on .
The number of VPN users has grown considerably over the past few years. According to the report of Go-Globe, 25% of netizens worldwide have used a VPN at least once in the last 30 days. Recently, VPN usage has surged in many countries and its popularity may see VPN usage surpass the estimated profit of USD$27.10 billion by the end of 2020. The VPN global market only seems to increase as time goes by. So, why is that? What do VPNs provide that make them so attractive?
What is a VPN?
A VPN, or a Virtual Private Network, creates a secure communication “tunnel” from your computer to the internet. It encrypts your connection and prevents others from seeing the data you’re transferring. This keeps your data secure from any spying attempts—including from home over your wired connection, but particularly on public Wi-Fi networks, when you’re out and about in places such as coffee shops, restaurants, airports and hotels. It helps ensure that no one can steal your personal details, passwords, or credit card information.
How does a VPN work and why you need a VPN service?
Among other things, a VPN can conceal your IP address to make your online actions virtually untraceable and anonymous, providing greater privacy for everything you do. In fact, there are so many ways a VPN can protect your privacy and security, we need to take a deeper look at what other benefits a VPN can provide.
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This is the era of mobility and most transactions are being done by people on-the-go using their mobile devices to exchange data over public networks. From online shopping, to mobile banking or simply checking emails and social media accounts, these activities can expose your personal information and sensitive data to hackers and cybercriminals. This particularly applies to users relying on public Wi-Fi. Using a VPN will help to mitigate unwanted leakage or theft by securing data in transit to and from the systems that typically try to collect and store your private data.
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One of the main drivers for using a VPN is to access better streaming content and restricted websites from the region you’re accessing the internet from. This may be true in your own country, but when traveling abroad, there are also chances that you cannot visit a popular website or a social media platform from the country you’re visiting. While using a VPN, you can connect to an IP address in your country and have full access to your favorite media contents and avoid wasting membership fees that you will likely pay for this streaming service.
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Some retail apps, social media platforms, and search engines continuously collect and analyze results of your search history. They keep track of all your browsing activities such as items you viewed, contents you liked, and things you tapped and clicked, so they can provide you with more targeted contents and monetize these by showing the same information in your feed through ads.
Note that, simply clearing your browsing history does not completely remove traces of these searches, and targeted ads can get annoying. This is where a VPN can help enhance your browsing privacy. The VPN hides your browser cached data and location from advertisers, which prevents them from serving up content based on your searches and location.
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Another motivating factor for the use of a VPN is to save on the cost of communicating with families and friends abroad. There are countries implementing restrictions on the use of certain messaging apps, banning their services. If you are planning to visit a country with such a restriction, a VPN can bypass this constraint, which allows you to make use of your trusted messaging app, eliminate the cost of long-distance calls to family and friends while abroad—and at the same time, maintain the level of security and encryption the messaging app provides.
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The internet has evolved into streaming more content—videos, music, and more—and ISPs have responded by making higher data usage and higher throughput (bandwidth) pay-as-you-use-more services. But content is still at issue, particularly after the December 2017 FCC ruling. Potential ISP throttling based on content type, source, or destination (e.g., BitTorrent traffic), which could give priority to business over personal usage, is one of the reasons why everyday people are using VPN services, because a VPN provides more usage anonymity, preventing ISPs from potentially tracking your activities and limiting your bandwidth usage accordingly.
Choosing the right VPN for you
Now that you have some understanding of what a VPN is, and what benefits it can give you, it is also important to choose the right VPN for you.
Due to regulatory requirements and laws governing data privacy and securing personal information online, the demand for VPNs is growing. In response, there are a large number of VPN providers in the market today. So how do you choose a reliable VPN? Here are some criteria to help you pick one that best suits your needs:
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Trend Micro’s Home Division provides two low-cost, safety-focused VPN solutions for everyday users: Trend Micro VPN Proxy One and Trend Micro Wi-Fi Protection, both of which can address light-to-medium VPN needs and meet most of the checklist criteria above.
Trend Micro VPN Proxy One offers fast, secure, stable and anonymous proxy connections for you to access various websites and applications. It connects to the best Trend Micro VPN server intelligently, without you having to do it, and does not limit bandwidth consumption. Trend Micro VPNs do not track your online activities, ensuring you a secure digital life and protecting your online privacy. Trend Micro VPN Proxy One is targeted to Mac and iOS devices.
Trend Micro Wi-Fi Protection turns any public hotspot into a secure Wi-Fi network and VPN with bank-grade data encryption to keep your information safe from hackers. While your VPN is active, Trend Micro Wi-Fi Protection provides exceptional web threat protection and checks websites you visit to safeguard your browsing from online fraud and internet scam. The VPN automatically kicks in when connecting to a Wi-Fi network with low security, such as one with no encryption. Trend Micro Wi-Fi Protection is available for all platforms (PC, Mac, Android, and iOS). Bundles can be purchased for multiple devices and platforms and some bundles can include other Trend Micro products, depending on the region.
Go to the Apple App Store for more details on Trend Micro VPN Proxy One; or for a 30-day trial or to buy, go here: Mac | iOS.
Or visit Trend Micro Wi-Fi Protection for more information, or to buy the multi-platform solution.
The post What is a VPN and How Does it Increase Your Online Security and Privacy? appeared first on .
The COVID-19 pandemic, along with social distancing, has done many things to alter our lives. But in one respect it has merely accelerated a process begun many years ago. We were all spending more and more time online before the virus struck. But now, forced to work, study and socialize at home, the online digital world has become absolutely essential to our communications — and video conferencing apps have become our “face-to-face” window on the world.
The problem is that as users flock to these services, the bad guys are also lying in wait — to disrupt or eavesdrop on our chats, spread malware, and steal our data. Zoom’s problems have perhaps been the most widely publicized, because of its quickly rising popularity, but it’s not the only platform whose users have been potentially at risk. Cisco’s WebEx and Microsoft Teams have also had issues; while other platforms, such as Houseparty, are intrinsically less secure (almost by design for their target audience, as the name suggests).
Let’s take a look at some of the key threats out there and how you can stay safe while video conferencing.
Depending on the platform (designed for work or play) and the use case (business or personal), there are various opportunities for the online attacker to join and disrupt or eavesdrop on video conferencing calls. The latter is especially dangerous if you’re discussing sensitive business information.
Malicious hackers may also look to deliver malware via chats or shared files to take control of your computer, or to steal your passwords and sensitive personal and financial information. In a business context, they could even try to hijack your video conferencing account to impersonate you, in a bid to steal info from or defraud your colleagues or company.
The bad guys may also be able to take advantage of the fact that your home PCs and devices are less well-secured than those at work or school—and that you may be more distracted at home and less alert to potential threats.
To accomplish their goals, malicious hackers can leverage various techniques at their disposal. These can include:
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Zoom has in many ways become the victim of its own success. With daily meeting participants soaring from 10 million in December last year to 200 million by March 2020, all eyes have been focused on the platform. Unfortunately, that also includes hackers. Zoom has been hit by a number of security and privacy issues over the past several months, which include “Zoombombing” (meetings disrupted by uninvited guests), misleading encryption claims, a waiting room vulnerability, credential theft and data collection leaks, and fake Zoom installers. To be fair to Zoom, it has responded quickly to these issues, realigning its development priorities to fix the security and privacy issues discovered by its intensive use.
And Zoom isn’t alone. Earlier in the year, Cisco Systems had its own problem with WebEx, its widely-used enterprise video conferencing system, when it discovered a flaw in the platform that could allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to enter a password-protected video conferencing meeting. All an attacker needed was the meeting ID and a WebEx mobile app for iOS or Android, and they could have barged in on a meeting, no authentication necessary. Cisco quickly moved to fix the high-severity vulnerability, but other flaws (also now fixed) have cropped up in WebEx’s history, including one that could enable a remote attacker to send a forged request to the system’s server.
More recently, Microsoft Teams joined the ranks of leading business videoconferencing platforms with potentially deadly vulnerabilities. On April 27 it surfaced that for at least three weeks (from the end of February till the middle of March), a malicious GIF could have stolen user data from Teams accounts, possibly across an entire company. The vulnerability was patched on April 20—but it’s a reminder to potential video conferencing users that even leading systems such as Zoom, WebEx, and Teams aren’t fool-proof and require periodic vulnerability and security fixes to keep them safe and secure. This is compounded during the COVID-19 pandemic when workers are working from home and connecting to their company’s network and systems via possibly unsecure home networks and devices.
So how do you choose the best, most secure, video conferencing software for your work-at-home needs? There are many solutions on the market today. In fact, the choice can be dizzying. Some simply enable video or audio meetings/calls, while others also allow for sharing and saving of documents and notes. Some are only appropriate for one-on-one connections or small groups, while others can scale to thousands.
In short, you’ll need to choose the video conferencing solution most appropriate to your needs, while checking if it meets a minimum set of security standards for working at home. This set of criteria should include end-to-end encryption, automatic and frequent security updates, the use of auto-generated meeting IDs and strong access controls, a program for managing vulnerabilities, and last but not least, good privacy practices by the company.
Some video conferencing options alongside Zoom, WebEx, and Teams include:
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Whatever video conferencing platform you use, it’s important to bear in mind that cyber-criminals will always be looking to take advantage of any security gaps they can find — in the tool itself or your use of it. So how do you secure your video conferencing apps? Some tips listed here are Zoom-specific, but consider their equivalents in other platforms as general best-practice tips. Depending on the use case, you might choose to not enable some of the options here.
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Fortunately, Trend Micro has a range of capabilities that can support your efforts to stay safe while using video conferencing services.
Trend Micro Home Network Security (HNS) protects every device in your home connected to the internet. That means it will protect you from malicious links and attachments in phishing emails spoofed to appear as if sent from video conferencing firms, as well as from those sent by hackers that may have covertly entered a meeting. Its Vulnerability Check can identify any vulnerabilities in your home devices and PCs, including work laptops, and its Remote Access Protection can reduce the risk of tech support scams and unwanted remote connections to your device. Finally, it allows parents to control their kids’ usage of video conferencing applications, to limit their exposure.
Trend Micro Security also offers protection against email, file, and web threats on your devices. Note too, that Password Manager is automatically installed with Maximum Security to help users create unique, strong passwords for each application/website they use, including video conferencing sites.
Finally, Trend Micro WiFi Protection (multi-platform) / VPN Proxy One (Mac and iOS) offer VPN connections from your home to the internet, creating secure encrypted tunnels for traffic to flow down. The VPN apps work on both Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections. This could be useful for users concerned their video conferencing app isn’t end-to-end encrypted, or for those wishing to protect their identity and personal information when interacting on these apps.
The post From Bugs to Zoombombing: How to Stay Safe in Online Meetings appeared first on .
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