There was no shortage of major security stories last week, ranging from the Samsung vulnerability that affects some 600 million users to continuing coverage of the leak at the US Government’s Office of Personnel Management. That leak, by the way, now seems to have affected as many as 18 million people, including former, current and prospective federal government.
If you are one of 600 million Samsung device users worldwide, your mobile security is at risk. That’s because all Samsung devices (yes, even the snazzy new Galaxy S6) are vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks on public WiFi. The vulnerability is due to a problem with SwiftKey, a keyboard app that’s preinstalled on all Samsung android devices.
Though Samsung is working feverishly to release a patch, we highly recommend that you protect yourself right now by installing a mobile security app such as ZoneAlarm Capsule that blocks hackers from communicating with your device. Make sure the app you choose includes a VPN that encrypts all incoming and outgoing communications on Public WiFi.
As essential as internet security is every single day of the year, June is Internet Security Month, which makes it the perfect time to review what it means to keep your computers, tablets and smartphones as secure as possible.
As you relax into summer, make sure that you are not relaxing your policies of vigilance when it comes to online safety for you and your family.
Massive data breach directly affects at least 4 million people.
Unless you were living under a rock this week (and maybe even then), you’ve heard about the recent data breach affecting the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
The hack involved personnel files relating to 4 million current and former members of the federal government. In other words, about one percent of the entire US population. It affected nearly every single federal agency, exposing people’s names, addresses, social security numbers, job details, training information, and more.
This was one very big hack indeed. It shows that the threat posed by hackers is increasing every day. It shows that everyone needs to take online security seriously. It also shows that all of us could be victims, and this means all of us must be proactive in protecting ourselves.
Most people choose their pizza toppings according to taste…and rightly so!
If you’re like most people who order pizza, how you choose toppings is pretty intuitive. If you like salty flavors, you opt for olives and anchovies; if you prefer sweet flavors, you choose pineapples and corn. If you’ve got a sense of culinary adventure, a combination of hot peppers, spiced pepperoni and buffalo mozzarella may tickle your fancy. In all cases, choosing pizza toppings is a matter of taste, and there’s no need to take it too seriously, really, since it’s just pizza after all.
Selecting the right antivirus is considerably more important, and should be approached in a more informed manner. After all, this isn’t dinner we’re talking about. It’s your personal computer. It’s your private information, your banking details, your personal email, your family photos, and your confidential files. The decision you make regarding how you protect it should be a sensible one based on facts and research, not your sense of taste.
