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Summer is synonymous with vacations, a time when families pack their bags, grab their sunscreen, and embark on exciting adventures. In the digital age, smartphones have become an indispensable part of our lives, serving as cameras, maps, entertainment hubs, and communication tools. While these devices enhance our travel experiences, they also become prime targets for theft or damage while we’re away from home. From keeping us connected with family and friends, assisting in navigation, capturing moments, to even helping us with language translation – it is a device of many conveniences. However, when you bring your smartphone while vacationing, like any other valuable item, it becomes a target for theft and damage. Not to mention the potential for high roaming charges.
Don’t let the fear of losing or damaging your valuable devices dampen your vacation spirit! By taking some simple precautions and implementing effective strategies, you can ensure that your family’s smartphones remain safe and secure throughout your travels. In this blog post, we’ll share essential tips and tricks for safeguarding your devices, so you can focus on creating unforgettable memories without any tech-related worries. This article will provide you with tips on how to protect your family’s smartphones while on vacation. We will cover strategies like enabling security settings, backing up data, checking for travel insurance policies, and utilizing helpful apps. Ensuring the safety of your devices will make your vacation more enjoyable and worry-free.
Traveling without smartphones seems almost impossible. However, having them on vacation puts them at risk. In tourist hotspots, where distractions are many, it is easy to lose or have your device stolen. Moreover, using public Wi-Fi networks can expose your smartphone to cyber attacks.
→ Dig Deeper: The Risks of Public Wi-Fi and How to Close the Security Gap
Therefore, it is vital to be proactive in securing both your smartphones and the data they contain. Not only will it save you from the high costs of replacing a lost or damaged phone, but it also prevents potential misuse of personal and financial information. Implementing even just a few of these safety measures can help ensure your family’s smartphones are well-protected during your vacation. So let’s dive into the practical steps you can take.
The first layer of protection for your phone should be a physical one. It starts with investing in a good quality, durable phone case. A waterproof case is always a good idea, especially if you’re planning on vacationing near the beach or a pool. A screen protector can also keep your screen from shattering or getting scratched. Remember, you’re more likely to drop your phone while on vacation as you juggle through maps, travel apps, and numerous photo opportunities.
Another aspect of physical protection is to be mindful of where you store your phone. Avoid leaving it in plain sight or unattended, which could invite potential thieves. Instead, carry it in a secure, zipped pocket or bag. If you’re staying at a hotel, consider using the safe to store your phone when not in use. Most importantly, be aware of your surroundings and keep your phone safely tucked away in crowded places.
McAfee Pro Tip: Activating the correct features can determine whether your personal data is lost permanently or if your device can swiftly recover. Install McAfee Mobile Security and learn more tips on what to do if your phone gets stolen on this blog.
Safeguarding your phone is not just about protecting the physical device—your personal and sensitive data deserves protection too. Before you leave for your vacation, make sure that your phone is password-protected. Optimally, use a complex password, fingerprint, or face recognition feature instead of a simple four-digit PIN. This singular step can deter any prying eyes from accessing your information if your phone is lost or stolen.
Ensure your phone’s software is up to date. Regular updates not only enhance the device’s performance but also incorporate vital security patches, fortifying its defenses against potential threats like malware. By staying vigilant and keeping your phone’s software current, you contribute to a more secure environment, minimizing the risk of unauthorized eyes accessing your valuable information in the event of a loss or theft.
→ Dig Deeper: Why Software Updates Are So Important
Backing up your smartphone’s data before leaving for vacation can save you from a lot of stress. In case of loss, theft, or damage, having a backup ensures that you won’t lose your cherished photos, contacts, and other essential data. Most smartphones allow you to back up your data to the cloud. Make sure to do this over a safe, secure network and not on public Wi-Fi.
For Android users, Google provides an automatic backup service for things like app data, call history, and settings. You can check if this feature is enabled on your phone by going to the Google Drive App and checking in the Backups section. For iPhone users, iCloud Backup can help save most of your data and settings. To enable it, go to Settings, tap on your name, then tap iCloud and scroll down to tap iCloud Backup.
Without proper management, staying connected while abroad can result in expensive roaming charges. Before you leave, check with your mobile provider to understand the costs associated with using your phone abroad. Some providers offer international plans that you can temporarily switch to for your vacation. If your provider’s charges are too high, consider purchasing a local SIM card once you arrive at your destination or use an international data package.
Another way to avoid roaming charges is by using Wi-Fi. Most hotels, cafes, and many public spaces have free Wi-Fi available. However, again, public Wi-Fi is not always safe. So, avoid accessing sensitive information such as bank accounts, and before traveling, download maps and essential content before traveling to reduce the need for constant data usage. This is especially helpful for navigation apps. To protect your data in such situations, it’s advisable to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
→ Dig Deeper: How to Keep Your Data & Devices Safe While Traveling
Several apps can help protect your phone and its data during your vacation. Most smartphone operating systems offer a “Find My Phone” feature that can locate, lock, or erase your device if it is lost or stolen. Make sure this feature is enabled before you leave.
Again, antivirus apps can provide an extra layer of protection against virus and malware threats. Password manager apps can help you create and store complex, unique passwords for your accounts to enhance security.
VPN apps can protect your data from being intercepted when using public Wi-Fi networks. There are also apps that monitor your data usage and can alert you if you’re near your limit to avoid unexpected charges. Research and install these apps prior to your vacation for added security and peace of mind.
Your family’s smartphones are essential travel companions that deserve as much protection as any other valuable item during your vacation. By physically safeguarding the device, securing your data, backing up regularly, understanding roaming charges, and utilizing productive apps, you can enjoy a worry-free vacation. Remember, in the event of a mishap, having travel insurance can provide an extra layer of financial protection. So, before setting off, review your policy and check if it covers lost or stolen devices. In the end, preparation is key, so take the time to implement these safety measures and enjoy your vacation with peace of mind.
Above and beyond security settings and software, there’s you. Get in the habit of talking with your child for a sense of what they’re doing online. As a mom, I like to ask them about their favorite games, share some funny TikTok clips or cute photos with them, and generally make it a point to be a part of their digital lives. It’s great, because it gives you peace of mind knowing what types of things they are doing or interactions they are having online.
For those of you hitting the road in the coming weeks, enjoy your travels, wherever they take you!
The post How To Protect Your Family’s Smartphones While on Vacation appeared first on McAfee Blog.
When you open your laptop or your mobile device, what is the first thing you do? Do you head to your favorite social media site to skim the latest news, or do you place your weekly grocery delivery order? No matter what your daily online habits are, even the slightest degree of caution can go a long way in staying secure online.
That’s because hackers are experts at hiding malware in your everyday online routines, or even infiltrating your cookies to steal login information and learn about your personal preferences.
According to a StatsCan Canadian internet use survey, six out of ten internet users reported experiencing a cybersecurity incident. There are many hoops to jump through when navigating the digital landscape. By taking the necessary steps to remedy vulnerabilities in your digital activity, you can dramatically improve your online protection.
Cybercriminals take advantage of online users through routine avenues you would not expect. Here are three common ways that cybercriminals eavesdrop on online users.
Adware, or advertising-supported software, generates ads in the user interface of a person’s device. Adware is most often used to generate revenue for the developer by targeting unsuspecting online users with personalized ads paid by third parties. These third parties usually pay per view, click, or application installation.
Though not always malicious, adware crosses into dangerous territory when it is downloaded without a user’s consent and has nefarious intent. In this case, the adware becomes known as a potentially unwanted application (PUA) that can remain undetected on users’ devices for long periods of time. According to a report by the Cybersecure Policy Exchange, an unintentionally installed or downloaded computer virus or piece of malware is one of the top five cybercrimes that Canadians experience. The PUA can then create issues like frequent crashes and slow performance.
Users unknowingly download adware onto their device when they download a free ad-supported program or visit a non-secure site that does not use the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) to encrypt online communication.
Hackers also use invasive tactics known as ad injections, where they inject ads with malicious code for increased monetary gain. This is a practice known as “malvertising.” If a user clicks on a seemingly legitimate and well-placed ad, they risk exposing themselves to numerous online threats. These ads can be infected with malware such as viruses or spyware. For example, hackers can exploit browser vulnerabilities to download malware, steal information about the device system, and gain control over its operations. Hackers can also use malvertising to run fraudulent tech support scams, steal cookie data, or sell information to third-party ad networks.
Another vulnerability that many may not realize is their browser’s built-in autofill functions. As tempting as it is to use your browser’s autofill function to populate a long form, this shortcut may not be safe. Cybercriminals have found ways to capture credentials by inserting fake login boxes onto a web page that users cannot see. So, when you accept the option to autofill your username and password, you are also populating these fake boxes.
Take a proactive approach to your digital protection the next time you are browsing the internet by reassessing your online habits. Check out these five tips to ensure you are staying as safe as possible online.
Cookie data can contain anything from login information to credit card numbers. Cybercriminals looking to exploit this information can hijack browser sessions to pose as legitimate users and steal cookies as they travel across networks and servers. As a result, it is essential for online users to regularly clear out their cookies to better protect their information from falling into the wrong hands. Navigate to your browser’s history, where you can wipe the data associated with each browser session, including your cookies.
Clearing your browser’s cookie data will also remove your saved logins, which is why leveraging a password manager can make it easier to access regularly visited online accounts.
Many browsers come with a built-in password generator and manager; however, it is better to entrust your logins and password to a reputable password manager. Browser password managers are not as secure as password managers, because anyone who has access to your device will also access your online information. A password manager, provides a more secure solution since it requires you to log in with a separate master password. A password manager also works across various browsers and can generate stronger passwords than those created by your browser.
In addition to clearing cookie data, users should adjust their browser settings to ensure their online sessions remain private.
Another option is to access the internet in Private Browsing Mode to automatically block third-party tracking, making it a quick and easy option to ensure private browsing. Users can also enable the “do not track” function of their browser to prevent third-party tracking by advertisers and websites. Additionally, you can adjust your browser settings to block pop-up ads and control site permissions, such as access to cameras and locations.
Ad blockers suppress unwanted and potentially malicious ads to ensure a safer browsing experience. Ad blockers can also make it easier to view page layout by removing distracting ads and optimizing page load speed. Additionally, they prevent websites from tracking your information that third parties can sell.
Deploying a security solution like McAfee+ Ultimate ensures the safest internet browsing experience through a holistic approach for threat detection, protection, and remediation. Equipped with a password manager, antivirus software, and firewall protection, users can effectively sidestep online threats while browsing the internet. Moreover, it includes comprehensive privacy and identity protection, such as our Personal Data Cleanup, dark web monitoring, credit monitoring, along with ways you can quickly Lock or freeze your credit file to help prevent accounts from being opened in your name.
Your online behavior can say a lot about you so make sure you safeguard your internet protection. Whether it is through malvertising or invisible forms, hackers can glean information to paint a picture of who you are to target you through deceptive tactics. Cybercriminals are always looking for vulnerabilities which is why assessing your online habits sooner rather than later is a critical first step to smarter online browsing.
The post How to Protect Your Online Privacy appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Smart speakers. Banking online. Location tracking. If you are a senior adult, there’s no doubt, the digital leaps and bounds you’re asked to consider each day can be daunting. If you are the child of a senior adult trying to make digital life more accessible, helping your parent consistently stay safe online can also be a challenge.
According to a recent Pew study on the topic, senior adults continue to become more digitally connected, but adoption rates continue to trail younger users, and digital divides remain. The study also revealed that 77% of older adults needed assistance in learning how to use technology.
As a senior, it’s easy to feel intimidated and even try to avoid technology altogether as a safety plan. However, more healthcare, banking, and retailers become almost 100% digital, opting out of digital life is becoming impossible.
Still, there’s a way forward. As with any challenge, it’s best to begin one step at a time. First, put your stake in the ground by committing to increase your awareness and consistency in the digital realm. Doing so will help you reduce your fear about potential data breaches, malware attacks, or worse, falling prey to an online scam. Here are seven more ways to build upon your privacy path.
Online protection software safeguards your privacy while also looking after your privacy too. McAfee+ Family plans include personalized protection for each member of the family, including older family members outside the home. For example, a grandparent can set up and manage their own protection for their identity, privacy, computers, and phones. And inviting a grandparent onto the plan is as simple as sending an email.
Updating your passwords regularly is an online privacy gamechanger. The only problem? It’s tough to remember all those passwords, so who wants to risk changing them, right? Consider a password manager (find the software packages that have a password manager built-in). Your Password Manager (PM) stores then populates the username and password fields every time you log on to a favorite site or app. Better yet, it makes changing your password an easy task since you don’t need to do any remembering—your PM does it all for you.
What in the world? 2FA sounds complicated! Don’t worry, it’s not. Opting for 2FA means that before logging onto your account, you will have one more step to verify it’s you logging on. When given this privacy option, take it. Commonly, the 2FA process is a code generated by a smartphone app—no biggie. If you want to try, go to your settings in your favorite apps, such as Google or Facebook, and turn on the 2FA option.
Along with strong passwords, updating your software is a front-line defense against identity theft and fraud. Installing software updates (those pesky pop-up notices that are critical to your privacy) is essential in securing your IoT devices, PCs and phones, and the social media, banking, and healthcare portals connected to them.
5. Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
If we could write this one tip down a hundred times without losing our readers, we surely would. Every senior adult needs a VPN for practical, powerful privacy protection and peace of mind. A VPN keeps credit card and personal info contained in a secure network and away from prying eyes.
Fraudulent emails connected to fraudulent websites can look very legitimate. A secure website will have an “HTTPS” in the browser’s address bar. The “s” stands for “secure.” If the web address or URL is just HTTP, it’s not a secure site. Still unsure? Read reviews of the site from other users before making a purchase. Never send cash, cashier’s check, or a personal check to any online vendor. If purchasing, always use a credit card in case there is a dispute. Stay up-to-date on scams that target seniors specifically. Lately, elder scams have been constructed around COVID, dating apps, tax returns, employment, and, of course, the common military catfish scams.
Like it or not, companies gather, share, and sell plenty of information about us online. Among them, online data brokers that collect information about people from public records and third parties, like shopping information from the discount cards we use to get deals at the supermarket or drug store. They compile this information and post it online for anyone to see, for a price. And they’ll sell it to anyone. That includes marketers, advertisers, and even bad actors who use it for scams and to help them commit identity theft. You can clean up these digital breadcrumbs, though. Our Personal Data Cleanup scans some of the riskiest data broker sites and show you which ones are selling your personal info. We’ll also provide guidance on how you can remove your data from those sites and with select products, we can even manage the removal for you.
When trying to boost your digital skills, don’t forget about all the amazing instructional content at your fingertips. A quick search of YouTube will render easy-to-understand videos on how to do just about everything (including install security software, change your router password, secure the smart devices in your home, and how to adjust your privacy settings on any device).
Learning or building a new skill isn’t always easy, but if you stop to think about it, as a senior, you’ve gained so many skills over your lifetime (far more than your juniors). So, practically speaking, building up your tech skills is one is just one more task to ace. So, lean into the challenge, have fun learning, and don’t hesitate to ask for help if you need it.
The post 7 Savvy Ways Senior Adults Can Safeguard Digital Privacy appeared first on McAfee Blog.
When it comes to protecting your privacy, take a close look at your social media use—because sharing can quickly turn into oversharing.
The term “oversharing” carries several different definitions. Yet in our case here, oversharing means saying more than one should to more people than they should. Consider the audience you have across your social media profiles. Perhaps you have dozens, if not hundreds of friends and followers. All with various degrees of closeness and familiarity. Who among them can you absolutely trust with the information you share?
And you might be sharing more than you think. Posts have a way of saying more than one thing, like:
“This is the pool at the rental home I’m staying at this week. Amazing!” Which also tells everyone, “My home is empty for the next few days.”
“I can’t start my workday without a visit to my favorite coffeeshop.” Which also says, “If you ever want to track me down in person, you can find me at this location practically any weekday morning.”
One can quickly point to other examples of oversharing. Unintentional oversharing at that.
A first-day-of-school picture can tell practical strangers which elementary school your children attend, say if the picture includes the school’s reader board in it. A snapshot of you joking around with a co-worker might reveal a glimpse of company information. Maybe because of what’s written on the whiteboard behind the two of you. And in one extreme example, there’s the case an assault on a pop star. Her attacker tracked her down through her selfie, determining her location through the reflection in her eyes.
The list goes on.
That’s not to say “don’t post.” More accurately, it’s “consider what you’re posting and who gets to see it.” You have control over what you post, and to some degree, who gets to see those posts. That combination is key to your privacy—and the privacy of others too.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and others give you the option of making your profile and posts visible to friends only. Choosing this setting keeps the broader internet from seeing what you’re doing, saying, and posting—not to mention your relationships and likes. Taking a “friends only” approach to your social media profiles can help protect your privacy, because that gives a possible scammer or stalker much less material to work with. Yet further, some platforms allow you to create sub-groups of friends and followers. With a quick review of your network, you can create a sub-group of your most trusted friends and restrict your posts to them as needed.
Be critical of the invitations you receive. Out-and-out strangers might be more than just a stranger. They might be a fake account designed to gather information on users for purposes of fraud. There are plenty of fake accounts too. In fact, in Q1 of 2023 alone, Facebook took action on 426 million fake accounts. Reject such requests.
Think about posting those vacation pictures after you get back so people don’t know you’re away when you’re away. Also consider if your post pinpoints where you are or where you go regularly. Do you want people in your broader network to know that? Closely review the pics you take and see if there’s any revealing information in the background. If so, you can crop it out (think notes on a whiteboard, reflections in a window, or revealing location info). Further, ask anyone you want to include in their post for their permission. In all, consider their privacy too.
While we’re on the topic, you can take a few other steps that can make you more private online. In addition to your social media usage, other steps can help keep more of your private and personal information with you—where it belongs:
Granted, “social” is arguably the opposite of “private.” Using social media involves sharing, by its very definition. Yet any oversharing can lead to privacy issues.
Maybe you want close friends to know what’s going on, but what about that so-so acquaintance deep in your friends list? How well do you really know them? And to what extent do you want them to know exacting details about where you are, where your kids go to school, and so on? Those are questions you ultimately must answer, and ultimately have some control over depending on what you share on social media.
Also important to consider is this: if you post anything on the internet, consider it front page news. Even with social media privacy settings in place, there’s no guarantee that someone won’t copy your posts or pics and pass them along to others.
The flipside to the topic of social media and privacy is the platform you’re using. It’s no secret that social media companies gather hosts of personal information about their users in exchange for free use of their platforms. Certainly, that’s a topic unto itself. We cover what social media companies know about you in this article here—along with a few steps that can help you limit what they know as well.
When it comes to your privacy and social media, it depends largely on how you use it. How you use various privacy and audience settings offers one way to manage it. The other is you and the information you put out there for others to see.
The post How to Help Protect Your Online Privacy appeared first on McAfee Blog.
The dark web. The name raises all kinds of questions. What is the dark web, really? Where is it? Can anyone hop on it?
Answering these questions can help you stay safer online.
The story of the dark web is a complicated one. It’s a small and highly anonymous layer of the internet. As a result, it has a reputation for harboring criminal activity. We often mention the dark web in our blogs, typically when the conversation turns to identity theft, data breaches, and stolen personal information. Rightfully so. Plenty of cybercrime can get traced right back to the dark web.
Yet cybercriminals didn’t create the dark web. And they’re far from the only people who use it. News outlets like the BBC and the New York Times have a presence there, as does the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Journalists, activists, and everyday citizens use it as well, often to work around oppressive censorship. Even Facebook is there, providing people access to the social media site in regions where it’s blocked.
Anonymity reigns on the dark web. It was designed to work that way. With that, it’s home to a mixed bag of activity, legitimate and illicit alike. Yet that anonymity doesn’t stop us from putting a face onto the dark web—from understanding what it is, where it is, and what transpires there.
That starts with a look at the internet and the two primary layers that make it up.
If you visualize the internet as an ocean, you’ll find it populated with websites and collections of data at all depths. Yet, the typical internet user only has access to the first few feet, a layer of the internet known as the surface web.
The sights you’ll see within the surface web will look familiar. It’s all the blogs, shops, social media sites, and so on that you visit regularly. And it’s easy to get to. You only need to fire up your browser and go. All the sites are public facing. With a quick search, you can find them.
In all, the surface web contains any destination you can reach through search. To put it more precisely, the surface web accounts for areas of the internet that search engines can “crawl” and index for search. Estimates vary, yet the surface web accounts for roughly 4 to 5% of the internet.
Now, enter the deep web, the next 95% of the internet that is not searchable. Yet, that’s not to say that you don’t travel down into its depths from time to time. In fact, you likely do it daily. Any time you go through a paywall or use a password to access internet content, you’re entering the deep web. The content found there is hidden from search. Examples include logging into your bank account, accessing medical records through your healthcare provider, or using corporate web pages as part of your workday. Even streaming a show can involve a trip to the deep web. None of that content is searchable.
As such, the overwhelming majority of activity within the deep web is legitimate. So while this layer of the internet runs deep, it isn’t necessarily dark. The dark web is something altogether different.
The dark web lives within the deep web. Like the other depths of the deep web, it’s not searchable. The people behind the websites and data collections on the dark web intentionally keep them hidden from search. And the reasons vary. Some of them are entirely legitimate, others questionable, and several are outright illegal in nature.
Its origins go back to the 1990s, when the U.S. Department of Defense developed the dark web as a means of anonymous and encrypted communications. That story might sound familiar. It’s quite like the origin story for the broader internet. That had its roots in the Department of Defense as well. So, just as the broader internet eventually became available to the public, so did the dark web as well.
Getting there requires a special browser because the protocols for the dark web differ from the surface web. Moreover, these browsers strip web traffic of identifiable information, encrypt it, and send it through a series of server jumps. The browsing traffic will appear to go through a server in one country, then a different server in another, and then another.
These steps make it highly difficult to identify the person using the browser. On the flip side, it makes it difficult to identify the people hosting the sites and services on the dark web as well.
Without question, privacy is everything on the dark web. For good and for bad.
While the notion of the dark web typically gets raised in the context of cybercrime and other illegal activity, it has legitimate uses. Some of these use cases include:
Well-regarded news outlets such as the BBC and Pro Publica maintain a presence on the dark web to ensure that anyone can access their reporting. This includes people in nations and regions where certain news sources are censored.
For the particularly privacy-conscious, the dark web hosts several resources for encrypted communication. That includes email clients, internet chat, and even social media sites.
Anonymous tips are a part of national security, law enforcement, and journalism as well. The private nature of the dark web confers an additional degree of anonymity to tipsters.
The dark web isn’t a place everyday internet users will need, or even want, to go. It’s far more complicated than the surface web—and going in without taking several security measures can make the trip a risky one.
This is where the rubber meets the road from an online protection standpoint. The dark web is also a marketplace for hackers and bad actors. In several ways—as a place to purchase and rent malware, a repository for stolen information, and a place to communicate and coordinate attacks.
For starters, the dark web is populated with dark marketplaces. And difficult-to-trace cryptocurrency is the coin of the realm. With dark web stores stocked with ready-made malware kits, bad actors can launch attacks with little need for technical expertise. Others have done the work for them.
Cybercrime groups of all sizes prop up these shops, which they also use to rent out other services for attacks. For example, a small-time bad actor could easily lease a botnet to wage an attack that slows a targeted website to a crawl. Some cybercrime groups will provide hackers who can run attacks on someone else’s behalf, creating a mercenary “hacker for hire” gig economy.
Likewise, information stolen from a data breach can end up in dark web marketplaces as well. The personal information posted in these marketplaces can range anywhere from emails and passwords to in-depth information like tax numbers, health information, and driver’s license numbers. Some of it goes up for sale. Some of it gets dumped there for free. With the right information in hand, cybercriminals can commit acts of identity theft. That includes claiming unemployment benefits and tax refunds in someone else’s name. In extreme cases, it can lead to bad actors can outright impersonate their victims, racking up debts and criminal records along the way.
Some hacking groups sell hacked accounts outright. For a couple hundred dollars, they offer up login and password information for bank accounts that have a couple thousand dollars in them. Also available, pre-hacked email, social media, and online payment accounts. If it’s hackable and has value, it’s likely for sale on the dark web.
With all this shady activity on the dark web, you might wonder how you can protect yourself. In fact, you can take several steps to help prevent your information from finding its way there. And you also can take other steps if your information unfortunately does end up on the dark web.
Installing online protection software is the first step. Online protection software can help prevent many of the attacks bad actors can purchase on the dark web. It protects against ransomware, adware, spyware, and all manner of malware, whether it’s pre-existing or entirely new.
Yet today’s online protection goes far beyond antivirus. Comprehensive protection like ours protects your privacy and identity as well. It can monitor your identity and credit, create strong passwords, and clean up your personal information online.
An identity monitoring service can actively scan the dark web for personal info like your date of birth, email addresses, credit card numbers, personal identification numbers, and much more. In the event you fall victim to identity theft, our identity theft coverage and restoration can provide up to $1 million in coverage to cover the costs. Plus, it provides the services of a recovery expert with limited power of attorney to help you repair the damage done.
If you spot unusual or unfamiliar charges or transactions in your account, bank, or debit card statements, follow up immediately. That might indicate improper use. In general, banks, credit card companies, and many businesses have countermeasures to deal with fraud. Moreover, they have customer support teams that can help you file a claim if needed.
Given all the accounts you likely have a credit monitoring service can help. McAfee’s credit monitoring service can help you keep an eye on changes to your credit score, report, and accounts with timely notifications and provide guidance so you can take action to tackle identity theft.
With the high number of accounts you need to protect, creating strong, unique passwords for each one can get time consuming. Further, updating them regularly can become a time-consuming task. That’s where a password manager comes in.
A password manager does the work of creating strong, unique passwords for your accounts. These will take the form of a string of random numbers, letters, and characters. They will not be memorable, but the manager does the memorizing for you. You only need to remember a single password to access the tools of your manager.
The more online accounts you keep, the greater the exposure you have to data breaches. Each account will have varying degrees of personal and financial information linked to it. And that means each one carries a varying degree of risk if it gets breached. Moreover, some sites and services protect data better than others, which adds another dimension of risk. Closing old and particularly risky accounts can decrease the risk of your personal and financial information winding up in the hands of an identity thief.
With security and savings in mind, McAfee created Online Account Cleanup. It finds and requests the deletion of unused accounts and protects your personal data from data breaches as a result. Monthly scans across your online accounts show a risk level for each account and help you decide which ones to delete.
Two-factor authentication is an extra layer of defense on top of your username and password. It adds a one-time-use code to access your login procedure, typically sent to your smartphone by text or call. Together, that makes it tougher for a crook to hack your account if they get hold of your username and password. If any of your accounts support two-factor authentication, the few extra seconds it takes to set up is more than worth the big boost in protection you’ll get.
The “dark” in the dark web stands for anonymity. And with anonymity, all kinds of activity follow. Good and bad.
From a security standpoint, the dark web is a haven for all manner of cybercriminals. Understanding how they use the dark web can help you protect yourself from their activities. You have tools for prevention, and you have resources available if your information ends up there or leads to identity theft.
By putting a face on the dark web, you put a face on cybercrime and can help reduce the risk of it happening to you.
The post What is the Dark Web? The Answer Can Help You Stay Safer Online. appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Are you an online oversharer? Do you give your full birthday to all your online shopping accounts? Have a few companies you have accounts with been breached but you didn’t take any action at the time? If you have bad digital habits, now is an excellent time to reset your digital presence.
In isolation, these small digital transgressions don’t seem like a problem; however, cybercriminals can gather the bits and pieces of information you release into the world and Frankenstein them together to create believable impersonations or entirely new identities.
To protect your identity, here are a few ways to limit the amount of personally identifiable information (PII) you share online, plus a few tools that can help you identify and close your current security holes.
Most digital bad habits seem insignificant; however, the more bad habits you have that pile-up, the more at risk your PII and your identity can be. Check out this list of three common habits that you should consider breaking today and why.
When you sign up for new online shopping accounts, some companies ask for your birthday, your age, your middle name, and primary and secondary phone numbers and email addresses. While it might be nice to receive a special coupon on your birthday, you may want to reconsider volunteering unnecessary private details. To compromise you can sign up with a nickname and leave your birth year blank. That way, if a cybergang ever breaches the company, the criminals won’t get far with your personal details. To steal an identity and ruin someone’s credit, sometimes all it takes it a full name, birthday, and phone number.
Do you post your every thought and movement on social media? While curating the perfect online profile can be fun, it can also be dangerous to your online safety. For instance, posting “get to know you” quizzes are a gold mine for social engineers and cyber criminals, as the results often reveal potential password inspiration, security question answers, and your likes and dislikes. From here, criminals can take educated guesses at your passwords or tailor a social engineering scheme that’s most likely to fool you. Consider setting your social media profiles to private and blocking followers you don’t know personally. Or, just keep parts of your life a mystery to the wider world.
We can all agree that increasingly strict password requirements are leading to longer and more complex passwords that are confusing to cyber criminals and to the rightful account holders, too! It’s tempting to reuse passwords to reduce the burden on your memory, but this puts your valuable PII in danger. Password and username combinations are often information that’s leaked in company breaches. In what’s called a brute force attack, a cybercriminal can plug that same pairing into hundreds of websites and wait for a hit. Since unique passwords for all your dozens of accounts is imperative, entrust their safekeeping to a password manager.
If you’re feeling uneasy about your online habits and the effect they may have had on your online safety, McAfee Protection Score gives you the information you need to take charge and make changes. Protection Score not only tells you how safe (or unsafe) you are, but the tool also offers suggestions on how you can raise your score, and thus be safer online. The service monitors data breaches and indicates when your email was part of a leak. Protection Score also dives into the dark web so you don’t have to. If your government ID or financial information appears, your score will take a large hit.
Protection Score not only tells you how safe (or unsafe) you are, but the tool also offers suggestions on how you can raise your score, and thus be safer online. The sooner you know your weak points, the quicker and more completely you can fortify your defenses and clean up after months (or years) of bad habits. Knowledge is power in the right against cyber criminals, so Protection Score is an excellent partner to help adopt smarter habits on the path to better online security.
With McAfee+ Ultimate, you not only get a Protection Score but a host of other top-rate tools to protect your identity, retain your online privacy, and help you recover from an identity theft. Running an antivirus, connecting to a VPN and installing web protection on your browser are all ways to increase your Protection Score, and these features are available with McAfee’s most thorough privacy, identity, and device protection service.
Make 2023 the year of living online confidently and safely!
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Do yourself a favor: Open a new browser tab and head to your search engine of choice. Type in your full name and home address. Then, see what pops up.
Are the results sparking an ember of unease in the back of your brain? Whether you’re a private person online or you’re comfortable sharing your daily life updates on social media, there are likely to be several personal details about you on sites that shouldn’t have that information. Some of these sites may be data brokerage websites.
Data brokerage sites are legal and are mostly used by annoying advertisers, though cybercriminals may also use them maliciously. The average person has their information for sale on 31 data brokerage sites, and 95% of people have their personal information on sale without their permission.
So how do you scrub the internet of your personal details to keep your identity secure? McAfee Personal Data Cleanup is a service that prevents your personal information from being collected and sold online. Here’s why you should consider taking a few easy steps now to give you peace of mind about the security of your personally identifiable information (PII).
Attack surface is a term usually applied to corporate security, but it’s a great visualization for everyday people going about their personal online errands and entertainment. An attack surface is the number of possible entry points a cybercriminal could weasel their way through to get at your valuable and private information. Entry points include your social media profiles, your online shopping accounts, and data brokerage sites. The fewer entry points you have, the harder it is for cybercriminals to find and exploit them.
While Social Security Numbers (SSNs) are generally revered as the piece of PII to guard most closely, a cybercriminal can still damage your identity with just your name and an address, email address, or phone number. For example, they can request new passwords or multifactor authentication one-time passcodes to break their way into online banking or shopping accounts. Security breaches are happening to huge companies all over the world. All it takes is for your SSN to be leaked in one of them, for a cybercriminal to piece together your digital clone and use it to harm your identity or credit.
Personal Data Cleanup minimizes your attack surface by removing as much PII as possible that’s floating around the internet, just waiting for someone to buy it.
When you’re aware of how many unauthorized vendors are selling your PII, it could be the wakeup call you need start adopting more cautious online habits. For instance, oversharing on social media leaks a lot of valuable details that a savvy criminal can then use to take educated guesses at your passwords or craft a social engineering plot catered just to you.
The present is as good a time as any to start protecting your identity for the future; however, getting started is often the most difficult step. It can seem overwhelming to reach out to every data brokerage site individually and request they remove your info. Personal Data Cleanup can be your partner not only in beginning the cleanup process but in monitoring your data security to keep your online presence as minimal as possible. The service scans the internet’s riskiest sites and then, before deleting your information from these sites, runs it by you to confirm. Then, it will continually monitor those same sites, as your information will likely reappear every two to four months.
Do not underestimate the tenacity of a cybercriminal. Even for people who have the attitude that their PII is bound to be somewhere online and that it’s no big deal, McAfee Personal Data Cleanup manages three key steps in the data removal process: scanning, removing, and monitoring. So, even if you’re not convinced that data brokerage sites are a threat, the process is too easy to put off any longer!
For those who are concerned about their online privacy, full-service Personal Data Cleanup is included in McAfee+ Ultimate, which is the complete package to let you live your online life in private. McAfee+ Ultimate also includes identity monitoring and identity theft resolution services, unlimited VPN, credit lock, and much more.
In 2021, more than 1.4 million identity theft complaints were filed to the Federal Trade Commission.1 Identity theft can occur to anyone, so take steps today, starting with data brokerage sites, to live a more secure and more private digital life.
1Federal Trade Commission, “New Data Shows FTC Received 2.8 Million Fraud Reports from Consumers in 2021”
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