Category: Safety | Internet Security

The Essential Guide to Safe Indoor Play – Tips and Tricks for Parents

The Essential Guide to Safe Indoor Play - Tips and Tricks for Parents

Safe indoor play is vital for your child’s development, offering a secure environment to explore, learn, and grow. Within the walls of your home, children can develop crucial skills such as problem-solving, social interactions, and physical coordination.

These activities are enjoyable and instrumental in nurturing young minds and bodies. By providing a safe space for play, you’re ensuring that your child’s first steps into the world are joyful and secure.

There are plenty of activities that can be conducted indoors, from simple puzzles and games to more physical undertakings like play tunnels or soft obstacle courses. Each type of play aids different aspects of your child’s development, which can offer a balanced mix. By carefully selecting activities, you create an environment that supports comprehensive growth while prioritising safety and fun.

Assessing Your Home for Safety, Room-by-Room

When creating a safe play area for your child, start with a detailed assessment of each room in your home. Check for hazards like sharp corners, loose electrical cords, and unsecured furniture that could tip over. Consider the height and placement of objects your child might try to climb on, ensuring nothing dangerous is within reach. This room-by-room safety check isn’t just about removing hazards but creating a secure space that promotes your child’s independence while protecting them.

For example, soft corner protectors can be applied to furniture in the living room.  Secure gates can help manage access to other parts of the house.  Kitchens require special attention; ensure all cleaning products are out of reach, and never leave heavy pots or pans on front stove burners where little hands might pull them down. By taking these steps, you ensure each room supports safe exploration.

The Best Materials for Child-Safe Indoor Play Areas

Choosing suitable materials for indoor play areas is critical for safety and durability. Opt for non-toxic, child-safe plastics and woods that withstand rough play without breaking or splintering. Carpets and mats used in play areas should be firm enough to prevent trips and falls. Yet, they should be soft enough to cushion accidental tumbles. Look for products that are easy to clean and maintain, which helps keep the play area hygienic and safe over time.

Consider the longevity and adaptability of the materials you choose. Select modular furniture and storage options that can grow with your child, transforming from simple toy storage to more sophisticated organisational systems as they age. This makes your investment more cost-effective and maintains a consistent safety standard throughout your child’s development stages.

Physical Indoor Games to Keep Kids Active

Keeping your child active indoors requires creative thinking, especially when outdoor play isn’t possible. Simple games like tag or follow-the-leader can be safely adapted for indoor play, provided there’s enough space cleared of any trip hazards. Another fun option is setting up an obstacle course using soft, safe objects like cushions or foam blocks, encouraging physical activity and problem-solving skills.

If you’re considering more structured physical activities, TTS’s range of indoor climbing frames can be an excellent addition to your indoor play environment. These structures are designed to be safe and durable, perfect for encouraging climbing and exploring in a controlled, secure setting. Integrating such equipment into your indoor play area provides your child with exciting new ways to develop their motor skills and confidence in their physical abilities.

Balancing Safety and Fun Indoors

Introducing indoor play equipment can transform your home into a thrilling playground for your children, but one should never forget to strike the right balance between safety and fun. When selecting play items such as slides, ball pits, or small climbing walls, explore the space available and the equipment’s safety features. Ensure all play equipment has soft edges, non-toxic materials, and stable bases to prevent tipping. Conduct regular checks for loose parts or signs of wear to maintain a safe play environment.

If you are living in a small space, such as an apartment, consider whether any equipment you intend to use is not too large for the room.  When an activity is deemed appropriate, set up play areas on surfaces that cushion impacts, like thick rugs or interlocking foam mats. This arrangement provides a safe landing for occasional slips and falls and defines a specific play area that helps keep the rest of your home orderly. By carefully planning where and how play equipment is installed, you can provide your children with countless hours of safe, enjoyable indoor play.

Educational Indoor Activities for Learning Through Play

Integrating educational content into playtime is a fantastic way to engage your child’s curiosity and support their learning. Simple activities like sorting games, where children arrange objects by size, colour, or type, help develop cognitive skills. These can be set up with everyday items. Another effective educational activity is puzzle-solving, which boosts problem-solving skills and enhances fine motor skills and patience.

Interactive story sessions where you read and discuss the story with your child encourage language development and comprehension. Story sessions can be more engaging by incorporating role-play elements, where you and your child act out parts of the story. Encouraging participation reinforces memory retention and makes learning fun and immersive. It lays a solid foundation for academic skills at an early age.

Creative Indoor Play Ideas That Boost Cognitive Skills

Creative play is fundamental for your child’s mental growth and can be facilitated with simple household items.  For example, building forts from blankets and pillows teaches planning and problem-solving skills while encouraging creativity. Crafting sessions using recyclable materials like cardboard boxes or old newspapers are environmentally friendly, stimulate creativity, and introduce basic sustainability concepts.

In addition to these crafts, consider introducing music and dance as part of your child’s play routine. These activities are not only enjoyable but also enhance auditory and rhythm skills. Instruments like simple drums or homemade maracas made from beans in containers allow children to explore sound and rhythm, nurturing both a love of music and coordination skills.

Setting Up Play Routines to Manage Energy Levels

Establishing a play routine helps manage your child’s energy throughout the day, ensuring they stay active and engaged without becoming overtired. Morning times can be ideal for more physically demanding activities, as children are generally more energetic after a good night’s sleep. Incorporate activities like dance, yoga, or simple exercises. Activities that can be done indoors at home provide a healthy outlet for their morning energy.

As the day progresses, transitioning to quieter, more focused activities like drawing, reading, or puzzle-solving can help reduce their energy levels in preparation for nap or bedtime. This helps maintain a balanced daily routine and instils a sense of time management and organisation in your child’s daily life. It makes for a healthy balance between active play and quiet time.

Creating a safe and engaging indoor play environment for your children supports their physical development and empowers their cognitive growth and creativity. By carefully assessing your home for safety, choosing the right materials, and integrating suitable play equipment, you ensure your children have a secure space to explore and learn. These efforts help nurture a well-rounded development, making playtime educational and enjoyable.

As your children grow, continue adapting their play areas to meet their changing needs and abilities. Regularly update safety measures and introduce new activities that challenge their skills while maintaining a secure environment. This ongoing commitment to their play and safety will provide them invaluable support as they grow, ensuring their indoor adventures are always fruitful and fun.

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Should I Save My Credit Card Information on a Website?

Should I Save My Credit Card Information on a Website?

Credit cards are generally a safe way to shop for goods and services online. This is because credit card companies offer fraud protection should your card number and related details fall into the hands of a cybercriminal.  However, this does not mean you should necessarily save your credit card details on an ecommerce site you regular buy items from.

The easy answer is no, you should not save your credit card online if you want zero risk.

If you do not save your credit card info on a website your number, expiry dates, information related to the card will be removed. So, if any of the companies you shop with have a data breach, cybercriminals will not see any record your card.

However, cybercriminals can also access your credit card details if your computer or phone is infected with malware.  This is because the credit card details are saved within your browser settings.  Therefore, a data breach of a company does not even need to occur!

Should You Save Your Credit Card Info?

Each consumer needs to decide the level of convenience they desire when shopping online and weigh the pros and cons. The only reason to save your card details is convenience. It makes for a quick checkout every time.

If you want zero risk, you should not save your credit card details when buying something online. This way the online account with the company does not contain the credit card number and the card information will not be saved on your computer.

You should never save any details of your credit card online, such as in notepad or a Word Document.  Do not write it down on a paper and put it in a file either. Only reference your card details from the card itself.

Ways Cybercriminals Access Credit Cards

There are a variety of ways credit cards are compromised. The bottom line is scams gather information about you from multiple sources. If they gain enough information, they can steal your identity.

  • Physical credit cards are stolen or lost.  Report your card as stolen or lost to your credit card company immediately. When discarding old card, cut them into little bits. Do not throw uncut cards into the garbage where thieve can find them in the garbage.
  • Card skimmers. A scammer gets access to you card for a brief moment and scans is on a skimmer. Or skimmers are added to shopping scanners or banks machines. Shimmers are new tech that steal your chip information.
  • Card Shimmers:  This is new technology that steals your credit card chip information has it’s skimmed.
  • Clicking on malicious links in phishing emails or texts, which infects your devices with malware to access all of your personal information.
  • Using public Wi-Fi networks that are not secure.
  • Data breaches. Even if you keep your computer secure, a company data breach will reveal your personal details to cybercriminals.
  • Formjacking.  Legitimate websites are hacked and gather information as user enter their info on a form.

Only partial information about you will compromise your online accounts and the information each account holds about you.

Compromised data can also help scammers target your more specifically into clicking a link or answering personal questions on a scam phone call.

Reason’s to Not Save Your Credit Card Information

To recap, though saving your card information makes it easier to make purchases, it also opens up the possibility of potential fraud.

The more websites your card information is stored on, the more companies your personal information is tied to.

When card information is saved online, it can be used by anyone who has access to your device. If your device is hacked, or infected with certain malware, cybercriminals can gain that level of access.

Entering the CVV when making a purchase does add an extra layer of protection but does not eliminate all risk entirely if scammers have other means to use your credit card.

For those who want to be extra cautious, if you shop without an account and use guest checkout, no information whatsoever is saved by the e-commerce website.  However, you will have to give up additional incentives gained by having an account, such as loyalty points.

Best practices even if you do have an account is to not save the credit card information.


Read our three part series on how to protect yourself from scams.
Begin with Common Scams: Part 1 

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The Basics of Webcam Security and Protection

Basics of Webcam Security and Protection

Children are easy targets for cybercriminals and similar people. Children can often be often reckless about their actions. They can click unknown links out of curiosity, only to be taken to an unknown website, or reply to a new message from an unknown addresser. Using a webcam by children also needs special attention from their parents’ side.

Otherwise, children can be unpleasantly surprised or even traumatized—the question of why cybercriminals do this is a conversation for another day. The main point of this content is to explore how you can secure the webcam your children use and prevent any possible negative consequences.

Security First for Webcam Protection

This is the foremost point that has to be ensured. If your device lacks effective protective software, it becomes automatically vulnerable to webcam hackers. This software is a moderate investment ensuring the effective operation of your PC, preventing malware, viruses, or unknowingly given access to accounts and computer data in general. Install that software and explain to your children that it’s for their protection.  Parental controls exist to block harmful content, but it won’t stop a data breach or cyber attacks.  Antivirus and anti-malware programs are needed.

Make Sure WiFi Is Secured

Sometimes the easiest way to secure your webcam is to protect the entire WiFi network you are using. It is necessary to apply secured and complex passwords for your home network.  Your children should also be aware of all risks related to accessing public WiFi networks. If they join such networks, it is easy for computers to become infected by malicious software or become a target for scammers.

To protect children from this risk, you can install VPN software. It secures your devices by changing their real IP addresses. As an outcome, devices remain untraceable.

Secure Smart Technology in the Home

Camfecting is occurring now more than ever. It occurs when a cybercriminal takes remote control of a camera.  It’s very common for smart devices such as televisions, phones, baby monitors, and doorbells to have micro-sized digital cameras built in them.

Cybercriminals can use a special type of malware called Remote Access Trojans, or RATs, to gain access to cameras, computer files, and the ability to record keystrokes performed by the user.

One method of infiltrating a camera is done by exploiting known vulnerabilities within the device’s software. Passwords need to be strong for your WiFi and each smart device.  Appliances should not be on the same network as your personal computers. Smart TV’s have their own set of privacy settings to be mindful off.

Devices need to be updated regularly so that patches can remediate the vulnerabilities.

Best Practices for WebCam Use

Suspicious Links Avoided

This is a simple rule all children must follow. Instruct them to not click links or download anything from unknown sources. This rule prevents getting malware and spyware that infect the computer and enable getting access to a webcam. If something appears to be suspicious, avoiding that is the best solution. If you child needs a download, they should consult with you first.

Teach children how phishing emails or texts from scammers contain links that will give cybercriminals access to your child’s device, as well as others connected on the same network.  These emails may also come some friends they know because their friend’s computer may be infected. Check with all senders directly before clicking a link in a message from them.

“Stranger –Danger”

This rule is related to communications with unknown people. Children should not start this communication and share with them any kind of personal information. It is necessary to explain to children that even if these persons are pleasant to deal with, it is unlikely that somebody will ask to share personal information about a person during the first conversations.

What information is usually requested by strangers? It includes the details about the child’s history, date of birth, siblings, information related to parents, etc. Emphasize that your children should not deal with strangers online and provide those any authorizations.

Explain How Web Cams Work

Previous tips are effective, but they only decrease the risks related to hackers attempting to access webcams. You should explain that to your children and also clarify how this device can be compromised.  But there is one simple way to they can remain protect themselves.  An important rule for everyone, including adults, is to cover the camera eye of any webcam when not using it.  It is an easy-to-arrange technique that only requires a sticker or a special case you can purchase to be placed on the camera eye.

Create Rules for the Camera’s Location

The easiest strategy on how to secure children from possible negative consequences while using a webcam is determining strict rules for using it. The most workable rule, in this case, is avoiding using a webcam in a bedroom or bathroom. The situation is simple here. A child may easily forget to switch off the camera. This mistake may have negative consequences, especially if the webcam is regularly used in a private room of a home.

Secure Devices for Your Work from Children

Don’t allow your child to use webcams that are connected to your work.  This opens them up to accidentally connecting with fellow employees with the potential to share private information to collogues.   The best strategy here is to secure your devices with effective passwords and separate those devices from personal use by other family members.

Secure Data and Cloud Storage

If video or video chats are saved, ensure they are stored securely. You can also look into encryption methods if you like.  But most certainly, ensure all data on any computer is safe from outside access. Besides strong passwords for accounts and cloud storage, applying two-factor authentication is vital keep keeping private files from being accessed.

Webcam Red Flags to Pay Attention to

Indicator Light: Most webcams have an indicator light that turns on when the camera is active. If you notice this light is on unexpectedly, it could indicate that your webcam is in use.

Unexplained Activity: If your computer starts behaving strangely, such as windows opening or closing without your input, it could be a sign that someone is remotely accessing your system, including your webcam.

Unexpected Software: If you see new software installed on your computer that you didn’t install yourself, it might be malware or spyware designed to access your webcam.

Firewall Alerts: If your firewall software alerts you to unauthorized attempts to access your webcam, take it as a red flag.

Antivirus Warnings: Some antivirus software may detect suspicious activity related to webcam access and notify you about it. Take these warnings seriously and investigate further.

Check for Remote Access Tools: Regularly check your computer for remote access tools or software that could be used to access your webcam without your knowledge.

Final Words

Cyber threats are always lurking for children and adults alike. Webcams are often forgotten about when we think about the harm can happen on because of their use.  These tips on how to secure a webcam can spare your children from the negative consequences that may occur when interacting with others online.

It is always better to explain to your kids that the internet is not simply place full of joyful and interesting stuff. It’s also where cybercriminals and predators exist, and webcams are just one of the means children can be exploited.  Vigilance is required to set and follow these personal safety and computer security rules for webcams. As a result, the internet can be a much safer place for fun with friends, as well as enjoy the full benefits for learning.

Author’s Bio

Aston Rhodes is an experienced content creator and marketing expert for https://jatapp.com/. Aston has been helping authors improve their blogs for over 5 years and turn this hobby into a business. She does research and discussion on tech-related topics. She enjoys sharing her experiences with a like-minded audience and writes about software development, digital marketing, business, career, and more.

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Part 3! Creative Scams and How They Compromise CyberSecurity

Creative Scams and How They Compromise Cyber Security

In Part 1 and Part 2 of our series on scams we have explored many of the common scams that cybercriminals use to steal our data. It may result in an instant financial loss or later down the road when you least expect it.  Some scammers simply sell your information.  Being scammed once may not effect you greatly, especially if you have secured your accounts.

However, the more information that is gathered about you can eventually result in identity theft.  At the very least, more scams will come your way. So, in our final article in this series (part 3) we look at additional scams that affect individuals and businesses alike. It’s a reminder for all of us to be internet savvy and spread the word about false information and scams.

Creative Scams Compromising Security

CEO Fraud

CEO fraud, also known as Business Email Compromise (BEC), has evolved from emails to text messages, tricking employees into divulging sensitive information, transferring funds, or interacting with malware.

Employees are advised not to respond to suspicious text messages that appear to be a CEO fraud attempt. Instead, it’s best to inform IT, and the impersonated executive of the incident, and then delete the message.

Cybercriminals can easily obtain personal and company information for their scams through social media networks.  Social media networks, especially those focused on business and employment, provide cybercriminals with a wealth of personal and company information.

Making social media profiles private, and being cautious about connection requests, can help protect against CEO fraud.  This reduces the amount of personal information that is publicly available and can be used by cybercriminals to carry out their scams.

BEC Scams are no longer limited to message from someone impersonating a CEO, emails may also come from fake suppliers and business associates.

Job Scams

A job scams has a very basic promise.  A scammer poses as a company that wants to hire you. They prey on the emotion that you are excited to get the job. The pay is good, and you can start right away. It may be a full time, part time, or temporary job.

Cybercriminals use the lure of work to trick job seekers into providing personal Information.

A resume plus a photo ID is more or less a complete picture of a person’s personal identity, which is what makes these types of scams so dangerous.

In order to make this scam work, cybercriminals are counting on our level of comfort in providing personal information to potential employers, as well as our motivation to earn extra cash.

These two components allow this scam to operate, so it is important to stay ware.

The Fee-Based Scam:   When a cybercriminal posing as a legitimate employer will insist that a job seeker pay a small fee for “start up” materials.​ Or they are asked to pay twenty or thirty dollars for things like training or a background check, only to have the prospective employer vanish into thin air.

For a remote salesperson job opportunity, job seekers may be asked to pay for access to a list of sales leads could never lead to a scam.

Even if a job is only temporary or seasonal, it’s important to take the time to confirm that the company is legitimate before forwarding personal information to the potential employer.

The Use of Images in Phishing Email

When most of us think about phishing email, we consider the subject line and the message that as been cleverly written to fool us. But what if there isn’t much text at all in an email.  Instead, there is an image.

Your standard phishing email doesn’t usually come with an image. Which is why a gift card phishing email that includes images looks so legitimate.

Visual marketing is just as successful in the professional world as it is in the cybercrime industry.  Visual marketing is defined as a strategy used to depict concepts that would otherwise be hard to explain through text.

To add to the confusion, 67% of scammers opt to leave the subject line empty in malicious emails. Empty subject lines are quick and easy for cybercriminals to send out and have an engaging air of mystery for the user.

Phishing emails that have blank bodies and blank subject lines are known as “blankets.” These type of phishing emails are known as “probes,” and are sent as a quick way for cybercriminals to identify active email accounts.

Scams Related to Selling Items Online

The Fake Payment, or Bogus Fund request:  It’s when a scammer poses as a buyer and asks to pay via a mobile payment app, but then sends a fake payment notification. They hope you will send the item before you notice the payment never occurred. Or the scammer will insist that they actually paid you twice and ask for a refund for one of the fake payments they sent you.

Fake Check Overpayment Scams:  A scammer will send you a check for more than the sale of your items.  They will ask you to refund back the difference.  The check you deposited won’t bounce for a few days, long after you have given the scammer your hard-earned money. They will also have the item that you were selling if you have already sent it to them.

Verification Code Scams

If you have been wise and set up multi-factor authentication for your accounts, there is a way scammers can trick you into sending them that code. It’s called the verification code scam.  They will call you pretending to be someone official associated with your account. They will say there is an issue and for it to be solved, you first need to verify yourself by sending them an authentication code.

You agree.

From there, the scammer will try to login into your account. This will trigger the code to be sent to you.  You think the person on the phone sent you the code, but it; s actually your legitimate account that the scammer is truing to clog into.

This scam can also be carried out when selling items online.  The scammer will claim to be nervous about online scams and send you a verification code. They will then ask you to send them the code, which, if you do, will allow them to open a new account linked to your phone number.

One-Time Password Scams

A one-time password (OPT) is a form of multi-factor authentication that provides a unique code each time a user tries to log into an account. These newly created passwords are sent to a user’s mobile device or email. They are triggered after a user tries to login to an account, providing an extra layer of security.

Scammers are now trying to dupe people into giving them this password. The scammer may have learned your phone number and email from various sources. They will try to log in to your account, which will generate a password being sent to you. The scammer will then call pretending to be the company of your account. They’ll say they need your password to verify you as the account holder. This is a scam. You should never share your one-time password with an unsolicited caller.

These one-time passwords are automatically sent to you as a convenience. No legitimate organization will call unsolicited, asking for your OPT.  Signs of a potential scam is if your email inbox is flooded with one-time passwords. You should consider resetting your main password as a precaution.

For additional security, companies are utilizing enterprise password management on premise to manage passwords, credentials, and sensitive data centrally within their own infrastructure. This is instead of using cloud-hosted services.  Setup ensures that all data, including passwords and encryption, keys remains stored and managed on the company’s servers or data centers.

To ensure the highest levels of security and scalability for critical information, businesses often seek robust infrastructure benefits available from data centers designed for enterprise-grade performance and compliance.

Compromised DNS Security and Privacy

When navigating the web, most internet users rarely think about the Domain Name System (DNS)—often called the phonebook of the internet—which quietly translates website names into readable IP addresses. However, standard DNS requests are sent in plain text, meaning internet service providers, network administrators, or malicious actors on public Wi-Fi can easily track every website you or your family visit. Beyond mere tracking, cybercriminals frequently exploit weak DNS infrastructure to carry out “pharming” attacks, stealthily redirecting you from a legitimate site to a convincing fake copy designed to steal your login credentials.

Fortunately, modern digital hygiene includes upgrading to secure, encrypted DNS services like DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) or DNS-over-TLS (DoT), alongside resolvers that automatically block malicious domains and phishing sites at the network level. Incorporating encrypted DNS into your routine adds a powerful, invisible layer of privacy to your daily browsing. It stops third-party snooping and ensures that your traffic cannot be easily intercepted or manipulated, giving everyday users and families a much safer and more private journey online.

Caller ID Spoofing

We have covered phone scams in other parts of our scam series, but it’s worth noting that caller ID spoofing takes things to a new level as scammers try to get people to let their guard down when answering calls.

With online communication services like Google Voice, cybercriminals can change their area code or even their full phone number to match that of the person they are calling.  If you identify a call as spoofed, you should not answer it. When a scam call is answered, it will often lead to more calls in the future.

Caller ID Spoofing

If you do answer an unknown call that appears to be from the government, remember; employees do not call unsolicited, especially to ask for money or account information. If someone calls claiming to be a friend or family member in urgent need of money, it is recommended in this training that you proceed with caution.  Consider confirming with the person through another method of contact before taking action.

Public Wi-Fi Scams

The main security issue with public Wi-Fi is that it is public.  Their public nature becomes a tempting environment for cybercriminals, as a password given out by a barista or written on a chalkboard is the same as no password at all.

It’s important to always verify the network you are using.  Cybercriminals can set up fake or spoofed networks disguised as a public hotspot.  The spoofed network may even have a name similar to the network in question and allow you to browse normally.  However, it may send you to a fake website and ask for login or payment information.  Or it may simply spy on you.

Always verify the network you are using with a staff member and look for encryption.  Encryption, such as SSL, helps to make network connections more secure. Website should begin with https. A padlock icon also indicated that the network is secure.

It’s good practice to turning off the Wi-Fi on your mobile device when you are not actively using it. This will prevent it from automatically connecting to public networks in places you’ve visited before.

How Scams Increase Cyber Attacks

While cyber criminals are looking for a quick easy profit by scamming money directly from you, there are many other reasons why your personal information alone is of great value to them.

An email address and a password can be worth as much as $1000 on the dark web.  The information gathered in scams increase the effectiveness of cyber attacks against people and companies,

Here are a few ways just one piece of information can compromise your data many times over.

Credential Stuffing Attacks

In this this type of cyberattack a cybercriminal uses previously exposed account information across other unrelated services to try and gain access to multiple accounts.

Credential stuffing can be highly effective, as many of us who don’t use a password manager rely on the same, or similar, passwords.

Preventing a credential stuffing attack is focused primarily on not re-using passwords. Utilizing truly unique passwords across all accounts is the way to go, which is where a password manager tool can be so effective.

Credential stuffing is similar to a brute force attack, but with credential stuffing, the cybercriminal is using a password they already know.

This creates a much more targeted and successful attack if their target reuses the same, or similar, password.

Brute Force Attacks

The tools associated with a brute force attack are relatively easy for a cybercriminal to get their hands on, which makes them common.  Brute force attacks are a trial-and-error method of trying to decode a password or encryption key to access a device or account, which can also lead to a hijacking attack.

Using automated tools, cybercriminals can systematically test thousands to millions of password combinations every second. Even adding a few extra characters can help extend the overall decoding time significantly and may be enough to deter an ongoing brute force attempt.

Cybercriminals have been using artificial intelligence technology to train their tools to target passwords more efficiently by feeding it previously exposed passwords as a reference point.  By using these previously exposed passwords, mixed with our tendencies to use common passwords, cybercriminals can improve their success rate in their attacks.

Read Part 1 and Part 2 of our scam series to learn specifics about how to:

  • Be alert about common scams.
  • Create unique passwords for each of your accounts.
  • Use a password manager so you don’t have to remember your complicated passwords.
  • Set up multi-factor authentication.
  • Ensure your Wi-Fi connection is secure.
  • Enable automotive updates for all devices and software installed on those devices.
  • Learn the SLAM method to prevent clicking malicious links.
  • Don’t respond to unknown texts.
  • Don’t call back anonymous phone numbers.

Part 1:  Common scams to be aware of and prepare for.
Part 2: Common scams and common sense prevention.

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