security

What is Encryption? (& How it Works to Protect Your Data)

There is a lot of information in today’s world. From emails to website data, photos, videos, etc. all bouncing around the world wide web to your computer, phone, and TV sending data within your own home network to each other, data bouncing between your phone and Bluetooth headphones, smartwatches and even data just sitting is the storage on all of these devices. Because of this there is a lot of opportunities for this data to be intercepted or stolen by the someone who wasn’t intended to see it. There is though, one major thing, that helps to ensure all of […]

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What is Malware? The Most Common Types, How They Work, & How to Easily Avoid Them All

The total cost of malware in 2015 was about $500 billion dollars. In 2019, that jumped to $2 trillion, and it’s expected to hit $6 trillion in 2021. To put that into perspective, all of the US’s retail sales throughout the entire country totaled $1.14 trillion or so in 2017. The average cost of a data breach in the world in 2018 was $3.86 million (up 6.4% from the year before). Also, in the US, that number is $7.91 million. Needless to say, there is a lot of money being made in cybercrime and malware and it’s only growing. It’s

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How to Make a DIY Smart Home Security System (No Monthly Fees!)

We no longer live in a time wherein order to have a security system at home, you have to call the likes of ADT, Brinks, or some other giant security conglomerate to come and install expensive cameras, alarms, etc. and then charge you a ridiculous monthly fee to “monitor” your home for you. Instead, there are a ton of smart home devices that can easily be used to create a smart home security system that will not only do the same thing for less money and no monthly fee, but also have a ton of other benefits that you can

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6 Super Easy Ways to Protect Your Online Privacy

There’s a lot of talk about protecting your privacy online lately (big thanks to Facebook for a good portion of that coverage). And even though it’s a buzzy topic right now, it’s not without some merit. There is more and more data being collected on you and me every day, and while advertisers are using most of it, some of it is being collected for more nefarious reasons. Because of this, I figured maybe I’d put together a quick video on how to protect your privacy online whether you’re trying to stop juggernaut companies like Facebook and Google, or hackers,

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What is Ransomware? (& How to Prevent It)

You’ve probably heard about ransomware at some point. In case you haven’t though, Ransomware is a name given to a type of hacking attack wherein a computer is infected with a virus that encrypts all the data on a computer and then forces the computer owner to pay a sum of money in order to get their data back (your data being held for ransom essentially, hence the name). WannaCry & GandCrab: The Largest Ransomware Attacks Ever There was a huge ransomware attack that happened recently and gained international attention when hackers infected more than 250,000 computers in over 116

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Best Antivirus Software in 2018?

Someone recently asked me about the best antivirus software in 2018, and honestly, I wasn’t quite sure which one to recommend–there are a lot of them out there. Turns out though, there is one that seems to be at the top of each list according to a ton of sources. So I decided, I’d check it out myself and run some tests and see how it does. From PCMag to TechAdvisor, to TechRadar, there seems to be one antivirus program that is mentioned at the top of every list of the best antivirus software: Bitdefender. Looking into it, it even

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Microsoft’s AI Powered Camera Recognition for Businesses is Straight Out of a Sci-Fi Movie (Video)

During Microsoft’s developer conference Build a bit ago, Microsoft demoed something that I thought was pretty damn cool. The new tech they’re using can analyze images from everyday security cameras to detect people and objects and then automatically direct those people to those objects, notify other people, etc. Watch the video and you’ll see what I mean. Straight outta a sci-fi movie, right?! Not quite sure how close Microsoft is to this being a reality, but Director of Commercial Communications Andrea Carl explained how it’s working and named all systems Microsoft already has running (including Azure Stack, Azure Functions, & Cognitive

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Why a Privacy Filter on Your Gadgets is a Brilliant Idea

Ever catch someone looking at your screen? You know, when you feel someone’s eyeballs looking over your shoulder, turn and catch the last moment of them quickly turning away? It’s interesting to think about, really. I mean, I know I’ve done it myself to others without even meaning to. Maybe on the subway standing over someone who I quickly figure out is playing Candy Crush (people still play that?), is reading an article about “Your Cat Food Might Be Killing Your Cat!”, or whatever else. For some reason we’re drawn to screens. Maybe it’s from being so vigilant in checking our own whenever

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