Did you know that your smartphone or tablet apps may be collecting and selling data about your location even when you aren’t using them? This is called location aggregation. Businesses use this data to send ads and develop new products. For example, a fast-food restaurant chain may track where its customers go to see what …
Facial recognition software can identify people by analyzing and comparing photographs. It uses algorithms to measure parts of a person’s face, like the distance between their eyes. It can then make a “face print” or digital code of a face. Some software also analyzes people’s skin texture and creates a unique “skin print.” Those prints …
If you like spy movies, you’re familiar with the scene where someone plants a “bug,” or listening device, in an office, home, or hotel room. These tiny transmitters pick up noises, like conversations, and transmit them to someone listening or recording them. It sounds like movie stuff, but cybersecurity experts who work in government need …
When a cell phone is on, it’s always searching for a connection and sending out signals about where you are, even if it isn’t making or receiving a call or text. Many smartphones can record conversations that could be transmitted to someone else later. To prevent other people from listening in on conversations or monitoring …
Cell phones have made communicating with people easy. Before cell phones, you had to find a pay phone or landline or send a letter in the mail. Now, you can call or send someone a message from nearly anywhere. However, that convenience comes with a price because cell phones don’t guarantee your privacy. Some cell …
Years ago, people had to connect to the internet by attaching a cable to their computers. In 1997, Wi-Fi was first made available to the public. It seemed like magic. Wi-Fi lets you connect to the internet using wireless transmitters and radio signals. No cables needed! But there’s a problem. If you don’t use a …
When you travel, you often need an ID card or passport. Sometimes you need tickets or boarding passes. All these things contain personal information. Some of them even have bar codes that lead to data files with more information about you. If someone has access to a bar code reader (they’re available free online!), they …
Cybercrime is expensive. When databases or websites get hacked, it costs the targeted organization a lot of money. Sometimes hackers steal trade secrets, such as information about how products are made (secret recipes!) or plans for new products in development. The kinds of things that usually get stolen in a hack are: ■ Personal information, …
Protecting your organization from cybercrime is like playing Minesweeper. Your goal is to keep your computers and data safe so your organization can accomplish its goals. You create “defenses” for your computer systems, such as training your employees about cybersecurity, backing up your data, and hiring white hat hackers to look for weakness. At the …
When a website gets hacked, a lot of people are affected. Those people are all stakeholders. That means they care about, or have “a stake in,” the success and security of the website. For example, a business’s stakeholders might include its customers, other companies it does business with, people who own stock in the company, …
