FBI: Cybercrime losses topped US.2 billion in 2020

FBI: Cybercrime losses topped US$4.2 billion in 2020

The Bureau received over 28,000 reports of COVID-19-themed scams last year The United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) received a record-breaking 791,790 cybercrime complaints in 2020 that were responsible for over US$4.2 billion in losses, according to the Bureau’s 2020 Internet Crime Report (ICR). Compared to 2019, the number of complaints made by victims…
Trust your surveillance? Why hacked cameras are very bad

Trust your surveillance? Why hacked cameras are very bad

When a breach captures a part of us that is unchangeable, does it mean that we have allowed technology to pry too deeply into our lives? We have read about the recently released footage, complete with facial recognition and deep looks into private spaces that were never supposed to be public, and wondered if it’s safe…
7 steps to staying safe and secure on Twitter

7 steps to staying safe and secure on Twitter

Follow these easy steps to prevent your Twitter account from being hacked and to remain safe while tweeting Twitter, the popular social networking service, will celebrate its 15th anniversary this Sunday. Perhaps it’s not a stretch to say that it has been a monumental force in the lives of some of us. It’s also during…
5 reasons why (not only) financial companies struggle with cybersecurity

5 reasons why (not only) financial companies struggle with cybersecurity

Why do many organizations have a hard time keeping up with the evolving threat landscape and effectively managing their cyber-risks? Financial services companies have been a popular target for cybercriminals for a long time. Not without good reason, since beyond working with money, financial companies handle a slew of sensitive client data that criminals utilize…
When repairing things you own may make you an outlaw

When repairing things you own may make you an outlaw

How do you balance the right to repair with the requirement to remain secure? Images of jackbooted, militarized cops descending into dimly-lit basements where appliance techs slap grimy, roughshod parts of doubtful lineage together come to mind in the still-simmering fight – yes, it’s a fight – to allow people to work on the tech…
Almost  billion lost to BEC scams in 2020

Almost $2 billion lost to BEC scams in 2020

Nearly half of reported cybercrime losses in 2020 were the result of BEC fraud, according to an FBI report Losses emanating from Business Email Compromise (BEC) and Email Account Compromise (EAC) scams surpassed US$1.86 billion last year, which is more than the combined losses stemming from the next six costliest types of cybercrime in the 2020…