local broadband, fast broadband, Worthing broadband

Stand And Delivery! Security Issues With Ordering Online

local broadband, fast broadband, Worthing broadbandData breaches sound like something you only have to worry about if you’re in charge of a bank or looking after the details of high value, high security information that you don’t want business competitors or foreign governments to find out about. Unfortunately information security is far more mundane and something that all of us who are shopping online and ordering deliveries during lockdown need to think about.

Millions of usernames and passwords are currently for sale on the dark web. Cheap ones haven’t been verified or tested so the buyer takes pot luck, but expensive high quality data is available to fraudsters, and sometime it even comes with money back guarantees if you, as a scammer, aren’t completely satisfied.

Because it’s quick and easy to order from Deliveroo, McDonalds or JustEat, and the orders are low value not much thought has gone into security, either on their part or by the people making the order. A recipe for disaster. Read more

Your 2020 Vision For Online Security Is Here

wireless, smart home, home automation, smart speaker, Technology and the way we organise our lives around it is rapidly changing, and not always for the better. There has been a great deal of controversy about how social media and online data has influenced recent elections in the UK & the US as unaccountable agents have poured money into advertising and ‘fake news’, targeted undecided voters, and used data captured from unwitting citizens who’ve done nothing more than like or share a post they’ve seen.

Data is big business. It can be used to affect elections, to help decide where public money is spent, when to buy and sell assets, and it can also be used to get access to your home.

Shortly before Christmas Ring was dealing with a controversial data breach when it was shown that if customers don’t take the initiative to change their passwords and security settings it was relatively simple for people to access home cameras in order to see into children’s bedrooms and talk to the occupants. And while it’s easy for the tech savvy to scoff and wonder “well what were they expecting if they didn’t secure their devices?” it’s also equally true that most people don’t understand the ramifications of installing popular Smart devices into their homes and assume that if they’re going to be sold as security and monitoring tools there should be a certain amount of security built in. Read more

Don’t Give Away Security For Perceived Convenience

You may have seen from the ads on TV that some banks are offering a PIN reminder service. Most of us probably look at them and think, ‘oh, that’s handy, if you’re the kind who forgets their PIN a lot.’ But it’s a terrible idea which makes a nonsense of your mobile security!

Here’s why.

It simply doesn’t reflect how most people use their cards. Use Chip and Pin when you’re buying something and you’ll get funny looks from the shop assistant (if it’s less than £30) as most people now will Contactless that purchase. If it’s more than £30 you get to have a couple of goes at inputting your PIN anyway, and if you’re REALLY worried that you won’t remember the number you can still swipe and sign. That technology hasn’t been completely abandoned yet. 

Another problem with a PIN reminder is that so many people have bought Smart Phone cases which have a space for your cards and cash. Another terrible idea. Read more