Author archives

Pete Weiss, formerly a Systems Engineer in Teleprocessing at The Pennsylvania State University

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, January 18, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Apps That Are Spying on Your Location; AI-supported spear phishing fools more than 50% of targets; Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), once celebrated as an unbreakable defense, is crumbling under the weight of its outdated technology; NSA Warns iPhone And Android Users – Disable Location Tracking; and Chinese Innovations Spawn Wave of Toll Phishing Via SMS.

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Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Email Security, Financial System, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, January 11, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: A Day in the Life of a Prolific Voice Phishing Crew; 33 Chrome extensions that have been found to have malware; Experian Conducted ‘Sham Investigations’ Into Errors in Its Credit Reports; and Lie About Your Birthday.

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Subjects: AI, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Privacy, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, January 4, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: The biggest cybersecurity and cyberattack stories of 2024; It’s a Risk of Driverless Taxis That May Come as a Surprise; Apple to pay $95 million to settle Siri privacy lawsuit; iOS 18’s Photos app sends data to Apple without your consent; and Modern cars have sensors, cameras, GPS for location tracking, and more, all collecting data.

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Subjects: AI, Cybersecurity, Healthcare, Privacy, Travel

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 28, 2024

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued the operator of Zelle, as well as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo “for failing to protect consumers from widespread fraud” at the payment provider; You Need to Create a Secret Password With Your Family; North Korean Hackers Deploy OtterCookie Malware in Contagious Interview Campaign; How to block Chrome from signing you into a Google account automatically; and Mobile Phishing Attacks Use New Tactic to Bypass Security Measures.

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Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 21, 2024

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: The Breachies 2024: The Worst, Weirdest, Most Impactful Data Breaches of the Year; Lawmakers tell Apple, Google to prepare for TikTok ban; CISA lays out how agencies, industry should respond to major cyber incidents; and Warning: A New Scam Targets Consumers with Unsolicited Gifts and Malicious QR Codes.

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Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 14, 2024

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: How Much Do I Need to Change My Face to Avoid Facial Recognition?; FCC Prepares to Block Companies That Don’t Block Robocalls; Your Bluesky posts could be training AI models right now; AI chatbot provider exposes 346,000 customer files, including ID documents, resumes, and medical records; and Google uses your personal info to tailor search results. Here’s how to stop it

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Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 7, 2024

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: FTC Cracks Down on Tech Support Scams, Targeting Schemes That Prey on Cord Cutters; CFPB Proposes Rule to Stop Data Brokers from Selling Sensitive Personal Data to Scammers, Stalkers, and Spies; FTC Says Data Brokers Unlawfully Tracked Protesters and US Military Personnel; Six password takeaways from the updated NIST cybersecurity framework; and How to prep your iPhone for unexpected medical emergencies.

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Subjects: Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 30, 2024

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Surveillance Self-Defense Tips, Tools and How-tos for Safer Online Communications; Australia Makes History With Social Media Ban for Under 16s; Crypto companies are losing ground to deepfake attacks; and Coast Guard adds new cyber requirements for ship-to-shore cranes.

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Subjects: Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cyberlaw, Cybersecurity, Economy, Privacy, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 23, 2024

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Thieves are using Google Maps to target homes; Microsoft’s anti competitive behavior weakens its customers’ cybersecurity; How and where to report cybercrime: What you need to know; Legislation introduced to address foreign supply chain threats; Use These 4 Apps and Tools to Detect Phishing Emails

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Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email Security, Federal Legislative Research, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 16, 2024

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Warning: Hackers could take over your email account by stealing cookies, even if you have MFA; US regulator could impose bank-like state supervision regime on Google; ome of Substack’s Biggest Newsletters Rely on AI Writing Tools; FBI, CISA, and NSA reveal most exploited vulnerabilities of 2023; and Federal CIO focused on cyber, smooth transition in months ahead.

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Subjects: AI, Cybersecurity, Financial System, Privacy, Social Media
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