Author archives

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

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, August 2, 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: How To Check Whether You’re Chatting With a Real Person or AI; Here is another reason why you should never click on ads to download software; New Federal Ruling Prohibits Warrantless Phone Searches by Border Agents; and About Chrome’s “These extensions may soon no longer be supported” message.

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 27, 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: New Hack Threat: Thieves Take Over Your Phone Number; AT&T failed to test disastrous update that kicked all devices off network; How Russia-Linked Malware Cut Heat to 600 Ukrainian Buildings in Deep Winter; and Ransomware attack closes LA County Superior Court buildings.

Subjects: Computer Security, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email Security, Healthcare, Legal Research

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 20, 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: This is likely the biggest password leak ever: nearly 10 billion credentials exposed; How to Stay Safe From Third-Party Seller Scams; The US Supreme Court Kneecapped US Cyber Strategy; DOJ Leads Efforts Among Federal, International, and Private Sector Partners to Disrupt Covert Russian Government-Operated Social Media Bot Farm.

Subjects: AI, Congress, Cybersecurity, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media, United States Law

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 13, 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 AI Is Helping Scammers, and How You and Your Family Can Stay Safe Online; Every [smart] Phone Can ID Your Router – Here’s How to Stop It; Opinion | Driving Apps Like Google Maps Drive Me Crazy; and 10 Security Tips for Business Travelers This Summer.

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

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 6, 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. Eight highlights from this week: US car dealerships are recovering from massive cyberattack: 3 things you should know; Deepfake attacks will cost $40 billion by 2027; FTC – Who’s who in scams: a spring roundup; Cloudflare is taking a stand against AI website scrapers; Microsoft tells more customers their emails have been stolen; Tips to Make Facebook and Instagram Fun Again; and How to Stop ChatGPT Training On Your Data.

Subjects: AI, Communication Skills, Cybersecurity, Economy, Email Security, Financial System, Healthcare, Privacy, Social Media, Travel

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 29, 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: AI Tools Make It Easy to Clone Someone’s Voice Without Consent; Red Tape Is Making Hospital Ransomware Attacks Worse; Interpol Arrests Almost 4,000 People in Crackdown on International Online Scams; Zero-Day Exploits: Definition & How It Works (With Examples); and U.S. Bans Kaspersky – Here Are the Best Antivirus Alternatives.

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 22, 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: Top news app caught sharing “entirely false” AI-generated news; The Best Free and Paid AI Document Summarizer Tools In 2024; Microsoft: New Outlook security changes coming to personal accounts; Sick of scams? Stop answering your phone; and Feds Sue Adobe for ‘Trapping’ Customers in Long, Expensive Subscriptions.

Subjects: AI, Communications, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Healthcare, Legal Research, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 15, 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: Want free and anonymous access to AI chatbots? DuckDuckGo’s new tool is for you; Windows Recall is changing in 3 key aspects after user backslash; Harvard, MIT and Wharton research reveals pitfalls of relying on junior staff for AI training; AI in law enforcement is risky, but holds promise; and The NSA’s guide to keeping your phone and yourself safe.

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Education, Legal Research, Privacy, Technology Trends

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 8, 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 Ticketmaster Data Breach May Be Just the Beginning; The Snowflake Attack May Be Turning Into One of the Largest Data Breaches Ever; You Should Browse With Incognito More Often: Here’s Why; and How algorithms, influencers, and users work together to spread misinformation.

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

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, May 31, 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 NSA advises you to turn your phone off and back on once a week – here’s why; HHS targets single points of failure in healthcare cybersecurity; Google Researchers Say AI Now Leading Disinformation Vector; and New Tech Locates Cell Phones of Lost Hikers.

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Financial System, Healthcare, Privacy, Social Media