Social Media: Avoiding scams and hoaxes

We've all seen the posts on our favourite social networks - endorsed by friends and relations that tell us about a new startling discovery/scary news item/unbelievable photo/medical marvel...

Such things used to be (and to some extent still are) the domain of chain emails, foolishly forwarded and rather irritating at best.

But these days we are getting these posts shoved in our face by those people around us who 'like' or comment on such things.

So what are these things, what is wrong with them, and how can we spot/avoid them?

Here goes...

Online security: Using a subscription VPN

As I described in the Open Wifi post, the dangers of free Wifi are well worth considering before you connect to the internet in a coffee shop.

One very effective solution is to connect through a secure tunnel to a VPN server, which can either be set up at home on your computer, or be a paid-for service from one of the many companies online.

In this part of the VPN thread I will describe how to choose a suitable service, and then how to set it up for use on your laptop or smartphone device.

Free Wifi is scary!

The internet is such a part of our lives these days that it almost seems like a right not a privilege. 

Because of that we might be forgiven to consider it separate from our normal realisation that nothing is really FREE, that there is a price there, however hidden.

And with 'FREE WIFI' that price is your security.

Why did I get hacked? (Part 1: my story)

If you have your own webpage and have never been hacked you may think it is only something that happens to those 'other people' you hear about. Maybe major companies like Sony or LinkedIn. People with valuable data, or somewhere the hacker can make a big statement.

I KNOW you think that, because I thought that too - until I got hacked myself.

How are websites storing my details?

Websites store a lot of information about us - from our names, DoBs, addresses and email addresses to bank details and other sensitive data.
How do they deal with the responsibility of holding this stuff, and what do they do to keep us safe from marauding naughties?