Government Surveillance Series — Part Two Model legislation and a citizen action guide Part One of this series compared all 50 states across five protections involving cash and central-bank digital currency, facial recognition, government artificial intelligence, electronic information, and commercial data brokers. The comparison revealed a ...
Your face can be scanned by a camera you never noticed. Your movements can be reconstructed from location records held by a private company. Your purchases can be analyzed, your communications requested, and an artificial-intelligence system can help a government agency decide that you deserve closer attention. Much of this can happen without the a...
Your smartphone probably contains more personal information than anything else you own. It may hold your photographs, emails, text messages, banking information, medical details, passwords, contacts, and a record of where you have been. Fortunately, you do not need to be a technology expert to make your phone safer. A few carefully chosen settings ...
The voice on the phone sounds official. The caller ID shows the name of your bank. The person knows your name—and perhaps even part of your address or account number. Then comes the bad news: Your account has been compromised. Your Social Security number has been suspended. A family member is in trouble. You owe money. You must act immediately. It ...
Cryptocurrency is not hack proof as your money is stored in digital wallets that are a much easier target than blockchain technology. The Bitcoin goldrush has meant that many new to the cryptocurrency scene are investing without fully understanding how the currencies work-and many in the industry do not care. This has left the door open for cybercr...
Despite its reputation, Bitcoin is not completely anonymous. But the Good News is Cryptocurrency can be purchased and spent anonymously with a few smart steps Because every transaction uses bitcoins from a prior transaction, and the blockchain is public data, every Bitcoin payment has a traceable history that can be viewed by anyone. While addresse...
A fake Wi-Fi hotspot, or "Evil Twin" hotspot, is a Wi-Fi access point set up by a hacker or state spies which mimics a legitimate hotspot including the service set identifier (SSID) provided by a business or organization which is nearby, such as a coffee shop or hotel that provides free Wi-Fi access to its customers. They are often named 'honeypots...
SIM stands for 'Subscriber Identity Module' and is the small removable chip card in your cell phone. Each SIM is unique and associated to a phone's service account. If you remove the SIM and place it in another phone, the account data moves with it. SIM swapping, also called SIM jacking or SIM hijacking, is a form of identity theft where a criminal...
Now to the big question 'How do I make sure my devices are malware free?' – the answer is twofold: personal vigilance and use of protective tools. Hopefully the previous article helped to improve your personal malware awareness, and some real-world examples below can help cement those risks. Above all else, be extremely cautious with emails, where ...
Everyone is familiar with the term Malware - but what is it? This article hopes to provide a basic explanation of the various types of malware, the format they take, and future trends. The follow up article will discuss methods to prevent infections. Malware is short for 'Malicious Software' and is specifically designed to DISRUPT, DAMAGE, or gain ...
This series of articles will attempt to explain, in layman's terms, how Hackers – either underground criminals or state level wrongdoers – gain access to an individual or company's digital life. Many of the phrases and terminology can be confusing so we hope to explain things in clear, simple language. Cyber hacking is on the rise, and the enemy is...
Facing and surviving an active shooter situation will probably be the most traumatic life event for most involved. The entire event and its aftermath will have life-long effects which should be prepared for in much the same way as preparing for the incident itself. The first step is to identify and be ready for the actions and procedures survivors ...
Active shooter attacks are happening more and more and, tragically, more and more are happening in schools and houses of worship. As with all natural or man-made disasters and emergency situations, the more we are prepared, the better we will fare. Family preparation for the active shooter situation must begin early as these events are happening to...
Whether a deranged teenager or a committed terrorist, the active shooter phenomenon is here and will continue to be a danger everywhere. Whilst Wyoming has not suffered many active shooter incidents in recent times, it would be very dangerous to assume it will not. The only thing a police officer hears more than "…it will never happen to me…" is "…...
"Humor is one of the best ingredients of survival." – Aung San Suu Kyi Bites and stings Bugs are an integral part of our ecosystem and are a constant feature of our daily lives. It is inevitable that during a survival situation somebody will get bitten or stung. Mosquitoes While mosquito bites are generally nothing more than an annoyance, there are...
"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it" - Lou Holtz Bleeding Whether during the initial incident or the journey to safety, there are numerous abrasive or pointed ways to end up losing blood. The average adult has five – six liters of blood in their body. If we lose one – t...
"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities - brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems" - John W. Gardner Dehydration Dehydration is a potential issue in survival situations. Dehydration occurs when water intake does not replace water lost due to normal physiologic processes, or other causes, including diarrhea, and vomiting. Dehydrat...
"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see" - Henry David Thoreau Blisters Blisters are a common injury and can hamper a successful attempt to reach safety. Blisters occur when the harder surface skin starts to separate from the softer skin underneath. The warm and sweaty conditions inside our footwear while walking back to safety a...
"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser" - John W. Gardner Twisted ankle or knee According to a study of search and rescue volunteers, soft tissue injuries are the most common thing that people need rescuing for. An injury to our upper extremity might be inconvenient but an injury to our lower body joints can have serious impact on our journe...
"Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance." – Samuel Johnson In part one we looked at navigating by what we can see in the sky. What if we are presented with a situation where there is no sun during the day and the moon and stars are not visible at night. There are still aids to navigation all around us. These aids require us t...
