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Your digital footprint grows with every internet account you make. While your old Tumblr account may be fun for reminiscing, dormant accounts are actually one of the most significant sources of user data on the internet. These accounts can be used by data brokers or third parties to access your personal information.
To improve your data security, it’s good practice to remove public-facing information by deleting unused accounts. Simply put, having less personal data stored on the internet reduces the risk of theft and/or non-consensual data usage.
Deleting, canceling, unsubscribing, or removing your account can be a long process, depending on the service. This article will walk you through the simplest ways to delete unwanted accounts from various social media platforms.
Deleting unwanted accounts protects your information and prevents the monetization of your data. Your internet accounts often hold personal information like your name, age, email, or home address. What’s more alarming is that some platforms may even have credit card details, phone numbers, and bank account information.
When left unattended, internet accounts become vulnerable to being suspended or taken over by the platform. This means that if your accounts are left inactive for too long, you might be handing some or all of your data over to the tech platform.
For example, even if you believe an old Google account doesn’t have any sensitive information stored, it may be linked to other platforms you use (like Amazon or Google services like Gmail and Google Play). This exposes all of these accounts to several data privacy vulnerabilities.
Moreover, a recent survey found that 70% of surveyed adults admitted using the same password for more than one service. People who don’t use password managers or reuse passwords are at a greater security risk than others, as multiple accounts can become compromised at once. Whether the platform is now out of service or you are cutting down on your app usage, deleting dormant accounts will minimize security threats and safeguard your data.
Every platform has a different process for deleting accounts: Some take only a few clicks to complete and others are a little longer. Companies usually don’t want a user to stop using their services, so account deletion pages are often hidden in a complex web of tabs that you have to navigate.
In addition, some subscription services might require that you send an email to customer support to close your account. You can go to justdelete.me, an online directory that lets you access direct links to account deletion pages of various web services.
Remember to download your personal information and data before pulling the plug on your account. Most platforms let you download your data before initiating a deletion request, which saves you from losing important details and files. It is also important to check whether your Google account is used for your YouTube channel or connected to other online accounts.
To help you get rid of accounts you no longer use, we’ve broken down deleting accounts from some of the most popular social networks. The steps described below are for a desktop browser and may not apply to Android or iOS devices (unless specified).
Facebook’s user privacy policy enables it to store a large amount of user information, including personal messages, posts, search history, name, age, birthdate, and even metadata from posted photos and videos.
Follow these simple steps to delete your Facebook account:
LinkedIn collects information on users and uses it for targeted advertising. As a result, it amasses quite a lot of your data, from professional details to personal preferences and even your online behavior trail.
Follow these simple steps from your desktop to delete your account:
It’s simple to delete your Twitter account, but you’ll have to wait 30 days for your data and tweets to clear. To delete your account, you first need to deactivate it.
Once you’ve decided to delete your account from the micro-blogging site, follow these steps from your desktop:
Remember to revoke third-party access to your Twitter account to avoid having your account reactivated in the 30 days following deactivation.
Since Facebook and Instagram are both owned by Meta, they share a lot of data for targeted advertising. You can adjust the privacy settings of your Instagram account from the mobile app, but you will need to log in from a web browser like Chrome to delete your account.
To delete your Instagram account:
Your information and data will be permanently deleted after 30 days and you won’t be able to retrieve it. However, completing a deletion process may take up to 90 days.
Tumblr has a fairly simple process to delete your account:
Follow these steps to delete your account from the popular picture-sharing platform:
Pinterest servers continue to store your data after deletion, but your information won’t be visible to other users.
There are different steps to deleting your email account depending on which email service you use. Backing up email data usually takes more time because of the sheer volume of data a mail account can hold.
Complete the following steps to delete your Google account:
Here’s what you need to do to delete your Yahoo email account:
Deleting your Yahoo account also deletes the linked information from Yahoo’s other services.
Follow these steps to delete your Microsoft account on Outlook 2010, 2013, or 2016:
Leaving old information scattered across the internet makes you susceptible to identity theft. There are multiple ways to keep your identity and data secure online, including McAfee’s Total Protection plan.
Total Protection lets you choose from multiple affordable subscription models that provide comprehensive security against identity theft and potential data breaches and offers web protection and several related benefits. In addition, having access to 24/7 online security experts and a 30-day money-back guarantee make the Total Protection plan an easy, reliable, and safe choice. You can also have peace of mind with McAfee’s Personal Data Cleanup feature where our teams will work to find your personal information online and assist in removing it.
The post How to Delete Old Accounts Containing Personal Information appeared first on McAfee Blog.
We’ve all seen the headlines like “race to the cloud” and “cloud-first.” These articles and publications are true, more and more customers have adopted cloud strategies, but there is more to the story. In these customer conversations, cloud security and network security are often discussed in unison. Why is that?
Customers desire freedom and choice when establishing resilience across every aspect of their business, and this requires both the ability to remain agile, and maintain control of their organization’s most sensitive data. Neither of these can be achieved with just the cloud, or private data center. Organizations are investing in hybrid-multicloud environments to ensure continuity amidst unpredictable threats and change. But these investments will fall short if they do not include security.
The modern enterprise relies on the network more than ever before, and it looks a lot different than it did 10 years ago. According to our 2022 Global Hybrid Cloud Trends Report, where 2,500 global IT leaders were interviewed across 13 countries, 82% said they have adopted hybrid cloud architectures, and 47% of organizations use between two and three public IaaS clouds1. As organizations have grown more dependent on the network, the more complex it has become, making firewall capabilities the most critical element of the hybrid-multicloud security strategy. And Cisco has a firewall capability for every strategy, protecting your most important assets no matter where you choose to deploy it.
In May, Cisco brought offerings from Umbrella and Duo to the AWS Marketplace. Today at AWS Re:Inforce, Cisco Secure announced furthering its partnership with AWS to drive innovation with the goal to protect the integrity of your business. Validating our commitment to hybrid-multicloud security, Cisco has received the AWS Security Competency Partner designation for Network and Infrastructure Security. This designation was awarded through our demonstrated success with customer engagements and rigorous technical validations of Secure Firewall.
This week at AWS Re:Inforce, customers can stop by our booth to see our latest firewall innovation. Cisco Secure Firewall as-a-service on AWS builds on our existing portfolio, giving organizations greater flexibility and choice with a radically simplified SaaS offering. If organizations are truly to embrace security across the multi-environment IT, customers demand simplification without compromising security. With a SaaS-based form factor, management and deployment complexity is reduced. NetOps and SecOps teams will enjoy a simplified security architecture where provisioning of firewalls and control plane infrastructure are managed by Cisco. This will save your teams time by removing the need to rearchitect the network, freeing them to focus on protecting the integrity of your business.
As organizations continue to move more of their day-to-day operations to the cloud, Cisco and AWS are committed to ensure that security is an integral part of their hybrid multi-cloud strategy. We all have seen the impact of security that is bolted on, or too complex. If we are truly to find that balance between agility and protection to ensure business continuity, we need to ensure the same protections we have in the private infrastructure are easily consumed no matter where your data may roam.
Product page: Cisco Secure Firewall for Public Cloud
Partner page: Cisco solutions on AWS
Blog: Securing cloud is everyone’s responsibility
Quick Start page: Cisco solutions on AWS
Amazon Partner Network page: Cisco solutions on AWS
2022 Global Hybrid Cloud Trends Report
1 Henderson, N. & Hanselman, E. (2022, May 25). 2022 Global Hybrid Cloud Trends Report.
S&P Global Market Intelligence, commissioned by Cisco Systems.
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/hybrid-cloud/2022-trends.html ‘
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Congratulations! You reached 10,000 steps today!
It’s a great feeling when a wearable fitness device vibrates to let you know when you hit the day’s fitness goal. The digital fireworks display that lights up your watch’s screen is a signal that you should keep on moving to challenge yourself more … or spend the rest of the day on the couch guilt-free.
While fitness wearable devices, trackers, and apps are excellent motivators for you, cybercriminals love them for their vulnerabilities and privacy loopholes. This doesn’t mean you have to chuck your expensive watch in the bin or delete your fitness apps from your smartphone. Awareness and smart habits go a long way in deterring cybercriminals. Keep reading to learn more about wearable technology vulnerabilities and how you can sidestep each.
Many fitness tracker apps and wearables are equipped with GPS. At the end of a run or long walk, you can view your exact route, sometimes with detailed maps that show street and town names. This tracking feature was potentially dangerous back in 2018 when a fitness app released a heat map of all its users’ running routes for the year, which clearly outlined secret military bases.1
Even if you’re stationed in a suburb and not hostile territory, you may consider the risks of sharing your location data. A determined criminal who has time to spare can guess your address and see the times of days when you’re commonly out at the gym or on a run.
When you purchase a wearable fitness device, you often have to pair it with an accompanying smartphone app to see your daily stats and tailor your fitness goals. Think about all the personally identifiable information (PII) that app now houses: your full name, password, address, height, weight, location, medical concerns, daily activity patterns, etc. In the hands of a cybercriminal, this information can bring a nefarious actor one step closer to impersonating you. Plus, if your health data makes it onto the dark web or is sold to health companies, it may result in serious privacy concerns.
Luckily, there are ways to get peace of mind about the security of your identity. Identity protection services, such as McAfee Identity Monitoring Service, provide expert identity theft support and up to $1 million in identity theft coverage.
Wearable devices complement any athleisure outfit and are a fun way to inspire athletic competition between a group of friends. Here are a few ways you can patch some of their security shortcomings:
When you first purchase any new device, fitness trackers included, your first step should always be to reset the factory password. Cybercriminals know that many people often skip this step, making it easy for them to walk right into new accounts. If you have a hard time remembering your passwords, consider entrusting them to a password manager to remember them for you. McAfee True Key makes it so that you only have to remember one master password to unlock the rest, and it’s protected by one of the strongest encryption algorithms available.
This is a tip you should consider for all your social media accounts. When you post about your life online, you actually divulge a lot of personal details that are helpful to cybercriminals. In the case of fitness trackers and apps, sharing the times of day when you go to the gym, are at the local track, or are on a bike path may give a criminal an idea of windows during the day when your home is empty. It’s unsettling to think that strangers can track your whereabouts, so it’s best to keep those details exclusive to people you personally know and trust.
In the case of fitness trackers and apps, a savvy cybercriminal may be able take an educated guess at your address, with which they can do a myriad of nefarious activities. Some running and fitness apps may be able to still create maps of your running routes but erase street names and other landmarks to make it more private. But when in doubt, turn off geolocation.
Fitness trackers are a fun way to stir up some friendly competition, keep connected with your fit friends, and motivate yourself to exercise and maintain healthy habits. While you’re shopping for a new device or when evaluating your current tracker, keep these tips in mind to enjoy this technology to its fullest.
The post Why You Should Care About Fitness Tracker Security appeared first on McAfee Blog.
T-Mobile, the popular US mobile phone service provider, recently confirmed a data breach affecting 7.8 million current customers and 40 million records from past or prospective customers. The stolen data included customer names, dates of birth, social security numbers, and driver’s license information. Fortunately, subscriber credit card information and other financial details were not affected in the breach.
Even though financial data was spared in the breach, the types of information stolen, along with the vast volume of affected subscribers mean that all T-Mobile subscribers should take immediate action to secure their identities and accounts online.
This is the immediate step all affected subscribers should take.
As part of T-Mobile’s response, they are offering an identity protection service exclusively to all affected customers, free for two years. This identity protection service gives customers the ability to monitor personal info, including your SSN, bank account numbers, debit cards, email addresses, phone numbers, and more. If info is found on the dark web, customers will receive guidance to help secure online accounts. Should identity theft occur, the identity protection service includes fraud resolution support and identity theft insurance for peace of mind. The free 24 months of identity protection will be delivered directly by T-Mobile. The company is also encouraging customers to sign up for their Account Takeover Protection service.
One lesser-known type of data stolen in the breach was International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers, which allow individual devices to be identified on a mobile network. Access to IMEI numbers could enable SIM-swap attacks which make account takeovers possible. With an account takeover, two-factor authentication through text message becomes vulnerable, allowing hackers potential access to bank accounts, among others. App-based multi-factor authentication, using a solution like Google’s Authenticator, allows you to authenticate your identity from other devices, instead of having authentication tied to your mobile phone number.
T-Mobile will be contacting impacted customers directly. However, cybercriminals and scammers may also take advantage of this data breach to scam people using email. They will often pose as major corporations or other trustworthy entities to trick you into willingly providing information like website login credentials or, even worse, your credit card number. We’ve provided additional information here to help you to recognize legitimate emails.
In its simplest form, your digital identity is made up of a whole host of things that can be traced back to you and who you are. This includes email accounts, cell phone numbers, bank accounts, your tax ID, and more. Read our additional tips to protect your digital identity.
For regular updates and official news from T-Mobile, visit their Newsroom blog here.
The post T-Mobile’s data breach exposes the personal data of 40 million appeared first on McAfee Blog.
I’m about to tell you an extraordinary fact about cybercrime. Some of the most significant data breaches in internet history weren’t after bank account numbers, cryptocurrency, or even credit card numbers. They were, in fact, after YOU. That’s right, the most valuable data on the internet is the data that comprises your identity. Let’s take a look at what that data is, how it gets leveraged by cybercriminals, and how you can get the online identity monitoring you deserve.
1 billion is a big number. In the case of a recent CVS database leak, that’s how many user records were accidentally released online, including details like email addresses and even searches about Covid vaccines. This is just one of the dozens of breaches that have occurred recently and will continue to happen as personally, identifiable information becomes more valuable to cybercriminals. Just as remarkable as the huge volume of user data being exposed online is the speed with which compromised data is used by hackers online. Cybersecurity researchers recently discovered that cybercriminals access leaked or stolen credentials within 12 hours to exploit them as soon as possible. These circumstances beg the question, why has your personally identifiable information has become so valuable lately?
While the value of some information, like a credit card number, is obvious, you may think your name and date of birth aren’t that big of a deal. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that you could find all that information in a phone book. In fact, personally identifiable information (PII), also known as data used to identify a specific individual, is what many data breaches are after.
Armed with just a mailing address, a phone number, and a date of birth, a cybercriminal can begin constructing a fake identity to take out loans and disguise many kinds of criminal activities. With a social security number and a few personal details from a social media account, they could take over a bank account. When it comes to your PII, any information is as good as gold to cybercriminals.
If our PII were treated like actual gold and held in a safe location like Fort Knox, I wouldn’t be writing this post. But in fact, it’s the currency we use to obtain many services in our connected lives. Social media sites are massive repositories of PII, and their access to our most personal details and the ability to sell it to marketers is the reason the service remains free. Free email services are the same. Now consider all the other accounts we may have created to, say, try out a streaming service for free, or even old accounts we no longer use. From that perspective, you can see how much of your data is being used by companies, may not be very well protected, and is a tempting target for cybercriminals. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to keep your identity safer online.
When it comes to protecting your PII, knowledge is power. Let’s start by identifying if you’ve been the target of a data breach. Here are a few tell-tale signs:
Okay, now that you know the signs of a data breach, let’s look at how you can take action to protect yourself. The best way to avoid being the victim of identity theft is by limiting the amount of PII you provide. There are some easy ways to do this.
Only a few types of organizations legitimately need your social security number. These include employers or when contracting with a business, group health insurance, financial and real estate transactions, applying for credit cards, car loans, and so forth.
Quizzes, social media games, and other kinds of interactive clickbait are often grifting pieces of your PII in a seemingly playful way. While you’re not giving up your SSN, you may be giving up things like your birthday, your pet’s name, your first car … things that people often use to compose their passwords or use as answers to common security questions on banking and financial sites.
A phishing email poses as a real email from known or trusted brands and financial institutions. These emails attempt to trick you into sharing important information like your logins, account numbers, credit card numbers, and so on under the guise of providing customer service. Here are some more ways to spot a phishing email.
Clearly, we’re in a new era when it comes to securing our identities online. In response, McAfee has created a new kind of identity monitoring.
We knew from the outset Identity monitoring had to be proactive, holistic, and accessible. We also wanted it to follow the timeline for how cybercrime actually affects your identity. When it comes to PII, the breach is just the first step for cybercriminals. The 10 months following a breach is when cybercriminals will use your PII to commit fraudulent acts using your data.
To address this, your identity monitoring looks after more personally identifiable information than other leading competitors. It will also alert you of stolen personal info an average of 10 months ahead of other monitoring services. And it’s accessible anywhere via mobile app, browser, and the web.
In practice, McAfee’s identity monitoring protects all your online accounts by doing the following:
As we spend more of our lives online, we need an approach to security that reflects this new reality. Identity monitoring is part of it. VPN is part of it. Antivirus is part of it. They are all pieces of a puzzle that we solve with products like McAfee Total Protection. Our premier security service is comprehensive, affordable, and, with identity monitoring, an indispensable part of your life online.
The post Identity Protection Service: The Best Solution to a Growing Problem appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Seems like the internet follows us wherever we go nowadays, whether it tags along via a smartphone, laptop, tablet, a wearable, or some combination of them all. Yet there’s something else that follows us around as well—our PII, a growing body of “personally identifiable information” that we create while banking, shopping, and simply browsing the internet. And no doubt about it, our PII is terrifically valuable.
What makes it so valuable? It’s no exaggeration to say that your PII is the key to your digital life, along with your financial and civic life as well. Aside from using it to create accounts and logins, it’s further tied to everything from your bank accounts and credit cards to your driver’s license and your tax refund.
Needless to say, your PII is something that needs protecting, so let’s take a look at several ways you can do just that.
What is PII? It’s information about you that others can use to identify you either directly or indirectly. Thus, that info could identify you on its own, or it could identify you when it’s linked to other identifiers, like the ones associated with the devices, apps, tools, and protocols you use.
A prime example of direct PII is your tax ID number because it’s unique and directly associated with your name. Further instances include your facial image to unlock your smartphone, your medical records, your finances, and your phone number because each of these can be easily linked back to you.
Then there are those indirect pieces of PII that act as helpers. While they may not identify you on their own, a few of them can when they’re added together. These helpers include things like internet protocol addresses, the unique device ID of your smartphone, or other identifiers such as radio frequency identification tags.
You can also find pieces of your PII in the accounts you use, like your Google to Apple IDs, which can be linked to your name, your email address, and the apps you have. You’ll also find it in the apps you use. For example, there’s PII in the app you use to map your walks and runs, because the combination of your smartphone’s unique device ID and GPS tracking can be used in conjunction with other information to identify who you are, not to mention where you typically like to do your 5k hill days. The same goes for messenger apps, which can collect how you interact with others, how often you use the app and your location information based on your IP address, GPS information, or both.
In all, there’s a cloud of PII that follows us around as we go about our day online. Some wisps of that cloud are more personally identifying than others. Yet gather enough of it and PII can create a high-resolution snapshot of you—who you are, what you’re doing when you’re doing it, and even where you’re doing it too—particularly if it gets into the wrong hands.
Remember Pig-Pen, the character straight from the old funny pages of Charles Schultz’s Charlie Brown? He’s hard to forget with that ever-present cloud of dust following him around. Charlie Brown once said, “He may be carrying the soil that trod upon by Solomon or Nebuchadnezzar or Genghis Khan!” It’s the same with us and our PII, except the cloud surrounding us, isn’t the dust of kings and conquerors, they’re motes of digital information that are of tremendously high value to crooks and bad actors—whether for purposes of identity theft or invasion of privacy.
With all PII we create and share on the internet, that calls for protecting it. Otherwise, our PII could fall into the hands of a hacker or identity thief and end up getting abused, in potentially painful and costly ways.
Here are several things you can do to help ensure that what’s private stays that way:
Square One is to protect your devices with comprehensive online protection software. This will defend you against the latest virus, malware, spyware, and ransomware attacks plus further protect your privacy and identity. In addition to this, it can also provide strong password protection by generating and automatically storing complex passwords to keep your credentials safer from hackers and crooks who may try to force their way into your accounts.
Further, security software can also include a firewall that blocks unwanted traffic from entering your home network, such as an attacker poking around for network vulnerabilities so that they can “break-in” to your computer and steal information.
Also known as a virtual private network, a VPN helps protect your vital PII and other data with bank-grade encryption. The VPN encrypts your internet connection to keep your online activity private on any network, even public networks. Using a public network without a VPN can increase your cybersecurity risk because others on the network can potentially spy on your browsing and activity.
If you’re new to the notion of using a VPN, check out this article on VPNs and how to choose one so that you can get the best protection and privacy possible.
In the U.S., the Social Security Number (SSN) is one of the most prized pieces of PII as it unlocks the door to employment, finances, and much more. First up, keep a close grip on it. Literally. Store your card in a secure location. Not your purse or wallet.
Certain businesses and medical practices may ask you for your SSN for billing purposes and the like. You don’t have to provide it (although some businesses could refuse service if you don’t), and you can always ask if they will accept some alternative form of information. However, there are a handful of instances where an SSN is a requirement. These include:
Be aware that hackers often get a hold of SSNs because the organization holding that information gets hacked or compromised itself. Minimizing how often you provide your SSN can offer an extra degree of protection.
Protecting your files with encryption is a core concept in data and information security, and thus it’s a powerful way to protect your PII. It involves transforming data or information into code that requires a digital key to access it in its original, unencrypted format. For example, McAfee Total Protection includes File Lock, which is our file encryption feature that lets you lock important files in secure digital vaults on your device.
Additionally, you can also delete sensitive files with an application such as McAfee Shredder, which securely deletes files so that thieves can’t access them. (Quick fact: deleting files in your trash doesn’t actually delete them in the truest sense. They’re still there until they’re “shredded” or otherwise overwritten such that they can’t be restored.)
Which Marvel Universe superhero are you? Does it really matter? After all, such quizzes and social media posts are often grifting pieces of your PII in a seemingly playful way. While you’re not giving up your SSN, you may be giving up things like your birthday, your pet’s name, your first car … things that people often use to compose their passwords or use as answers to common security questions on banking and financial sites. The one way to pass this kind of quiz is not to take it!
A far more direct form of separating you from your PII are phishing attacks. Posing as emails from known or trusted brands, financial institutions, or even a friend or family member a cybercrook’s phishing attack will attempt to trick you into sharing important information like your logins, account numbers, credit card numbers, and so on under the guise of providing customer service.
How do you spot such emails? Well, it’s getting a little tougher nowadays because scammers are getting more sophisticated and can make their phishing emails look nearly legitimate. However, there are several ways you can spot a phishing email and phony web pages as outlined here.
Comprehensive security offers another layer of prevention, in this case by offering browser protection like our own Web Advisor, which will alert you in the event you come across suspicious links and downloads that can steal your PII or otherwise expose you to attacks.
With social engineering attacks that deceive victims by posing as people the victim knows and the way we can sometimes overshare a little too much about our lives, you can see why a social media profile is a potential goldmine for cybercriminals.
Two things you can do to help protect your PII from being at risk via social media: one, think twice about what PII you might be sharing in that post or photo—like the location of your child’s school or the license plate on your car; two, set your profile to private so that only friends can see it. Review your privacy settings regularly to keep your profile information out of the public eye. And remember, nothing is 100% private on the internet. Never post anything you wouldn’t want to see shared.
The “S” stands for secure. Any time you are shopping, banking, or sharing any kind of PII, look for “https” at the start of the web address. Some browsers will also indicate HTTP by showing a small “lock” icon. Doing otherwise on plain HTTP sites exposes your PII for anyone who cares to monitor that site for unsecured connections.
By locking your devices, you protect yourself that much better from PII and data theft in the event your device is lost, stolen, or even left unattended for a short stretch. Use your password, PIN, facial recognition, thumbprint ID, what have you. Just lock your stuff. In the case of your smartphones, read up on how you can locate your phone or even wipe it remotely if you need to. Apple provides iOS users with a step-by-step guide for remotely wiping devices, and Google offers up a guide for Android users as well.
Theft of your PII can of course lead to credit cards and other accounts being opened falsely in your name. What’s more, it can sometimes be some time before you even become aware of it, until perhaps your credit score takes a hit or a bill collector comes calling. By checking your credit, you can address any issues that come up, as companies typically have a clear-cut process for contesting any fraud. You can get a free credit report in the U.S. via the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and likewise, other nations like the UK have similar free offerings as well.
Consider identity theft protection as well. A strong identity theft protection package pairs well with keeping track of your credit and offers cyber monitoring that scans the dark web to detect for misuse of your PII. With our identity protection service, we help relieve the burden of identity theft if the unfortunate happens to you with $1M coverage for lawyer fees, travel expenses, lost wages, and more.
The post Take It Personally: Ten Tips for Protecting Your Personally Identifiable Information (PII) appeared first on McAfee Blog.
If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that our ability to think critically about the information we encounter online is now a fundamental life skill we need to learn, practice, and pass on to our offspring. But the actual task of teaching kids how to discern real and fabricated information online these days is easier said than done.
How did the truth get so hard to pin down? In the documentary The Social Dilemma, the answer to that question comes down to two things: Our growing reliance on social media for both human connection and information and the data-based algorithms social networks use to mine and sell data, nurture device dependence, and influence our behavior.
A 2019 Pew Study reveals that 55 percent of US adults get their news from social media either “often” or “sometimes.” A July 2020 Pew Study shows that people who rely on social media for news are less likely to get the facts right about the coronavirus and politics and more likely to hear some unproven claims.
The power of algorithms to deliver customized, manipulative content to a person’s screen is alarming, says Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google, who is featured in The Social Dilemma, adding, “Never before in history have 50 designers made decisions that would have an impact on two billion people.”
On the heels of the recent election, Media Literacy skills will make a difference as false reports are likely to surface in our social feeds in the foreseeable future. For many, the willpower to shut down their social feeds altogether isn’t a viable option. So how do we wade through the veiled forms of manipulation and misinformation taking place all around us online?
One approach is to make a personal commitment to stay alert, slow down, and carefully vet the content you consume, create, or share.
One thing you might consider is making 2021 the year your family masters Media Literacy, a topic we’ve written extensively about on this blog. In short, Media Literacy is the ability to identify different types of content and understand the messages each is sending. Content includes texts, social media memes or posts, videos, television, movies, video games, music, and various other digital content. Reminder: Someone creates each piece of content and that person, group, or company has an agenda or message.
Do I understand all the points of view of this story?
What do I think about this topic or idea?
Am I overly emotional and eager to share this?
Am I being manipulated by this content?
What if I’m wrong?
Lastly, consume all media with thoughtful intention — avoid mindless scrolling and liking. A few other practical ways to fight back against the algorithms we drew from The Social Dilemma: Don’t click on video or content recommendations. Fight back against algorithms by choosing your content. Uninstall social media apps that are not useful and waste your time. Turn off notifications or any other alert that interferes with living life. If an issue has you angry or emotional, stop, breathe, and research the facts before sharing.
The post Helping Your Family Combat Digital Misinformation appeared first on McAfee Blogs.
Election 2020: Make Sure Your Voice is Heard with These Tips & Best Practices
Last year, India exercised one of the greatest feats of democracy, trying to enable over 900 million people to vote in their general election. My mom lives in India, and I remember talking with her about their ambitious plans to reach every voter, no matter how remote their location. They sent poll workers deep into the jungle, and across rivers, to reach just a handful of voters. The result: a record turnout at over 67%.
In the United States, we too have an opportunity to fulfill our civic duties, with various options available to us to make sure our votes are heard. While many people choosing to mail in their votes for the very first time, there’s also a lot of confusion around election rules and security, not to mention a flood of misinformation online to be wary of.
Here at McAfee, we want to help you vote with confidence in this critical election. That’s why we’ve put together a number of tools, resources, and best practices to empower voters. Our hope is that every voice can be heard.
Demystifying Mail-In Voting
Let’s start with some questions you may have around mail-in voting, since twice as many people plan to mail in their ballots this year, compared to 2016. Of course, with the COVID-19 pandemic still active, it’s understandable that many people, especially the vulnerable, would prefer to mail their ballot, rather than go to a polling station. I personally got my mail-in ballot and am ready to mail it this week. If you haven’t decided on how to vote, you still have time to decide.
To get accurate information on mail-in voting, go directly to your state and local websites for guidance, including how to fill out your ballot, and when to turn it in. Rules vary state to state, but one thing we do know is that mail-in voting has proven to be a reliable and secure way to have your voice heard.
It’s great to see long lines to vote in some states already. If you are still concerned about election security and online scams, my colleague Judith Bitterli has written a great guide for locating reliable sources and protecting your vote (Key tip: always look for a .gov domain name).
She also has advice for making sure that your mail-in ballot counts.
Safe Election Surfing
When looking online for election resources, be aware that scammers and cybercriminals are always trying to take advantage of trending topics to misdirect users to dangerous websites and links. In fact, the FBI recently warned that bad actors have been setting up fake election websites, in an attempt to steal voters’ personal information, or get them to download dangerous files.
The Bureau suggests that you visit the U.S. Election Assistance Commission website for accurate information in a variety of languages. If you are concerned about clicking on risky links during the election or year-round, one smart action you can take is to install McAfee WebAdvisor, which warns you of risky sites before you click on them.
Although it can be tempting to believe election information posted on social media, especially by friends and family members, know that business school MIT Sloan says “fake news is at its peak” during online presidential years, and even your loved ones can be fooled.
But whether information is clickbait, or legitimate, it can still be posted to risky websites designed to steal your information, or download malware. That’s why McAfee released a new social media protection tool as part of WebAdvisor. Using color codes, the tool shows you which links are safe or risky right in your social feed, and can be used across all six major social media platforms. This makes it easier to avoid dangerous links posted on social channels. Given the increase in phishing we’ve observed in the last few months across PC and mobile platforms, a comprehensive security solution like McAfee® Total Protection can help keep your personal information and devices safe.
In-Person Voting
If you still plan to vote in person, or even better, volunteer as a poll worker, make sure that you have reliable information on voting times and locations. You’ll probably also want to look into local rules on health and safety precautions, so you are well prepared.
False and misleading information about COVID 19 has been swirling since the start of the pandemic, so it’s important that you seek verified information about the virus. Here again are some great tips from Judith on how to keep COVID misinformation from suppressing your vote.
Exercise Your Right
Now that you know how to sidestep misinformation, find trusted resources, and plan your vote — either through the mail or in person— I hope that you will exercise your right, with confidence.
The post Election 2020: Make Sure Your Voice is Heard with These Tips appeared first on McAfee Blogs.
On September 22nd, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an advisory about the potential threat from foreign actors and cybercriminals attempting to spread false information. Their joint public service announcement makes a direct statement regarding how this could affect our election:
“Foreign actors and cybercriminals could create new websites, change existing websites, and create or share corresponding social media content to spread false information in an attempt to discredit the electoral process and undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions.”
Their call to action is clear—critically evaluate the content you consume and to seek out reliable and verified information from trusted sources, such as state and local election officials. Not just leading up to Election Day, but during and after as well.
Here’s why: it’s estimated that roughly 75% of American voters will be eligible to vote by mail, potentially leading to some 80 million mail-in ballots being cast. That’s twice the number from the 2016 presidential election, which could prolong the normal certification process. Election results will likely take days, even weeks, to ensure every legally cast ballot is counted accurately so that the election results can ultimately get certified.
That extended stretch of time is where the concerns come in. Per the FBI and CISA:
“Foreign actors and cybercriminals could exploit the time required to certify and announce elections’ results by disseminating disinformation that includes reports of voter suppression, cyberattacks targeting election infrastructure, voter or ballot fraud, and other problems intended to convince the public of the elections’ illegitimacy.”
In short, bad actors may attempt to undermine people’s confidence in our election as the results come in.
Our moment to act as smart consumers, and sharers, of online news has never been more immediate.
Before we look at how we can combat the spread of false information this election, let’s see how it cascades across the internet.
It’s been found that false political news traveled deeper and more broadly, reached more people, and was more viral than any other category of false information, according to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study on the spread of true and false news online, which was published by Science in 2018.
Why’s that so? In a word: people. According to the research findings,
“We found that false news was more novel than true news, which suggests that people were more likely to share novel information … Contrary to conventional wisdom, robots accelerated the spread of true and false news at the same rate, implying that false news spreads more than the truth because humans, not robots, are more likely to spread it.”
Thus, bad actors pick their topics, pumps false information about them into social media channels, and then lets people spread it by way of shares, retweets, and the like—thanks to “novel” and click-baity headlines for content people may not even read or watch, let alone fact check.
Done on a large scale, false information thus can hit millions of feeds, which is what the FBI and CISA is warning us about.
The FBI and CISA recommend the following:
If there’s a common theme across our election blogs so far, it’s trustworthiness.
Knowing which sources are deserving of our trust and being able to spot the ones that are not takes effort—such as fact-checking from reputable sources like FactCheck.org, the Associated Press, and Reuters or researching the publisher of the content in question to review their credentials. Yet that effort it worthwhile, even necessary today. The resources listed in my recent blogs can help:
To stay updated on all things McAfee and for more resources on staying secure from home, follow @McAfee_Home on Twitter, listen to our podcast Hackable?, and ‘Like’ us on Facebook.
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Where do you get your news? There’s a good chance much of it comes from social media.
In 2019, Pew Research found that 55% of American adults said they get their news from social media either “often” or “sometimes,” which is an 8% rise over the previous year. We can visualize what that mix might look like. Some of their news on social media may come from information sources they’ve subscribed to and yet more news may appear via articles reposted or retweeted by friends.
So, as we scroll through our feeds and quickly find ourselves awash in a cascade of news and comments on the news, we also find ourselves wondering: what’s true and false here?
And that’s the right question to ask. With the advent of the internet, anyone can become a publisher. That’s one of the internet’s greatest strengths—we can all have a voice. Publishing is no longer limited to newspaper, TV, and radio ownership bodies. Yet it’s one of the internet’s greatest challenges as well—with millions of publishers out there, not everyone is posting the truth. And sometimes, people aren’t doing the posting at all.
For example, last May, researchers at Carnegie Melon University studied more than 200 million tweets about the current virus. Of the top 50 most influential retweeters, 82% of them were bots. Some 62% of the top 1,000 retweeters were bots as well. What were they retweeting? Researchers said the tweets revolved around more than 100 types of inaccurate stories that included unfounded conspiracy theories and phony cures. Researchers cited two reasons for this surge: “First, more individuals have time on their hands to create do-it-yourself bots. But the number of sophisticated groups that hire firms to run bot accounts also has increased.”
With the sheer volume of news and information we wade through each day, you can be assured that degrees of false and misleading information make their way into people’s social media mix. And that calls for all of us to build up our media literacy—which is our ability to critically analyze the media we consume for bias and accuracy.
What follows are a few basics of media literacy that can help you to discern what’s fact and what’s fiction as you scroll through your social media feed for news.
When talking about spotting truth from falsehood on social media, it helps to first define two types of falsehood: unintentional and the deliberate.
First off, there’s unintentional misinformation. We’re only human, and sometimes that means we get things wrong. We forget details, recall things incorrectly, or we pass along unverified accounts that we mistakenly take for fact. Thus, misinformation is wrong information that you don’t know is wrong. An innocent everyday example of this is when someone on your neighborhood Facebook group posts that the drug store closes at 8pm on weeknights when in fact it really closes at 7pm. They believe it closes at 8pm, but they’re simply mistaken.
That differs entirely from deliberate disinformation. This is intentionally misleading information or facts that have been manipulated to create a false narrative—typically with an ulterior motive in mind. The readiest example of this is propaganda, yet other examples also extend to deliberate untruths engineered to discredit a person, group, or institution. In other words, disinformation can take forms both large and small. It can apply to a person just as easily as it can to a major news story.
Now, let’s take a look at some habits and tactics designed to help you get a better grasp on the truth in your social media feed.
Some of the oldest advice is the best advice, and that holds true here: consider the source. Take time to examine the information you come across. Look at its source. Does that source have a track record of honesty and dealing plainly with the facts? Likewise, that source has sources too. Consider them in the same way as well.
Now, what’s the best way to go about that? For one, social media platforms are starting to embed information about publications into posts where their content is shared. For example, if a friend shares an article from The Economist, Facebook now includes a small link in the form of an “i” in a circle. Clicking on this presents information about the publication, which can give you a quick overview of its ownership, when it was founded, and so forth.
Another fact-finding trick comes by way of Michael Caufield, the Director of Blended and Networked Learning at Washington State University. He calls it: “Just Add Wikipedia.” It entails doing a search for a Wikipedia page by using the URL of an information source. For example, if you saw an article published on Vox.com, you’d simply search “Wikipedia www.vox.com.” The Wikipedia entry will give you an overview of the information source, its track record, its ownership, and if it has fired reporters or staff for false reporting. Of course, be aware that Wikipedia entries are written by public editors and contributors. These articles will only be as accurate as the source material that they are drawn from, so be sure to reference the footnotes that are cited in the entry. Reading those will let you know if the entry is informed by facts from reputable sources as well. They may open up other avenues of fact-finding as well!
A single information source or story won’t provide a complete picture. It may only cover a topic from a certain angle or narrow focus. Likewise, information sources are helmed by editors and stories are written by people—all of which have their biases, whether overt or subtle. It’s for this reason that expanding your media diet to include a broader range information sources is so important.
So, see what other information sources have to say on the same topic. Consuming news across a spectrum will expose you to thoughts and coverage you might not otherwise get if you keep your consumption to a handful of sources. The result is that you’re more broadly informed and have the ability to compare and contrast different sources and points of view. Using the tips above, you can find other reputable sources to round out your media diet.
Additionally, for a list of reputable information sources, along with the reasons why they’re reputable, check out “10 Journalism Brands Where You Find Real Facts Rather Than Alternative Facts” published by Forbes and authored by an associate professor at The King’s College in New York City. It certainly isn’t the end all, be all of lists, yet it should provide you with a good starting point.
Has a news story you’ve read or watched ever made you shake your fist at the screen or want to clap and cheer? How about something that made you fearful or simply laugh? Bits of content that evoke strong emotional responses tend to spread quickly, whether they’re articles, a post, or even a tweet. That’s a ready sign that a quick fact check could be in order.
There’s a good reason for that. Bad actors who wish to foment unrest, unease, or simply spread disinformation use emotionally driven content to plant a seed. Whether or not their original story gets picked up and viewed firsthand doesn’t matter to these bad actors. Their aim is to actually get some manner of disinformation out into the ecosystem. They rely on others who will re-post, re-tweet, or otherwise pass it along on their behalf—to the point where the original source of the information is completely lost. This is one instance where people readily begin to accept certain information as fact, even if it’s not factual at all.
Certainly, some legitimate articles will generate a response as well, yet it’s a good habit to do a quick fact check and confirm what you’ve read. This leads us right back to our earlier points about considering the source and cross-checking against other sources of information as well.
You’ve probably seen headlines similar to this before: THIS FAT-BURNING TRICK HAS DOCTORS BAFFLED! You’ll usually spot them in big blocks laden with catchy photos and illustrations, almost to the point that they look like they’re links to other news stories. They’re not. They’re ads, which often strike a sensationalistic tone.
The next time you spot one of these, look around the area of the web page where they’re placed. You should find a little graphic or snippet of text that says “Advertisement,” “Paid Sponsor,” or something similar. And there you go. You spotted some sponsored content. These so-called articles aren’t intentionally developed to misinform you. They are likely trying to bait you into buying something.
However, in some less reputable corners of the web ads like these can take you to malicious sites that install malware or expose you to other threats. Always surf with web browser protection. Good browser protection will either identify such links as malicious right away or prevent your browser from proceeding to the malicious site if you click on such a link.
So, let’s say you’ve been following these practices of media literacy for a while. What do you do when you see a friend posting what appears to be misinformation on their social media account? If you’re inclined to step in and comment, try to be helpful, not right.
We can only imagine how many spoiled relationships and “unfriendings” have occurred thanks to moments where one person comments on a post with the best intentions of “setting the record straight,” only to see tempers flare. We’ve all seen it happen. The original poster, instead of being open to the new information, digs in their heels and becomes that much more convinced of being right on the topic.
One way to keep your friendships and good feelings intact is this: instead of entering the conversation with the intention of being “right,” help people discover the facts for themselves. You can present your information as part of a discussion on the topic. So while you shouldn’t expect this to act like a magic wand that whisks away misinformation, what you can do is provide a path toward a reputable source of information that the original poster, and their friends, can follow if they wish.
Wherever your online travels take you as you read and research the news, be sure to go out there with a complete security suite. In addition to providing virus protection, it will also help protect your identity and privacy as you do anything online. Also look for an option that will protect your mobile devices too, as we spend plenty of time scrolling through our social media feeds on our smartphones.
If you’re interested in learning more about savvy media consumption, pop open a tab and give these articles a read—they’ll give you a great start:
Bots in the Twittersphere: Pew Research
How to Spot Fake News: FactCheck.org
Likewise, keep an eye on your own habits. We forward news in our social media feeds too—so follow these same good habits when you feel like it’s time to post. Make sure that what you share is truthful too.
Be safe, be well-read, and be helpful!
To stay updated on all things McAfee and for more resources on staying secure from home, follow @McAfee_Home on Twitter, listen to our podcast Hackable?, and ‘Like’ us on Facebook.
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In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, another pandemic of sorts took root—this one an “infodemic.” Whether designed to mislead, instill fear, capitalize on crank remedies, or push phony cures that caused harm or worse, millions of outright false stories about COVID-19 proliferated across the internet. And continue to do so.
Now, with our upcoming election in the U.S., there’s concern that this infodemic of misinformation about COVID-19 will keep people away from the polls or from working at them. Particularly elders.
With this blog, my aim is to point you toward trustworthy resources online that can help you get your vote cast and counted safely.
First, a word about COVID-19 misinformation in general.
Since the initial outbreak, we’ve monitored online threats and scams related to COVID-19. As shown in our July 2020 Threat Report, the first three months saw the number of malicious and scam websites related to COVID-19 jump from 1,600 to more than 39,000, along with a wave of spam emails and posts that peddled bogus sites for protective gear, masks, and cures. Now, in mid-September, our threat detection team has uncovered three million online threats related to COVID-19 and counting. (See the daily tally here for the latest figures.)
Elsewhere, global and national public health officials have worked diligently to counter these waves of misinformation, such as the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 “mythbuster” site, in addition to further mythbusting from major news outlets around the world and yet more mythbusting from respected science publications. However, instances of misinformation, both big and small, persist and can lead to negative health consequences for those who buy into such misinformation.
Whether you’ll vote in person or by mail, these links provide a mix of trustworthy information about voting and the latest verified information about the virus:
Be aware that our collective understanding of COVID-19 continues to evolve. The pandemic isn’t even a year old at this time, and new research continues to reveal more about its nature. Be sure to check with these resources along with your local public health resources for the latest on the virus and how to stay safe.
If you’re considering voting by mail, the following is for you. Published by U.S. News and World Report, this article breaks down how you can vote by mail in your state. While all 50 states allow for mail-in voting in some form or fashion, specifics vary, and some states make it easier to do than others. (For example, a handful of states like Texas, Indiana, and Louisiana currently do not allow COVID-19 concerns as a valid reason for requesting a mail-in ballot.)
Note that this article was published at the end of August, so be sure to follow the links for your state as published in the article for the absolute latest information. Yet don’t wait to look into your absentee or mail-in options. As noted above, each state has its terms and deadlines, so it’s best to review your options now.
Meanwhile, five states— Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington state, and Utah already conduct their elections entirely by mail. Such practices have proven to be successful alternatives to voting in person, they have slightly increased voter turnout while minimizing the risks of voter fraud.
Get your vote out safely. Whether it’s by visiting the polls following the safety guidelines or by way of mail as also allowed by your state, it can be done—particularly when you have trusted information sources at hand.
To stay updated on all things McAfee and for more resources on staying secure from home, follow @McAfee_Home on Twitter, listen to our podcast Hackable?, and ‘Like’ us on Facebook.
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