5 Things You’re Doing Online That Can Put You in Real Danger


Often when we think about safety online, topics like phishing scams and password strength come to mind, but the truth is that today criminals are using more advanced tactics to target individuals. Our digital footprints can have a significant impact on our real lives. In fact, 84% of U.S. Citizens have experienced social engineering attacks. 

1. Sharing your vacation photos on social media

Planning an exciting vacation? It might be tempting to share the details with your friends, family, and followers online, but take caution. You might be sharing more information than you think. Your real-time vacation updates that you share on social media can also let bad actors know when you are not home. One study found that nearly 80% of burglars use social media to plan their next break-in. A recent survey also found that 60% of burglary victims shared that they were posting daily to their social media accounts before the crime occurred. What can you do to prevent becoming a target? If you choose to share your vacation photos online, avoid sharing live updates. It is safer to post them after you return home.

2. Leaving your home images on websites

Another common mistake many people make that can put their safety at risk is leaving images of their homes online after they move. This makes it possible for anyone to look up your address on a real estate website and gain access to the entire layout of your home. Bad actors can use this information to plan a robbery or use the images to look for high-value items. You can protect your privacy and have the photos removed in two different ways. When you purchase a home you can ask the listing agent to remove them. Another option is to go to the websites where they are listed and manually remove them. This can be done by creating an account, claiming your home and following the website’s removal process.

3. Posting photos of high-value items online

Have you ever posted a picture when you purchased a new car? Or shared pictures of a family get-together at your house online? Although sharing these images with your friends and family on social media may seem like harmless fun, they could be putting you at risk. Bad actors browse the social media accounts of potential targets to look for high-value items such as antiques, collector items, fine art or electronics. Even when they are not shared directly, these kinds of items can often be found in the background of images taken at home. You can take action by setting your social media account settings to private and removing images of high-value items.

4. Setting and forgetting your privacy settings

Another vulnerability that is often overlooked is your privacy settings. It is easy to set up your privacy settings when you create new online accounts and never think about them again, but this could be a problem. Social media applications and web browsers change their policies frequently. Although these companies provide notifications about these updates, it is often easier to hit accept than read a lengthy document in the middle of your day. You can avoid accidentally sharing more information than you want by making it a regular practice to review your privacy settings once or twice a year. 

5. Letting apps track your location

Many social media applications track your location information and sell it to third parties for commercial and advertisement purposes. However, privacy policies and the amount of information they track can vary depending on the application. For example, Snapchat shows users’ locations on a map that others can see when they create a new snap, but Instagram uses location data to give users the option to tag locations in their posts. Your location can be sensitive information. It can let people know when you are not home and also where they can find you. To prevent unwanted location sharing you can update your preferences in your phone settings.

Managing your digital footprint

As our digital and real lives continue to become increasingly interconnected, the more important it will become to make managing your digital footprint a regular part of your everyday life. Crimes involving social engineering have quickly risen, increasing the need to protect your personal information. Monitoring where information about you can be found and who can find it is already becoming an essential part of maintaining your reputation, your financial security and your physical safety.

Protecting Your Company From Employee Related Cybersecurity Risks


Today employees face a significant number of digital security risks both professionally and personally. Not only can these threats impact employees’ lives they can also significantly impact the organizations they work for. Unfortunately, cyber crimes have become much more sophisticated in recent years and many attacks involve social engineering. In fact, the number of cyber crimes involving this type of manipulation has risen high enough this year that the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center issued a public service announcement in May warning businesses of the increase in social engineering attacks that have targeted company employees (1).

How do cybercriminals target individuals to gain access to businesses?

In these situations, cyber criminals target individuals and use their personal information to manipulate and trick them into sharing sensitive information. For example, Uber’s recent data breach was caused by a cybercriminal who sent a message to an employee posing as a member of their IT department (2). They persuaded the employee to share their passwords which allowed the hacker to gain access to Uber’s internal systems.

High-net-worth-individuals are common targets

Cybercrimes of this nature have also become a significant issue for many high-net-worth individuals that own their own companies. A 2017 study by Campden Research and the law firm Schillings showed that 28 % of HNWIs have been the victim of at least one cyber attack. A full one-third of respondents in the study indicated that they do not have a cybersecurity plan in place. 

For example, in 2020 Shark Tank judge Barbara Corcoran nearly lost $400,000 in a social engineering scam involving phishing (3). A cybercriminal impersonating her assistant sent an email to her bookkeeper requesting payment related to some real estate investments. The email address they used was almost identical to the actual email address. The transaction was prevented when the bookkeeper sent an email to the assistant’s correct address asking about the request. 

How can you protect your employees against cyberattacks?

With a quick internet search, you will find articles stressing the importance of having a rock-solid cyber security plan in place. You will also see pages filled with information about how to provide effective employee cybersecurity training. Although these are important steps to take, they do not address the fact that employees’ personal information like their names, addresses, birthdates, phone numbers, or even social security information can often be found on the internet and can be sold by data brokers. This type of sensitive information is what many cyber criminals and hackers use for social engineering. 

What else can business owners do to protect their employees and mitigate risk? They can help their employees take control of their digital footprints. Most people do not know what information about them is available on the internet. Even when they do find their personal information online they often do not know how to go about getting it removed. One of the best ways business owners and executives can protect their companies and reduce risk is by working with a digital privacy service. 

Services like Hush can help your employees monitor their digital footprints and remove vulnerabilities. At Hush, our AI-driven platform finds potential risks across the web and provides people with the opportunity to remove the information that they want to keep private. We also provide personalized counseling to employees on how to manage areas like social media for optimal control.

Help your employees take control of their digital footprints

Organizations that offer privacy services like Hush can help protect their business while giving their employees peace of mind. Many Hush customers are shocked to find how much of their personal information is available online.

“ It’s enlightening and scary at the same time to see how much information is available about me personally. The service Hush provides is critical to protecting yourself and your family in the digital age.” -Recent Hush Customer 

Interested in learning more about how Hush can help protect the digital privacy of your employees? Contact us today for a personalized assessment of your security vulnerabilities. Discover how Hush can help you protect your employees and your business from privacy breaches giving you peace of mind. 

Protecting Your Children’s Digital Privacy


Tips for keeping your family’s personal information safe

School is officially in full swing and for many parents protecting their children from cybercrime has become a high priority. Ransomware attacks targeting educational institutions are on the rise. According to FBI reports, 57% of ransomware attacks in the months of August and September target school districts (1). In fact, the second largest school district in the US was targeted by hackers over Labor Day weekend exposing the personal information of 600,000 students (2).

These recent events have left many parents wondering what steps they can take to protect their children’s privacy. These days, it’s not enough to tell your kids to choose hard-to-guess passwords. Cyber crimes targeting children have significantly increased over the last several years. Recent studies have found that digital scams involving kids and teens have increased by more than 155% between 2017 and 2020 (3). Many children today are now experiencing adult levels of risk. However, there are steps you can take to protect your whole family’s digital privacy from vulnerabilities. Keep reading to learn more about what you can do to keep your personal information private.

Digital privacy basics

One of the best ways you can protect your family’s privacy is to take the right preventative measures. Review how you and your family members manage your online accounts and passwords. Not sure where to start? Begin with taking these six easy steps. 

1. Use an independent password manager

Keeping your passwords on your devices can put your personal information at risk. Always use an independent password manager that is not tied to mobile, desktop, or browser platforms, such as BitWarden. Password managers keep your details secure by encrypting your login information.

2. Leverage multi-factor authentication

Make it harder for hackers to access your accounts by adding an extra step to your login process. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) will send a unique code to your mobile device through email or text message whenever your user name and password are entered. This makes it harder to steal your information and can also let you know when someone else is trying to access your online accounts.

3. Take control of your digital footprint

Keep your personal information private from data brokers and scammers by using a privacy service like Hush. There are 1,200 different data brokers that collect all the personal information they can find and use it to create detailed profiles. They sell these profiles to anyone that will pay for them. Services like Hush help you take control of your digital footprint by identifying which data brokers have your information and go to work to help you remove it. 

4. Don’t share accounts

Sharing online accounts and login information can put your personal information at risk in several different ways. If you share your passwords you may be giving this person access to other accounts that you use the same password for without knowing it. Sharing your passwords can also make your accounts more vulnerable to sniffers and phishing attacks. If someone else gains access to your online account they could change the password and lock you out. 

5. Use an ad blocker

Another simple step you can take to protect yourself from potential vulnerabilities is to use an ad blocker. Some ads can contain malware. Malware is often used to gain access to your personal information. In some cases, malware can also damage your devices and lead to the loss of your personal information. 

6. Backup your devices

Backing up your devices can help you recover data if it is ever lost or corrupted. This does not protect you and your family from cybercrime. However, it does prevent the loss of your personal information in the event of a cyber attack.

You can help your children set up many of these protective measures with your laptop or phone. Another way you can keep your family’s digital privacy safe is by enabling the ability to erase content on your devices remotely. This can be done by using software that allows IT administrators to control, secure, and enforce policies on devices like smartphones and tablets. Leveraging this type of software can be useful and keep your data secure if your devices are lost or stolen.

Helping your kids navigate online interactions

While kids are at school they use email accounts and online logins, it’s important to educate your children beyond the basics. Make it a point to talk to your children about avoiding digital dangers.

Avoid clicking on external links

Teach your children to never click on a link asking for information or asking them to log into their account because of a problem. You can ask them to bring the issue to you instead whenever they’re unsure. 

Don’t give out personal information

Make sure they know to never give their name, address, birthdate, or other personal information to anyone online and to use account names that are not their real name. 

Be cautious about what you post

Make sure your children know what is appropriate to post online and that the information they share is not always kept private. This will help prevent scandals, legal action, or breaches of privacy.

Navigating the changing digital landscape

The digital landscape is changing quickly and much of the responsibility for cybersecurity is shifting to the individual. Everyone, including children, will need an increasingly sophisticated security plan for digital privacy that adapts in real-time. That’s where monitoring and mitigation services like Hush come into play. Hush is a premium privacy service that monitors security threats and privacy vulnerabilities. In addition to monitoring your digital footprint, we assist with the removal of this information. The internet is forever and your privacy can be too. Learn how you can Hush what the internet knows about you.

A Hate Group Targeted My Kid Online


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