Phishing

False billing and BEC (“business email compromise”) succeed when a payment request looks routine enough that someone skips verification and sends funds to the wrong account. Preventing it is mostly operational: lock down email identity, and require an out-of-band confirmation step before any new or changed payment details are used. (Federal Bureau of Investigation) Entrepreneurial… Read more

Screen-lock PIN length protects your accounts by buying time: each extra digit multiplies the number of guesses an attacker must try, and that extra work becomes decisive once the device enforces delays and attempt limits. In practical terms, moving from a 4-digit to a 6-digit (or longer) PIN usually changes a “minutes to hours” risk… Read more

Customer identification stays phishing-resistant when you verify the person using a trusted channel and a pre-set method, not whatever channel they used to contact you. The safest pattern is: the customer proves they control something you already have on file (account session, verified phone/email, prior ticket, or portal login)—and you never “identify” them by reacting… Read more

The safest protection against unknown USB drives is simple: don’t connect them to any computer you care about. If you must handle one, treat it like potentially hostile hardware—use a controlled “scan station” with USB access locked down, and only transfer files after they’ve been inspected and copied in a way that prevents the device… Read more

Group chats become risky when sensitive information is shared too widely and when one bad link can compromise multiple people at once. The safest approach is to treat every group as “public by default,” minimize what you post, and use a simple, repeatable process for checking links before anyone clicks. Why group chats amplify risk… Read more

Calendar invitation scams work because many calendar apps treat an invite like a trusted “productivity” object instead of a risky message. To detect them and stop repeats, you need two things: (1) a quick way to recognize a malicious event inside the calendar, and (2) settings that prevent unsolicited invites from auto-appearing (or auto-notifying you).… Read more

Push notification scams work by tricking you into granting a website or app permission to send alerts—then using those alerts to impersonate security warnings, delivery updates, bank notices, or “account locked” messages that push you to click. The most effective defense is simple: never approve notifications from sites you don’t explicitly trust, and immediately revoke… Read more

Checking payment requests comes down to one rule: never rely on the message itself to prove it’s real. Treat any invoice, wire request, ACH update, or “urgent” payment email as untrusted until you verify it through a separate, pre-known channel (a saved phone number, vendor portal, or in-person confirmation). A good process is simple: verify… Read more

Onboarding and offboarding: how do you close account access securely? Close access securely by disabling sign-in and invalidating anything that still works after a password change: active sessions, OAuth tokens, API keys, and device access. Then verify—using logs or an access inventory—that nothing is left behind, especially in “shadow IT” apps and shared accounts. Close… Read more

Yes—most banking phishing scams are recognizable once you know the patterns: unexpected contact, a request for sensitive data or urgent action, and a link/number that routes you to the scammer. “Safe recall” means you stop the conversation and contact your bank using a trusted number you find yourself (on your card, statement, or the bank’s… Read more