How to

It seems like every few days there is a new story involving teenaged girls being tricked or blackmailed into sending compromising pictures of themselves to their tormenters. For the last few years, the FBI has been warning that this crime – “Sextortion” – is on the rise.

Befriending the wrong person on Facebook can hand a criminal the tools for an identity theft attack - and on LinkedIn, talking to the wrong ‘recruiter’ can lead to disaster.

When someone says “data privacy” most people think about the information that is available on sites like Google and Facebook, or stored away in some marketing database. But when it comes to very private information, there are few things most of us would be more horrified to find floating around on the Internet than our medical data.

Phishing is unique among cyber attacks - it doesn’t rely on weaknesses in computer software, or new vulnerabilities - it relies, initially at least, on human gullibility. Our guide offers advice on how to avoid the latest scams - and why tablet and smartphone users need to stay alert.

Did you know that medical data on 20,000 people may be exposed to abuse today? As a healthcare practitioner, you may not be aware of the value of the data in your care, but criminals certainly are.

Over the past two years, many online services have started to offer ‘two-factor authentication’ - an extra security measure which often requires a code from an app, or an SMS message, as well as a password. Our guide explains how, why and when to use '2FA'.

‘Adware’, software which delivers unwanted adverts, isn't as scary as some malware, but ESET's analysis of Win32/Boaxxe shows that 'malicious' adware is becoming increasingly hi-tech and stealthy. Our guide will help you clean your machine - and see fewer unwanted ads.

Read how to protect yourself if you've been shopping with credit or debit cards (and who hasn't?). As the scope of the latest cyber crime spree expands beyond Target and Neiman Marcus, malicious software is suspected.

Target's 2013 data breach is expanding in scope and scale, requiring additional vigilance on the part of shoppers to protect their accounts and their identity.