What Is Full Disk Encryption?
There’s been a lot of talk in recent years about encryption and what the FBI terms its “Going Dark” problem—its inability to read the communications of surveillance targets because more and more data is being encrypted. And while the end-to-end messaging encryption that protects data in transit in apps like WhatsApp get a lot of press, it’s a problem that applies equally a data at rest. The kind that full-disk encryption is designed to protect. That type of protection did get significant attention during the recent FBI-Apple battle over protected data on the San Bernardino shooter’s...
Read More4 Ways to Protect Against the Very Real Threat of Ransomware
Ransomware is a multi-million-dollar crime operation that strikes everyone from hospitals to police departments to online casinos. It’s such a profitable scheme that experts say traditional cyberthieves are abandoning their old ways of making money—stealing credit card numbers and bank account credentials—in favor of ransomware. But now that lawmakers on Capitol Hill are in the sights of cyber extortionists, the government will finally do something to stop the scourge, right? Don’t count on it. You’re still largely on your own when it comes to fighting ransomware attacks, which hackers use...
Read More7 Password Experts on How to Lock Down Your Online Security
As far as made-up holidays go, “World Password Day” doesn’t quite have the same cachet as, say, Father’s Day, or even National Pancake Day (March 8th). Still, it’s as good an excuse as any to fix your bad passwords. Or better yet, to finally realize that the password you thought was good still needs some work. By now you know the basics of password security. Don’t write them down, get a password manager, use two-factor authentication whenever possible, and don’t use anything that’s easily guessable. (Looking at you, “111111” crowd). All of that advice still stands, and you should keep it up....
Read MoreTwo Tips to Keep Your Phone’s Encrypted Messages Encrypted
End-to-end encryption BY default is quickly becoming the new standard for any communications app that claims to care about the privacy of those who use it. But not all encryption is created equal. And default doesn’t always mean default. In just the month of April, both WhatsApp and Viber switched on that layer of protection from surveillance, which is designed to make it technically impossible for anyone to read the services’ messages other than the people in conversation: not eavesdropping hackers, not law enforcement, and not even the companies themselves. For the two companies’ massive...
Read MoreUnsend Emails in Gmail and Inbox
THE ability to pull back sent messages in Gmail used to be an experimental Labs plugin, but now it’s a core feature. A whole lot of people must reconsider their e-missives after they send them. You can “unsend” emails in both Gmail and Inbox by Gmail, but there’s a key difference between the two email experiences. Gmail gives you more options and more time to second-guess that message, but your unsending powers are limited to the desktop version of Gmail. With Inbox, the feature is available on the mobile app and enabled by default, but you’ll generally need to be quicker with that “Undo”...
Read MoreHow to Keep Instagram From Taking Over Your Phone
Instagram is objectively wonderful. It’s where you see what your friends are up to, where you peep your ex’s new relationship, where everyone from Taylor Swift to Steph Curry gives you severe and unending jealousy. Some 400 million people use Instagram; teens think it’s the most important social network out there. Even the teens love it! While you’re using it 20 times a day, however, you probably haven’t noticed that Instagram has slowly but surely started to take over your phone. Constantly using the app can crush your battery and demolish your data plan; it can also seriously clutter your...
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