4 no-brainer online security measures we need to start practicing now

We're blissfully ignorant of how we put ourselves at risk online.

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  • According to the 2019 Official Annual Cybercrime Report, businesses fall for ransomware attacks every 14 seconds.
  • Many people ignore standard security practices that significantly reduce their chances of being attacked, such as disabling their computer's microphone and camera.
  • Establishing better cyber security practices is a matter of unlearning bad habits, and creating better ones.

The sheer number of massive data breaches and known security vulnerabilities online today should be enough to scare us into better data safety practices. However, though these issues seem to consistently elicit gasps and condemnations by talking heads and private users, little else is done. It's not about turning office and personal computers into Fort Knox, really, it's about using common sense and exercising caution.

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Republican-led Senate report shows how Russian trolls attacked 2016 election

"We made America great," one Russian operative joked as Trump's victory became clear.

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  • A long-awaited bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report shows how Kremlin-directed operatives at the Internet Research Agency used disinformation to influence the 2016 presidential elections.
  • The report was published by a Republican-led Senate committee.
  • The committee issued several recommendations for how to protect against future disinformation campaigns, which are ongoing, the report states.
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Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly 'nervous' about an Elizabeth Warren presidency

The new trust busting battles begin.

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  • Leaked audio from internal Facebook meeting ostensibly showcases Zuckerberg's candid thoughts on Elizabeth Warren.
  • Zuckerberg tells his staff that they're ready to "go to the mat and and you fight."
  • Warren has not backed down on her calls for busting up the big tech companies.
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Facebook moving forward with hiding like counts to fight envy

This could become a standard feature one day.

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  • Facebook has begun hiding 'like counts' in Australia.
  • Earlier this month, a reverse engineer predicted that this would be the case.
  • The new feature may help in reducing envy and other ill-fated social effects.
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Elon Musk warns 'advanced A.I.' will soon manipulate social media

Musk also said that "anonymous bot swarms" should be investigated.


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  • On Thursday, Musk tweeted about the potential dangers of advanced A.I. manipulating social media.
  • It's unclear what prompted Musk to tweet about advanced A.I., but his tweets came hours after The New York Times published an article about digital disinformation campaigns.
  • Musk has a history of being rather pessimistic about the future of A.I.
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