Unless you trust a site, don’t give your address, password, or credit card information. Look for indications that the site uses SSL to encrypt your information. Although some sites require you to supply your social security number (e.g., sites associated with financial transactions such as loans or credit cards), be especially wary of offering this […]

The hyperlink bar in your web browser will tell you when a connection is secure by adding an “S” to the end of “http” in your browser. If the “S” isn’t present, it means the connection is not encrypted and the information being sent over the network isn’t private.

Networks without passwords do not encrypt your connection. Accordingly, it’s possible for other connected users to spy on your activity, including any password you type. Don’t view your bank balance or log into any accounts tied to a debit/credit card while on public Wi-Fi. Cellular is much safer in these cases.

This might seem like a pain, but hard drives don’t lose their data very easily. If you want the information on a hard drive to be permanently eliminated, make sure the parts that house the data are destroyed before discarding it. This means destroying the platters and circuit board inside the hard drive completely beyond […]

While you can pay for things directly using a credit card or other payment method, these transactions require inputting financial information, whereas gift cards only require single-use codes. As an added bonus, digital gift cards for things like the PlayStation Store or Nintendo eShop commonly go on sale at online retailers for less than their […]

When you want to scrap an old computer, think about the data that remains in the hardware: your files, media and personal information could be compromised if someone gets the machine up and running again. For businesses, this is much more crucial. Explore free erasure tools to clean your harddrives thoroughly for peace of mind.