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Apple's no-go car
The tech giant shut down the Apple car project. Here’s what that means.
Go smish! Texting scams impersonate these brands the most
Here’s a fun fact you can use to win a bet: 19.2 billion spam texts were sent this January. That works out to every person in the U.S. receiving around 19 spammy texts in just one month. Crazy, right?
Crooks have taken full advantage of how much we text by relying on SMS phishing, or “smishing,” the term for scam texts. They often pose as big brands to get you to give up personal info like credit card numbers and passwords.
See if your firewall is working
Even if a hacker knows your computer’s location and IP address, a firewall keeps them from accessing your system and network.
Newer Windows and Mac systems have built-in software firewalls — but one wrong setting can leave your computer vulnerable. I know it sounds complicated, but there’s a simple way to check if yours is working.
Gibson Research Corporation’s (GRC) ShieldsUP!! scans your firewall to make sure your ports aren’t exposed. If ShieldsUP!! can see your ports over the internet, so can someone else with the right port-scanning tools.
- Click Proceed on the home page and then the GRC’s Instant UPnP Exposure Test button on the following page.
- If your computer doesn’t respond to the test, your firewall is working. Yay!
- If there are issues, GRC links to how-tos and articles to check for common problems.
🌨️ If girls are made of sugar, spice and everything nice and boys are made of slime, snails, and puppy-dog tails, what’s the cloud made from? Linux servers, mostly.
$30,000 right to a scammer
How much an 80-year-old man “invested.” The Michigan resident sent the moolah to someone he met on Words With Friends claiming to be an LA investment banker. The money and “advisor” are gone — along with his win streak, I’m guessing.
Folks can’t get their meds: Blame it on notorious cyber-gang Blackcat. Their ransomware attack on Chain Healthcare forced a system shutdown. Processing prescription claims is currently a nightmare. The FBI says hospitals should be on alert. It’s a scary time to need medical attention.
Time to clean house: This is scary stuff. Facebook, Telegram, Instagram, X and TikTok are hotbeds for scoring everything from date-rape drugs to Xanax and shrooms. (I checked and found those for sale.) You can’t tell me these companies have no way to stop this.
It’s the company behind Fortnite: Hackers say they stole 200GB of user data from Epic Games. The data includes emails, passwords and more, all up for grabs. They gave Epic a March 4 deadline to pay a ransom. If you or the kids have an Epic account, now’s a good time to change your password and enable two-factor authorization.
Don’t get played! A scam plaguing Los Angeles and other cities unfolds like a heist movie — thieves rent cars, sell them to unsuspecting buyers, then swipe them back with cloned keys. The LA Sheriff’s Department has nabbed three suspects. If a deal screams “steal of a century,” it might just be actual theft.
Data blockade: President Biden signed an executive order to stop countries like Russia and China from buying Americans’ personal data — think whereabouts and DNA. Given the free-for-all in data sales, how the heck will the Justice Department enforce this? Then again, these countries already have it all anyway.
$5 to $20 for a selfie
The fee owners of the viral pink Stanley cup are charging. No kidding, the sold-out travel mugs are in that high of demand. I’m not usually a fan of altered photos, but to anyone considering this offer, Photoshop (and freebie versions) exist.