With today’s tight economy, Americans are looking for ways to save money without sacrificing quality and value. In a recent FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll, respondents ranked wireless service as one of the top-three things they were not willing to give up, despite tighter budgets. Fortunately for these individuals, wireless carriers are offering budget-friendly options that [...]

In the past, research institutions and government agencies stored data on tapes and hard drives — often without backing up the information. Today, when employees discover damage to these tapes and hard drives, they don’t assume that the data are lost forever — they simply call data-recovery expert John Bordynuik. Take the Massachusetts Institute of [...]

Before submitting your email address or other personal information online, you need to be sure that the privacy of that information will be protected. To protect your identity and prevent an attacker from easily accessing additional information about you, avoid providing certain personal information such as your birth date and social security number online. How [...]

Encrypting data is a good way to protect sensitive information. It ensures that the data can only be read by the person who is authorized to have access to it. What is encryption? In very basic terms, encryption is a way to send a message in code. The only person who can decode the message [...]

You may think that you are anonymous as you browse web sites, but pieces of information about you are always left behind. You can reduce the amount of information revealed about you by visiting legitimate sites, checking privacy policies, and minimizing the amount of personal information you provide. What information is collected? When you visit [...]

Before selling or discarding an old computer, or throwing away a disk or CD, you naturally make sure that you’ve copied all of the files you need. You’ve probably also attempted to delete your personal files so that other people aren’t able to access them. However, unless you have taken the proper steps to make [...]

Web browsers allow you to navigate the internet. There are a variety of options available, so you can choose the one that best suits your needs. How do web browsers work? A web browser is an application that finds and displays web pages. It coordinates communication between your computer and the web server where a [...]

Check the security settings in your web browser to make sure they are at an appropriate level. While increasing your security may affect the functionality of some web sites, it could prevent you from being attacked. Why are security settings for web browsers important? Your web browser is your primary connection to the rest of [...]

Although copyright may seem to be a purely legal issue, using unauthorized files could have security implications. To avoid prosecution and minimize the risks to your computer, make sure you have permission to use any copyrighted information, and only download authorized files. How does copyright infringement apply to the internet? Copyright infringement occurs when you [...]

You may have been exposed to web site, or host, certificates if you have ever clicked on the padlock in your browser or, when visiting a web site, have been presented with a dialog box claiming that there is an error with the name or date on the certificate. Understanding what these certificates are may [...]